Turkey Legs at a Flee Market, Yum!

Shawna was eating one too, but no pictures were taken. She said that it was GOOD

More Kitchen Updates

It has been awhile since I posted to the blog and thought that I better do it. The kitchen is coming along SLOWLY, but there is nothing that anyone can do about it. Items can only be built so quickly; and drywall can only be put up so fast. The drywall and cabinets are in. The Marmoleum are all on order. The floor should go in on June 11^th and the countertops should be the week after. Here are a few pictures of the progress so far.

More work, more work and more work. I do not know if the end is in sight. Work keeps moving at a slow pace, but I guess that I am just anxious for the kitchen to be done. The plumbing is done and we now have plenty of water pressure and heat. The water heater was replaced as long as the plumbers were down there working.

We found some of the old floor when we tore the old floor up. It looks likes a rock pattern with a green stripe and a black border. We are excited because we are going to do a border around the cabinets also. So the look and feel of the floor is going to be a period look. How cool is that!

In the pictures, look at the workmanship on the floor layout, each color and pattern is a separate piece. The rock is one tile the green stripe is a separate piece and the black is another. I can only imagine the time and energy involved in putting that floor down.

shawna's newest quilt

This is a quilt that I made for my best friend Peggy’s birthday. Halloween is her favorite holiday, so I wanted to make her something with a witchy theme, despite her birthday being in March. The central fabric is from Alexander Henry and is called “Unhappy Hour”. It features Halloween creatures miserably mingling at a bar filled with beakers and bats. The cathedral window pattern helped to give the impression of ‘peeking in’ at the characters. The backing and binding is in a batik print with spider webs printed on it.

New kitchen floor plans

These are pictures of the floor plan and of the 3d rendering.

Demolition time

Well…after one week it looks like everything is going well. Ok, let me back up, after we found out that the wall that we wanted to move could not be moved because it runs the entire length of the house, and the place that we wanted to put the oven had a chimney in the way and could not be moved. Other than THAT, everything is going well. The tear out is 90% finished and we are just waiting on the cabinet maker to get a new floor plan done. The plumber is coming in on the 10^th along with the furnace people to do some work; so that a new pantry can be added. We also had to fix the drop ceiling that was added years ago because it was starting to sag. All in all, I think that it is coming along very well. I am most pleased. Here are some pictures of the kitchen in shambles and one picture of Les tearing out some cabinets. Enjoy

Here is a picture of the cool old linoleum that was under the floor.

Start of the New Kitchen

Well the big day has finally arrived; tomorrow will mark the start of the renovation project of our new kitchen. If I say that I am not a little nervous, I’d be lying. I have posted some pictures of the old kitchen so that you can see the before and after transformation. I am also going to post updates of the progress so that everyone can get the “I was there” feeling. Feel free to post comments; I know that Shawna and I would love to here from you.

I think that I have everything in my head ready to go. It has been three years in the making and I think that I have all the details worked out. The only one that I am not sure of is the shape of the exterior walls. The house had a fire around 1912. A lot of the floor boards in the basement and the rafters in the attic are very chard. I am hoping that the walls were replaced. (Cross your fingers) Enjoy the pictures and the project. Talk to you when we get farther down the road.

First Poker Game of the Year

Well… the year started out just like the last one ended. Rough! The poker gods were not smiling upon me the other night. No they are just giving me that little “devilish” smile. You know the one; the one that says, “Just wait, the night isn’t over” The game was Texas Hold’em the buy-in was $50 for 10,000 in chips and there was also a high hand jackpot buy-in for $5. Twenty-four people were seated at three tables for a prize pool of $2400. First prize was going to be just under $550. Not bad for a few hours of work. It wasn’t going to be easy. I have played with some of the players in the room; there was some talent there. The night started off slow, the cards were not coming my way and the pots that I did win; I had to fight for. The pots were not given up lightly. By the break I was down to under 4000 in chips and I was looking at the clock not wanting to be home by ten and sure didn’t want to be the first player out! In the next round I found myself in the big blind with K A. Not a hand that you would hang on to. Most of the players folded around and just limped in. I got to come into the pot for free. Just the way I like it with a hand like this. When the flop came there were only three of us in the hand, the dealer and the small and big blind. The flop came 3 K 7. The small blind let out with a small bet and I came over the top with a raise; the dealer mucked his had very quickly. The small blind came over the top of me and went all in. I had top pair with top kicker and my chip stack at that time was low. So I put the remainder of my chips in the pot. The small blind turned over his cards and I turned over mine. The small blind had K J. I was leading the hand at this point. The turn and the river cards came and went with no improvement to either of us. I took the pot and took out the small blind as my Kings held up with the Ace kicker. I played tight for the rest of the night and made it to the final table and was taken out in 7th place. 7th out of 24 with the level of players at this game, I think was good. I gave a guy a free card and tried to bluff at the wrong time. It was a mistake that I will remember and not do again. All in all, a good night, no money was won but it was a good game with good players.

A quilt that Shawna made.

This is my wife Shawna and the quilt that she made. She makes a lot of them. This is what she had to say about it. “This is the first quilt I did this year (2006). It is for my niece Kristy's graduation present. It has a lot of color to it because Kristy is a very colorful person and very lively. There is all fleece on the top. The black fabric is a shoe print flannel which was the inspiration for the whole quilt. It is backed in hot pink polar fleece and is very warm. Right after I finished it, I found out that Kristy will be having a baby in July (2006). I'll be the baby gets to be warm and snuggly in it this winter!”