Finished and Painted

OOoh la la

Trim Work

Lookin' good!

Jimmy does the finishing

Jimmy created a window ledge for the kitchen today.

Tomorrow, the moulding...

Joe put in the lights!

Just in time for Grandma's visit. Thanks Joe!!

The Pecan Tree

September October

November
December

Merry Christmas 2008!

I don't know what to say.

Our plans are approved.
Our fines are paid.
I think we are ready to proceed.

I feel like I'm floating in anti-gravity...

The Door Arrives!

Antoine dropped off our door on Saturday. We ordered it on Sept 19th. It was supposed to take "a few weeks" for delivery. I had called repeatedly, every 10-20 days... finally lost it with Antoine last week. He delivered it himself...

Now we need to stain it...

Zoning Hurdle Over (?)

We got some kind of certification from zoning. This is a breakthrough, although I fear we are very far from the "finish line."

Jimmy's phone call with the lady from zoning nearly put him in cardiac arrest. Apparently we had awoken her with our phone call, or perhaps she is on a large dosage of blood pressure meds, and she stumbled and bumbled through a few other people's files before she found ours (regardless of the fact that he repeated the address numerous times).

At one point she told us that we had missed our hearing... that we'd have to wait until February to have another hearing... that we needed to post a zoning hearing sign on the front yard and send notices via certified mail to all neighbors within 250 feet of the construction zone....

Two months and counting

Today, fingers crossed, we will find out if Zoning will allow us to have this bandroom, the bandroom that has stood here for close to 60 years, so close to our house.

Somewhere along the line, someone came up with a 5 foot rule. That is, if a structure is on fire, and another structure is more than 5 feet from it (eve to eve), the second structure will not catch fire.

We wait.

53 days and counting

53 days since we had to cease and desist. We've spent over a grand on plans and fines and we are still not clear to proceed. This sucks.

Farewell Olive Owl

We haven't seen Olive in weeks. We dreamed/imagined that Olive found a mate. Illustration by Julian.

Pink Elephant

Well the pink elephant in the room for the last month has been this citation from the City of Tampa. Yeah, we did all that work in September without the benefit of sharing our plans with the city. We got a citation on October 1st telling us to cease and decist, and to file appropriate plans with the city. After weeks of no progress we are finally starting to move again. The plans have been drawn up and submitted, and we've even met with an inspector. He wasn't a bad guy at all!

Come what may, we are moving forward....

Confucius also say

In passing by the side of Mount Thai, Confucius came on a woman who was weeping bitterly by a grave. The Master pressed forward and drove quickly to her; then he sent Tze-lu to question her. "Your wailing," said he, "is that of one who has suffered sorrow on sorrow." She replied, "That is so. Once my husband's father was killed here by a tiger. My husband was also killed, and now my son has died in the same way." The Master said, "Why do you not leave the place?" The answer was, "There is no oppressive government here." The master then said, "Remember this, my children; oppressive government is more terrible than tigers."

Confucius say

The extension of knowledge is by the investigation of things.
Things being investigated, the knowledge of them became complete.
Knowledge being complete, the thoughts were sincere.
The thoughts being sincere, the hearts were made upright.
The hearts being upright, the person was cultivated.
The person being cultivated, families were regulated.
Families being regulated, the States were rightly governed.
The States being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.

Then again...

Okay, yesterday I was not my typical self. Actually, there has been a little progress here and there. I decided to paint the kitchen the very same color it has been for 10 years. I just couldn't 'see' it any other color, you know? Plus, I already had a half-gallon of the stuff and only needed to cover over a few swatch spots of the colors we tried plus the drywall work. So there, I finished the kitchen last weekend in a few hours with very little expenses (one tube of spackle, plus a pizza). Done deal.

Also worked more on painting the dining room. Impressed myself by moving the piano with one arm while balancing a cup of paint in the other and breaking up my kids 99th argument of the day.

Thinking about putting some bull-nosed tiles on the windowsill. Or maybe casing the window completely.

Bought some plantation shutters and two lined curtains, mostly for free using two gift certificates to Lowe's. Now I need to paint my curtain rod.

We made another decision with the kitchen. We are just going to use wood, or maybe an inexpensive tile, to finish the bar area. We just don't have the money for granite now that we have these permits & fines to pay.

