Weekend highlights

Sat morning while Spouse was at his personal trainer appointment I went a yard sale to benefit the Cancer Society. I found a few things I couldn't live without (picture frame, acrylic paints, candle) and was glad the money went to a good cause. I also supported them by purchasing 2 donuts!

Once Spouse returned home and showered, we went out to lunch and to the grocery store. It was bright and sunny so we had the convertible top down as we ran a few other errands. Our friends Kerry & Hugh were at their place in Ocean City so we took advantage of the nice weather and drove there to say hi to them and to deposit some checks at our bank. (Unfortunately the ATM near our house that accepts deposits was removed so we have to mail deposits or drive to Ocean City.) It was a nice surprise to be able to stop in and see them.

It was our turn to host Movie Night so at about 7:00 our movie night friends showed up for snacks and drinks. Then we watched "Precious". To our surprise, none of them had seen it! Everyone liked it except Spouse, who felt the character of Mary (Precious' mother) was "unrealistically cruel". WTF??? I thought Mo'Nique (Mary) and Paula Patton (Miss Rain) did outstanding jobs. However I felt the execution of the story could have been a lot better. Good films build emotional peaks and valleys several times throughout the film, but I found this one to be a little 'flat' in its delivery. But I thought the story itself was great and could make very a very interesting sequel.

Sun morning I painted this Mark Rothko-inspired painting for my friend Thad.
We took it with us to brunch since we knew we'd see him there, and gave it to him just before we left. I was very pleased that he liked it. I found out this morning that he hung it up as soon as he got home.

On Sun we attended Bob's birthday brunch at Saketumi. There were about 15 of us there, and we all had the Sunday Brunch Buffet which was just as fresh and delicious as the dinner entrees always are. We had a very nice time.

When we returned from brunch we found our friends Kerry & Hugh at our house. They decided to stop by on their way home so they could see our garage/bathroom/closet addition. We showed them around and visited for a few minutes. What a nice treat to see them twice this weekend! When they left Spouse & I changed clothes and went for a walk on the boardwalk. The weather was significantly cooler than Sat so we wore jackets, but the sun felt good as we walked along the boardwalk and looked out onto the ocean. We skipped dinner since our brunch was so filling, and watched some TV. I felt tired so I went to bed uncharacterically early, at 9:30.

Crush du Jour: Craig Archer

Before & after

You may recall that when the interior construction was finished on our garage/bath/closet addition, I took you on a little photo tour of the inside.

I waited to show you the exterior before-and-after shots because the driveway was not done and 2 important pieces of gingerbread trim (for the peaks of the gables) had to be ordered. I'm happy to say that the driveway was completed last week and the gingerbread trim was completed this week. We are officially done.

In case you're interested, here's the backhoe tearing out the old driveway, which was cracked by the City's street paving contractor.
This is what it looked like for about a month:

An unusual number of rainy days delayed the pouring of the concrete several times, but they were finally to get it poured last week.

They poured the 2nd side on a different day, probably so they could remove the forms.

So, now I can present to you the exterior before-and-after shots.

The side of the house before:

The side of the house after:

The side/front of the house before:

The side/front of the house after:

The front of the house before:

The front of the house after:

I am happy to report that the addition came in on budget and we are very happy with the final product. Big Ella has a comfy place to rest while Spouse & I have lots of storage space in the garage, 2 additional parking spaces in front of the garage, and a glamorous master bathroom and closet/dressing room.

Most of our neighbors and friends have commented about how seamlessly the addition was integrated into the existing house. "You'd never know it wasn't all built at the same time" they say. That is exactly what we were going for! It was very important to us that it didn't end up looking like an addition, so we were very clear about this while working with the architect and builder. If anyone plans an addition or renovation, I highly recommend being very clear about what you want/don't want and like/don't like. Don't be afraid to say it over and over again. Its your house and your money!

Just in case you'd like to see how the project went, from start to finish, go to the left side of this blog and click on the 'addition' tag. This will pull up for you all posts related to the addition project.

