iseecerulean

I've only a couple of hours to myself this morning before I'm off to help Kate labor at her house.  I've got two week's worth of updates to share, since I slacked off with only a single picture last week.  I implied a relaxing Sunday with that picture, but it was merely staged, I've been a busy, busy girl.

Let's start at Kate's house....

Last time I was there the front entry door had been installed, the windows redone to sit further forward toward the exterior, the window trim started, and more was completed in the bathroom.

Instead of wood to frame out the windows they used Trex, which is an eco-friendly composite material usually used for decks.  It was her contractor's idea, to make them maintenance free.  The wood that had framed in the old windows was rotting.  Kate picked the gray color, clam shell, I believe it's named, which blends nicely with the stone and the sandstone colored windows.

Kate's mudroom addition has several finishes going on....one wall is stone, with an antique dark wood and glass door...another is stone with a white painted wood door and a dark wood milk delivery door....the wall opposite that was painted green, with Kate's new purple door and a white trimmed window....the fourth is finished in dark shiplap, which continues onto the ceiling, and has three white trimmed windows.   I painted the green wall white to match the window trim and the white door opposite.  Everything looks complimentary now.  Kate was going to change the color later but I insisted now was the time to handle it, before they put the interior trim up around the new windows and door.

I finally got a chance to drive my parents out to see the house.  They were delighted and proud.  Both think the house is adorable and well suited to Kate.

The bathroom is coming along.  They installed the sliding glass shower doors I told her repeatedly she didn't have room for, which have since been removed because there isn't room for them.  The new toilet and vanity are in, as are the beadboard, edge tiles, and wooden trim, which matches the wooden trim in all the other rooms.

We stopped at an estate sale a couple weekends ago.  It was the last day, everything was marked down by half....Kate got this gorgeous cedar chest, along with a pressure cooker, waffle maker, other kitchen odds and ends, and a nice garden spreader, all for ninety-some dollars.  Score!

The estate sale reminded me that I bought a fold-down shelf/table thing at a garage sale last summer, which was promptly shoved in my closet.  I dug it out and Matthew installed it under the dining room window for Ester.  She loves it.  It was definitely worth a dollar.

Spring is in the air here, the snow is melting, the birds are singing...  We had a couple of days in the 60s this week, so I played hooky Tuesday and Matthew and I drove around Leelanau Peninsula.  We stopped at Fishtown to walk and enjoy the warmth.  It's much more relaxing when it's not tourist season, even though all the little shops were closed....plus, there were no other people there to get in way of taking good pictures.

We had fresh lake perch for lunch in Sutton's Bay, then wandered downtown.  I saw these fantastic bicycles in a home decor shop.  They aren't scale pieces, but they're the right size.  It was a tough decision to pick between the red and the green, so I brought home both of them.

I did find a few hours, but only a few, to begin work on the contest house.

I microwaved and tore apart the porch pieces.  The balusters didn't want to cooperate, but those were the pieces I wanted to replace, so I broke them out, then sanded the top and bottom rails smooth.  I will use my table saw to cut a new, skinnier, groove in them to insert the new baluster sections.