Getting to work!

I mentioned we'd be remodeling the guest room soon. Well a flooded corner of our basement was just the motivation we needed to get moving. Actually, we were planning to start this weekend anyway, this just made it more important to get the carpet outta there! Unfortunately, they had used some wicked adhesive to hold it down, so we had to get a solvent to get the rest up (we're about 1/4 done). We also pulled off a small section of drywall as we discovered it had flooded before and it was moldy! When we pulled it off, we found an old termite home coming in from a crack, so we patched that too. It's going to be a lot of work getting this done, but I guarantee it will be done right!

We bought one box of floor tiles just to bring them in and see how it looked. We are using 12x12 tiles of a mossy-type green and brownish pattern. Hard to describe, but very nice. They are really inexpensive too! The boxes have 15 tiles and are only $12!!! We'll probably only need 10-12 boxes, so that will save us some money. We bought the paint based on the tiles too. A nice mossy green for the walls and a very very pale green for the ceiling and closet doors. We even picked out some light fixtures we liked, so that will be next.

The ceiling was terribly textured- I mean that both in how much it was and how badly it was done. There was red glitter in the texturing?? Joe got it scraped down pretty well, not fully flat but not super bumpy either. A nice happy medium. I did a lot with the solvent on the floor, it has to sit 15-30 minutes after applying. Both of us are sore, but this is going to look so great when we're done!

I ate badly this weekend, but am not beating myself up about it. I worked hard both days (as all of my backside muscles can tell you!), so I feel okay about my food. Mostly I just ate too much of it, not really eating BAD things. It's all good- this is a new week! Last night with our brat dinner, I made a salad with veggies all from our own garden. It was a ranch salad with sliced cukes, carrots (both our orange and purple ones), sweet onion, and cherry tomatoes from the patio plant. Very tasty and completely organic. Still have two cukes to eat, and more on the vine. I hate to make more pickles since I still have some from last year, but I found a new recipe for sweet&hot ones that sounds delish. One cuke will make about 2 quarts! Plus they are perfect for camping- all that vinegar keeps them well.

Garden update-

We have about 7 cantaloupes, all growing very nicely in this rain. The butternut squashes are turning more of a creamy yellow-orange color. Might be ready in a month? The tomato plants are covered in fruits, but need SUN!!! Come on, Mother Nature! Momma needs some homemade spaghetti sauce! The Ichiban eggplant is fruiting nicely, there are three more on there. The Fairy Tale eggplants are growing too, tho fruiting is slower with those. They grow in clusters a bit like cherry tomatoes, it's quite cute! The zuke plant has many small ones on there, but none big enough to cut yet. Something dissolved one of them, so I'll have to keep an eye out.

Shopping with the kiddo today and watching Pan's Labyrinth tonight... Oh, and that office is ours if our bossman approves when he sees it today! I even got the rent down some. I know, I'm GOOD!!! Here's to hoping it's a dry week!