Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day:
Well we got up early and started the preparations for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. First thing was to get the turkey breast ready. Well the turkey breast was split down the back so I had to go over to George's place to see if they had any string I could use to tie it together with, and bingo they had just what I needed. After tying the turkey breast together over the diet Coke can with wine in it, it went on the grill, see pictures. After just over 2 and a half hours it was done, getting it off the grill was a little tricky but we got it off without it falling onto the cement. Barbara covered it with some aluminium foil and stuck it into a cooler turned on it's side to keep it warm. Next was the chicken's turn, it went onto a diet Dr. Pepper can with some beer in it. Barbara did the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, stuffing and green beans. Barbara's cousin Lill and Tom (Lill and Occie's neighbor and good friend) arrived at 1:30, Occie (Lill's husband) was not feeling well so it was just the four of us instead of five. We all had a great meal with way too much food, as usual, and a very nice visit.
Black Friday:
We awoke to a cold morning, it was about 58 degrees F, so Barbara got out the space heater we had bought at CostCo and warmed up the living room, kitchen area for us. After breakfast we decided to go do some more thrift store shopping. We had heard from people in the park there was another thrift store further up Rt 1 so we decided to see if we could find it. We did find it, and another one too, and the only thing we bought was a book of Christmas, I am sorry "Holiday" stories that are written to be PC (Politically Correct). For example; Frosty the Persun of Snow. Then seeing as we where so close to Melbourne we decided to go to the Brevard Art Museum ( http://www.brevardartmuseum.org ) to see what they had on display. They had an exhibition called Tools in Motion The Hechinger Collection. It was great, one of the sculptures was about 100 or more vise grip pliers mounted so it looked like a school of fish. For lunch we found Coasters Pub ( http://www.coastersbrewpub.com ) which has 100+ beers. They have over 30 taps so I got one of their samplers of five different beers and Barbara and I split a house salad and an order of fish and chips. Good beers and good food will have to go back there again. Then it was time to come back to the trailer. Instead of going back through Melbourne to US Rt. 1 or I-95 we drove down the barrier island on A1A to Wabassa were we crossed back over to the mainland. All in all a very surprising and pleasing day.

Monday before Thanksgiving

On Monday I measured and cut a piece of baseboard for the problem wall. Then I had to rip a piece of 1x2 wood in half without the use of my table saw. My first attempt using my jig saw and the fence that came with it did not work, the blade started to bend sideways I do not know why. Next I drove around the park trying to find someone that might have a table saw I could use for about 30 seconds, no luck. Next I took the circular saw that I had and set it's rip fence and after clamping the 1x2 next to another 1x2 I was able to rip it in half and made two 1x1's (all the wood workers will appreciate what I went through). Then I put two coats of paint on the base board and the 1x1 I had made to match the wall. On Tuesday Morning I nailed down the 1x1 with a little construction glue and then I nailed the base board on top of it, it looks very good. Then it was time to start getting ready for Turkey Day. First we changed the furniture on the porch. We put the dinning room table where the sofa and chairs were and the sofa and chairs were the table was, cleaning as we went. I also tried to get the oven to work. I got the piolet light lit but when we turned on the oven nothing happened. Barbara's brother George came over and tried to get the oven to light but was not successful. I think we will have to wait until after Turkey Day to get the oven working. Tomorrow will be a cooking day for Barbara and I will be doing what I can to help.

The painting is done

On Friday I finished the last wall in the living room (Woo Hoo). So now it is all about getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday we went to Habitat for Humanity's store to see if we could find some chairs and maybe a love seat and get rid of the one that was left in the trailer. Well they still had three of the aluminium chairs we had seen the last time we had been there and we found a love seat that we liked. In January I will sand down the chairs and paint them and we have a slipcover back in NJ that will fit the love seat so we are all set, oh and when H4H delivered the love seat and chairs they took the old one away. Then we went off for a day out of shopping and reverse shopping. We stopped at a material store and Barbara found some material to make curtains, that is right we have given up on finding curtains and Barbara is going to make them. We also found a second set of sheets so Barbara can use them in the curtains, she is making the curtains lined so they look nice from inside and out. We have been having a great time doing thrift store shopping and finding bargains. So far we have found a table, 3 chairs, a love seat, wine glasses, desert glasses, and much more. Today I went for another 13 mile bike ride and when I got back Barbara had started working on the curtains. She is doing it all by hand, we did not bring the sewing machine, and with Stem-a-Seam. She got the one for the window done, see album.

