Microwave

When I bought my house, I knew one of the things that I wanted to add was a microwave above the stove. The existing stove had to have been from the early '80s and was all one piece but had two separate ovens and no vent. I knew I would wait at least a year before doing anything because I had gotten a home warranty when I bought the house, and if anything had happened to it, there was a chance they would replace it. 

So in the meantime, I had to buy a microwave. There was a built-in shelf that I put it on.

A few months after my home warranty expired, I purchased a new stove and got rid of that ugly, big beast. Up next was the microwave.

"Up next" being another year or so. I willing admit that I am a procrastinator on some things. On this project it was finding and hiring the electrician to put in an outlet above the stove for the microwave. I was getting along fine without a vent above the stove, and it was just as easy to leave things the way they were. 

But this summer/fall, I'm tackling several large projects and this was on the list just waiting to be crossed off. I finally got the name of an electrician from a co-worker (and then also found out he was the son-in-law of a co-worker from a previous job so I was really happy). So a little over three years later, I now have the stove and microwave I want.

I moved the toaster oven to the shelf where the microwave was, but I'm not sure I like it there so there might be more re-arranging going on.

Start Somewhere Walk

Iowa is currently ranked the 19th healthiest state in the U.S. The Healthiest State Initiative was created to make us the healthiest state by 2016.  Yesterday the Start Somewhere Walk was held as the kickoff of the initiative. Iowans gathered at businesses, schools, grocery stores and other places all over the state for a 1K walk at noon. It was a great day for the quick 10-15 minute walk. It was held to inspire Iowans to improve their health and happiness.

Check out the website and pledge to help Iowa change.

Bedroom Painting Project

The spare bedroom was in need of some color after I took the wallpaper down. I think I looked in every store in town at least twice before I finally found the shade of purple/lavender/grey comforter that I wanted. Then it was time to pick out the paint. I decided on Olympic Timeless Lilac.

 It's always such a shock (but exciting) when the first strokes of a darker paint go on, but I loved it right away.

 I knew the white furniture and curtains would really lighten up the room.

It was the blue carpet that was the problem. So while I still had some ambition, I ripped it out the same day I painted. It was held down by double stick tape. In the other bedroom that I took carpet out of, the tape was so dried out it wasn't even stuck to the floor. 

I wasn't so lucky with this room. Only about half of it came off, and the rest is very, very sticky. I haven't come up with a way to get it off yet, but I'm sure it will be time-consuming whatever it is. Ugh!

I really wish the bed would fit with the head on the wall without the window, but there's no other place for the long dresser because of the floor vent.

I still need to find an area rug and accessorize, but that's a project for another day.

There Is No More

All of the wallpaper in my house is finally gone...and it only took me three years. I think I lived with it that long because it was a fairly neutral color and not pink metallic fish. One day last winter I decided to work on the last two rooms - the spare bedroom and the basement bathroom. I knew that if I didn't do them both at the same time, I'd get one done, and it would be several months before I got to the other.





This was the room on the weekend I moved into the house. That great looking light was left behind by the previous owners and later sold at a garage sale.



The teeny, tiny basement bathroom.



I peeled the main layer of paper off and then started to work on the backing. I only had to spray it down with water and then scrape it off. Both rooms only had wallpaper on one wall so it didn't take me long. It only took me a fraction of the time that the main bathroom did. I hate even thinking about that...it was ugly.

 

I got such a crick in my neck working behind the toilet. Someone told me I should have taken the tank off, but, wow, that was more than I knew how to do or wanted to mess with. 

 Such a great feeling to have it all down and gone. The work is done. Now the fun part of painting and decorating.

Meals From the Heartland

Last week I had an opportunity thru work to volunteer at Meals From the Heartland. This is an organization that packages meals (soy, dried vegetables, vitamin tablet, and rice) to feed starving people around the world. They package meals year-round, but once a year they have a large event to package millions of meals. 

Friday morning a group of us headed downtown to help out. Above is a picture overlooking the packaging floor. Reminder: take sticker off shirt before putting in the wash. I speak from experience. 

Here is half of our team during the event. It was easy to do and is great for kids and adults. Aren't the hair nets lovely! We had a great time and hope to do it again next year. 

New-to-me Headboards

I have two twin beds that didn't have headboards. My mom found a couple for me very cheap. They needed a little work, but I knew it wouldn't be too hard to make them just like I wanted.

First I sanded them down so the paint would adhere. The darker one took a little bit more elbow grease than the other. I wanted to do more than just scuff them so it wouldn't take as much paint to cover. And let me just say spindles are great to look at but a pain to sand.

I used spray primer and it took more than I thought. I finally ended up using a brush and some primer that I had on hand for the flat surfaces. I like the results of the brush better and would have done it all that way if it weren't for those silly spindles.

It took me way longer to finish these up than I originally thought, but after several coats of gloss spray paint they are finished. Since I was doing them outside, I was at the mercy of Mother Nature and the hot, humid Iowa weather. Today we finally had a cool 70-degree day...perfect for the last coat of paint.

Time For Some New Flowers

The summer flowers always start looking a bit peaked this time of year. This pot has a few holes from the ones that have died out and others I have are just not blooming anymore and look really bare.

I bought some smaller mums to fill in, but it's been raining most of the day (yay, we need it) so I'll wait until the dirt dries out a bit before planting them. I also picked up a couple gallon-sized ones and some better looking pots to put them in.

 After sprinkling them with some ground squirrel repellent (have I mentioned how I hate those critters), they were ready for display.

There's a pot of impatiens on the front steps that is still looking great even after all the hot weather we've had.