Who Needs a Wooden Spoon to Prop the Window?

Not this 60 year old. Indeed, my birthday came and went, mostly a quiet day with some sweet gifts from the family, including these from Bruce:

For dinner we went to the Olive Garden which might make a few of you laugh, however, I found it appropriate because way back when we were 39 years old, Bruce began his career working for Darden after building a few Olive Gardens on the contractor side. It changed our lives and for the better!

What I was hoping for on my birthday was sunshine, but that was not to be had for the most part; it's been way too dreary of late for my liking. Alissa helped me take down all the tree decorations, and not a minute too soon, as our tree was shedding needles like the rain which came the following day! Remember those 700 lights on the tree? Bruce and I took it out back, unwinding, and unwinding, and unwinding.

Could the top of the tree be any browner?

Generally it is me that wants to re-paint rooms, however, this time it was Mr. Bruce who thought it was time to paint the sunroom that he uses as his home office. So, on New Year's Day, while the "kids" were packing for their return to Austin, I went over to Ace Hardware to pick out paint. Then the cable modem went out, and I mean out. Moving his desk in preparation for the the next day's window install, Bruce thought perhaps that was the problem, however a call to Bright House proved that the darn thing was just worn out. Perhaps our constant problems with internet connection were due to the aging modem?

Moving the desk was a monumental task....

It fits right up against the window wall, and into the corner; somehow he managed. Only, our next problem was when he removed the rug from under the desk, the backing had either disintegrated or stuck to the tile. Very demoralizing is putting it mildly.

This photo does not do it justice that's for sure! We tried everything from ammonia, laquer thinner, boiling water, and my floor steamer, with little success. Ask J & A--it was a big, fat mess. Never ones to be daunted for too long, we got to painting, after doing our best with the floor. In a first for us, we are going with an accent wall,

which I just love--so bright and cheery! A few years ago Matt gave Bruce some black and white prints from London which look marvelous on this color.  So, notice the window because soon it will be gone.

Waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of rain and wind, we wondered if the window job could be completed after waiting for two months. Indeed.

They arrived, they removed:

Except, which I would be remiss if I didn't mention it, we had to move all of the furniture away from the windows, as well as blinds, and curtains.

My office,

and the guest room, recently vacated by J & A.

The living room was not exempt:

Did I mention everything outside was wet? Then too, we are in the leaf dropping season, meaning wet leaves made their way into the house on both the workers, and our feet. What a mess! It rained periodically while they were here, coming down like mad after they left around 4.

I wanted to get a few shots of the house before and after including this shot of the front of the house which I took for two reasons. See the trash pile? While clearing the garage area where the workers had to get to the window, Bruce decided to finally throw away the folding screen he made for our first foray at the market, back when we both had smaller cars; well, I mean I did. My baby car, a darling yellow MINI Cooper. Anyway, it made me a little sad to see it go.

Yeah, that's the rug, and good riddance is what I say to that!

Fortunately for me, errands kept me from the full misery of the install. Let's just say it is loud, and messy. Poor Baxter doesn't do well with super loud noises, so it goes without saying, he was going crazy. I'm not exactly sure why, but when they left and we were putting things back together again, we found that everything was covered in a thin layer of grit.

BUT, I no longer need to prop my office windows open with a wooden spoon! Actually, in the above photo, the spoon is resting on the windowsill because I used it for only one window. The other required something else which is now thrown away!

Awesome slider windows on the side wall!

Awesome double hung window in the back wall!

I did not get a photo of the Appleton side of the house with the old and new windows, side by side, due to my errands, but I did get one of the back showing the contrast.

So, in the end it looks like this:

Bruce rigged up the ladder to dry the blinds on, which he washed thoroughly, thank goodness, as they were in dire need of cleaning.  I took the above photo yesterday morning when we had a touch of blue sky, which sadly did not last long!

The first order of business, after they left, and the paint and window caulking were dry, was getting the office area back together.

Somehow, all by himself, Bruce put some appliance rollers under the desk legs which saved the day, and his back!

He's organizing cords at this point. To put the new rug under said desk, he did use his back, lifting the desk just enough for me to push the rug under the legs. Crazy, right? Of course, it worked.

I know lots of folks who never open their windows, but I'm not one of them. I love the outdoors, and I love to bring it inside whenever possible. The window salesman kept repeating how sound-proof the new windows would be, which is probably all well and good, except I like to hear the birds and wind chimes even when the windows are shut! Time will tell.

Living in this house for the last eighteen years, we have done more than our fair share of remodeling and replacing. Pretty much every major system in the place. That said, either we are getting old, or this was a difficult remodel. Probably the later. Working late into the night on January 2, I told Bruce that remodeling is not for the faint of heart!

Yesterday Bruce had to get back to Darden work, while I put the house back in order, not so much the furnishings, as they were already back in place, but my regular decorations, which had been in my office closet for nearly a month. Everything looks fresh and new again, which is such a nice feeling. A good way to begin my 60's. :) Bruce is finishing putting the rest of the blinds up, and me--not at the market, as you've deduced. Vacuuming the grit off the furniture is on tap for today.

As to the wooden spoon...it's back in it's rightful place in the kitchen.