Good Bye to the Couch

Time to catch everyone up on what we have been up to. On Monday Barbara and I (me under the direction of Barbara) tried a painting technique on the wall that is in pretty bad shape. It had gotten wet when the old Florida Room (aka the porch) got blown away in the last hurricane that hit this area. The paneling is all buckled and should be replaced (maybe next year) and you can see the where it buckles after we put up the paintable wall paper and painted it. So we tried the speckling technique we used to do the clouds in on the bumbout ceilings. First we tried some white and chocolate colored paint and that did not look so good. Barbara got out her acrylic paints and I dabbed on some burnt umber. Nope, still not good so I dabbed on some blue and that is when we decided that it was not getting any better so we better stop. I sent out an e-mail with a link to the pictures and asked my Friends options, everyone said (drum roll please) PAINT IT! Well it has been repainted with the base color (needs a second coat to cover the burnt umber) and the bumbs from the water damage don't look so bad anymore. On Monday evening we went over to Barbara's Brothers place for Pat's 60th birthday party. We brought along the GIANT Christmas Cracker Barbara had bought at one of the thrift stores we had gone to last week, it had clowns on it and was not very christmasy. George and Pat pulled it (it did not have a snapper in it did not bang) and we all enjoyed seeing all the neat stuff inside. Everyone put on a hat and read their riddle (ex: What did the lawyer name his daughter.... Sue). On Tuesday it was back to work so I put a coat of paint on the experiment wall and started on the next section the closet over the non working furnace and door to the bathroom. And of course our afternoon swim, I am loving Florida in November. Today I went for an 11.88 mile bike ride and then did my lower leg exercises when I got back. Barbara and I went down to the Bargin Corner (the thrift store in the park) to donate some things we were not using and to see if they would take the couch off our hands. Well they would not take the couch but they said to put it out by the curb and someone will come and want it. We where a little skeptical but I found someone to help me get it off of the porch and onto the next sites cement. Well as we where finishing lunch the AmeriGas delivery man stopped and said he wanted it. I helped him move it back from the road and now we are just waiting for him to come and pick it up. We also found the perfect table for company dinners. It fits against the wall where the couch was and with the two leafs up it will seat 8 to 10 very nicely, and it only cost $15.00. Today I did very little work, even I need a day off once in a while. I did take the doors off the next cabinets to be painted and did some repair work to the paneling but no painting. Tomorrow I will paint the rest of the cabinets in the living room and get that area all done. Almost forgot to rub it in, we went for an afternoon swim today also.

Living room

On Saturday after breakfast I put a coat of white paint on the ceiling in the living room. Then I suggested to Barbara that we go for a swim then have lunch out and go look for a new camera. She had another suggestion, that we have lunch here and then she would take a shower and wash her hair and then we could go look for a camera and have dinner out. Well that sounded good to me so after lunch I put a second coat of white paint on the ceiling and I also got cleaned up, shaved and showered. Then we headed for Vero Beach where we went to Target, Walmart, Office Depot and Best Buy. I compared camera features and price and bought a Canon Power Shot SX120IS at Best Buy. Then we had dinner at Big Apple Pizza (Barbara had a coupon) we had an anti pasta and a medium pizza, it was very good.
Well today was wallpapering day. The one wall in the living room where the sliding glass door is, is in bad shape but I do not want to take all the paneling down and put up a new wall (at least not this year) so we are trying to cover it up as best we can. We had bought a roll of Paintable Wallcovering in a stucco pattern that we thought might cover the worst of the wall. Well the paper went up with just a few issues and it might actually have made the wall look worse, we will know better after I paint it tomorrow. some of the water stains have bleed through the paper and it has made some of the bubbles in the paneling look worse. I am hopeful that 2 coats of paint will be the solution (I really do not want to tear the wall down and have to rebuild it).
Seeing as I have a new camera I have pictures to post, see album on the left.