Also picked up the last cased window from Home Depot. It looks ridiculous. I'll have to post a photo.

No Progress

For three full weeks now. It's so depressing. The bandroom looks like a prisoner with it's black hood.

Get the Stink Out!

Have been aerating the soil, raking up the dead grass. It smells less like elephant dung each day. Last night I sprinkled the ground with baking soda. Not just a little freezer box, but three large boxes full. It rained all night and is still sprinkling this a.m.

Auntie M's Feet

Auntie M + Jake

Auntie G's Feet

Auntie G on her way to the job fair.

The Pool

We had an above-ground pool this summer. It was nice at first, offering relief from summer heat and boredom. It was fun! It was nice and cool! We didn't spend 3 months and 30K! Here are some photos from July:

Time passed. The tiny little filter didn't do such a great job at cleaning the water. We moved along the learning curve with the various chemicals and cleaning processes. But lately, the pool has been either 1. too dirty to swim in or 2. too full of chemicals to swim in.

Monday I put a couple hoses in it to siphon out the water. Quick & easy. Yesterday I attempted to clean the last 4 inches of water out of the pool by turning it over (very, very heavy and very, very slimy). And in doing so I have unleashed some smells that are so foul there are no words to describe them. You could use the phrase "elephant enema" and that would put you in the ballpark. Let's just say that the next time someone says "worst case scenario" I will have a palette of smells to draw from.

Maddie was a big help. Julian found a few tiny frogs and then went off on his own. The dogs generally got in the way and disgusted me by ROLLING in the bog of eternal stench. And EATING some of the grub worms they found just below the surface. No inside time for them....

Tonight I'll get Jimmy to help me get all this stuff out for the trash. I'm sorry, I know I'm a wimpy and wasteful American...

work stoppage issues

Things have slowed down here. We are all taking a breather while Joe is on vacation. Time to paint, clean, organize and de-dust (like Amelia Bedelia, I really don't agree that the verb meaning "to get rid of dust" should actually BE "dust").

Our beautiful orchid bloomed. This is the first time!

Shing-a-ling-a-ling

Kevin is finishing up the shingling today.

Stimulating the Economy

As the stock market plunged, we stimulated the economy by buying click flooring and an air conditioner for the bandroom and some tasteful accent lighting for the kitchen.

Awning Windows In

The windows are in!

And the soffit and fascia is done!

I'm happy!

Kitchen Drywall

Kenny the drywall guy smoothed things out in our kitchen on Saturday.
Smooth!

Weekend Shots

Johnny!
Joe!
Rob and Johnny on the ladder; Joe, Jimmy & Nellie.

Windows

Picked up the windows Monday evening.

Sunday Dry In

Hey Mimi!

More Foot Shots

Julian's feet at a birthday party.

Julian's foot at an angle.
The Ultra-close-up.

Hey, those are Jimmy's feet!
And those are Maddie's!

My family seeks fame through foot portraiture...

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Morning: Framing the Bandroom Roof

A lot happened today. Here's what the bandroom looked like around 10 a.m.

Door Shopping

We went to Tampa Door on Friday and "choiced" a new front door. Here's a photo from the catalog. Ours will have 6 little panes of glass, not the beveled work seen here. It's fiberglass but it looks like wood.

Nani's 82nd

Nani turned 82 on Thursday and we had a nice dinner with her and Nano. Aunt Gabi and Aunt Marie came by also. Nani wore the tiara and opened gifts of pretty rocks and seashells from the kids. It was a really nice night.

Here she is with her great-granddaughter and a new pink Dyson!

Wednesday & Thursday

Scott and Jimmy (not Rice) worked on the soffit & fascia project. They replaced most of it, leaving Olive's corner as it has always been. She guarded her perch for the week and did remarkably well considering the nail gun/compressor noises.

Rocket Fan update

We heard back from Harbor Breeze this week and it turns out they are NOT the manufacturer of the Rocket Fan. They were very helpful and told us to call the Lowe's 1-800 service line.

The Lowe's folks were really helpful and gave our info to the Waters Ave. store, where we bought the fan. Someone from the store called within an hour and told us that, while there is no replacement kit for that model, we can bring our fan back (without the box) and they will exchange it for a different fan.

Now it's up to us. What do we want to do?

Some-One's Callin' You....

Joe's a popular guy. Here he is taking a call on the treehouse phone.