Progress on different fronts

I am beginning to see some progress but not fast enough for me.  I just have to keep telling myself to take a deep breath and have a little patience... it will all be over soon, right!
     The garage still hold a lot of stuff that needs to be put together or placed where it  is suppose to go, like a white planter stand for the sitting room (third bedroom with the Murphy bed)  Room was finally painted, trim too yesterday.  I will show you the room minus the planter that will go in front of the window with the chair where it will be as it is now, although the upholsterer is coming to pick it up on Wednesday with the promise of it being back completely redone in a week.

 

Looking into the room from the doorway

 

So happy I finally found a place to display my Hospice angles. (see above the closet doors)  The artist who designed and made only thirteen of these angles for Hospice died several years ago. Sad to know there will be no more of the charming figures holding a variety of things.  (a heart, dove, house, wreath, etc)   I have twelve of them and have since 2001 been looking for the first one in the series without any luck.   

The chair that is so comfy that it will put you to sleep and ottoman will be recovered in a yellow/pink and green floral print, cheery.

This wall is not finished.  I still  have a few other things, to hang on it

The planter will go in front of the window after Josh puts it together for me. 

The roofers came and put the roof vent in on Tuesday.  So that part of the job is done.  Here's a look at the progress in the kitchen. 

Can't believe it has been over a  month getting to this point, but I was assured it will all be done, backsplash, venting system, handles on cabinets and drawers as well as the trim work under the counter top by next Wednesday.

 The counter top has more blue in the stone than what the sample showed, making me question m choice of backsplash tile.  But I looked around for a day and could not find any tile I like better so it will be what it will be. 

This is what is under the needle in my studio.  As I was burying a thread, which I do as I go rather than save them all until the end, I thought I'd tell you about a little discovery I made. 

I use these  threaders to make quick work of getting to stands of thread through the eye of a size 9 embroidery needle,

but by doing so, I used to go through a lot of them in the course of making a quilt , so many that I started buying them in bulk.  That was the case  until I started taping them, 

Now, they last for months before they get mis-sharpened and break. 

Still living in a reconstruction zone

and what a pain.  The counter tops are to be installed on the 29th, so I am still working in a kitchen with only one flat surface, (the smooth top range)  It is hard juggling the small appliances I want to use as well as the burners. 
     The Murphy bed was installed and I really like the look of the unit.

  Will give you a look at that room after the painting is finished.  Josh got the wall the bed unit was install on painted as you can see but not the rest of the room yet. 
     Had a good trip to NYC last week to teach a class.  It was great getting to see so many ladies many of whom I'd met years ago and many that  know very well like Sandra and Brenda who drove up from Virginia to attend the class.  If you are every in Jamaica Queens section on a Thursday you must eat at the Door restaurant.  Very good Jamaican food and great service. 

The closest I came to seeing what most people think of when you say you are going to NYC was the fly over  (Ellis Island and the Lady (Statue of Liberty)  as the plane was landing at LaGuardia. On the way out, I had a great view of the city from the air as we flew north east and banked left over New Jersey to fly home  with a plane change in Atlanta.
     I came home an finished stitching the sleeve to a small piece for the SAQA auction and got it in the mail two weeks ahead of the deadline and after one day when I did noting, I finished painting this piece yesterday.  

.I am about to layer it and begin quilting after I eat lunch.  Will let you see it again once that is done.

I went for a ride

 this morning on my tricycle.  Just so my son Mike knows I was being safe, I stayed inside the gates to the condo community.  And no I didn't wear my helmet.  My head like the rest of me has gotten larger or my helmet shrank.  Come to think of it, I like the second excuse best.

My Myke

My Bike

If you think it is easy to ride one of these, you are wrong.  Toddlers on trikes are stronger than you think.  It takes more arm strength to keep this thing going in the right direction than a two wheeler.  On one of these you lean if the road leans because of the two wheels in the back and there is no balancing this thing on your own like a two wheeler.  No letting go of the handlebars either.  It was a real workout and arm wrestle to keep it going straight. I could have done more than a mile, but I am going to work  up to more distance slowly. 

Notice too, there are no gears so it is all unassisted leg power. 

I will be painting this morning as I wait for the counter top template guy to come.  But first I've got to find where Josh (the grandson) stowed the Keurig so I can plug it in somewhere to brew a cup of coffee.

 

I wish I'd taken a before the deconstruction photo

so I would have some images to look back on.  But the Handymen arrived later than scheduled this morning to take down the knee wall behind the sink.  Noisy! And rip off the counter tops.  A little banging.  Not bad. They will be back to do the trim after the plumber comes he said and

  left leaving behind a trail of dry wall dust and foot prints.  At least he said he could cut my cabinet and install a vent to exhaust my cooking fumes to the outside and he will build a box around the metal vent using the wood from the shelves in the cabinet above the stove that will be removed in order to put in the vending.  Will still need a roofer to cut the hole in the roof when the Handyman  is done with the venting.  AHHHH!!!!
So now I am waiting on the plumber to come in the next day or so to  disconnect the dishwasher and cut down the water pipes in the shorten knee wall and install the new dishwasher.  The template guy is  scheduled for tomorrow and the dryer vent cleaning guy is coming on Wednesday.
     In the mean time I decided to start painting to save my sanity. The painting will finish at  around 44" square.

 

After lunch and maybe a nap I will finish ironing the fabric for the kits I need for New York.  Got to get them in the FedEx system  before Friday.