Simply Norma

After dinner at the Green Room in Stillwater, Minnesota, my husband and I walked over to see the Stillwater bridge that had just started to go up to allow water traffic to pass. In our year+ time since we moved to Minnesota, this is the first time we’d seen the bridge go up.

It was such a beautiful evening for walking around the small town of Stillwater.

On the other side of the St. Croix River is the state of Wisconsin. We almost bought a house right across this bridge but thought better of it as a new bridge is going to be built and the new highway would have brought much noise to the neighborhood  — not to mention the initial traffic congestion. Right now, when we go to Stillwater for dinner, traffic is backed up because of people who need to cross the bridge to get into Wisconsin.

Resting peacefully next to the water were a family of geese.

With all the geese in Minnesota one woud think there would be more of them dead on the roadway as I’ve been told by a local to just “run them over.” Eeekkkk!  I don’t think I could do that although they can get in the way when I’m driving causing dangerous conditions.

Minnesota … a different way of living.

Another birthday has come and gone.

We couldn’t find a good coconut cake and my husband wasn’t up to baking a yellow cake with chocolate icing so we bought a cheesecake. Plain, simple and rich.

Interesting that I’ve got two out of those three characteristics — plain and simple.  (laughing)  I don’t have the rich part though. Maybe when I’m really really old someone will die and leave me a whole bunch of money. Problem is I don’t know anyone with bunches of money so the chances of that happening are pretty much nil. And if I get it when I’m really really old then what will I do with it?  Ahhh well …

Who needs money anyway? If we have enough to live on that’s really all that matters. That’s my wisdom for the day.

After 4 months or so, our main floor bathroom remodel is finally completed. It took a month for the granite countertop to be ready for pickup and then we waited for our much-abled but inexpensive contractor to come and complete the project.

What we did:

• Removed the wallpaper
• Replaced the countertop, faucet, toilet, light fixture, shower rod, exhaust fan, and floor moldings
• Primed and painted the walls and ceiling
• Sanded and re-varnished the cabinet doors
• “Waxed” the shower stall tiles
• Added a new towel ring and towel bar
• Patched the wall behind the toilet
• Added new cabinet hardware

Here are pictures of “before” the remodel:

The toilet fitting had a leak so that’s why the wall had to be repaired.

Here are pictures of “after” the remodel:

The cabinet doors were worn on the edges. A friend told me that since they are not “real” wood (they are veneer) I could gently sand them with 220 grit sandpaper then use a clear varnish on them. Instead of doing the edges only I did both doors and it worked wonders. (Now I need to refrain from going through the house and re-varnishing all the doors and cabinets that have the same problem. That’s a good project for the winter months.)

One of the contractors who came out suggested I “wax” the shower tiles as it keeps the scum off them so there’s less cleaning involved AND they look a little shinier and newer. I thought this was a great idea and it didn’t take long to do it.

I had received bids on upgrading the upstairs guest bathroom a few months ago and doing something similar although I was replacing the linoleum tile in that room. Their projected costs (including supplies) was about $7000 and that is IF we gave them the contract to have the master bathroom remodeled also.

The labor cost to have the main bathroom done was around $450. We picked up the the countertop, toilet, exhaust fan, light fixture and the other miscellaneous items. Our contractor picked up any plumbing, electrical and wood supplies he needed and those were included in the $450 cost.

Not bad, eh? The saying “you get what you pay for” doesn’t apply in our case. Our contractor (who currently owns a painting company) is a handy person on the side. He used to own an electrical company that dispatched electricians throughout Minnesota. So, he’s a jack-of-all-trades.

Because he is so busy with his current jobs, we can’t hire him to do our master bathroom. BUT, he is willing to do the upstairs guest bathroom for us. That one will be a similar project but we’ll need to have new tiles, a new floor and a new tub installed so costs will be higher I’m sure.

Another “new house” project to check off.  Now to find some nice pictures for the walls …

The work on the front yard has come to a screeching halt as the temperature continues to be in the 90’s during the day with the humidity between 85 and 100.  Ugh!  It is too hot to work outside. On a “normal” Minnesota summer day I can work up quite a sweat working outside for 2 hours in the morning so imagine what would happen if I attempted working in this hot weather.

Nevertheless, we have made progress. The few plants we laid out are enjoying the humidity. And the Japanese bridge has been placed over the drain that we wanted to be able to walk over.

Here are some “before” pictures of what our yard looked like:

And another picture “before:”

We are not quite finished with the front yard as we still have 3 large rocks to add to the landscape along with stepping stones going to and away from the bridge.

But — we’ve made much progress especially since I mainly work in the mornings when it’s cool and the mosquitoes aren’t out.

Both ends of the bridge still need large cement slabs that will lead to the stepping stones and provide support for the bridge so it doesn’t come in contact with the dirt or bark.

In addition, I will be purchasing a “fake” rock cover for the septic lid that is right behind the bridge so it will look more “natural.” They work very well at hiding these septic lids that are quite ugly-looking in the landscape.

Landscaping takes a LOT of time. All the grass was removed and as many weeds as possible pulled up. I did lay the landscape tarp over 3/4 of the yard to keep the weeds down.

Once the weather cooperates, I can lay the stepping stones and large rocks. I decided not to put too many plants in this year as the ones that are there will grow and I’d like to see what they look like in a year as I don’t want the space to be overcrowded but have a more simple look.

I’m hoping to find a landscaping class that I can take so I can get more of a feel on what to do with the rest of the property. Next year I hope to tackle (slowly) the 1/2 acre in the back of our property that has a lot of brush growing on it. I had hoped to be able to clear a lot of it already but the weather has not cooperated although the mosquitoes (bless their souls — oops! no, I don’t mean that) have not been bothering me too much.

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