The Wood's Secret Garden

Is this awesome or what?  I spent the evening, (approximately 5 hours) experimenting with something I read about on hometalk.com  It starts with a paste made with Vinegar and Baking soda.  You rub it on, let it sit for a bit, scrub and rinse. The acid in the vinegar and the baking soda combine to cut through lime, calcium, hard water spots and soap scum.  The above picture is actually a close-up of our incredible wire glass shower doors in our 1964 Mobile Home.  With all the renovating we have done, I thought it was high time I actually clean the shower doors.  I was blown away by the quality of glass, the construction of the frame and the wonderful wire mesh that is inside the glass. I still have some scrubbing to do.  Just wish I had known about baking soda and vinegar, 30+ yars ago.  I have spent most of my life, using products that simply can not stand up to this simply solution of vinegar and baking soda. So glad  we didn't rep...

Anyone who has been following our progress knows that we had to remove the built in "Wedgewood" oven that was 50+ years old and won't be able to afford a replacement for quite sometime.      Many of you asked how we live without an oven. While I was hiding electrical cords with white conduit strips, Michael fired up the (never been used before) little grill that I had stored for 8 years.  Deni had dropped it off last weekend and frankly it intimidated me.  I love grilling; but have only done so "old-school" fashion and this was some stainless steel thing that used propane. This was dinner tonight! After the first bite, it was clear that we can survive just fine without an oven at least through Spring and Summer!  Marinated Tri-Tip Steak, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, potato salad and organically grown tomatoes with oil and vinegar. Here is our new little oven.  I half-way expected to hear, "Danger Wil Robinson".  But, after eating dinner, I dec...

As promised, the following are some "after" pictures.  We have moved everything in and organized most of our things.  We still have several all day projects, like replacing the diverter valve and the washers in the shower.  Currently no functioning shower; but, I can always take a bath until we can get this done.  Yuck! No time to write.  Just enough time to post a few pictures: Bedroom - Notice the TV that plays VHS - Really Modern stuff in a 1964 House - (smiling) Michael at his desk preparing for Sunday's Sermon Looking out from the Kitchen into the Living Room Temporary Patio - Hope to build a small, screened in Platform Patio in a few months Looking into the hallway Bathroom My Favorite Room The Breakfast Bar The entry way - Looking in through the Sliding glass front door! and clearly - Monkey is back to normal!

As much as one attempts to organize and schedule; sometimes things just don't work out the way we plan.  We had earlier in the month successfully moved three, seven foot high, solid oak book cases and two solid oak desks down the skinny flight of stairs.  So, how hard could it be to move a mattress and a "Monkey"? Well, Monday after work was the scheduled day to find out.  This was the first afternoon move that we had scheduled.  Every other move occurred between 6:30 and 8:30 in the cool of the morning.   I had no idea how much that mattered.  It was over 85 degrees when I got to the apartment at 4:30 p.m. It was not only hot; but, I had put in a full day at the office and was tired.  As we attempted to move a queen size mattress down the skinny stairs, a few yellow jackets decided to check things out.  So here I was contending with a very awkward and heavy mattress, walking backwards down the stairs, while trying not to get stung!   Did...

Moving is difficult enough when one is moving into a new house or apartment that is "ready" to occupy; but, moving when you must first tear just about everything out and start from scratch is another thing all together. We closed on March 8th and have invested every free moment in making the house "live-able".  I took Monday and Tuesday off in order to make our move-out date of April 15th.  We had been spending so much time at the new house, that we had not had time to pack the stuff in our apartment.  Plus, we had scheduled to move all the big furniture (accept the bed which is staying until the last minute) on Tuesday; but with the rain we knew we had better move it on Monday or it would not get moved. So Saturday, Monday & Tuesday were 15 hour, non-stop, days.  Our apartment is pretty much packed.  We are now facing carrying down a flight of stairs over 70 boxes.  Here is our apartment as of Tuesday night. We were not able to fit the Oak Tabl...