The Curtis & Edwards Family

2011-06-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Fava beans from spring that are just now posted for Joe. We bought a 2lb bag just to plant ~6.

2011-06-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

So close!

2010-06-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

So, the dishwasher, the oven and the refrigerator get installed, then you test the dishwasher and, of course, it leaks. So out go the appliances, up come the floor boards and insulation blanket. Now it's sit and wait for the floor to dry. Only damages were to the schedule and our spirits!

Flower Power

2010-06-13T20:28:00.001-07:00

Some late irises coming on.
Day lilies that we got on clearance at Lowes last season.
Another clearance day lily. I love these two colors.

Bring on the appliances!

2010-06-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Functioning sink with faucet and air switch (to left of faucet in countertop) for the waste disposal--SWEET!
These are the door and drawer handles that we chose.
Microwave, full back splash and stove top. Hole underneath is where the oven goes.

There's light at the end of the tunnel!

2010-06-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

Would you look at that sink? It seems much deeper than the previous sink.

Now it looks more like its normal self and the pendant lights are off.

Granite and lighting were installed today. This granite is magical. It looks brown here with the lights on. Notice the pendant lighting above the island.

More flooring

2010-05-24T22:09:00.001-07:00

And voila, here it is! Curt did a great installation!
This is the profile of the flooring between the kitchen and the dining room.
Curt had to level out some of the areas in preparation for new flooring.

Flooring!!!!!

2010-05-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Flooring from living room doorway.

View from patio with crown molding.
View from patio door with flooring. Isn't it lovely?

The saga continues

2010-05-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

This is the bottom edge finish to the upper cabinets. That sure adds a nice finish to the upper cabinets.
And the toe kick/baseboard went in too.
Crown molding above pantry and refrigerator. This is such a beautiful wall. I can't wait to see the refrigerator (stainless steel) go in place.
Crown molding is the final touch to the cabinetry. This is the corner unit between sink (to right) and stove top (to left).

Nature in our own backyard!

2010-05-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

View of the summer garden. Those snapdragons are so beautiful!
Plants and flowers under the orange tree.
You take one night off from nest patrol and what happens? Sure enough, those mourning doves don't waste any time. This is one of the sturdier nests we've ever seen a dove build.

Oh my gosh!

2010-05-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Would you look at those upper cabinets! What an impressive view we got this afternoon! Electrical to be done soon; followed by new flooring, granite, appliances, knobs/pulls and finishing touches! Is that a glimmer of light I see at the end of the tunnel?
Pantry and refrigerator area installed. That is one big pantry!

Lions and tigers and bears, not really!

2010-05-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Using the Santa gnome to finish off some birdseed from TwoTwo, our beloved parakeet. The doves, house finches, crows and even a bunny (to the right of the gnome) all enjoyed the daily feast!

Now we're talking new kitchen!

2010-05-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

At long last, actually we're only on week 4, the cupboards are going in. They sure do fill up the space. It's not as big a kitchen as we thought, but we sure are going to have lots of prep areas! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

2010-05-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Renee fell in love with this ground cover/edging plant when she saw it a few years back in a neighborhood yard. Ours is slowly spreading in the bed on the east (kitchen) side of the yard.

Never enough flowers

2010-05-06T22:22:00.001-07:00

Some years ago, Mom Barber brought shoots of epiphyllum from Cousin Babe. What great blooms we got this year. The colors are so vibrant! Love it, love it, love it!

Next Step: Painting

2010-05-06T22:11:00.001-07:00

Andrew got in on the painting action too. Our final color choice: the swatch on the right (below). It's the same color as most walls in the adjoining dining room. Semi gloss paint sure takes a while to dry!
Once I learned that painting comes much sooner than I thought, it was run to Jo-Ann's and pick out some fabric for the window valances and patio door drape. We're really excited out our choice of fabric. It took a few trips to home improvement stores to audition different paint colors, but in the end we picked....
Curt the painter. He's such a good sport (and painter, too)!
This is one big kitchen will all drywall complete and ready for primer!

