5.31.2022

Jim did computer work today - he's designing the rest of the bathroom cabinet.  The design looks perfect and will give us so much utility in that space.

In the wood shop, he prepped wood for the inner support shelves of the cabinet...

Sanded the primed panels for the side pieces...

Then a coat of gray on the edges of the panels...

Other side painted...

Time for some maintenance on the lawn mower deck...

Yikes - these bolts act as the axles for the deck.  You can see how completely rusted they are.  They were frozen into place and caused one of the wheels to flatten out...

Jim was able to wire brush them clean, greased them up, and got everything put back together.  This mower is 20 years old but Jim has taken such good care of it that it still runs great.

Once he got everything re-assembled and cleaned up, he headed to Lowe's to pick up some water softener salt.

High 89.6/Low 64.1

5.30.2022

 

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Jim worked on doing more taping in the stairwell, getting ready to paint the bottom moulding...

He put some masking tape on top of the blue tape - he's going to try to roll the flat area...

He did the caulking of the door frame tops he had taped previously...

More caulking...

Then painted the top edge...

Before removing the tape...

He did some grass mowing at the end of the day.

High 86.6/Low 52.5

5.29.2022

Today was time to do some initial prep work for installing the air conditioning system.  He has ordered one kit of the plumbing connections to see if they will work.  First job was to take off the mirror from the dresser - we'll be moving it back and forth and the mirror Jim made is so very heavy!

We discovered when we moved the dresser recently that it didn't have good glides on the bottom.  This was a good opportunity to rectify that, so Jim turned the dresser over...

He discovered that one of the original glides actually had a staple through it - so much for quality control!  Jim attached the new glides...

 

Jim started marking the stud location on the wall...

Drawing the locations where he wanted to open the wall for access...

Then he used his vibrating tool to start cutting our wall!

It's never easy doing drywall work in a finished space, but Jim does a good job cleaning up as he goes...

Jim has a trick for getting the drywall piece out...

We have a hole in our wall!

Time to do some more...

Taking the piece out...

Two holes!

Starting to cut the last one...

Removing the piece...

We were very impressed with the insulation behind the wall - Jim had glued the pieces to the stud and they were still completely tight and sealed.  

Jim's hopeful that he can do all he needs to do through these areas, but he'll do more if he needs to.   But for now, everything is back in place.

Jim also worked in the stairwell, caulking the tops of the moulding...

Then he painted the top section and removed the tape...

Continuing around - this top section is all done for now...

Jim also primed the edges of the bathroom cabinet door frames...

High 79/Low 51.6

5.28.2022

Doing some hand sanding this morning on the cabinet panels... 

Doing the back cuts on the panels...

A coat of primer on the finished panels...

Putting some primer on the nail holes of the moulding in the stairwell...

A coat of primer on the other side of the panels...

We did get a little bit of rain last night but not too much.  More rain was forecast for today but the skies were blue and gorgeous all day.  Jim took advantage of the dust being down a bit and did some much needed trimming around the house, starting with the west side...

Trimming around the stairwell side...

Everything looks so beautiful now - this view of the west side of the carriage house is one of our favorites...

Jim got some mowing done as well on this middle area.  You can see how our baby grass is coming up - but it could use a bit more rain!

Time to get ready for church!

High 71/Low 51 - beautiful!

5.27.2022

 Jim worked on doing the millwork on the bathroom side cabinet pieces today...

Right after lunch, Jim headed outside to cut some grass.  We still are in need of rain and it's in the forecast, but so far, none.  It's hard to cut the grass when it's so dry - it's so dusty.

Jim also put up a new frame behind the coffee station - measuring to find the perfect spot...

Johnny Cash was one of Jim's dad's favorites and we always associate the two.  Plus, Kyle picked up on the connection and is a big fan now too.  So this frame saying is perfect:  This morning, with her, having coffee - Johnny Cash when asked his description of paradise.

Jim did moulding taping, getting ready for caulking and painting...

Taping the tops of the door frames...

High 74.4/Low 61.0