Sofa Move

Well since we got home on Tuesday I have been at it once again. I painted the bump out in the living room area. 2 coats of tan on the walls, 2 coats of chocolate on the window frames and blue with clouds for the ceiling (yes we did it in the living room also). On Thursday morning I moved the two recliners into the bump out behind the couch and we waited for Barbara's cousins and their respective spouses to arrive to help me move the couch out onto the porch. Barbara's cousin Marge and her husband Joe and Barbara's cousin Ed and his wife Pat arrived around 4:30 in the evening. After showing them around the place, that took all of 2 minutes, we tried to get the couch through the sliding glass door. It was soon apparent that it was just not going to go through the opening. We tried to take the sliding door part out but found out that we needed to remove the outer glass door first, the part that does not move. We removed the screws at the top and the bottom that we found but the door would not move. We then dug out the caulk but it still would not move, the top was lose but the bottom was still secure. Then Pat came to the rescue, she got down and found two screws on the inside that were holding the door in place, a big Woo Hoo to Pat. After removing those two screws the door came lose and after prying the bottom out (and landing on my fingers) the door was out of the way. After that it was easy to remove the sliding door and less then 5 minutes later the couch was on the porch. Then we just reversed the the process and the sliding door was back in place. Today I went to Home Depot to buy new screws to secure the outside door and a few other things for some other projects that have come up. When I got back I secured the door with the new screws and put new caulking along the bottom of the door. Then I glued the paneling that was buckling to get it ready for the paint able wall paper. Tomorrow I will be painting the ceiling (white) and putting the wall paper up. I am so sorry that I did not get any pictures of the adventure in moving a couch but I have not gotten to the store to get a new camera.

First Field Trip

On Monday morning Barbara and I got into the car and drove to Orlando to go to one of the closest Costco's to get the tires rotated. Bought four new tires at Costco a few months ago so I get free rotation and tire balancing for the life of the tires. Well after doing some shopping at Costco and having lunch we went to the Orange County Regional History Center. The admission was free due to our membership at Brandy Wine River Museum. We learned all about the history of central Florida, how the natives lived before the Europeans arrived, how the Seminole Indians were forced from their land and about the orange groves and how the Orlando area developed over the years. After the museum we went across the street to a local TiKi bar for a snack. Then to the motel. In the morning after breakfast we went to the Harry P. Leu Gardens and with our American Horticulture Society membership admission was free. The garden is divided up into different areas. There is an idea garden, a citrus grove, a butterfly garden, a rose garden and a vegetable garden to mention just a few. In the vegetable garden I found Jicama (pronounced hee-kuh-muh) which it turns out every part except the root is poisonous. Barbara and a neighbor tried to feed this stuff to me and her husband once, but that did not work out. Nothing good can come from a plant that is mostly poisonous. After leaving the gardens we drove home by way of the outlet mall in Vero Beach just off of I-95. Then home again.

Bedroom Project Done

Well got up early and after breakfast I put a second coat of paint on the wall patches, ceiling and door. Then I brought the bed frame into the bedroom and put it together. Then we just had to wait for the bed to arrive. The bed came and was put in place by the two young gentlemen and in no time Barbara and I were putting the sheets on it. It comes up alot higher then the one we took out put it is so comfortable.
I then started working on the drawers for the kitchen. I trimed down the sides even with the bottom of the drawer and put a piece of 1/4" wood along the bottom and glued and clamped them in place. After I got one drawer done I took it inside to see if it was going to work and it will work.
Around 3:00 PM today I was too pooped to pop so I took a nap on my new bed until dinnertime. I love our new bed.

