Finally, contractors

I have been waiting for a full year to have several things done at our house. 

I tracked down one of the two original trim guys who did all the finishing woodwork at our house in 2002. He came out to look at the work and then ghosted me. 

The firm that redid the house across the street put me on their list. They came one morning in April to do the simpler three jobs. They will do more later this spring. 

In this first trip in April, they rehung the medicine cabinet in the garage. It was taken down when the new sink was installed.

They added a shelf to disguise the fact that a big box TV was originally in our bedroom, using wood from the shelf over the refrigerator/kitchen, that my husband carefully dismantled last year.

They replaced the window trim that was chewed by the puppies. It will be stained and finished later.

Foot pedal fix

My one problem at the quilt retreat in March was the foot pedal on my extra sewing machine. It is awkward. I had to sort of hold my foot up in the air to use it. The foot pedal also slid all over the floor.

My husband built me a wooden stand.

My heel rests comfortably on the 2x4 in the back. 

Middle glued a non skid rug pad on the bottom.

I now attend a guild sewing bee group one Saturday each month. 

I went the first time last weekend. 

My wooden, foot rest, bracket worked great.

A solution for the metal birds

Last spring, hauling arbors and other metal works out of the garage as we organized the flower beds for spring, we made the decision not to winter them in the garage any more. 

We decided getting everything in and out of the ground and storing them in the garage probably caused more damage than the weather.

I have three metal birds in the flower beds next to the driveway. The largest blew over in a strong wind fall 2024. Winter was coming. I needed to secure them.

Five hooked stakes secured them before winter hit. Three stake the large bird. Two stake the medium bird. None are holding the little bird which is very low to the ground.

Two of these stakes came with the medium bird, but we had never pounded them in the ground. 

I took a bent piece of rebar (from our garage) and one of the hooked stakes to a local welding shop. They have a pipe bender. They cut my rebar in thirds and made three hook stakes.

The birds are now secure. 

And, best part, I used up a bent rebar from the garage. 

Solving an eye sore

We have an old utility box in our backyard. It is very visible. It is very annoying. I tried, two years ago, to get somebody to take care of it. No luck.

The cover falls off regularly, the wires are in terrible shape, it is doubtful it is still hooked up to anything. 

Our woodworking neighbor made a cover for our utility box. 

It sat outside, drying, for several weeks. It is made of treated lumber, which can be very heavy/wet from the chemical treatment. 

My daughter stained it for me. 

My husband made a base with paver stones and paver gravel to keep the box up out of the mud. 

We bought a 20” paver stone (Lowe’s) to serve as the cap.

We utilized a half barrel we already had for the planter. 

I bought a variety of plants, half off at the end of the season, as an experiment to see which liked the location. 

Photos of the finished project are included in tomorrow’s post. 

The second quilt hanger

I am a quilter. I have made dozens and dozens and dozens of quilts on my lifetime, all shapes, sizes and styles. A lot.

At one point I taught quilting classes in my area. I also had a line of original quilt patterns that sold nationally. 

My kids have long ago laid claim to some of my larger quilts. Each was given an allotment of their favorites. A tremendous amount also are on beds or in the common areas at my house. 

Somehow, hanging the quilt for my mom (last week’s post), lead to me pulling out my substantial collection of wall sized quilts.  

My husband helped me take quick photos of these mid sized quilts to text to the kids, who each sent me a private list of their favorites. I then divided who got which by myself. Since no one saw anyone else’s list, there was no squabbling. They each got a pile, it was simple. 

And that lead to quilt rack hanger number two, at middle’s house. 

That is a long black curtain rod (below). We chose the one on the left, smaller knob at the end is required to fit against the wall. 

The hooks are from Lowe’s.

I sewed the tabs on this one. 

The story of two benches

This post is about two benches.

I am 61, the red bench (below) is probably at least as old as I am, maybe much older. My mother says my paternal grandfather made many of them. I wonder how many are still in use, loved.

The red bench, in my kitchen, serves several purposes:

I set grocery bags there to unload.

It keeps my husband from kicking the dogs’ water bowl, which is actually a huge problem.

