Category: Photos

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Renovation still in progress

~ Sandi Staton

Hubby and I worked our butts off yesterday finishing the master bath. He went to bed at four this morning and I went to bed at six. Crazy, I know. But we got it done without killing each other . . . our tortured bodies are doing it for us.

Call our method slap-hazard, poor planning, totally disorganized and I will have to agree with you. Wholeheartedly. Right now I would win the Nobel Prize for worst house keeper of the year. The dogs are confused, I’ve done lost my mind, and hubby’s ready to leave me for the beach. Where he can sit and fish all day. In peace and quiet. Without a dragon lady breathing fire down his back every second.

It’s been tough on us both. My crack-the-whip, get-er-done temperament clashes with his laid back-what’s-the-rush temperament. He likes procrastinating. I like getting things done. NOW!

So our worlds clash.

No. They collide. They blow up and disintegrate.

I think he’s from Mars. He wishes I’d go there.

He thinks we’re going to live forever. I think we could drop dead any minute.

Seriously. This renovation has brought the devil out in both of us. If we didn’t have a solid forty-seven-year, happy relationship it would be ending in divorce.

Thank goodness, we only have one more room to go, and we’re finished. But, first, we are going to clean up the messes we made and create some sense of order before we tackle that room. The beginning of next month is the plan. In the year 2020. Not 2021. Not 2022. But 2020.

You got that hubby?

Here are some before and after photos of the bathroom we just completed along with the messes we have yet to clean up. Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride . . .

Hubby hard at work
Removed the old commode. I got the honors of cleaning all the wax off the flange. YUCK!
Can you believe the hole the contractor made for the toilet?
Hubby did a great job fixing the hole.
Our new, clean floor.
Our new drop-in sink and faucets.
Our new commode. I wasn’t sure I would like the flusher thing in the middle of the tank cover, but I do. The commode is all in one piece and won’t leak. I like that idea.
Our new bathroom. YAY! I’m really happy with it. Hubby did a great job laying the floor all by himself.
My poor bedroom. Where did all that mess come from?
I’ll be so happy to get this room finished. I’ve been without curtains and living with the majority of this mess for over a year. Ever since we got our new windows installed in October of 2018. How time flies when you’re having fun. Just kidding. There’s been nothing fun about this house renovation. Maybe if we could have taken a long vacation and let someone else do it. But that’s only for the rich and famous.
Somebody’s behind with folding the laundry.
Hey! Who put that mess on my dining room table?
And on my kitchen sink?
Whoever did this better clean it up!
Who the heck lives here?
Nothing is where it’s supposed to be. My whole house is confused!
Can my back porch get any worse? I’m sure it can, but I hope it doesn’t. Spring is coming. Where are we supposed to sit?
All this mess needs to get off my porch! NOW!
I think we’ll bulldoze it down and start over. I want a sun-room, anyhow. But, we’re not going to build it. Oh, no! That’s a job for the pros and that ain’t us.

 

Why I Don’t Like Bradford Pear Trees

~ Sandi Staton
Bradford’s in all their glory.

We thought it would be cool to line both sides of our driveway with Bradford Pears. They’re beautiful, right? And fast growing and create lots of shade, too.

When we moved here thirty-plus years ago, it was a fairly new development. Farm land, to be exact. Hilly and treeless except for a few cedar trees the developer didn’t bulldoze down. Oh, and several Honey Locust trees with long, sharp thorns. Messy, too. Every time the wind blows, limbs fall all over the ground. But they bloom in the spring and create some shade, so we like them okay. We just have to be careful when we prune them. Those stickers hurt!

But the Bradford is a real beauty and laden with white flowers like cotton balls in the early spring. One of the first to sprout new leaves and one of the last to lose them. Perfect for any yard.

Until rain turns to ice.

Now, we want to have them all cut down, but that will cost a small fortune. No worries, though. From the looks of things, we can just wait and let nature take them down for free.

