Sunday, September 26, 2010

Project 365, Week 39

We are finally home after an EXHAUSTING work week in Sta. Rosa so I'm late posting Project 365.

Last Sunday we went to the orchid show in Cordoba. Ivan had several orchids when we lived in the U.S. and he has one here so far but it hasn't bloomed yet (he got the shoot from a friend). Anyway, we took a ton of photos. I'm going to show some restraint and only share three:
I liked the way this one was attached to an old tree limb; it looked so natural and pretty.
Here's just a sampling of the wide variety of orchids at the show.
I loved the frilly edges on this lovely yellow one!

After church Sunday night we headed to Sta. Rosa so we could get a start on the looooooong project list first thing Monday morning. Even doing that we did not get everything finished. *sigh*  The list included (but was not limited to):
~ paint the lower kitchen cupboards
~ tile an area in the kitchen (where we'd removed one cabinet and shortened another to make space for the fridge)
~ re-tile in the bathroom (where he'd had to bust out to fix a leaky pipe)
~ connect to the new city water line 

But before he could do anything, Ivan had to fix the water heater since a part had rusted out (it's an OLD one!). Connecting to the water line took two full days and we're still having problems so for now we're relying on the well system. It rained (and rained) so paint took longer to dry...in the end I finished painting but didn't have time to put things back together. AND the handles I'd gotten didn't fit...we're going to have to get adjustable ones because the existing hole distances vary from door to door to drawer -- we measured and have five (or is it six?) different sizes for 9 doors and 5 drawers! Ivan got the tiling done but still has to apply grout.

Just writing all that makes me tired.

Anyway, here's a few Before-and-After photos to show what progress we DID make:
The under-sink cabinet with the doors already off. In the corner you can also catch a glimpse of the area where we removed a cupboard and Ivan later tiled.
After the previous photo was taken, Ivan removed the drawer framework since it was rotten and falling apart due to a moisture problem (which has been fixed). He has to put together new ones to install next time we go out.
I covered the dining table in newspaper and set up a little assembly line to paint the cupboard doors.
Painting is done! Next time we'll install the doors (and drawers).
Ivan decided to install a new electrical outlet by the counter top so he cut a channel out of the masonary wall in order to slide the conduit into place. [The kitchen only had one outlet (on the right) and it will be covered by the fridge once we move it into this corner.]
After he tiled that area. He'll apply the grout next trip.
On the stove we used spray paint designed for high heat items. All the silver sections were rusty and pretty gross. Amazing how a little paint can transform an object!

Okay, that's it on the Sta. Rosa projects. Whew! It was way more work than we'd anticipated. Never got in a walk (well, the rain didn't help) and didn't play any cards or games. It was work, eat, work, sleep, work...

Twice we went into Belgrano to a cafe with wifi. As you can see in this last photo, the city is gearing up for the annual Octoberfest (it was settled by German immigrants).
I'm so far behind on blog reading it may take me a while to catch up, but I do look forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to this past week!

7 comments:

Mari said...

You were really busy! It looks good!
The street looks neat with all the flags.

McCrakensx4 said...

Wow that stove looks awesome...can't wait to see the finished product. And beautiful orchids. Hope you have a great week

Robin Lambright said...

Before we moved to our home we live in now we did a kitchen makeover. It was such a huge ordeal. I loved my old kitchen, it was huge, but it also boasted 42 cabinets, which meant that when it came time to repaint them it was a huge undertaking. We actually hired an independent contractor to come in and give the kitchen cabinets a face lift with a coat of paint.

What a nightmare. When they brought all the doors back and installed them they were smeared with paint drips and not even pained on the back side. I ended up having to sand all the pain off and start from scratch. Needless to sat we did not pay the contractor for the job as it was done so poorly.

I was so glad when we had finished that job and when all was said and done it really did help tremendously in selling the house.

It was a chore though!

Blessings
R

Oldfangled said...

Nice job on all the work! And that yellow orchid looks like a daffodil to me.

The Bug said...

Pretty flowers - but I'm going to have to quit reading your blog if you continue to work so hard :)

Tori said...

Those orchids are gorgeous! I am such a brown thumb, I am sure I would kill them.
Wow! Your projects are coming along. You two are so gifted, if you ever want to show off your talents at a home in Indiana, I would be glad to have you and feed you too! :)
I can't believe the silver spray paint. Amazing and I love the retro stove.
Have a super week!!!

Lhoyt said...

Wow! You sure have a lot of sweat equity in that house. But I'm very glad you are able to use it on a regular basis.
Great job on the 'azulejos', Ivan.
And the kitchen is going to look great with the white cabinets, Kim.