Friday, July 11, 2025

The blink of an eye

 We started out with this style of door. They were two returned 'special order' that we got for $86 each, so that was pretty nice. The problem was that we could order more matching doors, but they would not be in until August. 

Tim went to Home Depot and had a nosey and found matching doors. (You all know how I am about matchy-matchy...I didn't even know this part of me existed, but here we are.) 

So we got three more of these doors: One for the closet. One for the bathroom and one for the basement door. That is the one we meant to turn into a dutch door. Here is how it turned out. The door is not yet framed in, but the door is finished. 



I think Tim did a very nice job on it. We'll probably pick up a black door knob down the road, due to my serious matchy-matchy affliction. 

This morning, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. Tim went down by himself. I took down the curtains for the bedrooms from their current place in bedrooms here. They were washed and will be hung this weekend. I also rolled up three rugs and sent them off to be shampooed. 

We got the fold down attic steps in, which were a p.i.t.a. We realized pretty quickly that this was not going to be a two person job. My nephew popped down and helped with that. It helped a lot that he'd installed these before. That was today's project and it is done. 

Tomorrow, I'll be getting the camper opened up and ready for occupancy. Tim will be going to his family reunion, which centers around a brick over built by his uncles 60 or so years ago. Everyone brings bread dough. Tim gets there early to start the fire for the oven and get it up to temperature. Everyone brings a dish to pass and bread dough and it is a party. We've been steadily losing our elders. I believe that Aunt Anna is the last remaining of her generation. Then (gulp), it is our generation stepping in to the role of the elders. 

A blink of an eye. 



45 comments:

  1. That door conversion is amazing. Tim is so skilled.

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    1. We do have good envisioning skills. There's youtube videos out there for just about anything you want to do.

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  2. Your family reunion sounds wonderful! All the bread and all the traditions. It is a rude awakening to realize you are the elder bunch. I have been the oldest member of my mother's side since I was in my 50's. Gulp.
    I never even knew I wanted new interior doors. I can say it never crossed my mind. But when we were widening the bathroom door way in preperation for remodeling (I can barely type that) we had to get a new door. And I discovered the world of interior doors.
    We had hollow core builders grade (cheap) interior doors. Mr Merry wanted to know if I just wanted to replace it with the same one. Then I started to explore doors. Of course I wanted solid core and then decided I wanted white doors. I looked at every home improvement store website and settled on the door. Then we went to the first store where I saw your door, or something similar. I did not like it. By the third store, that was the door. We were able to get the 3 for the bedrooms at one store, we got the wider version for the bathroom at another store and the fifth and final door for the linen closet had to be special ordered in the narrow size. I love them!

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    1. Anything will do in a pinch, but we have pinched all our lives and we can do what we want. The doors remind me of the ones from my childhood home. Tim is partial to the 'cross and bible' doors (six panel) but when we found the first ones on clearance, he became a convert. Now that they are up, he likes them a great deal.

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  3. I too have that matchy matchy affliction. One of the plastic covers of a light switch broke some years ago and new ones were no longer available. I did find I had a cover that fitted but did not match and the switch was slightly sunken. I think it was Ray's bedroom light switch and he didn't like it. I swapped it with the seldom used balcony light switch, hidden by the tv screen, and there it stays, only known by me. Occasionally I think of it and I am so pleased it is hidden.
    The Dutch door looks great, and will be even better once the architrave is fitted.
    I remember the reunion from years past.

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    1. Lol. You make me laugh, Andrew, because a friend was fretting about her kitchen lights. There were four of them. Three matched, one didn't. I suggested switching out the matching light over the sink out into the kitchen area. I said, "No one notices the light over the sink. You could coordinate something there instead of having an exact match.

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  4. There are 5 remaining cousins on my paternal side. All of us are 84 or older. I am 3rd oldest. I am the oldest on the maternal side and already I see signs of dementia in three of us and so far not so much for me (I think). I have genealogy information for both sides of the family which I am working on and have yet to share and I fear by the time I share it no one will be young enough to care. Aging is not for the faint of heart, but I keep thinking it is better than the alternative. Hurrah for the bread baking party - is it competitive and are there prizes?

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    1. Oh Ana. Any time there is hot bread fresh from the oven, I'd say everyone eating has gotten the prize. I will try to put up some old posts.

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  5. Large families are so interesting. My paternal grandmother had eight children, but they're all dead, so are most of their offspring. No get togethers for us! I like the idea of every one brings bread dough, that would be fun. Great looking doors, Tim did a nice job on the Dutch door.

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    1. Tim's family is huge. His cousin has like 16 kids. Now her children are all grown up and have children of their own. I can't keep track of them, but I think someone said she has 80 grandchildren now.

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  6. The doors are beautiful and I wouldn't three different kinds of doors in my house either. Tim did a good job on that dutch door, it looks amazing.
    My sisters are the next ones to go, hopefully before me. They're almost eighty and one is in poor health (probably because she's such a bigot). Poor Jack worries about us dying, so I'm trying to stay health and active.
    Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. I love your back story, Red. I've always wondered which came first: your blog or PIxie's.

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    2. Poor little Jack. You provide the stability in his life, and obviously he craves this.

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  7. I'm worried. what are you going to do when this house is finished???

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    1. I'm going to start ticking boxes on the 'I've always wanted to' list!