Bedroom Project Day 3, 4 and 5

Day 3:
Barbara and I went to Home Depot in the morning and on the way stopped at a mattress store and bought a bed and scheduled it to be delivered on Friday Morning. We went to Home Depot to buy a quart of their no VOC paint in blue. Home Depot does not sell their no VOC in quarts only gallons so we just bought the small piece of paneling to use to fix the walls along with some silicone caulking and a tube of construction glue. Then after lunch I started on patching the walls. Had to cut some more wall supports out and then replace them. I only got the larger hole fixed before it was time to go for a refreshing swim and dinner.
Day 4:
Got a nice early start and finished patching the walls. Then put new base molding up. After that I nailed down new tack strip for the carpet, cut out the old padding and cut a new piece of padding to replace it. Then I unfolded the carpet and put it all back. Next was to start painting the ceiling and walls. Just after lunch George and Pat drove into the park and past our house. After doing some more painting Barbara and I went over to George and Pat's house to say hello and see how their trip down had been. While there I helped George unscrew his front door, only person I know who does not lock his door for the summer but screws it shut behind two pieces of plywood. Barbara and I then went for a swim and then we decided to go to Lowe's to get the quart of blue paint for the ceiling, another gallon of white paint and a bathroom scale. Then we went to a Big Apple Pizza for our first Florida pizza. It was OK but not like our La Gondola pizza back in New Jersey.
Day 5:
I got to work painting the walls in the morning and got them all done. Then I painted the ceiling over where the bed will be with the blue paint. After lunch I put a chicken on a can on the grill to cook for dinner. had to cook it early so we could get our afternoon swim in. While the chicken cooked I went back into the bedroom to put some clouds on my blue ceiling. It was very simple I took a plastic bag and crumpled it up and dipped it into the white paint and then after blotting it on a wet rag I dabbed on white puffy clouds onto my blue ceiling. I think it turned out real well. After taking the chicken off the grill I went back into the bedroom to work on the space where the drawers where under the closet. First I unscrewed the last drawer and pulled it out, it was the worst one. Then I measured and cut the wainscoting we had bought so long ago (or so it seemed). When i had cut the last piece and I still had 4 inches to cover. I thought I was going to have to go and buy another pack of wainscoting to cover it and Barbara said just cut a piece of luan and paint it white so that is what I did. When I am done you should not see any difference. Tomorrow I have to get up early and finish painting, the white part of the ceiling needs a second coat as does the wall patch. Then I have to put the bed frame back together and wait for our new bed to be delivered.

Bedroom Project Day 2

Well after getting a late start, had to pay the bills first, I got to work on fixing the floor. I cut and installed some 2x2's for support of the new plywood floor, I screwed them to the existing floor and the 2x2's that were still sound enough. I used ring nails and decking screws so they should not come out or rust. The next task was to cut out the rotten wood in the wall. It took me awhile but I got it out. Then it was time to cut the plywood for the floor. I stuffed new fiberglass insulation between the floor supports and then cut and fit the two pieces of plywood. I screwed the new floor down with 2" deck screws, it is not going anywhere.
After that I needed to get cleaned up before our afternoon swim so I headed to the bathroom for a shave and shower, that felt good.
That is all for now.

Bedroom Project Day 1

Well today I was going to start painting the bedroom. I moved the bed out and deflated it, yes I have been using a blowup bed, then I had to remove the patch on the wall. What I found caused me to pull the rug up and see what was going on with the dip in the floor there. Well the floor had been patched once with MDF (medium density fiberboard) instead of plywood. That would not be so bad but there must have been another leak that was never looked at and fixed right away. I had to cut a bigger hole in the wall to get back to fiberglass insulation that had not gotten wet and good wood to build the new floor on. I still have some more wood that needs to be cut out from the wall but I will do that after putting the plywood down tomorrow. After tearing out all that I had to go buy wood and supplies for tomorrow at Home Depot. By that time it was time for my afternoon snack and a evening swim.
After our swim I cooked the steaks Barbara had bought earlier today along with some onions, red peppers and potato slices. It was delicious.