The office is finished

Scan back to the first post of the "Office" and you will see what this corner used to look like.  All the same junk is still there, it's just hidden in the cabinets!

Here's pretty much how it looks.  I thought Diane would use all that counter top space for Young Women's projects, but she was released as Young Women's President.  She now teaches the 9-year-olds in Primary so I guess she'll be preparing Primary lessons instead.  She also is in charge of some sort of group of girls at summer girls camp, so she'll by busy with that till camp's over.  Anyway, there's plenty of room here for her to work at something!

Here are the work stations with the first drawers I ever built.  They weren't too tough after all.  I still have to get a file cabinet that will look good under the window.  The beat up one in the closet wouldn't look so hot.  So, once I get that in I will have room in my closet for my shoes and they won't have to stay on the back porch.

Finally, more of The Office

Well, I took pictures all along the way, but never had time to put them on. Between Church, Scouts, job, vacation, holidays & this project, I go to bed pretty late and staying up to download pictures (this blog thing is annoyingly slow) became low priority.

So, just about everything is done but making and installing the cabinet doors and drawer fronts. I put up the window treatments Monday night.

You can see why I left a strip of white on the walls when I painted them... too cheap to put a back on the cabinets!

Above shows our work stations with the oak desk top and under-cabinet lights. Tonight I put shelves between the cabinets. Di wanted some shelves to decorate.

Hummm... a little blurry, but here is the board and batten. The trim on the desktop extends all the way around the room. The cabinet doors will match the board and batten. I'm anxious to see how it looks with the doors installed.

So, there you have it. I guess the next pics will be when it's done.

Green!

I'm not sure if this looks the same in the photo as in real life. I'm, uh, not good with colors. But Di picked green and she says she likes it so that's what matters.

No need to paint where the cabinets or wainscot go.

The Office (not the TV show)

Well, it's about time for another project. This room is a mess. No place to put Scout stuff and Young Women stuff except on the floor. It's hard to get around Grandpa Boylin's bookcase.

Di and I spend a lot of time here but all I see of her is her back.

So, it was spend a lot of money on furniture or build cabinets. I asked Di which she preferred and after I made a sketch of cabinets, she decided they would be OK.

My dad's desk and Di's dad's bookcase will go up in the guest room with dad's dresser.

This is hard to see... I did a sketch in pencil to see what cabinets would fit. This is the south wall where Di's computer was. We'll have counter top (work space for YW projects) and lots of storage. The large cabinet on the bottom left will be under the desktop, L shaped with the counter on this wall.

The east wall, where my computer was, will be desk space for both of us. We'll have storage cabinets above our desks with some open shelves between, and each will have a bank of drawers on our left. We'll put lighting under the top cabinets to light our work space. Cabinets will not go under the window on this wall, so there will be room to put a file cabinet there (it's now in my closet).

So here is my sad workshop. The one car garage is so stuffed with junk that I set up that folding table for a workbench and set up and use one tool at a time. But hey, since there is no snow, I can also use the driveway! Working evenings and most of Saturday, I have the cabinet boxes done and painted (Diane chose brown for the cabinets and green for the walls of the office. I decided to make the inside of the cabinets white). Next: paint the office, make face frames for the cabinets, then make the doors. And I'll need to tackel making my first drawers. We decided to also do board and batten on the remaining walls.

Behind the for rent sign you can see the 3/4 oak plywood for the desk/counter top.

Chicken Stories

(an email sent to my siblings)

Dearest Sibs,
As you can see below I have been chastised into participating in these marvelous emails. I really do enjoy them. I was just reading them when Diane came in and woke me up so I could finish. Not that the emails put me to sleep, it's just been a long day (Ward Youth Conference) and my computer is right by the heater vent and we just had dinner and I stayed up late last night and you know how it is... sometimes I just go to sleep!

So, I beat you all to the punch with this chicken thing... I think I sent you all this link (click here) about my favorite chicken recipe but you may not remember. Kind of like Crystal finding my blog (that she has read and even commented on several times in the past!!). What's up with that?!?!?