Crush du Jour: Travis Oliver

Addition update - week 20

Week 20
This is the last installment of the addition updates, as this week the addition was finished!
Mon: Mike the builder came for a mini walk-thru to check for any missing final touches. He also put the hooks on the shelf towers.
There are 2 of these double hooks on each side of both of the shelf towers. These will hold robes and clothes you don't want to fold or hang.

Tues: Mike installed a 3rd corner shelf in the shower for use as a place to prop my foot.

Wed: Mike the builder sent over a cleaning crew since there was so much construction dust. They did not clean the entire house, but did more than 1/2 of it, which was really helpful. The masonry crew began breaking up the original stamped concrete driveway. They got about 1/3 of it done.

Thurs: Jay fixed one of the tub handles which the cleaning crew found to be loose. He & Junior removed the last of the tools from the garage.

Fri: Jay & Junior finished up the last of the interior and exterior touch-up painting, remounted the towel bar more securely, and installed the deadbolt on rear door of the garage.

With the exception of the original driveway, the addition project is complete!

On the ground level there is a 16' wide, 23' long garage. Above the garage is the extension of the master bathroom and the closet/dressing area. Care to go on a tour?

From the master bedroom looking into the bathroom:

We re-used the vanity, sinks, and mirror in their original locations.

To the right of the vanity is the walkway into the rest of the bathroom:

As you walk through the walkway there is a toilet closet (with pocket door) on the right:

We re-used the toilet and tissue holder from the original bathroom.

On the left, built into the eave, is a custom-built display/storage shelf:

Under the 3 windows is a 2-person heated/jetted jacuzzi tub:

To the right of the tub is the 2-person tiled shower room. This view shows the 'rain' shower head that extends down from the ceiling:

This view shows the 2nd shower head which has a removable, hand-held sprayer. This will make cleaning the shower tile more convenient, too.

To the right of the shower is the 'his and his' closet/dressing room. Both sides have a 7' tall shelf tower, an 8' long rod for hanging clothes, an 8' long shelf above the rod, and a 7' long shoe shelf underneath the hanging area. This is my side:

This is the center section. The door leads to storage space under the eave.

This is Spouse's side. On the wall opposite of Spouse's hanging area you can see another shelf. It is for wallets, watches, etc. Underneath it is space for dirty clothes hampers. The idea is for this to be a dressing/undressing room where all of our clothes will be centralized.

On the far right (above) are several hooks for belts.

That's it - its finally done! We are so happy with the finished project. It turned out exactly how we planned it. And now that its clean, we are ready to move in.

I hope you have enjoyed following this project with me. It has been educational for me to witness and interesting to share with you. Just in case you want to see it all over again from start to finish, click on the "addition" tag at the end of this post or on the left side of the blog and you will see all addition posts and photos.

Crush du Jour: Peter Pagan

Addition update - week 19

Week 19
I'm missing all the photos taken before our trip to NYC because Spouse accidentally deleted them. I tried to fill in with photos taken after we returned home.

Mon: All the nail holes in the baseboards and chair rail molding were filled, sanded, and painted with top coat of white paint.The scrap materials were sorted for storage and disposal, and the materials for closet built-ins were delivered.

Tues: The dumpster was hauled away. All the trim and doors received a final coat of white paint. The closet built-ins were started, beginning with the rod for hanging clothes, then the shelf towers were constructed.
Wed: The other shelf tower was installed, as well as the shelf on the right wall below. Hooks for belts.The register covers were installed throughout the bathroom and closet/dressing room.Two towel rings were installed, one at either end of the vanity, for hand towels.The double towel bar for bath towels was re-installed. It was re-used from the previous bathroom.
Thurs: The stained beadboard panels were attached to the tub apron. (They can be removed to access the tub mechanicals.)The clear glass shower door was installed.The closet built-ins were completed. There is a shelf tower on either end for jeans, shorts, sweaters, and any other folded items, and spanning the full length of the long wall is a rod for hanging clothes since we hang t-shirts as well as polo-style and button-ups, a shelf above the hanging rod for addition folded items, and a shelf below the hanging rod for shoes.
Fri: A section of railing was re-installed to complete the front porch. The light fixture was installed in the bathroom (in front of the shower and closet doors).The door knobs and striker plates were installed.The toilet paper holder was re-installed. It was re-used from the previous bathroom.Glass mosaic tile was applied between the mirror and the backsplash. This brings the mosaic tile from the shower and tub to the vanity, uniting these three elements.