We pull it up to the end of the kitchen table when we have a crowd. 

It is a safe haven for one of the puppies. 

That is a puppy with a fresh haircut. She loves to lay under the bench. 

A woodworking neighborhood came and looked at the red bench and I also sent him photos. 

He made a second bench for middle’s new house, six feet long and slightly larger scale. 

The 6’ bench is made with a 21’ long 100+ year old board stored in his family barn. The board looks new because it was  planed and sanded. Middle plans to paint it. 

The 6’ bench is made with pegs and the legs are inset with dado joints. So in other words, the new bench is made with very old wood and is constructed with old school techniques like the red bench. 

Middle is very pleased. And my guess is she is the only great grandchild, of that Grandfather, who knows of and loves his benches. He died in 1982 at the age of 66.

The computer room clean out

Nearly two years (2020-2021) of my husband working at home, and my mother bringing all her photos to my house (2019), and the stacked boxes from my husband’s old office clean out (2017) cumulated in a very big mess. 

If you look at that picture and wonder how the counter can handle the weight, it could not. One of the support brackets broke in half. 

A handyman installed a temporary support post. 

I ordered a four drawer cabinet for storage and to support the counter. I ordered the cabinets (Lowe’s) at the end of January, they arrived mid April. 

Those cabinets are my limit now. 7 years of tax binders/my genealogy binders not included, all the papers/files in the house must now fit in these four drawers. 

This is where we are today, very pleasant workspace, I am in there daily now -

The steps in this process included:

- shipping about 36 packages of photos to other people

- getting rid of 2 old file cabinets on wheels

- installing a 4 drawer storage unit for counter support 

- shredding an enormous volume of old papers 

- limiting papers to what fits in the 4 new file drawers

- repairing the broken support

- cleaning out every cupboard and cubby

- removing all the extraneous stuff from the floor 

- removing as much as possible from the counter

- rearranging the printer/PC work stations 

Another planter

Last year we turned an old bench into a planter. The bench was falling apart. It needed a redo or it was headed for the garbage.

This year we turned an old flower box into a planter.

The house has to be resided in that area. The flower box was no longer visit or from the street, a hedge grew.

And I wanted a “flower box” look on the other side of the house.

Very pleased.

Can be used as a seat in either position and also as a kneeler

This would make a great gift.

We now have two because my husband and middle both use it too. Woodworking, projects on the ground, gardening.

Makes a huge difference in our backs.

I use Lowe’s curbside service a lot.

Simplified laundry tub

If I had to do it over, I would probably have put a laundry tub in garage with faucet that could have hose attached to it.

We even went and looked at laundry tubs that are just the tub, with no attached faucet, to set under the spigots in the garage. Two problems: They do not sit close enough to wall. They were too deep. A hose from under the sink to a drain was doable but awkward.

I fill a deep dish pan with water several times a day to wash dog feet. It is heavy. It is awkward. My hands are not good. I tried a hose but that created its own problems.

While we were looking, it occurred to us that a board might work better, than a sink with sides, in lifting the full dishpan.

So that is what we did. We had the plank. We had the can (which has hoses stored it it and is very heavy/secure).

So it was a free and simple solution.

New table top

I must have been taking a picture of the rug, in this old kitchen picture. Obviously the chairs are missing. But it really shows the rest of the kitchen. The old table top was laminate and green. It looked huge when we built the house. When my kids and their attachments are here and my brother’s family is here, it was not big enough.

Lighting is not good here, but it shows placement.

The base stayed the same, but I switched out the table top this week. The color changed and it went from 3’x7’ to 4’x8’.

It looks like there are just four chairs on each side, but there is an old bench my grandpa made, tucked down between the island and the table. He would be thrilled and we have wondered if it is the last bench (of many he made) surviving in the family. It is older than I am, but a woodworking friend checked and it is sound.

The bench at the bottom of the stairs, just visible in this (above) picture, can be pulled up to the near end of the table. So it now easily seats 12. I bought two new chairs, if you notice there were previously three on each side. They are mismatched on purpose. There are three color variations.