So, my memories of the ranch... I didn't like it. Well, actually, I didn't mind it most of the time, but I didn't like that I couldn't play football or wrestle because Dad said I had chores to get home to do. I mostly played on the ranch in Highland. I think the only chore I had there was keeping the water full in the turkey pen. And I think Dad did it too, Maybe it was just he would let me do it once in awhile. Or maybe I just wanted to play with the water and I remember it as if it was a chore! So, that and I had to pick up the rocks off the lawn before Dad would mow. But I am the one who put the rocks there so it was really just picking up after myself.

I do remember the Indian tribe in Highland that the girls invented. I think we did rain dances and I seem to remember we even had a language for them. They must have been strange Indians to live on a chicken ranch. I hope they enjoyed the eggs we rolled out to them in the grass because it sure made Dad excited when he found them!

In Yucaipa I did a little more work. Wasn't too fond of scraping the poop off the boards but it was honest work and kept me from being broke. If I recall, I started out at 25 cents an hour. And was I lucky to earn that! My boss had to work on his Dad's ranch for room and board!!! Ah, things were good when I was a kid.

I remember having to spread the feed in the evening and there was one chicken that would peck at my hand every time I went by. It got to where it made me really mad and one time when it got me good I stopped and grabbed her by the neck and slapped her up side the head. Now, I don't know how he did it, but every time I did something like that I'd look up and there would be Dad. Anyway, I explained that that hen always pecked at me and he said "what do you expect, you've got your hand in her supper"! And then he followed with something like "don't hit my chickens or I'll something, something you..." I don't remember the exact words, but you get the drift.

Once at the beach I found a rock that looked kind of like an egg and I brought it home an put it out with the eggs for Dad to find when he gathered eggs. He thought that was pretty funny. He had it sitting in the egg house for a long time.

I learned a lot about responsibility working on that ranch. When I moved my family back to Yucaipa in 1982 I built a little coop and put in about 6 hens and told the kids to keep them fed and watered or they would die. I wanted to teach them the same responsibility I had learned. You have to take care of animals or they will die! They don't just get mad at you, or pout, or go to their friend's house to eat, they DIE. I was sure my kids would be good chicken ranchers. After all, it was in their blood! Well it went pretty well for a couple of weeks. And then they started dieing. So I gathered up what remained of the flock and put them in the cab of my truck and drove up the street and threw them over the fence of some yard that had chickens. I talked to that guy a few years later and told him what I had done and said I thought he had probably been pretty surprised to find more chickens in his yard. Hahahaha... but he said "not really... it happened all the time. Even got a goat once that way". Guess I wasn't the only one trying to teach responsibility.

So, there is my entry for tonight. Thank you, Crystal, for getting me off my duff. It was a thrill to think of chicken stories. Now I have to go clean my office. My wife thinks I need to pick up after myself. But first I think I will sing a little to the clutter and maybe even do a little rain dance.

Love to all,
Jer

The Legacy Assured

Scout Camp!

This was cool. I got to go to 11-year-old Scout Camp with Michael. We did a 6 mile hike and passed off a bunch of requirements in his scout book. We spent Friday night in a tent and Michael got to blow the horn a bunch of times that signaled time to move to the next workshop. I was especially proud when he carried the American flag in the flag raising ceremony.
(And no, I don't know what that red thing is under the picture)

The best job ever!

Grandparents Day

Last Wednesday was Grandparents Day at Taylor's school. She goes to a great school and once a year they have a day when Grandparents can go see a little program and then visit their grandchild's classroom. So Diane took the day off and I took a long lunch and off we went to see Taylor.

Now, let me say, I have had a lot of jobs in my life. I've worked as a janitor, copier repair man, a salesman, a grunt, a manager, and in construction. I could probably not even list all the different jobs I have had. There were many years in my life that I had two jobs and sometimes even three!

