We got the grouting done in the kitchen today. I did not take pictures because, truth be told, it looks hideous. Sponging down that black grout over that white tile looks pretty awful. Black and smeary. But when I took a clean paper towel and sprayed a bit of 409 on it and rubbed the tile, it rubs right off and looks pretty sharp. So. We'll wait until it is done and take a picture, lest you think we lost our minds.
But, I think when it is done, it will look pretty good. Tim was right on this one.
So that was today.
We had given a cast iron, porcelain coated double bowl sink to my sister, but in the end, she went with something different. My brother in law asked if we wanted it back, or whether he should scrap it. Tim thought perhaps Mia would want it for her house formerly known as 'the rehab'. I shot her a quick message and the answer came back just as quickly. She would LOVE that sink. She's quite enthusiastic about her new home and once again, we know for a fact that we made the right decision on passing that project on. Everyone came out a winner and it is a great gift to watch that joy happening.
One of the things that I love best about the new house is that once again, you can hear the wind. I have missed that living in town.
When we left today, there was an owl hooting. That was nice to hear too.
It is interesting that you like hearing the wind. I suppose I do at times but it has to be a gale for me to hear it in my bedroom.
ReplyDeleteHooting owls are great.
I remember it from being a child. I remember it from living in the woods as an adult. It's just a comforting sound to me. I didn't realize that I missed it until we were working at the new house and I heard it once again. It was so nice.
DeleteI wish you'd posted this before I went to the market today Debby, stuffed peppers sounds perfect right about now. Maybe it's a "country upbringing", but this is almost weird as i was just telling a friend the other night how much I enjoy hearing the wind whistling outside on blustery days. I may live in the city now, but I can hear it outside my kitchen & bedroom windows and it's a comfort.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I'm glad that I'm not the only one. The house faces the west, and that is the direction of the wind most of the time, so it will be a regular treat for me. Hear any great horned owls in Pixburgh?
DeleteDebby I would love to hear owls hooting but I think my place is too city for that.. 😔
DeleteWe have Great Horned owls in Spokane, and Tucson. They're such magnificent birds. Tomorrow is a red flag weather day in Tucson with high winds and very low (3% to 5%) humidity. When it's really windy, I can hear it whistling through the cactus spines. It's a high pitched whistle. I can see how wiping black grout off was disturbing to the eye.
ReplyDeleteI will take a before and after shot, just to show you how awful it was. Ack. It was pretty jolting! Trying to imagine the wind whistling through the cactus spines. That's a pretty amazing idea to me. Your time in the desert is really pretty fascinating to someone who has never had the chance to explore that part of the country. I love it.
DeleteWe like to hear success stories.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally, you will even find them here.
DeleteWe have finished all the frozen stuffed peppers from the freezer just in time to plant pepper plants (well, maybe in 3 weeks) for this year's hoard, I mean harvest. I bet that backsplash looks spectacular!
ReplyDeleteLove the sink story, I was saying NO, don't scrap it and what a great home it will have. I just love this whole storyline :)
Oh man, Do I need another book in the to be read pile? These biographies do sound good!
You know, just this year, I became aware that people make them ahead and put them in the freezer, pulling them out and baking them as needed. That's a cool idea.
DeleteHooray for your good results last post. I live near the beach. When we hear the wind, it is playing our house as a harmonica!!
ReplyDeleteLOL. That made me laugh. It would be a hard thing to sleep through!!!
DeleteNow, I am the opposite on the wind thing. Strong winds here usually have us nervously checking for trees down or roof damage.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your kitchen photos soon.
Tornado warnings always make me edgy. But in my experience, the sky turns an ugly mud yellow when tornados are in the area and the light takes on a strange cast as it shines through the dirt and debris that the coming tornado has thrown into the air. It is the strangest, most eerie thing. And...did you know that whenever there was a tornado and we had to pull off the road, we always went to a McDonalds. They have a basement. When they receive a warning, they come around and herd us downstairs.
DeleteOwls lived in an old tree opposite my bedroom window when I was a kid, so the sound of owls hooting instantly takes me right back there.
ReplyDeleteI love that Mia is carrying on your hard work and doing right by the house. She sounds like a young lady who has her head screwed on the right way!
I think we should celebrate people like William Woodruff more. So many people think that a hard start in life means that they will never accomplish anything whereas it can actually be a spur to accomplish great things. Role models can be such a force for good.
Mia is a remarkable woman. The best part is that I'm not sure that she knows that yet. She'll figure it out though.
