Tag Archives: bathroom remodel

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, Flylady by

Yesterday I think was a record temperature of 110. I can only think of one or two times we’ve ever been this hot. The house is staying cool with the window AC units. Of course, what our PGE bill will be is anyone’s guess. Today is also going to be very hot at 107 but I think after that we’re tapering down. I really don’t do well in the heat and have felt zero motivation. Even today, it’s usually the gym in Auburn and I just don’t feel like going. 😦

I bought another set of black out curtains for the sunroom. Amazon is having early Prime deals and this was one. They are 84 inches long and usually they are more expensive but the deal was quite affordable. I don’t like curtains as a rule but these black out curtains which are thermal blockers do make a BIG difference. In the winter they also keep the cold out so I guess I will have to get used to them. Since we don’t have neighbors that can look in windows I have usually opted for no curtains.

Here’s a few pictures of the mostly finished bathroom. We still need the base boards but can get them anytime really.

So far it is all quite nice and very airy. I miss the clawfoot tub but I think it was a ‘needs-must’ situation.

This week is the kitchen zone with Flylady and I plan on getting in there today. I’ve decided to sell my Pyrex collection as I don’t really use them anymore. The colors are fun and I do like the refrigerator containers but I just don’t use them.

I used to have a huge collection and have slowly either sold or gave to hospice thrift. It’s just one of those things that I used to really love but isn’t very important now and I don’t want to have to keep cleaning them.

Everything changes with time and this is just one of those things. What used to be important isn’t anymore for one reason or another. In this case, I don’t want to spend the time washing these every month just so they can live on a shelf.

I’ve been using my new inexpensive steam mop and liking it. I can’t wash floors on my hands and knees anymore so this has been great. I do still have my microfiber mop and use that in between steam mops.

Well, off to do the kitchen zone.

Midweek musings

Posted in books, budgeting, California, cooking, home stuff by

Happy Juneteenth Day!! Celebrating the end of slavery. What a cruel, inhuman way of life the southerners( for the most part) treated African Americans.

We have had a lovely cool down in the weather whilst the rest of the country is roasting. So I guess DeSantis still doesn’t believe in global warming even after all the torrential rain and flooding. Well, Florida can get swept away by the rising ocean, and then let’s see what he says.

I went to the gym(finally) yesterday and it was a good workout. The library had a hold for me so I picked that up and a few other books. The book on hold is ‘The Kitchen Front’. It is so great It’s about a cooking competition during WW2 in England. Quite entertaining.

The bathroom is coming along although still no sink or light. Today is(hopefully) dry wall and then at least get the light up. I’m getting tired of everything all over the place. I plan on painting as soon as the drywall is up and it has the mud on it. After painting, we can put the floor in.

My daughter cleaned the tiles and it looks better. There are still some spots where the gout needs fixing but B will do that.

I plan on going to Costco tomorrow if everything works out because I want to pick up an orchid for my son’s new apartment. I also need flour, tuna, brown rice and a few other things. I think I’m coming in around $600 for food this month. My budget starts next week so I’ll figure out July’s budget.

Today, I need to vacuum and later make some spaghetti sauce as that’s whats on the menu for tonight.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, cancer, home improvement, Myeloma, travel by

I’m feeling almost back to normal. Still slightly off but definitely better and I ate something yesterday. My daughter thinks I may have picked it up at In and Out Burger but she( a science nerd) says it can really be on any surface. So probably we’ll never know.

So today I was lucky to get a lab appt at 9am. A little later than I like with fasting but I’ll make it. I’m really anxious to know what my numbers are doing. Even if there has been an increase, I’ll go another month without Dex just to see. Sometimes, living with cancer is very tiring. With Myeloma, it just doesn’t go away or get ‘cured’, well I think if you have an allo it does. Oh well, I’ve made it this far.

The positive news is we’ve had a young man working on the bathroom. He’s only 30( my son’s age) but seems to know what he’s doing and is doing a great job so far. We need the shower at least functioning for my daughter next week because we’ll be in Tahoe. If it’s not, then I’m not sure what the alternative is. Hotel? outside shower? We’ve been using Rubi for bathroom stuff and B bought a new shower head which is divine. The one the trailer came with was pretty lame so this is a nice improvement.

We’re not going to have it all done before we leave as I don’t think the flooring will get done so B won’t be able to put in the Ikea vanity but that’s ok it’s mostly the shower. I’m not sure what we’ll do if there are leaks while we’re gone. I guess call and have him come over when my daughter is here? Well, it is progress and on such a small budget I think we’ve done ok. If we had lots of money I guess it would be a no brainer to have someone come in and redo the whole thing and build a second bathroom but alas that isn’t our destiny.