You could even count 4 at a time if you counted the job of daddy. And until a few years ago, I thought the job of daddy was the best. It was really annoying when the other jobs got in the way of the daddy job. But I had to pay the bills so the other jobs got done. Well, I'm finding that the older I get, the more annoyed I get at the interruptions in my life from this bothersome thing called a job. I'm thankful for the money and free car and benefits and paid vacation days, but wanting me to come in to work every day is just getting out of hand! Oh well, retirement is, unfortunately, not around the corner. So I will continue to go to work.

But that will not stop me from enjoying the best job ever:

Grandpa.

When I think about it, I did have a little training on how to be a grandparent. I used to watch my dad as his eyes sparkled around the grand kids. He was not as rambunctious as I am. He would not have jumped on the trampoline or gone to Scout Camp with the grandkids. But he did ride them around the ranch in the electric egg cart. He liked to take Pug for a walk and have a grand kid along with him. He liked to watch TV with them, especially if it included a nap! He took the grand kids fishing and made sure they got a big orange from his tree when they came to visit. My mom used to cook and sew and do crafts with them. This grandparent thing can take up a lot of time. And though it's not time yet, I am ready for just one job. I want to be a full-time grandpa!

The Legacy Assured

Tilt-O-Whirl

This is Andy. He's my buddy. Last February we went to Scandia with him and his family. He wanted to ride the Tilt-O-Whirl because it was included with the wristband we had bought him. It wasn't included with ours, so he rode alone. It brought back a lot of memories for me. When I was a boy we used to go to the Orange Show in San Bernardino. I remember walking through the midway wanting to ride all the rides over and over. The Tilt-O-Whirl was one of those. To be fair, my Mom and sister would ride it once, but I liked it and wanted to ride more so I usually took another turn or two by myself. Watching Andy reminded me of a fun tradition we had as a family when I was young. I didn't think of it as a tradition at the time, but looking back, I guess it was. I can remember riding over in my Dad's big Buick. We would park in the dirt parking lot and I would hold his hand as we walked across the street. He would squeeze my hand and I would squeeze back. We'd do that over and over. I thought my Dad had very big hands. And he always had dimes in his pocket for me to throw to try to win a dish or fish. But the best part was the corn dogs and lemonade. Dad thought that corn dogs were the best invention for kids. And fair corn dogs are the best. I don't even remember sitting down to eat them. We just kept walking through the fair. We would walk through all the buildings with displays. It wasn't as fun as riding the rides, but for some reason I liked it. Maybe it was because I was with my family. And there was always that big hand to squeeze.

The legacy assured.

Silhouettes On The Beach

Sometimes we see life in silhouettes,

Though the light beyond is as bright as it gets.

But shadows follow close behind,

And bring tender moments to our mind.

Of quiet times in beautiful places,

And our children's warmth and their happy faces.

Follow my amazing daughter-in-law's blogs.

First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

Tonight my grandson Michael and I finished Douglas Southall Freeman's seven volume set biography of George Washington. In 2008 when Diane asked me what I would like for Christmas, I suggested this long out of circulation set (first published in 1957). Well, she found it on the internet and it is one of my all-time favorite gifts. I had also received, some time that year, a bookmark with a picture of Michael on it. So, for 2 years as I read thru this set, I had Michael with me all the while. TeriLe, Michael, and Daniel lived with us for a few years and I miss them all the time. But with this bookmark, it was like Michael was sitting with me every time I read of George Washington.

Washington was eulogized by many. Perhaps the most famous words (forming the title of this blog) were by Henry Lee, his long-time friend and fellow Virginian. But I think my favorite were by Thomas Jefferson: "His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motives or interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. He was indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good and a great man".

And so, somehow thru osmosis or something, this is what I wish for Michael. He's a good kid. I hope he learns well how to be a good man. I know TeriLe is teaching him how to work on the "farm" and that will help.