The table used to be housed up against the island. It now has four rounded corners and stands, free floating in the middle of the kitchen. When the ceiling fan/light dies, I will replace it with something long that is centered  over the table better.

Notice the white bench, under the picture rails, has been relocated (to the front porch). And the two shelves on either side of the bench have been removed too. There are several other things, not visible in the angle of these pictures, that have been decluttered too.  The black thing with a basket on top, at the end of the island, is a small refrigerator.

I attempted to replace this table top last year. The original firm, that did my kitchen and bathrooms when we built this house, was too busy to be bothered. I called them again a couple weeks ago and they were still too busy to be bothered. I called a couple other places too. Ditto.

Then I sent a text to ask if friends knew of a laminate guy. Someone did. And when I called him, he stopped by within 2 hours and looked at the project and then even with two deaths in his family this month, got my table top done and installed.

I am very pleased.

Cubbies in use

The basket holds dog towels (wet dogs, muddy feet). This basket used to be in the house. This spot is much more practical.

There are hooks on the wall just above the basket with all the other dog things (leashes, outside toys, plastic bags).

The vacuum is new. Works on carpet/rugs or hard flooring. I use it on garage rugs, kitchen rugs, front porch rugs, kitchen/hall floor.

Vacuum now lives right next to the backdoor. Very handy. The rugs just inside and outside the door (between the house and the garage) are my most vacuumed spots.

Empty drawer

I mentioned we added a tool cabinet in the garage several weeks ago.

Previously all the tools and supplies were stored in clear shoe box bins in garage.

Many people would think that was organized, but in reality it meant digging thru bins to find things.

One of my neighbors had a tool cabinet slightly smaller than the one we now have. And when I saw it in their garage, years ago, I was surprised. They are not very handy. They do NO diy of any kind. I doubt they open that tool cabinet once a month, maybe not even once a quarter.

But that planted the seed, regular people can have bigger tool cabinets. And how handy that would be for us.

Fast forward. We have a tool cabinet. I attached the wheels and sorted thru everything and filled it. I got rid of what was not cabinet worthy. (We now have a work bench with an empty/ready surface. I cleaned out and reorganized the cupboards in the garage too.)

I am in and out of our tool cabinet pretty much every day. It was a very smart addition.

Before we had the tool cabinet, during a kitchen drawer clean out (maybe in the last couple years), I added a tool drawer to the kitchen. And at the time, it was so handy. Instead of going out to the garage and digging thru bins, a tape measure or hammer or screwdriver was right there in a drawer.

Yesterday I emptied that drawer. I put the keepers in the garage tool cabinet. I packed a donate bag.

If I want anything, I can just walk out to the garage and get it. Having all the  tools in drawers in the garage is pretty much as handy as a few things in the kitchen.

I have had other empty drawers and shelves in various rooms. Sometimes for long stretches. And it a nice feeling.

I am in no hurry to fill it. If a need presents itself, it is available.

And actually there is a second drawer which I am considering. Because now that I have the post office cubbies in the computer room, this drawer in the kitchen may be able to be at least reduced too.

Creative reuse

I have had two special pieces of wood for several years.

The boards were part of the gym floor from the kids’ high school. I was able to get them when the gym was gutted and redone.

At one point I regretted having got them, just was not sure what I would (ever) do with them.



I have been aggressively re-evaluating many things in the garage this fall.

My goal is to have the double bay side of the garage FLOOR as empty as possible.

This is for several reasons -
Decluttering/reducing
Slush/ice/water coming off cars
Clean looking

So in keeping with my “use it or lose it” philosophy, I thought of something beneficial to do with the larger (7’ x 16”) of the two boards.

It is now the top of shoe cubbies.



I used three quarts of brown paint(s). They were nearly full, left from other projects. That was extremely pleasing. My paint cupboard was over flowing.

I used the two darker colors as the base coat. I am in the process of painting the final coat (in the lightest brown). I will have used every drop of all three quarts by the time I am finished.

I buy my lumber at Lowe’s. They cut all my boards for me. I bought the wooden feet and the hardware at Lowe’s also. I have used these before, they carry several kinds, super easy to install.