Around Here

Around here we are having a very busy month!  My SIL, Dawn, was in town last weekend for her boys' 15th birthday and we enjoyed a fun few days shopping and eating out together.  And, of course, we had cake and ice cream with the twins on their big day Sunday.  Dawn flew home Tuesday to wrap things up in Virginia before her official last day of work on the 31st.  

It snowed a bit on Monday, just enough to make doing Meals on Wheels exciting as we navigated the snow and traffic.   It was great to see some snow!  I'm watching the weather reports for this weekend as some additional snow appears to be on its way. 

We have a new garage door.  Here's the old one...

...and the new one.   It's insulated, which will make the garage a little warmer as well as the two rooms above the garage, the tv/guest room and my studio.  I must report that all that insulating we did when we resided the house this fall is making a difference.  I used to have to turn on the portable heater when I watched TV, but now don't even think about it.  

And the next home improvement project is underway, redoing the two balconies off the master bedroom.  They are a great feature but after thirty years of use they were dirty and cruddy and dated looking.

The idea was to replace the old wood flooring with a Trek-like decking and to replace the wood railings with modern ironwork.  Unfortunately, things aren't going quite as planned.  The carpenter reports that the joists on one balcony appear to be rotten and a structural engineer is coming tomorrow to tell us what kind of repairs are required.    $$$$$$!!   After all the renovation we did on our Maryland house and on this one, we are sure used to hearing "You never know what you will find when you start tearing apart an old house.. "  More than the money, I really resist having to pack up everything breakable in the dining room for the third time in two years.    The joists run into the dining room ceiling which means the ceiling has to be ripped up.   Urgh!  Quell mess!  Oh well, the balconies have to be made safe as well as more stylish, so we're in for it.

Partly in response to the upheaval going on around me, I've been sewing up a storm. I finished up a large quilt to donate to Blue Sky Bridge and a small one to go to the local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.   I do love making these Outreach quilts.  Today I showed the two I had just finished at one of my quilt guilds and I got all choked up just thinking about how they would be used to comfort a baby or a child.  And also their parents.  I often think of the parents when I sew these types of quilts and hope they will get some comfort from these expressions of care and concern for what they are going through when their child is ill or in distress.   

Dawn's husband, John, flew out today to join Dawn in Virginia so he could be at her retirement party on Sunday.  We're minding the twins which means that the guest bed is open again for business, much to Fetcher's pleasure.  His love of that bed is made even stronger by the presence of That Handsome Dog Gus who is also staying with us over the weekend.   Fetcher can tolerate Gus for a while, but then it sure is nice to cuddle up with the twins!