So as of my first deck update we had a deck! We had no door [and had to climb through the bedroom window], but we had a deck! And then nothing happened for 3 LONG weeks – Gah! This past Friday, the contractors FINALLY came back and put in a door!
The original title of this post was “The 6th Coat’s the Charm!” So yeah, I’m STILL struggling with the living room cupboard overhaul. After briefly thinking I was done, I decided it looked like crap and started over. The only thing I liked from my first attempt was the stained plywood top. Hubby helped me decide on a new color for the base and doors [Benjamin Moore Night Flower – same as the laundry room]
During the first week of deck construction, support posts were placed & the deck was framed in. Mid-way through the 2nd week, we came home to… A deck!!! OMG we have a deck! We still have no DOOR to get out to the deck [we have to climb through the bedroom window] but at least we have a deck! We climbed out the window and took our first deck selfie 🙂
In support of my first “Adorable Animals” post about chipmunks, here is a 2nd “Adorable Animals” post about groundhogs! Hubby and I learned on teh interwebs last week that groundhogs, aka woodchucks, are also called “whistle pigs” because when alarmed they emit a loud whistle – neat! Our neighbor’s house abuts a field, and we often see a groundhog family eating together along the edge of the field.
In July 2014 we hired a contractor to build us a small deck off the Master Bedroom overlooking the Ipswich River. This is one of the few projects we have hired out. This project has been in the works since February 2012!
Last night, hubby and I decided we didn’t like the lip on the living room cupboard top [too thick] OR the base [too white]. So this morning, at 7am, I unscrewed the lip [I used screws instead of glue for just that reason!], removed 2 of the cupboard doors [I don’t want to commit to the whole thing unless we like the raspberry], taped up half the cupboard, and put 3 coats of Benjamin Moore Night Flower on the frame and doors.
I was ready to call this project done… until I woke up this morning and decided 2 things: the lip is too thick – it sticks out from the cupboard too far and looks like the roof of a fast food restaurant or 1970’s lawyer office *WOOF*, and the cupboard body is too white. EPIC. FAIL.
So, my Dad saw my last post about the living room cupboard, and my dilemma about the plywood edge. He told me to buy a piece of ¾” pine, stain it to match the plywood, and glue or nail it to the plywood edge. Problem solved! The ¾” pine he’s talking about comes in ¾” x ⅜” x 6′ strips – it’s what I used to build my DIY spice rack, add a border to the original cat platform, and add treads to the cat ramp fail.
Lately, in addition to the usual birds and squirrel, there’s been a chipmunk visiting our yard. So every morning I’ve been sprinkling sunflower seeds out for him & the birds, and peanuts for the squirrel. However, the chippie has taken it upon himself to stuff ALL of the above into his cheeks and race off with it to his den. I figure after last winter’s Polar Vortex, he’s not taking ANY chances!!!
I embarked on a “health kick” this past February [26 pounds of wedding weight gone, 16 to go – woohoo!], and have been trying to learn more about healthy food choices and smart nutrition choices in general. Hubby is vegetarian [he eats eggs and dairy but no animals], and I have slowly morphed from about 85% vegetarian when I met him to about 98% vegetarian.