There's more to life than kitchen remodels & flowers!

2010-04-26T22:25:00.001-07:00

First time we've ever seen leopard gecko, Sam(antha) doing a shed. She's getting a good bite of the lower body skin here during her 30-minute shed process.
Michelle trying to get warm while doing her mantra. Yes, Donovan, those are your slippers!
The two proud Bronco (Cal Poly Pomona, NOT Denver) fans.
Time out to play Skip-Bo. It was Guys vs. Girls (Curt/Andrew vs. Adele/Michelle). Guys took this one.

Time out for more flowers

2010-04-26T22:20:00.001-07:00

The camellia bush Curt planted in the backyard has this small bloom on it this year. It's all amazing...we got it to flower...and...the flower is so much smaller than the ones on it when we brought it home from the nursery. What's that all about?
Just in time for Adele's visit, we had this beautiful amaryllis bloom!

Evolution of a new kitchen

2010-04-26T22:06:00.001-07:00

The pony wall that will hold up the raised bar. I'm standing on the kitchen side. The island cabinets will mount to this side of the pony wall.
Ducting for the microwave exhaust had to be moved a bit...just another whole in the ceiling. Sure glad I'm not the wall board patcher!

New pocket door in place. It will be painted white, like all other doors in the house.

Plumbing line from back wall of house over attic and into interior wall to access refrigerator.

New side window. This replaces the garden window on east side of house. Big difference is amount of light, but boy are these windows smooth. Andrew: They keep working on that floor!
New sink window...same size and location of previous window.

Carlsbad Flower Fields

2010-04-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

And, of course, the runuculus...so many beautiful colors!
They have a developmental rose garden with lots of different roses.
Yes, these are orange poinsettias!
There were sweet peas in a sweet pea maze. Never seen so many sweet peas!

I took my sister, Adele, to the Carlsbad Flower Fields for some great views of spring flowers. It was a beautiful day...and so were the flowers:

Crafting update

2010-04-18T18:43:00.001-07:00

Renee completes her second quilt. This one is the result of the 2009 Block of the Month from the Crazy 9 Patch in Ramona, CA. Adele is the lucky recipient of this one.

Gourmet cooking while kitchen demo?

2010-04-18T18:39:00.001-07:00

Homemade stir fry was prepped by both of us and then Curt went to work at the grill to cook everything. Electric rice cooker is a savior for quinoa too!

The most exciting part about electrical

2010-04-18T18:36:00.001-07:00

The conduit was run 12 inches below the slab. The electrician had to leave a pocket so the city inspector can verify that the conduit is indeed where it is supposed to be. I'm surprised we didn't discover any gopher paths in the journey down.

More Electrical

2010-04-18T18:33:00.001-07:00

Wires to ceiling can lights and undercabinet lighting was accomplished in one afternoon.

Electrical work continues

2010-04-18T18:30:00.001-07:00

The next step was to agree where all the can lights in the ceiling would be placed. Of course, we had to agree that 8 can lights would be just as good at 10 can lights. Our kitchen was so poorly lit in the past that 8 can lights would be plenty. Here contractor Dave is marking one of the penant lights for above the raised bar.

Electrical work starts

2010-04-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Step one of electrical work was to cut cement slab so conduit could be placed underground to run electricity to the island. What a dusty mess! Even their plastic wall didn't stop all the dust from covering my temporary kitchen.

Garden update

2010-04-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

The only place I know of to get organic strawberries...my own strawberry planter. Not too big of a crop, but a tasty one ever so often. The snapdragons are coming on strong now. Those are one of my favorites, so I enjoy being out on the patio to see them.

Not too many sweetpeas this year, but what we do have are very enjoyable.

Floor scraping continues

2010-04-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

The floor scraping has been the hardest part so far. Even Andrew got in on the action. He'll do anything on Tuesday nights to avoid watching American Idol with me! He only hangs around to catch the weekly episode of Glee.