Bradford’s in all their glory.
But they are weak and fragile.
Couldn’t get out the driveway that day. A kind neighbor across the road cut it up for us.
Close up of the tree pinning us in.
If you look closely to the left, you can see the branches of one of the four trees that were down.
One of four trees down in one day during an ice storm.
One little ice storm can destroy a Bradford and create a big mess.
Another tree down during an ice storm.
One of four trees down in one day during an ice storm.
Same tree, different angle.
This one came down during a rain storm.

We’ve planted many trees in the yard over the years: Pin Oaks, Maples, Hybrid Poplars (big mistake. The Poplars grow fast but die young), but the Crepe Myrtles are my favorite. They’re not messy, their leaves are small, they’re easy to prune, and they bloom from early summer to late fall. Very friendly trees. Beautiful, too.

Digital Art: From Reality to Make Believe

~ Sandi Staton

Our plan today is to get the second bathroom finished. That was our plan yesterday. And the day before. But, today we really are going to get the new floor installed. However, hubby did install the new drop in sink and faucets yesterday. Yay!

Today, we have to take out the really old, really low toilet and install the new one after laying the vinyl plank flooring and quarter round. It’s just a small job. We should be done before sundown. But, with this whole renovation thing those small jobs have been more like trying to build a city in one day. So rather than sit and cry, which doesn’t do a bit of good, I create. And dream. And hope for the day when we are finally finished rebuilding our house.

In the meantime, here is a before and after photo of our back yard. The before is what it really is. The after is just a dream.

Before
After. It’s easier to dream it than to build it. Cheaper, too.

Photos: From Hot Mess to Abstract Art

~ Sandi Staton

Having BPD (borderline personality disorder), I should avoid stress like the plague. But, instead, I create more stress. Like this house renovation thing. I’ve never been so angry and frustrated and cried so much in my life. But, in spite of my life-long-ugly monkey on my back, I’ve learned to cope. I’ve learned to laugh at myself and to see the funny side of my many painful, not so funny anxiety disorders.

That’s why I create. It makes me happy. And when I’m happy, my dogs are happy. My husband is happy. My whole family is happy.

My before and after photos are my interpretation of the mess we’ve created. The before represents the stress. The after represents the calm.

Back Porch Before 1
Back Porch After 1
Kitchen Mess Before 1
Kitchen Mess After 1
Back Porch Before 2
Back Porch After 2
Living Room Before 1
Living Room After 1
Living Room Before 2
Living Room after 2

Before and After: From Bland to Grand

~ Sandi Staton

So, I’m not liking my house or my yard much these days. We’re renovating the house and the yard is overcome with weeds and tree roots and moss . . . everything but grass.  And the house needs painting, too. And the front porch. And the deck. Oh, and the back porch? Well . . . we won’t go there. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever by the looks of things. That’s where all our mess is stored till we get finished wrecking the house. And “finished” looks far, far away.

Using PaintShop pro 2019, a few picture tubes and untamed dreaming and imagination, I re-created my back yard. That’s what I love about art. I can change my world to be anything I want it to be.

My before. No stream. No bench. No nothin’
My after. I think I’ll take my coffee and sit there later.

From Photos to Digital Art: My Favorite Things

~ Sandi Staton

As many of you know, my husband and I have been giving our house a major face lift since last March, 2019. Yep! Been taking up carpet, putting down vinyl plank flooring, painting walls and furniture, stripping and refinishing old furniture and creating mess after mess. The only thing keeping me sane is creating art.

I enjoy taking photos of my favorite things around the house and turning them into art.

The program that I use is PaintShop pro 2019.

Back Porch
Big Boot Planter
Ugly Dolls. I collect them.
Bella
Wooden Box doubles as planter and book holder
Bella and Pepper
Digital Piano
Crazy quilt my great-grandmother made
My dad’s Teddy Bear
Our flag
My grandmother’s door stop
Cozy Corner
Pepper
Old chair I painted and use as a plant stand
Figurine
Buttercups, rooster, cook books, and breadbox
Candle
Old ship lanterns
Digital Piano
My Dad’s Teddy Bear