the struggle is real

Again, I have a DIY story for you.  This is where the struggle happens!  This is a good one!  Our upstairs bathroom had some real ugly old caulk by the tub, and I had removed it with a lot of elbow grease awhile ago.  Maybe a year ago?  I don't know, one DIY project just seems to meld into the next!  When you pause that long, I found out the the edge of the good ole vinyl flooring (which is not being replaced because Bob gave me that look when I suggested tile would be nice) starts to curl up a little bit.  So we were faced with a worse mess to try to pretty up with some new, neat, white caulk.  First, we thought adhesive.  Not sure what to use, Bob pulled out his Gorilla glue and slathered some of that under the edge, as well as in a few other places that it didn't belong.  Then he jerry rigged a weight to hold the edge of the flooring down while the glue did its thing.  Well, that was not a huge success.  We now had partially glued down flooring and lumps of gorilla glue in some spots.  So, I suggested staples, for not the first time in this little drama.  Bob caved and got some staples in the right spots.  Then he carefully taped off the area for the caulk, and with my watchful encouragement, spread in some white caulk so very nicely.  Tape strips were carefully removed, and we gingerly tiptoed out of the bathroom, thinking this is too good to be true, but we had finally licked the caulking problem!

Now move forward to the next day.  Bob's upstairs, and I hear him calling me to come up there, there's something I have to see.  With some trepidation, I climb the stairs and see him in the bathroom.  I'm pretty sure we will soon be doing the happy caulk dance.  But NO!  I look at the floor and this is what I see--

How come those staples are showing???  Yesterday they were covered by caulk!  What happened???  We hardly know what to say.  Bob has the caulk tube in hand, and look what it says in fine print--

OMG!  We were nearly on the floor laughing so hard!  This never happens on the Home and Garden shows!  Is there a prize for the people who make the hardest job out of something that should be simple?  We are the champs!

bathroom before/after

Our little bathroom is so spiffed up, it feels like it must be someone else's house!

Since we don't have a "master mega suite", this little bathroom is not only the bathroom that we use daily, but also the place that visitors use when we have friends or family over.

So I am really happy that is a spot that gives us space to keep all of our personal items put away.  So guests don't have to stare at our toothbrushes when they wash their hands!

I do need to work on getting something up on the walls and pick out some new coordinating towels.  That will eventually happen.

The placement of the toilet and shower flip-flopped, and better use of the space allows for a larger shower and more countertop.

Where the throne previously sat, we now have a beautiful tiled shower with glass wall and door.

And the sink stayed in approximately the same place, with additional cabinets and countertop.  We used the same old medicine cabinet but had it painted to match the cabinets.  I looked and looked at new medicine cabinets, but couldn't find anything that would work as well for us as the old one.  New lighting was added.  And a new fan with light, and that fan is so quiet you barely know it's running!

So that pretty much sums it all up!

a little bit of quilting

I have been seriously lacking time to quilt on my longarm, but I hope to kick that habit soon!  Right now I am using a poinsettia pantogram on this Christmas quilt--

The quilt blocks were all made by members of my quilt group, the Ham Lake Piecemakers.  At Christmas time, we take up the challenge to use one or two chosen fabrics to create a block.  Then we have a drawing to pick the winner(s).  Our friend, Thora Lee, won this group of blocks.  She has moved away from the area, but still comes back here occasionally so I hope that this can all get done and be ready for her soon.

One big reason why my quilting time has become minimal is the fact that I have been involved with the kitchen and bath renovation at home.  Some days it just isn't conducive to creative work, and other days I just have to be out of the house.  To have our cabinetry all painted, the 2 rooms had to be completely taped off and sealed up.  The fumes were very strong, and we stayed 3 nights with Ben and Brita.  Here are some pictures of how much has been accomplished--

tile floor in the bathroom looks wonderful

counter tops and sink installation looks fantastic

shower is coming together, still some grout left to do on the dark sections

and the wood flooring is now completely done

I really love to see the craftsmanship that goes into all of this.  I regret that I was not at home when the counter tops were done, because I would really like to see that process.  We chose to use a laminate product, meticulously installed by our friend, Dana Lewis.  He can undermount sinks from a certain manufacturer, and the join is flawless!  And now the faucets and drains are in working order, so we can start using them.  Oh, the things we take for granted!