The White House

The White House

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Sunny and Cold

After getting Elijah, Nick and Olivia off to school the morning was filled helping little hands put together puzzles in between watering the plant room.  I rotated plants as well and the process took 2.5 hours!
 A little bit of sunlight was streaming in the small windows near the ceiling (at ground level from the outside). Sunlight is deceiving though.  It was only 5* out and -10 below down in town. Snow showers this week in the forecast none of which I would give a thought to if the roof was on my greenhouse, but since it isn't this weather is holding up progress.
I can really see the pit bull in her stance, can you?  Millie is part husky, part pit bull from her mother and the father was unknown although I am going with black or chocolate lab from the look of all the pups. She's a deep chocolate brown with yellow eyes.  I think she is going to be a very strong adult dog.
 The roaming black lab has me so frustrated.  It is hard for me to take my own dogs out to their own dog yard because he is always lurking nearby. The problem is Millie hops over the 4 foot fence like it isn't even there, but we can't do anything about it now.  Everything is buried under snow and frozen.  She actually has  had a few accidents in the house because I can't always take her out.  Maybe tomorrow I can follow him and find out where he lives.  After I chased him off I took the opportunity to go out and play a little fetch.  At first it was keep away from me, but it didn't take her too long to catch on.
 The skies were absolutely perfect.
 So much snow still on the gardens and grass.

 Dawson went by on his snow machine while I was out in the yard.  No, it isn't really legal to ride down the road, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do...that's one of the benefits to living out-of-town.
 When I make my morning rounds cleaning rooms I like to pause and work on the puzzle.  Emily and I don't see to be finishing it very quickly.  We get busy doing so many other things.  Maybe it will still be sitting there for a rainy day project.
 Trixie (2) is not taming nearly as fast as the other bird did.  She is upstairs in Emily's room so I'm not holding her as often as the last one that was kept down stairs.  It's just too drafty at times in the living room so she is safer but held less.
 I love a clean room.  In fact, I love a clean house so the disorganization of the last three years had really bugged me.  A lot. It was so much better when we lived upstairs and the downstairs was a garage, but moving down here gave us twice as much room which, at the time, I thought I wanted. I mean, I do want it, but we should have built everything and then moved down (I was too impatient). Anyhow, that is part of the reason I make my morning rounds cleaning the kids' room.  I enjoy it, but it also allows me to make sure some of the space in my house is "perfect". Four bedrooms neat and tidy is good for my soul.  Plus, the living room is a quick pick-up now that I've gotten rid of most everything! :) The kitchen still makes me crazy as I only have a couple cupboards. 
Today, I was supposed to be painting the bathroom, but there is a patch job that needs done first and Mr. White was tired last night. The black along the bottom of the tub is sticky glue where the trim is gone, there linoleum is stained from when the previous owners didn't have a water softener and wrinkled (right by the heater vent).  For under $100 it can be spiffed up and like new.  We have the paint and you will be shocked.  My husband picked out an obnoxious bright blue, but that's okay.  It will be cheerful.  We have the new linoleum so all that we need to get is the trim.  Now that I type this there is no reason I can't go scrub the walls and do the primer without the patch job (where the door knob dented the wall because the door stopper broke off) finished. Oh, but how I hate painting. I used to think I liked it until I did the stripes in Nick's room.  Now I realize it's just a lot of work!  Ug! And that ugly panelling.  Won't it be wonderful when it is all covered up?!
 Here's the little piece of carpet we tossed in Elijah's room to add a bit of comfort until he moves to his bigger room.
 The carpet came from here. When we moved in this was the dining room.  The space is a teeny bit over 10' X 10' and has great sunlight. I need to finish tearing up and tossing the padding, and pull all the staples. A half wall on the right side needs to be built and sheet rocked (it is one side to the stairwell down). Also, the ceiling will get sheet rock (it's that 80's trailer house ceiling).  Then I can paint the room.  We'll lay down hard wood flooring which we already have in storage so again this is another area that isn't going to be a big expense, but it is going to take time.  Time my dear husband doesn't have because he works so much. This wonderful space will be for sewing and scrap booking.  I think I'll move my computer in there as well and let the kids take over down stairs!
 The view from Emily's room.
 My sled full of water and food headed out to see Daisy and the chickens. I'll be getting rid of my female show turkey.  My last rooster was dead yesterday.  I watched for quite awhile and realized she's really picking at the chickens.  She will grab them by the back of the neck and just toss them.  A couple have no feathers on the backs of their necks.  My guess is that little tiny rooster was trying to protect his flock and the big turkey won.  :(  I'm now down to 23 chickens and no eggs.  Yes, I know, go paint those nest boxes! I will, I will. Putting in an order for more chicks today so they'll be mature when these layers begin to taper off.


This is the path to the end of the coop.  What a nightmare of slipping and ducking under that tree.  It is coming down this summer. The fence is temporarily up and we ran out of summer to fix it.  It will be tighten and the end of the coop will be welded shut so a gate will need to go in. After the tree is gone I'd like to put in some cinder block steps. The older I get the less I like navigating slopes.  It hurts to fall down. The siding will go on as well.  That orange is an eye sore although it is probably great for those needed to tell people where to turn.
 Emily is gone this week and the teenage boys were gone with their friends so it was just me, Dad and the Wee People.
 I decided we should set up a tent for them to play and sleep in.  A brand-new-shiny-never-been-used tent. They had a blast.
Have you ever watched Modern Family?  We don't have cable or a dish, but I get it on Netflix.  That show totally cracks me up as it resembles a lot of the crazy stuff that happens around here.

Well, the plants are thirsty, the animals are hungry, painting needs done, kids need played with....just another full day at The White House.

5 comments:

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

You still have so much snow. You must be tired of it by now.

If I lived near you, I'd come paint for you. Think of how nice it will look when its done tho.

Little Black Scrap Cat said...

You never cease to amaze me with all you get done.

Nothing is more fun than playing in a tent - inside the house or out!! We've done that too!!

B said...

You amaze me too. I love picking up the rooms after the kids are gone too (though 3 are still home most of the week). It is good for the soul!!!

Love how you care for those animals.

Patty said...

Gayle we absolutely love Modern Family. You should also watch The Middle. It is just as good, if not better.

Queen-Size funny bone said...

I love modern family. Hey you are making progress with everything you do, just not as fast as you like.