DeleteGood job on the grouting. We don't have horned owls but I heard our tawny owls a couple of nights ago. I love hearing them.
ReplyDeleteI went off to have a listen to tawny owls. I love that owls have so many different calls.
DeleteLiving on a peninsula. I treat the wind and sea with much respect. The wood pigeons in the trees annoy me.
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie. The size of your wood pigeons dumbfounded me. I always read about pigeon hunting and bringing home a brace of pigeons, and I always thought that it must take a huge amount of pigeons to feed a family. Then I saw one. Ye gods and little fishes! Those things are quadruple the size of any pigeon I've ever seen on this side of the pond. I took pictures of this, I was so astounded.
DeleteMy favourite owl is the white barn owl. I have often seen them at night flying slowly over the fields tracking for voles or mice. I love stuffed peppers, problem is no one else does.
ReplyDeleteAs all these different owls names come up, I go to a website to look at them and listen to them. Your owl sounds almost like static!!! I thought my speakers were messed up. His little heart shaped face is cute. I'm not sure how much Tim likes stuffed peppers, but he does not complain.
DeleteStuffed peppers seem pretty exotic to me, but they sound good. I've never had one.
ReplyDeleteYou've never had a stuffed pepper??? That is interesting. I think that you should probably do something about that!
DeleteIt's crazy when the owls around here are mating. To me it sounds more like apes than owls. They are loud!
ReplyDeleteLove the sink story. And also, how you saw those books in Steve's picture and got interested enough to order two by one of the authors.
I haven't heard a lot of owls at the new house. Perhaps that will change when we are up there full time. Owls have always fascinated me, but to be honest, I always hear them. I don't know if I've ever seen a live one outside of captivity. Our neighbor once shot a great horned owl. I never quite understood the need for that. I was only a child, but it made me sad to see it on the ground, feathers everywhere. The strange thing to me was that this owl was still calling in early afternoon. I wondered why.
DeleteI've found so many great book recommendations through my blog reading. It's cool how you followed up on Steve's book photo to find books you ordered.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have the time now to work on your new home. You sound much more relaxed about it!
I cannot tell you how relaxing it is just to have one project going. A lot less frenetic. It allows us to approach our new house mindfully.
DeleteI love those two books and can relate to much of them, my family are from the next county and I'm old enough to remember times being the same for my own parents - I remember bare flag stone floors (my mother used to make wool rugs from old coats etc) and icicles on the inside of the windows - no heating until the one coal fire was lit. Our washing was done in a copper boiler and after being put through the mangle it was put onto poles and hoisted up to the ceiling to dry. Times really have changed -families caring about neighbours, almost everyone was skinny and poor, where I lived - that's changed somewhat now. The book recalled so many memories, hard to realise it's not really very long ago. Elaine in UK
ReplyDeleteThere is something about difficult circumstances which made everyone kinder. I wonder if my country will reach that point. All I see is anger and hard hearted disregard. Your stories of your childhood are fascinating Elaine. I certainly hope that you've written them down somewhere. Weaver's blog really captured a bygone age. Your stories do the same.
DeleteI love to hear (and occasionally see) owls. Around here, it's usually Barred Owls. I like to try and talk back to them.
ReplyDeleteIt is usually barred owls that we hear as well. I was reading about owls and it said that one of the biggest predators of barred owls is great horned owls. Makes me wonder if we will hear barred owls this summer. Once we're up there we can put up a couple nesting boxes for them. We also want to put up a bat habitat.
DeleteIt is good to hear the sounds of nature...sleeping in a town I find a problem... unnatural noise and light!!
ReplyDeleteColoured grout sounds like a good idea....white always discolours, especially in a kitchen.
I never really thought about that part of it, gz, but you are right. Black grout will not show staining. It looks pretty good, and I got the first coat of paint on the walls. Pictures tomorrow.
DeleteI am sooo glad she got the sink! Makes me happy to hear anything about her joy at fixing up her new home.
ReplyDeleteHis story sounded like just what I needed to hear right now. I ordered a used copy of his two autobiographies!
Have a wonderful day, Debby. :)
We just dropped the sink off. She was just locking up and looked dirty and tired...but very happy with the sink. Happier yet to find out that it came from her house originally. I imagine my books will take a while. They are coming from the UK.
DeleteI love that my photo inspired you to buy those books! I hope you enjoy them. I'm going to read "Nab End" too, one of these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm also so glad you found a new home for the sink (back in its old home, as you revealed in your subsequent post).