the scent of citrus

This is the time of year that the air is filled with the sweet scent of orange blossoms. I love it! It also means that our lemons & oranges are ready for harvest. We have a Navel orange tree plus a fruit cocktail tree full of lemons & grapefruit. The branch that once produced the Valencia oranges broke off several years ago. But how cool that for many years we had a tree that produced lemons, oranges & grapefruit!


But harvesting our citrus will have to wait for a couple weeks, till our kitchen remodel is complete. I can hardly wait to put up gallons of lemonade concentrate for the summer and trays & trays of orange juice cubes for smoothies. But till then I will have to settle for a pretty display of lemons on my new/old farmhouse table. Literally the only thing in my kitchen!



My friend Sandy @ RELUCTANT ENTERTAINER is hosting Home is... a delicious scent party!! Check out all the other party participants!


kitchen remodel- part 5

Finally D-Day! Two full days of Drywall installation, taping, mudding and texturing.
But before that... Randy had to saw a trench in the concrete for the island electrical. It was without a doubt the biggest mess of all!! We had to first flood the area and then I had to spray the blade as Randy sawed through the concrete. A nightmare of a mess. But so glad when it was over and I could clean up.


Remember, this is what I left you with in part 4.


The first thing the drywall crew did was to enclose the attic. YEAH! And then they extended the kitchen cabinet wall 16 inches to the left. That allows us to have extra cabinets, above and below the counter.


See, the wall is wider than the photo below. Those 16 inches will make a huge difference. And trust me, I struggled for weeks, wondering if it was worth the extra construction. Well, I am so glad we did it!


Before drywall...


... after drywall.


Ta-Da!
We are so thrilled with the results! We could finally take off all the sheets & plastic in the living room... at least for a few days. Cuz now we will prime & paint before my new kitchen is installed in a week. I mean, Randy will prime & paint. I will be his go-pher girl. We are also having some tile work done in the kitchen area. Can't wait to show you what I found to compliment the tile we have. We were unwilling to spend the money to replace our old tile, so I was thrilled to find something that would work with what we already have.

Again, a HUGE thank you to~
HOOK CONSTRUCTION (602-332-5250) for their impeccable work. I would highly recommend them!

I am linking to-
~ METAMORPHOSIS MONDAY @ Between Naps on the Porch

my farmhouse table

Remember when I pleaded in my last post~
"Oh table of my dreams, where are you?"

Well, I FOUND THE FARMHOUSE TABLE OF MY DREAMS!!

Yesterday.

At Goodwill.

FOR $32.00!!


Let me back up a bit and come clean with you. I have been obsessing on finding an old farmhouse table and spending way too much time on Craig's List... and finding myself willing to pay way more than I normally would.

We even drove way out to Queen Creek only to discover the table listed was NOT what they had lead us to believe. Quite frankly, it was a cheap hunk of junk.


You see I only wanted a table with no chairs because if you remember, I was going for this look ~


and this ~


So here's the amazing part ~ the story.
I rarely ever go to Goodwill unless it's half-off Saturday. But for whatever reason I pull in and do a quick walk-through. I DO NOT see it the first time through. I wander through a 2nd time and THERE IT IS. And this is where I'm going to get all weird on you... as I was leaving the table to go find an employee and see about maybe buying it, this very elderly gentleman using a walker starts talking to me. He tells me a story about his grand-dad having a big ole table like that and eventually needing to saw it in half to make it fit in the house. He told me that I should take that table home. You guys, I took that as a sign from God. I know that sounds weird, but I needed an affirmation that THIS was THE farmhouse table that I had been waiting for.

I felt so sure at that moment that I thanked him and told him that because of him I was going to buy it. And so I did. Then the employee told me she would also apply the 20% off online coupon... that I knew nothing about. Another sign.


And look, it has a drawer. A darling little drawer!

But HEY, did you notice anything else about the table photos? (other than Koda & Wiley) HELLO, the drywall installation and texturing are DONE!!! The attic is enclosed! Houston, we have lift-off! (don't know why I just said that)

Anyway, the room feels so huge now with the higher ceilings. We are beyond pleased.