Crush du Jour: Russell Martin

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Its day 2 of our NYC trip and our plan is to visit the Cloisters today. I've heard its amazing.

The garage/bathroom/closet/dressing room addition should be finished when we get back from NYC. Well, not completely finished since the old driveway and sidewalk won't be poured yet, but practically finished. I suspect we will sleep in our bedroom when we return Sun night, and use the bathroom once its cleaned. I am practically GIDDY over the idea of moving our clothes and shoes from 3 separate closets into our new closet/dressing room!

Next Tues a guy is coming to give us a quote for regular housecleaning every other week. We had a housekeeper when we lived in VA and we felt it was a worthy expense, but when we moved here we just couldn't afford it. But things have changed and now we can afford it. We do not want to spend our evenings and/or weekends cleaning. We are active people who have lots of houseguests. Its time to get a housekeeper again. I hope we like this guy who's coming on Tues.

Have you seen those new Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets? Its a sheet that contains detergent, fabric softener, and anti-static you toss in the washer AND dryer.

Spouse picked them up at the store (because he loves gadgets and this is sort of like a gadget) and I must admit they are pretty nice. Saves me from having to measure liquid detergent (which I always seem to get on my hands) and remember whether or not I tossed a dryer sheet in the dryer. Print a coupon and try them yourself. Now, if I could just get Spouse to empty his pockets before throwing his pants into the hamper.

This video made the rounds on Facebook this week. I think its very good. Imagine if straight people had to ask for their community's permission to marry? As obsurd as it sounds, that's exactly what is happening for GLBT people in states where same sex marriage is put on the ballot for community vote.

Crush du Jour: Robert Gonzalez

Addition update - week 18

Week 18
There was a flurry of activity and progress this week! An end is in sight! As always, click the photos to enlarge them.

Mon: The 16"x16" ceramic floor tile was set. It is a light sand color, similar to travertine, but a fraction of the cost of travertine.

The attic access was cut into the ceiling of the dressing room and framed.

Tues: The floor tile was grouted and the chair rail molding installed.

Lots and lots of chair rail molding.

The radiant heat "warm wire" was fished through the wall.

The sills around the tub were set.

Wed: The blue underlyment was cut and laid in the closet/dressing room in preparation for the installation of the laminate flooring.

Some of the porch columns that were carefully removed from the wrap-around porch were re-installed to create a more formal entry from the new driveway to the porch and front door.

The radiant heated floor thermostat/control unit was installed and tested. Mmm, toasty toes! The extra cost of this feature was definitely worth it!

The tile was set on the shelf behind the tub.

The light switch plates were installed.

The white electric sockets were switched out with brown ones to blend in better with the color of the wainscoting, and face plates were installed.

Thurs: The laminate floor was installed in the closet/dressing room.

A relocated exterior light was wired, and the foyer ceiling light fixture was re-installed.

The tile on the shelf behind the tub was grouted.

The vanity was re-installed and the sinks were reconnected. The beadboard and chair rail molding on the window wall near the vanity was completed.

Fri: The baseboards were installed in the main bathroom, closet/dressing room, and toilet room.

The shower fixtures were installed.

The shower room tile was grouted. (That's the white haze seen over the tile. It had not been wiped off yet.)

The tub fixtures were installed.

The toilet was re-installed.

The crew seems to think they will be finished next week! I hope they're right. There appears to be some nail-hole filling and top coat painting needed, the installation of the beadboard panels around the tub apron, and the removal of the original driveway and the pouring of the new driveway. I can't believe its almost done!

Crush du Jour: Thomas Jane