B has been going in and out to Home Depot and all over getting little bits of things and has been very busy. It helps he is organized that way.

The Oregon sparrows are migrating and are flocking in the bamboo. They are fun to watch. We turn the sprinklers on the bamboo and they love to drink the droplets. Often they hang upside down and are cute. We call them popcorn birds because they pop so quickly around.

The heat has been oppressive. I think today we’re about 10 degrees cooler so that should help some. We’re back to watering daily and the water bill just went over $100 and will definitely go higher. B filled the pool and that takes 10,000 gallons I think. This will be the last year of the pool. We’ve gotten our money’s worth that’s for sure but I can’t see investing in another pool next year. This is probably year 7 and think we paid around $1000 for it so I’m sure it is way more than that now. Plus there’s all the maintenance to take care of it and that cost. B is the only one that uses it daily. I go in once in a while to float and that’s about it.

I’ve been hanging out in the trailer all day and it’s been nice. I turned the AC on and it worked fine one day and the second day it blew the fuse so when it gets too hot I go out to the studio( my son’s room) and hang out there. He’s got a cooler and I’ve had that on. His studio is almost cleared out and sometime this summer we’ll paint in there. He’ll still come up to work in the barn and sleep over so I want to keep a bed out there. Also, he built a beautiful desk and bookcase out of birch plywood so that will stay too. His move has gone well and I’m happy for him. It’s very nice area very near the American River trail and lots of green space.

This week is a total wash with swimming or the gym but tomorrow I plan on going to the library as my holds are in. That’ll give me something to read in Tahoe.

On a sad note, our big black lady chicken, big mama, died yesterday. She was quite old for a chicken, maybe 10, and the heat was too much for her. So now there’s only big Brownie and I’m guessing she’ll be gone too soon. they were from the same batch and have lived an extraordinarily long lives. Maybe’s it’s the water? this is the end of an era of over 25 years of having chickens and with these gone, that’s it. The coup will come down and the area cleaned up. Rhonda over at Down to Earth talked about how she finally gave up chickens when her husband was ill and dying. She talked about how important it is to really check in where you are in life and what you’re capable of. We could keep having chickens as my daughter does live here but then it’s just one more thing to have to deal with, buying food, checking water, etc. So I’ll buy farm eggs when I can. There are tons of people around here who raise chickens.

On that note, she also talked about physical limitations as we age. She has a non malignant brain tumor which affects her balance so she doesn’t bend over. Because of that, she bought a steam mop so she could mop standing instead of with a bucket on the floor. Because of my macular pucker in my right eye, my balance is off sometimes so I just bought a very cheap steam mop for $59. I’ll try it out for a while if I really like it I’ll buy a more expensive model. This one just steams and there’s no on /off so I’ll give it few months

Warming up

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We are going to be getting very nice warm weather over the next 10 days. In the 80’s even. Most of the weed eating is done so that’s good. B probably still needs to do one last weed eat before it all dries out. And with the warm weather comes having to start watering. The big rain we had on Saturday did help but things dry out quickly.

We have the tomatoes planted and the peppers too so they might need watering later in the week.

I’ve been keeping meals very simple partly because I want to use stuff up but also with the colonoscopy, there’s no solid food for the day before only liquids so I’ve been practicing by not having anything too heavy. Last night I used the last 2 tilapia and had a spring roll on the side. I might see what soups I have in the pantry for tonight.

Today I plan on going to the gym and dropping off books at the library. I read Thomas Perry’s new book ‘Hero’. It was good not great but good. I also read Grisham’s new book,’ The Exchange’, about the lawyer who exposed the bad ones in ‘ The Firm’. It was ok not great but a good read. I think I’ve read all the Craig Johnston but I I will check and his new one is coming out this month. I have it on hold at the library already.

I was home yesterday and finished the kitchen zone and the bathroom. We’re still waiting on a date when a plumber can come. If we don’t hear from this one we’ll need to go back to our list and pick another plumber. I figure with everything happening this week ( with me and my son’s big move-out date) the earliest would be next week and the one plumber couldn’t do it then. We’re still trying to figure it out but I’m sure it’ll come together. Also, this week was finals week at Sierra College so my daughter was working late in case students needed help with research projects.

Sunday is Mother’s Day and we decided to do a BBQ at lunch or early afternoon. My son will still be trying to move stuff into his new apartment so I want him to feel he can be here for a bit and then leave to take more things. The apartment is in Sacramento so he will need to come up to Auburn 2 days a week to work. His partner, Alia, doesn’t work remotely so that’s why they chose Sacramento. They are well suited to each other and I’m happy for him. It’s a big step for him.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, Myeloma by

It was a good week overall. We did the extra Costco trip for the tent for camping and the rest of the stuff on sale. Vitamins were on the list, laundry soap, Kerrygold butter, and misc. I think food came out to $200 and nonfood to $100. So not too bad really. I wanted to go to Trader Joe’s but it just didn’t work out time-wise. Probably next week or the week after I’ll add in a TJ’s trip.