*** Check out Kitchen Remodel Parts 1-4 on my side bar.
*** Kitchen Remodel Part 5 was just posted!

I am linking to~
~ THRIFTY THURSDAY
~ SHOW AND TELL
~ FRUGALICIOUS FRIDAY
~ FRUGAL FRIDAY
~ THRIFTY TREASURES @ Southern Hospitality
~ NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY
~ SHOW AND SHARE

unexpected inspiration

Since embarking on the kitchen remodel, I have been spending quite a bit of time online. Mind you, it's so I can be close by, at my husband's beck 'n call. Sort of a call girl if you will. When he calls, I'm ready... to hunt down a tool, run an errand, clean up a mess or make a decision... all on a moments notice. Like a good little wife :)
So I've been pouring over kitchens, for hours on end... weighing in on knobs vs. handles... single vs. double sink... and so on.


But along my journey I have come across some unexpected inspiration that I want to share with you all.
Check out the vintage postcard banner. I plan to decorate my cozy cottage on wheels with a 70's vintage/ travel motif. And well, recently I came upon a box of old letters & postcards that I received growing up in the 60's & 70's. And now I know what I'll do with the postcards! I even have some tiny vintage plastic clothes pins to hang them with. Can you say whimsical?!


I have also been collecting odd-ball chairs & stools here & there over the years with the idea of gathering them around a big ole farmhouse table some day. I never thought of painting them all the same color. And hello, my favorite color! Well as you can imagine, this image sent me over the moon!


That is. Until I saw this image.
OH MY GOSH. THIS IS IT! The crème de la crème. Totally the look I'm going for. And you know how much I love cloches & apothecaries.
Seriously, I already own four of those metal chairs. ($5.00 each at a yard sale) And other very similar chairs. And that table is simply to-die-for.
Oh table of my dreams, where are you?


And last, but certainly not least.
THIS.
OK, you may need a moment... while I have a moment.

............... ok, I'm fine.

Seriously, this image took my breath away.
You see I grew up watching my Mom use one of these very galvanize double wash tubs. And my Mom still has it in her basement. And she keeps threatening to take it to the dump. But I have always wanted it in the worse way. But never more than I do right NOW! So I called her and told her that it's going home with me on our next trip to the farm. (I'll tell Randy sooner or later)
Gee, I am so glad that's taken care of.
And I feel a whole lot better.
The. End.

Lady Banks Rose

My Lady Banks Rose is blooming profusely and I could not be more thrilled. She is truly a sight for sore eyes... or weary eyes. Trust me, we could use all the eye candy we can get around here with all the destruction going on. At least we have this welcome sight as we come & go. You know, those quick trips to Home Depot. To Wendy's. Or Culver's.


Did you know that Tombstone, Arizona boasts "the world's largest rose", a 100+ year old Lady Banks Rose that spreads 8,000 feet!? Sure would love to see what that looks like in full bloom.


Just so you know, the top picture was taken in '08... the last two were taken today. See, she's not even in full bloom yet.
Oh and my Hollyhocks have just started blooming. The girls are sure to put on quite a show this year as they slowly unveil their colorful crinolines. Did you know that some of my Hollyhocks look just like crinolines... or can-cans, as we called them while growing up. I loved can-cans. Maybe that's why I adore Hollyhocks so much.

Oh and I have a hunch that I'll be so done with fast-food after this remodel. Well, maybe not Culver's.
I love Culver's.

My Family

My family surprised me on Dec. 5th with a profession family photo shoot for my birthday. I was so excited because we have not had a family photo taken in over 15 years. Oh we would attempt the usual tripod pic each year and I would always be pleased. But this year we had the lovely, talented Erica @ Cora Kingston Photography do the honors. And she did a fantastic job! Thank you Erica!



I was thrilled with the pictures of * Randy & I * to commemorate our 30th Wedding Anniversary.


* Tyler * Miranda * Nicole * Shawn *



* Mimi * Pop pop * Emolyn *


* The Thompson girls *


When I was told about the photo shoot, I knew immediately where I wanted to go~ just a mile from our home at the entrance to a gated community. I loved all the green, the boulders and waterfalls. The perfect backdrop to capture the true essence of who we are~ a family that lives, loves & laughs together.
* I love, love, LOVE my family *

