That Damned Green Room

Mike had quite a bit of patching work to do in the green room, which had all kinds of cracks in the ceiling and the walls. When I got there, we were able to finally paint the ceiling, the walls, and start on the trim. The trim proved trickier than we thought, as the dark green paint underneath kept showing through.
Mike did an AMAZING job on the ceiling. It was a lot of hard work and a bit of a learning curve, but the end result was really great!

Even with the painting tape still up, I think these windows look so much better with clean, white paint rather than that dark green.

Exhaustion, satisfaction, and crazy poodle-like hair, all at the same time! :-)

Summer is Kitty Window Time

I was working at my desk recently, and heard a strange noise that wasn't coming from Katya and Anya. I looked out the window, and there was a squirrel, sitting on the corner of the back yard fence, taunting the kitties with strange noises. They were on high alert, tails a-wagging and ears a-flittering. It was all very cute.

Now that the den windows are open, there are so many interesting things to see in the back yard.

Of course, it's better if you can have the window sill all to yourself. :-)

Last summer, I changed out the curtains in the kitchen, which awoke Katya to a whole new world of window watching. It's now difficult to prevent her from getting up in the kitchen window over the sink.

BUSTED!

This was taken last summer; Anya was keeping an eye out for the painter.

Hiking in Ludington State Park

Most of this last weekend was gorgeous, and warm weather is going to continue through most of the week. To take advantage of this, my friend, Jason, and I headed to Ludington State Park to go hiking. And hike we did, for over five hours! Now, this might not seem all that much to you, but I was quite impressed with ourselves. We also walked around the harbor and a bit by the beach.

Contemplating the trail map...

Mike and I hiked a bit in Ludington last July (see 2009 July posts) and went to the lighthouse. Jason and I took some different trails this time around.

I thought this piece of wood was twisted in an interesting way.

There was a strong breeze and good tree cover, which were most welcome given the heat.

New Facebook profile picture. Thanks, Jason! :-)

A Ludington institution: the SS Badger Lake Michigan car ferry (see http://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx).

The harbor park had several statutes commemorating what seemed to be Ludington's more glorious past.

Thai Tea Set

One of my students who just graduated gave this tea set to me as a gift. Her parents brought it from Thailand (they are Thai) when they came for the graduation ceremony. I am amazed at how beautiful it is, and the detailed handiwork is particularly impressive.
And the box is not only sturdy but pretty, with the exterior covered in silk.

Taking on the Green Room

At Mike's house, one of the bedrooms was painted a dark green with a different colored green trim. On the right side of this photo, you can see our attempt at color selection. The new color is called "Soothing Aloe."

It's not a horrible set of colors, but we wanted to paint it a bit more neutral. The previous owners even painted the dark green with a lighter green pattern in the closet.

We've now started this project, but there's a lot of prep work. The ceiling has a lot of cracks, for example, and Mike has taken on the task of spackling.

My job today has been the closet; I've finished the first coat, and so far so good. I think "Soothing Aloe" is going to turn out nicely. I'll post more when the room is closer to finished!

Landscaping Work at Mike's

To clean up his yard a bit from the eclectic mix of the previous owner, Mike had some landscaping work done recently. I think it will look great once the grass grows in; it's so much neater and doesn't block the front of the house. Here are some before photos from last summer.

The bushes in the front had just become so big, and I think these smaller shrubs don't hide the house so much. Also, the flowers in front were pretty but a good amount of work to maintain. The landscaper moved some of the bushes around to save the pretty plants and bushes that the previous owner had, too.

For example, the azalea at the end (blooming pink right now) was in front of the house in the large flower area and was moved to a place where it still can be seen but doesn't block the house. And there's still a small flowerbed at the corner, which will still allow for pretty blooming.

The other azaleas (blooming pink and white right now) were moved next to the rhododendrum. All three are beautifully blooming.

I had heard of plants called azaleas and rhododendrums, but now I now what they are! :-)

On the side of the house, the landscaper cleaned up the numerous plants that were there to make it neater.

Some of these were transplanted from the front yard.

New Drywall & Fireplace Stripping

The drywall is up in the kitchen and the dining area (new drywall areas) now, and the floor will be done this coming week. It's coming along!

The wall to the left with the covered window is where the sink will go. The covered area is the look-through window between the kitchen and the family room. The family room was added in early 1990s.

In the corner is where the refrigerator used to be. I can't wait to see what the kitchen looks like with the full benefits of the windows there, without the refrigerator covering up one of them.

This is the new drywall area, where the new refrigerator will go.

The doorway between the living and dining rooms was moved over a bit to accommodate the longer wall to the left. Oh, and the overhead light in the dining room is a goner, to be replaced with something a bit more up-to-date. :-)

Using a soy gel product that we found, Mike has been stripping the 70+ years of paint from the fireplace to see what was underneath. He discovered a bit of a hodge-podge of wood types.

By the way, the soy gel product that Mike has been using is pretty good. It doesn't smell like traditional stripping products, and you can leave it on, covered with plastic, for up to 24-hours for maximum removal (e.g., 3+ layers of paint).