My new Levi’s showed up and I like the lighter blue color. My oldest pair are now pretty ripped in the knee area but I’ll still keep them and maybe turn them into shorts.

We’ve been buying the stuff for the bathroom remodel but that’s separate from other bills. We plan on white subway tiles with a grey grout and the floor a waterproof vinyl. I wanted the small black and white octagons for the floor but after looking at them I decided that wasn’t quite what I wanted. We found some nice looking vinyl that looks like slate. Sunday we plan on going to Ikea for the bathroom vanity and medicine cabinet. It’ll all take some time but we’ll get there.

Tonight is a homemade pizza so not takeout. I’m trying to think if we had anything out and I don’t think so. Usually after swimming it’s too early to get something for lunch. Our favorite Mexican place doesn’t open till 11 am so I’m usually home way before that.

Next week is my colonoscopy so we might do lunch out earlier in the week. I’ll be glad when this is over.

I’m hoping to swim at least once next week before the procedure and also go to the gym once. We’ll see how it all goes.

My kappa light chains went up just a tiny bit(19.5) so a smidgen above high normal(19.4), so nothing to worry about. My next infusion isn’t until the end of May and I see my doctor before that so I can discuss lowering the dex again.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, camping, cash envelopes, frugalism, home stuff, travel by

Overall, a frugal week with just the basics being bought. I didn’t go to the store after shopping last Sunday at Holiday Market. I think I spent $80 including wine, lunch stuff and to use the 2 coupons for free stuff for April. The coupons were for a salad pack and olive oil. B went to Safeway the other day for milk and cream.

Today after the gym, I was going to go to Taco Tree but decided to just come home and have leftover lasagna.

All our meals were used and tonight is homemade pizza ( I think). I’ll get it ready( defrosting the pizza dough) but I might change the plan to something lighter.

I’ve got May’s budget almost done. I just need to tweak a few things. Rubi’s insurance is due in May so I need to put that in. I didn’t have that figured into my cash envelopes so I’ll add one for that for next year.

In May we only have 1 camping trip to Tahoe and that’s at the end of the month. We’re still planning on going ahead with the bathroom so that will have to be accounted for. We’re starting with a new window and then we’ll go to the one wall that needs to be opened up for a plumber to do piping. Of course, that means the claw foot tub will need to come out. When that happens, we’ll have to be using the RV shower. I imagine the whole thing is going to take longer than we think especially since B will be doing most of it.

This weekend is open and I won’t go to the pool tomorrow. I’d like to go to the nursery if anything, to get some plants.

The cherry tree has really exploded into bloom!! the bees are loving it and the whole thing is humming.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cooking, Flylady, Myeloma, reading, Uncategorized, Walking by

We had a nice early walk in the park before the Christians started showing up for the easter sunrise service they do in the park each year. It was cloudy and it was sprinkling rain. We finished up and left before the drizzle started.

It’s still cloudy out but not really cold. I went to the gym and now I’m home deciding what to do with the day. I’m in the entryway zone so I may sweep and tidy out both doors. I’ve done a little more reorganizing in the closet and took out a few things to go out to the garden shed. I have some more to do in there. Once the weather gets nicer I can go out to the shed and decide whether to keep or donate. I have a lot of canning jars for this summer that are in boxes. I know I’m not doing any jams so the 1/2 pints will stay boxed up. I may use them for salsas or sauces.

We had a very nice older contractor come look at the bathroom. It was funny as he said his house was just as small and his bathroom is 6×6 too. So his assessment was to put in a basin on the floor and then tile up the walls. I think it makes more sense than putting in the unit. Plus we can keep the window size the same and not have to cut a different opening. He did say our budget was probably too small:( But we only have so much money and it’s not a lot so we’ll have to do what we can. I also was thinking of just leaving the dam thing alone and living with the tub as it is. We do have multiple grab bars that I use every time but??? I’m not sure that’s the answer either.

I had gotten the cookbook” Big Heart, Small Stove” by Erin French, the owner of the Lost Kitchen in Freedom Maine, and made 2 recipes. One was the lentil potato soup with a garden pistou and then her backyard biscuits. Both are excellent and it’s a beautiful book if you’re interested.

The handsome hubby enjoying his soup and biscuit.

There’s a few more recipes I’d like to try but most of her stuff is too fancy for me.

I’ve read a few more of Craig Johnson’s Longmire series and “boy howdy’ as he says, they are so good.