Tyler~ this 'n that

~ my youngest turned 21 yesterday. Happy Birthday Tyler! Click HERE and then scroll to the song Circle of Life and enjoy while reading my post. All the voices are Tyler. He's so talented. (ooh, The Remedy is way cool too)
~ Tyler, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be. (makes me cry every time I read that book)
~ St. Patrick's Day has taken on a whole new meaning since our trip to Ireland last April.
~ I had myself a Guinness last night to celebrate Tyler's 21st birthday. (loved the Guinness Storehouse Tour in Dublin.)
~ I love high pulp chewable orange juice. Don't you?
~ OMG, Liberty of London collection at Target! Need I say more.
~ so I bought THIS Easter dress yesterday. I know, Liberty is known for their vibrant fabrics and I go and buy the black one. But I have a real cute sweater that will make it pop.
~ I bought the dress to remember Easter in London a year ago, while visiting our daughter Miranda.
~ and I paid full price. I never pay retail! I either shop thrift store or the clearance racks... but never full price and rarely even the sale racks.
~ I love Verizon. They replaced my phone for free yesterday because it kept coming apart.
~ I can't wait to bake scones in my new kitchen!

~ Thank you Doris for gifting me with this beautiful cupcake stand. I LOVE it sooo much! And yes, I do plan to use it for cupcakes someday. But till then...

kitchen remodel- part 4

I'm such a 'before & after' junkie. Seriously, I am fascinated by the transformation that takes place on an internet site or on the pages of a magazine. Of course I have no way of knowing the blood, sweat & tears that went into making that transformation so awe-inspiring.
But I sure do now!


So, even though we are only half-way there, I thought you'd like a little recap of where we've come.
But first the 'before' images.


Ok, I'll be honest, I miss my Pyrex collection. And I didn't want you to forget how pretty they looked in my old kitchen. And quite frankly, I have no idea where they will be displayed in my new one. I know, how could I be so careless about their future whereabouts.


So, take a gander on the wild side of kitchen demolition in its rawest form. I will never look at 'before & after' pictures quite the same ever again.
These next several pictures were taken exactly a week ago today.










And this is where we stand today... my ceilings are a foot higher... to accommodate more cabinet space. Which I thought was the main reason for pulling out the old duct work. Well, little did I know it was about much more than that.


Remember... before...


and now a week later... after.

Check out our new silver insulated flex tubing! Gone are the big, ugly ducting that was inefficient... and on with the efficient flex tubing that will more than pay for itself in the next year or so. I am not kidding you, this may be the one thing that we look back on and say we're the most thrilled with! Yes, I'm getting a new kitchen because of the flood, but our decision to remove all the old ducting, raise the ceiling so I could have more cabinet space... well, while that's all good and well, surprisingly, we are getting a waaay bigger bang for our $$. What started out as being about aesthetics, turns out to be about heating & cooling our home more efficiently. Don't you just love when that happens!

Thanks to Ken Doderer and his amazing crew at BENEFIT AIR in Phoenix, Arizona for the quality installation of our amazing new heating & cooling flex tubing system. We could not be more pleased with the results!

Be sure to check out the kitchen remodel- part 3 for a sneak peek at the kitchen design plans.

I am linking to~
~ METAMORPHOSIS MONDAY @ Between Naps on the Porch for more 'before & after' transformations!
~ DIY @ A SOFT PLACE TO LAND . You will be sooo inspired!
~ TOOT YOUR HORN TUESDAY for even more inspiration!
~ TRANSFORMATION THURSDAY @ The Shabby Chic Cottage for oodles of other transformations.
~ and THE INSPIRED ROOM You will love her blog!

kitchen remodel- part 3

Welcome back to kitchen remodel - part 3. If you are new to my blog, you can get up to speed by clicking part 1 and part 2.
This will most likely be the state of my kitchen for the next week or so, as Randy will be tearing down the rest of the old duct framing, installing all the new electrical & canned lighting and scrapping off the popcorn in the dining area.


And then we'll finally be ready to drywall the new higher ceiling and start priming & painting before the new kitchen cabinets & counter tops are installed. In the mean time the house is freezing because of the exposed attic. We could run the heater, but it runs constantly to warm the open attic, while our bedrooms get super hot. So we just keep the heater off and dress warm. Our temps are going to climb into the mid 70's this weekend. So we'll be fine then.

Ok, so who wants a sneak peek at our kitchen redesign?!

Then without further ado...


HERE IT IS... our kitchen redesign that Tim Morari, our Kitchen Designer (and dear friend) designed for us!!
Can you believe it!!
I could not be more excited!!
It's more than I ever dreamed!!
Heck, I was hoping someday for a new sink & counter top. But because of the flood, we're getting much, much more. Tim has done such a great job of keeping to our budget too. We are forever grateful.
In a later post I will be featuring all those that have partnered with us in making our kitchen redesign a reality.
Be sure to clic the pic to enlarge!