Friday, October 21, 2016

Changes Underfoot

In January 2012, I wrote this post about having new carpet installed in our bedrooms. Well, despite what I wrote about it going well, it hasn't gone so well after all. In the ensuing years, the carpet has buckled and shifted. On several occasions Bruce has rented a carpet kicker, doing what he could to stretch it back into place. In hindsight, I definitely should never have chosen carpet from a place with Discount in their name!

I will revisit the floor issue shortly but first, what the heck else has been going on while I was blogging about the trip?

Well, we had a bird in the house for starters.
I am still chuckling thinking about trying to get it OUT of our house! Seriously, it was flying back and forth across the kitchen, perching on the fan, the light, wherever it could find a flat surface. And how did said Catbird get into the house you ask? Well, early last week, there was at least one day when it was a tad bid cool and Mrs. Camera Crazy insisted on opening the doors to let some much needed fresh air into the house. She, did not anticipate a bird, however. After about ten minutes, it flew into the living room and out the back door!

I'd brought back some pretty leaves but neglected to press them ASAP. I tried something and it worked for me, so perhaps, should you find yourself in the same situation, it will work for you. I put them in a ziploc bag with water and let them sit overnight. Voila!
Speaking of our trip, I forgot to mention I was bit by a tick in the neck. That's some sentence isn't it? Anyway, Liz and Steve have a full acre of land, part of which is serious woods, so perhaps that is where it happened. At any rate, I discovered it, hopefully pretty soon after it happened. Actually, I had no idea why I had a dark red/purple spot on my neck, but Steve did. He plucked it out immediately. Because I had a follow up visit to Dr. Parillo scheduled for the next day, he took a look at it and told me to watch it. He also said, "you know that is prime country for Lyme disease, don't you?" Encouraging words from my physician. Although the evidence still remains, we are hoping it means nothing! That's all I need, right?

Before the trip I'd begun some linen placemats as a thank you gift for Bill and Fallon. Keeping Baxter for nine days deserves something special. Finding the idea on the web, I'd never sewn with linen before and I'm not so sure I'd do it again, at least in this application. I was unsuccessful at completing them before we left, so I finished them last week. In the web post, she made it seem as if they were super easy, however, I think she was exaggerating! There are loads of mistakes but they are useful so I gifted them anyway.
For the last month I've been waiting for October 18 to arrive. "Why", you ask? Maureen's birthday! She received this from me...
It's the scrappy quilt I told you about. So fun to make and no discernible mistakes either.

Our Friday night date was...where else?
Our server was the sweetest thing you can imagine!
It was exciting to see business picking up! With no advertisement, word of mouth has done the trick.

On Saturday, Bruce's beloved desk lamp went kaput. Thus, a search for a new one ensued following a long FaceTime chat with Matt and Tom who will be here for a visit in about a month. Tom was not happy in the slightest that Matt was heading to Singapore for a week long business trip! Meanwhile, we'd been discussing our floor situation and decided to go for wood this time. First we visited Floor & Decor to see what we could see. Next up, a trip to Sam Flax for the desk lamp. I'm not sure I understand this street art but it is mighty striking, nonetheless.
No luck there, but Lightstyles came through for him.

The samples we brought home were bamboo and they looked pretty darn nice. Until, that is, the installer came and pretty much talked us out of it. We did not think too hard about using Scott because Bruce had seen the work he did at our next door neighbor's house and he deemed it great. This happened on Tuesday morning, and that same afternoon I went to the showroom suggested by Scott...Orlando Flooring, just off Princeton near OBT. Impressive place!
This is all working out brilliantly. The wood we chose was in stock, the installer was between jobs so there will be no waiting time whatsoever. Bruce and I went to work, clearing out the sunroom, where the wood will also be, as well as the "coral" room. Dismantling Bruce's desk is quite the task that's for sure.
Someone expressed surprise we were also doing the sunroom, however, once that rug was removed....yikes!! I'd forgotten how the previous rug left a permanent mark!
As well, there is a crack from one side of the room to the other from the now defunct gigantic oak tree that sat outside the window for so many years.

Our living space looks like this now:
A small pathway around the coffee table allows us to get to one chair and the couch where we've spent the last two nights watching LONGMIRE, season 5. So, so good. The other end of the room looks like this.
Not a great photo but you get the idea. Yesterday was the calm before the storm as Scott should be here in about three hours.

While we were on vacation, the 21st anniversary of our living here came and went. In our opinion, keeping things fresh has helped us stay in love with our home these many years. Hoping this will be a much loved change.

Let the flooring begin,

Gail





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