Michael, I hope you study hard in school, listen in Church, and mind your Mom. These are all things that George Washington did. I can't wait to see you again so I can tell you some of the stories I remember of George Washington. And, yes, I wish this for all my grand kids, but Michael's picture is sitting here looking at me! I hope they all learn to have integrity that is most pure.

Now go look up consanguinity....

Dad's watch

The inscription reads: From Doris to Floyd 10-10-62. That was my Dad's 46th birthday. On that day he was 13 years younger than I am today. I was 11 and just that June we had moved to the ranch in Yucaipa. I remember sitting next to Dad in the little church on 1st Street watching the little second hand go around and looking at his hands. His hands were large and rough. The hands of a life-long farmer and rancher. Hands that worked hard and were proud of what they did. They were tanned from working outside and there were some age spots beginning to show. His hair was dark and there were callouses on his palms. He used to look at my hands and tell me I should be proud of having callouses, they were the sign of a real man. I used to tease my friends because they didn't have callouses. Dad and I worked together on the ranch and when he talked (he was usually pretty quiet) he would try to teach me what it took to be a man. Mostly, he said, it takes a lot of work. He taught me to be proud of my work, to sit back and admire it when the job was completed. "Don't rush off, take a look at what you have done". Even to this day, when I get done with a project, I sit back and enjoy what I've done. Sometimes I will just pull up a chair and look for awhile. That is actually one reason I like to put on this blog the projects that I am working on.

Today is Christmas eve. We don't have any family here today. It's kind of quiet and lonely. But we get to spend Christmas morning with Tyler and his amazing family and that will be great. I have worked on a little project for his girls. The paint is drying in the workshop. I will post pics when I get it put together. So I have been reading my kid's blogs and taking a look at what my family has done. I'm pretty proud of them all and hope they all have happiness thru the Holidays and forever. Life's not easy. It takes a lot of work. But they are all working hard at making a good life for my grandkids.

I think now I will put on my Dad's watch, his golden ring, and go enjoy Christmas eve with my beautiful wife. She just brought home a rib eye roast, so it looks like we'll have a good Christmas eve dinner! But before that, maybe I'll go out to the yard and see if I can work up some callouses. Because that's what a real man does.

October 3, 2010... click here to see when this adventure began. Remember that room?

Our back porch/laundry room serves as a main entrance to our home. Since we park toward the back of the house, and since we use our back yard so much, we use the back entrance the most. So it should look decent, right. Well it is 99% done, just some touch-up to do.

It's hard to get a picture of it all, but here are several views.

Here's the washer/dryer Tyler got for us out of a house he was selling. We'll leave our old white set over in the Little Red House.

So, these aren't as cute as our kid's blogs with pictures of our grand kids, but hey, you blog what you got.

One more day!

I took a day off work to try to get this finished before Sunday when Di's family is coming.

Here is the new entry door to the kitchen. It's kind of a ribbed glass thingie. It's all in and painted... just need to touch up the paint. This is a custom order door and they actually cut it a little too narrow... I had to take off the trim and shim out the case so it would fit. Nothing is ever easy in an old house, but it doesn't help when they don't make the new part right either!

From the kitchen side.
Putting a shelf above the washer/dryer.
Kind of dark, but this is the new floor from outside looking in.

Putting in the floor... I think my pictures went in upside down.

Cabinets installed and painted.

Stopped while painting to get a pic. See the ceiling above the cabinet? Nothing level, plumb, or square in this old house. There is no way to make this look good, it will get trimmed as is.

1 coat primer, two coats paint. Easy when the room is empty.

I don't remember what I was doing when Di took this pic. But see all those spots? That's dust on the flash. I must have been stirring something up!

This is doing the plumbing... under the floor and up the walls. It was easier to cut access thru the floor than work in the 2 foot crawl space. That's the new sub-floor leaning on the wall behind me. After I was done with the plumbing, I put the patches back in and covered it all up with another layer of sub-floor. There were already 3... now there are 4.