View from the patio door

2010-04-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Now I'm standing at the patio door and looking into the kitchen. You can see the new pocket door framing and opening. The old opening is at far left, now framed up. Next steps: Scrap the flooring up, install electrical. Early next week: Replace windows. Now that's going to be a change. The garden window, shown here, will be replaced with a 36 inch wide window.

A view from one corner

2010-04-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm standing in the corner where the pocket door is located. The framing that Curt left is gone and the room opens wide into the dining room. Molly couldn't wait to get out from behind that gate. She promptly went and laid down where you see her here. Of course, much of the floor space you see will be filled with the island.

New Pocket Door

2010-04-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

So, the doorway from the kitchen to the living room is being moved closer to the outside wall of the house. This is the framing for the pocket door that replaces the old passage between the two rooms.

Cupboards, anyone?

2010-04-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

It was nice to see something come in rather than more money going out! Cupboards arrived today and are taking up a bit more than half the garage for a while. Those boxes sure will make a great fort or two! That's a lot of cupboards!

Molly supervises

2010-04-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Safety first! Molly is confined to the back of the house, but she stays pretty close to the gate to make sure things stay on schedule.

Day one with the contractor

2010-04-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

What a flurry of activity! Studs down, framing up, window frames out, electrical plan defined! Floor scraping is going to be tough. They're sending in the teenage son on day 2 to scrap the floor. This is Justin, from the team making an early attempt on the floor.

The Construction Kitchen

2010-04-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

The dining challenge is on! The make shift kitchen is now a part of the dining room, but, oh yes, the refrigerator is in the entryway. And, of course, dishes have to be washed camping style...out on a patio table. Two days down, 7.5 weeks to go!

Time out for some gardening!

2010-04-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

Will you look at those carrots! We've been enjoying snap peas from the garden this spring and now there are carrots too!

Door and granite samples

2010-04-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our Diamond brand cabinetry is made in Oregon. We're getting cherry cabinetry with a harvest stain. Our granite is called Tan Brown from Arizona Tile.

Demolition COMPLETE!

2010-04-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

All done and one day to go until new work starts. Construction crew arrives Monday, April 12.

The final steps...

2010-04-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Next it was appliances, cupboards and countertops OUT! Donovan and Curt made fast, easy work of it all.
Molly was the demolition supervisor!

And the Wall comes tumbling down!

2010-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

It only took Curt 2 hours to demo the wall between the kitchen and the dining room! Lots of hammering, cutting, vacuuming and fast progress!

Voila! A view across dining room into kitchen! Molly is handling the changes well so far.

And the doors come down!

2010-04-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Next it was doors and drawers OUT! Renee had a hard time keeping up with the packing as the guys worked the demolition. Male enthusiasm for demolition certainly outweighed female lack of enthusiasm for packing!

Countdown to a new kitchen!

2010-04-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

March 31, 2010 was the beginning of knocking out the old and making room for the new in our badly-needing-a-makeover kitchen. Donovan started the demolition task with cabinet knob removal.

Desert Camping - January 2009

2009-09-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

As you can see, desert nights can be a bit chilly.

Curt and Donovan went on a hike to find these pictographs. Thank goodness for cameras, I got to see them without the hiking effort! Molly and I had a great, quiet day at camp.

Campfires are so much fun! We especially like the smores! There must be a campfire initiation when you camp with former scouts. Be sure to check out the video.

Isn't Molly just gorgeous in her handmade sweater? Renee sure had fun making it for her, so she would stay warm during the cold desert nights. She was such a good sport to wear it. I think she liked it!

These are the remains of an abandoned homestead. The story goes that a man brought his wife and children out to live here in the desert so he could live his dream life of living off the land...not such a good dream for the wife though. After nine years of struggle, the wife decided she had had enough of this nightmare, and thus the end of living off the land!

Agua Caliente was the campground of choice for our mini vacation to the desert with Donovan. We had three fun days of hiking around the campground trails and elsewhere in the area. We got home just in time to see Barak Obama sworn in as President.