September building projects

The goal is to be done with the inside of the house by Christmas--though all this rain is delaying things because I cut and paint boards outside. This is what I've done so far:

Closets: I've put shelves in the walk in closet in the jungle bedroom.

Stairs: I've varnished the stairs, added wood carving accents and a butterfly mobile that Debbie and I created.

Shed: With mom's help I started to organize the shed to create a tack/feed room for the animals and a workshop for tools and building equipment so I can convert our master bedroom closet from a tool shed to a closet for clothes, and create a storage area for recreational supplies such as camping gear, bicycles, scuba gear, and volleyball nets. This hasn't gotten very far since it has rained every day so I can't take things out of the shed to sort them before taking them back in. The boxes that were in the shed are now on the back porch waiting for the rains to stop so they can be sorted through to make sure we aren't taking cockroaches into the house.

Mom got half of the boxes on the porch sorted out before the rains started and she had to leave for a month of grandchild bonding first at Wendy's with her new baby and then Chrissy's while Randy and Chrissy are in China for a couple of weeks. We've discovered all sorts of fun things in the boxes so far. We can hardly wait to see what is in the rest of the boxes.

Library/creativity room: To make room for the books and the art supplies, I've been putting bookshelves up in the library. The rain has really slowed this project down since the spray painting and the sorting of the boxes from the shed have to be done outside. Here is what it looks like so far. Do the colors get your creative energies flowing?

Next month the plan is to finish the trim on the windows and doors downstairs and finish the closets so there can be a place for everything and everything in its place.

Rain, rain, go away!

You can expect rain every afternoon in the summer in Florida. But this last two weeks, it has rained nearly all day--1 to 4 inches every day. The weather report says it has only been fractions of an inch, but I measure the rain every day in the feed buckets so I know the real amount. The fields look like I am irrigating my fields like my grandfather in Post Falls used to do.

Instead of complaining that all this blowing rain is keeping me from my projects, maybe I should just put on my bathing suit and play in the water like I did as a kid at grandpa Thompson's farm.

Deb and Eric Beach Combing

Debbie and Eric brought Teddy and Oliver to spend a week enjoying the Florida beaches and springs, eating Steak and Shake burgers, and having fun with their cousins.

Oliver taught his cousins the best way to eat cake.

Don't cousins Teddy and Cooper look like twins?

Can you guess grandma and grandpa's reactions to all these visitors?