So, tomorrow is Saturday and after I take the Scouts down to sell mistletoe for their fund-raiser, I'll be back to install the baseboard, move the Coke machine and washer/dryer in and be DONE!

Didn't make it by Thanksgiving...

I was supposed to have this done before Amy got here with her family for Thanksgiving. Maybe it will be done by Dec 12 when Diane's family is here for Christmas!

Cabinets are built and ready to install and paint.

Plumbing is done (moved inside the wall, it was outside) Had to move the gas line, hot and cold water, and drain. I also installed two additional outlets for the vending machine and the dryer. Installed new sub-floor & insulation (I'm trying to figure out how to get a heater vent in here.)


Actually as of Nov. 23. 2010, the sheet rock is also installed, but I don't have a picture yet.

So, just need to paint, install & paint cabinets, install floor, base & case, and new door to kitchen.

By Dec 12? Piece of cake!

At the park in Wrightwood

On with the remodel (and the rest of life)

When I first started this blog it was just to record a few things from our life that I thought would be fun for our kids to read on the web. Since I got such a hoot out of reading theirs, I figured I would do one too! Diane quickly took over and became the more frequent blogger, but she has now moved on to Facebook and doesn't come here any more. So, I am pretty much back at the helm. The previous post, The Front Porch Floor, promised updates on the continuing remodel of our "vintage" 1932 Wrightwood cabin between vacations, scouts and other distractions of life. So, on we go... I need to get this back porch remodeled to match the now "relatively new" kitchen.

This back door serves as the most frequent entrance for us and most visitors... not very attractive.

But first I had to take the Scouts to Camp Whitsett and a few other trips.

Like the West Rim Trail in Zion National Park

And a little trip up Mt. Baden-Powell, and a couple others you can see on the Scout Blog

And we had to do a Family Reunion at my sister's beach house in Capitola

It was cool weather and cold water (yeah, spoiled by Hawaii), but an awesome time!

And a beautiful house to gather great kids and grand kids for crafts and fun

Di and I took a little weekend trip to Sedona, one of our favorite places

Had breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot

This is Di's self-portrait at the information center, I guess they were warning us to beware of the local wildlife!

We went up to Lake Powell and took a river raft "float" down the Colorado. A "float" means there is no white water and it's not a very exciting ride. Beautiful scenery, and nice to be on the water, though. And I have always wanted to see this stretch of the river.

And last weekend we went up to TeriLe's birthday party in Washington.

Here are all the Washington grand kids!

And we got to spend some time with Tyler's family here in SoCal. Here are the boys at the lake.

And we went to Grandparents day at Taylor's school.

Here we are waiting in line for pictures. But, what the heck, we had a camera too!

And just this weekend we got to have the twins up for a sleep-over. That was super-fun.

We went to the park

And took more pictures

But now, it's time to get to work. This is almost a before picture... I have already moved the water heater down to the basement and forgot to get a picture first. But the water heater used to be in that corner behind the Coke machine.

It's new home is in the basement. I tried to move the existing one to save some money, but it didn't move well. So we now have a new one all snug and secure in it's blanket under the house. It was nice that a flue, gas line, and water lines were all conveniently located.

Next project, the door.

Now, remember, nothing in this old house is level, plumb, square, or standard size. The original entry door was only 28" so I needed to open it up for a 32" 9-lite entry door. To do that, I needed to move the light switches and the porch light over 4" as well.

Here is the new door.

It makes the house look crooked (which it is) because the new door is now level and plumb.
And on we go. Next, move the plumbing to move the washer to the other side of the dryer under the window so we can put cabinets between the washer/dryer and the Coke machine. Then repair all the drywall, put in a new sub-floor, build and install the cabinets and install the new flooring to match the kitchen and front porch. All before Thanksgiving? Well, maybe. We'll see. Di has said I can move the washer/dryer to the Little Red House so I don't have to work around them. She also said I should take some vacation days to get this done. I think she wants it done quicker than the kitchen!

So, long post, but I figure I'm the only one who reads it anyway!!!