Home Improvement

This was the view at breakfast Sunday morning:

This has been a busy home improvement week. The house is for sale, and I want it SOLD! So, I've been cleaning a lot, and planning small, inexpensive curb-appeal projects that I hope will pay off.

One of those projects is the front steps. The genius builder/contractor, Lynn Spears, put in concrete steps. Do you think they bothered to cure the concrete correctly? No, the quality is on par with the stone wall that Odie and I had to re-build. Someone painted the steps red, to match the front door...but the lovely Colorado weather chipped most of the paint off and the concrete is crumbling underneath, so when I bought the house, it looked like a sacrifical altar. I painted it gray, hoping that it would improve the look. It did, but now the gray paint is chipping. No matter what you do, you can't hide an elephant in a closet....isn't this UGLY???

So, I will be heading to Home Depot to rent a masonry drill. My plan is to put decking over the concrete, so that I will have nice, wooden stairs and a porch. The side of the glob of concrete will be painted the same colour as the house (and hopefully it stays painted until someone buys it!).

Thank you, HGTV, for Curb Appeal and Sell This House! You have great ideas!

Another upcoming HI project is to build a ground-level deck under the existing deck, so that the walk-out basement offers the opportunity to walk out to something nicer than weeds and sand. I have a lot of 14' leftover lumber from the shed that was torn down two years ago, so that will be a project within the budget. I already have half-cask planters down there, filled with tomatoes, peppers and flowers, but you can't enjoy the space at all. I'm hoping that a quick deck will change that!

I am also refinishing the cedar chest. Many of you have seen it--ugly, brown painted thing that I bought at an estate sale 13 years ago. The owner painted it, then applied wood-grained contact paper to "protect the wood." I had every intention of refinishing it in a more timely manner...but time gets away from you, doesn't it? I stripped it twice last week, sanded it for hours and hours (even bought a sander!), and am finally applying several polyurethane coats. It turned out to be red cedar and is beautiful. The metal scrollwork and fittings are copper, and they just GLOW! Photos coming soon!

While in Palmdale, I met the most amazing man--our van driver! His name is Ernie Batz, and he is the original Flying Dutchman, whom you may know from The Grand Old Opry or many radio shows. He plays the accordian, and these days he drives for the hotel twice a week, and plays at retirement homes 3 or 4 times a week because they like the old songs, and so many never get visitors. His philosophy is that, if you slow down, you'll get old. He has a CD (The Flying Dutchman, Trip to Las Vegas), available at http://www.cdbaby.com/ for $14.99. I bought it, and listened to it, and it sure made me smile! I even downloaded it to the Ipod. C'mon--how could you NOT smile when you hear polka music? He's a delightful gentleman, and I hope you'll consider buying his CD. If you don't care for polka music, consider donating it to a retirement home where it will certainly be enjoyed! Since it's on the Ipod, I'm going to do that.

Lastly, I had to include photos of our wonderful mechanics, who will go to any length to get rid of me! My airplane had several mechanical problems yesterday, including overheating windshields. For those who don't know, airliner windshields are always heated. We can't risk the glass becoming fogged or iced up, and that will occur at any time of year. Windshield heat prevents that. When it's really hot, though, they can overheat when the airplane is parked at the gate and not moving. It's a no-go item. Turning the switches off will allow the window to cool, but it can take an hour or more. Hoppy and Mike came to the rescue and saved the day, while Rob fixed the other mechanical problems. Thus, I was able to leave SLC, and leave them in peace and quiet! Thanks, guys!

I hope that you have a good week, and if anyone wants to get rid of you, I hope that they are as handsome as these guys! :-)