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  8. That bread-making tradition is one I've never heard of for a reunion. What a different idea!

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    1. Tim's uncles were very handy men. The house was once an old inn, and had an outdoor bread oven. They just rebuilt it, and it has been the focal point of the reunions for many, many years. Both the uncles are gone from this world now.

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  9. What a lovely mix of renovation updates and heartfelt reflection. Time really does fly from door installs and haircuts to becoming the elders of the family. A blink of an eye indeed.

    Beautifully shared, thank you.

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    1. Day by day, things get accomplished, and needs are met. When I was a small child, my mother used to watch a soap opera after she sent me off for my afternoon nap. I could hear the television from my room. "Like grains of sand through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives." I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

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  10. I have lost all my elders and now I have had cousins passing on this year. I am 80 and starting to feel it in many ways. I have some cousins older than I am but not many. When I stop commenting on here you will know it is over.

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    1. Elliek. I can't seem to get my name on my comments again.

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    2. Oh dear Ellie. I will admit that you gave me a scare a couple of times. It's always good to see you back.

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  11. I am the oldest of my generation now in the immediate family. The entire generation above me is gone and has been for several years. It's an odd feeling to realize time had turned you into the elders when you weren't really paying attention.
    I found out I was more matchy-matchy than I had ever thought putting together the new apartment. Dagan and Leah offered and I surprised myself how quickly I jumped at the offer. But in some accent things I am wild and random--lol!
    That reunion sounds fun!
    The modified door looks really great!
    Have a wonderful weekend. :)

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    1. I will Rita. Have you moved in yet? I must get back to your blog and see.

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  12. Hush your mouth - I have just realised that I am middle-aged! That being said, the elders are definitely showing signs of decline here too. House is so very close - it will be a grand week when you can claim "done" and not have another project beckoning.

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    1. Oh my gosh...what will be nice Jeanie Martini is having the boxes checked on the 'must do' list and begin checking the boxes on the 'would like to do' list.

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  13. It is all coming together so rapidly now - or so it seems to onlookers.
    Accepting one's place in the family hierarchy is strange. Internally, nothing much has changed, character-wise. Externally is an entirely different story.

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    1. Tim always travels down to start the fire in the oven. This year, his niece (who is local to the reunion) got there and fired it up. I suppose that is a nod to our advanced age. :)

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  14. We call Dutch doors stable doors, probably of course because they are shaped for horses. It will be lovely for you both to move into the new house with your family of cats as well.

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    1. It will be nice to be up there daily to take care of the ferals. And now we have two cats from the old house to transport. Houdi, and poor Freddie who was taken in from the street, lived a nice life, was given to another woman who loved him. That woman abandoned him to the streets once more. We've been taking care of the old man. I told Tim we cannot abandon him again. I just don't have the heart for it. I don't know how many cats are in a caboodle, but we must be getting pretty close.

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  15. Sounds like a pretty wonderful gathering coming up. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

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    1. I didn't go. I cleaned and did laundry and got everything ready in the camper. It was a full on day, and I need to take the big vacuum up to finish the job tomorrow. But it sounds like it turned out well. Aunt Anna was there and pretty chipper. It did Tim's heart good to see her.

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  16. I am the elder now, can’t figure out how that happened so fast. It is only my two girls, my two grandsons and me. My late husband had 5 children and 5 grandchildren and a great grandson. Two of his children have died and I don’t hear from all except his granddaughter who lives in South Korea with her pilot husband. It is so quiet now. I loved his large family for many years but I am back to my little family again now that he is gone. In the blink of an eye it happened. Your bread oven party sounds like so much fun, and You and Tim did a great job creating the stable door, i love it. Gigi

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    1. It is Tim's family that does this. It's always been a special time. One of his cousins had down syndrome, and she always got very excited about the reunion. In her mind, it was everyone gathering to celebrate her birthday. And...so we did. A cake was added and presents were bought. All these years later, even Rita is gone.

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  17. I'm not sure I've ever given a thought about internal doors matching. We have so many doors in this house that it's ridiculous and some are very old and some have obviously been replaced. I think your new desire for things to match may be due to the fact that this is the house you are building and so it is new and you don't HAVE to tolerate the things that before you would have.
    Just a theory.

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    1. We live in a big old house now, and you know, you sent me looking at our doors. They do not all match. This is not something that I'd ever given the slightest attention to.

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  18. In my family, I am the senior generation already. (Well, unless you count my stepmother, who's still with us, but she's not a blood relative.) My parents, aunts and uncles are all gone.

    The dutch door looks GREAT! Tim is so skilled.

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    1. Tim's elders all lived into their 90s. None of mine made it quite that far.

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  19. Yes I get that Debby. We are the new old people. Life is so short.

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    1. I will remember that Dave: 'the new old people'.

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  20. That door looks great! I always tease my sister that we are the "Great Aunts" now that we thought were so old when we were kids.

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    1. Yeah...I remember when my parents were in their 60s and they just seemed so old. My, how perspectives change!

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  21. I am the youngest of the oldest generation in my family and several of my generation have already died (my sister, included).
    The door looks really good!

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    1. You know, I was thinking about Pam the other day and wondering how her grands are doing.

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I'm glad you're here!

Born and Bread

This is a post that I first put up some time back, repeated again in 2024, and now, for those who have never seen it, I present to you Tim...