On the remodelng project here is a 'shot' of the tile with the grout and the sealer applied!! Looks good huh!! With the resident tile specialist Becky we might tile the whole house!! "fat chance on that one" but it sure looks nice where the entry way and the hall along with the place where the "new" wood stove will go!!

We are sure using those materials that we bought that have been in the garage!! Time and effort is what it takes and I have a limited amount of those but Becky is sure full of both!!

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS AND A DUD!!!!
With a quick trip to Ft Collins/Loveland mall My dear wife and I went and meet the grandkids from Denver for a birthday shopping/lunch trip. July 23rd is a big day for Angela (mom) Amber and Ally so we decided to meet 1/2 way and enjoy a great day!! We had lunch with the 'girls' and a little shopping and boy was "gramps" pooped.. Those 3 kids are a handful!!

So happy birthday to Angela, Amber, and Ally!!!

Just an update on the "remodeling" project that is on going!! We have removed the old tile and backer material under the wood stove and the entryway, and removed the old carpet/pad and tack strips. Took everything off the walls and removed the fixtures so the ceiling could be painted. It received a coat of primer/sealer and a fresh coat of "pink" ceiling paint that dries white!! It is a neat item so if any of you do-it-yourselfers need to paint your ceiling check it out it is really a neat idea. Then we decided to wash the walls but alas they too needed a fresh coat of paint so that was done. As you can see on Becky's webpage she has finished laying down the new tile.. A great job of cutting the tiles and keeping everything straight and clean. Now comes the grouting which in itself is not as easy as it sounds.. It also is back breaking work. The carpet has been ordered and should be installed the 1st week of August so the next order of business is finding a new energy efficient wood stove that we can afford!!

Till the next update wish us luck!!

Here are a few photo's of before during and as it is now!! It doesn't take much to change the appearance of this space so hopefully we can improve it and show you all of the improvements!

That will leave a Mark!!

The aftermath of the stove "biting" me!!

I"m sure it will leave a nice curved 'mark'!

Oh well!! I just hope the improvements to the house will make up for that scar..

OH BOY!!

It was my turn for a trip to the ER room today!! While starting on the remodeling project of the living room/hall project I was moving the wood stove out of the house. (by self of course) I tried to be really careful not to damage the brick steps while manhandling the old earth stove out the door when" It" up and "bit" my shin while coming down on the concrete driveway! At 300+ pounds coming down on bone and skin it was a lose lose situation!!
I realized that a "band-aid" wouldn't stop the bleeding and to keep the flap of skin that was hanging off of my shin bone from hanging there is when I decided to wrap it in gauze and head to the ER room..
I made a call to my ever caring wife to let her know where I would be and made my way to the ER room. Soon she arrived and watch the whole procedure with me which helped my mental outlook on my blunder + she is making sure I follow the DR's orders of keeping it iced and elevated until I go to work on friday.
It was good news that the bone wasn't broke ( I walked in to the hospital was a good sign) and it will only take 2 weeks to get the stitches out with only some skin that might not make the repair!! Ole well one more scar to mark another project that was started and hopefully completed!!

After 3 hours of patience waiting I got 8 stitches and a tetanus shot after they cleaned it out and sealed it up to make it good as new ( in 2 weeks).. Kinda put the project back a little bit for a couple of days but after I make this next trip I will attack the project like nothing happened..

Everything will be fine with only 1 more battle scar and I will wait for the next unexpected mishap to come along!!!

While it looks like several items on the garage floor it is the beginning of the remodeling of the living room. $600 dollars doesn't look like much until it gets installed after a total destruction of the living room as we know it now!!

3 tubs of tile set

5gallons of Kilz primer/sealer

2gallons of ceiling paint

2 bags of grout

7 cartons (15 in each) of floor tile

1 quart of sealer/cleaner

and a bag of grout spacer and paint rollers

7 sheets of hardibacker board

Now we need to install the new tile and paint the ceiling and then purchase new carpet for the living room/hall.

Next to come is a new front door and a door going into the garage. Also a new closet door.

After that we will shop around for a new efficient wood stove and we will have this project completed.. Yeah right maybe sometime after the snow flies but we will we work on it!

Wish us luck!!

This photo to the lower left is of Elk Mountain looking to the North from the lookout tower on Kennady Peak.. It appears to be a tad higher in elevation than where we are on this mountain top and it looks a lot different from the view that you have of it driving on I-80 which goes around this mountain. The above middle photo is looking west at Saratogo, Wy with the North Platte river which runs right through the town. The upper photo is looking east and is a shot of the back side of the Medicine Bow mountain range. Exactly opposite of 'our' view out our backyard here in town. Big country with lots of trees and roads. Too bad the beetle kill will take a horrible toll on this forest.

Yesterday the 1st of July my wife and I decided to go for a sunday drive! 178 miles to be exact with our 'destination' being the Sand Lake road above Centennial, Wy. Along the way we took "a little" detour and drove up Kennady Peak to check out the now abandoned look-out tower that is at 10,810 feet above sea level!! The top photo was made with the timer on the camera. I am the fat one on the right and my wife is on the left. She is the one who 'ran' up to join hands just in time as myself being fat and slow I wouldn't have made it in time to be in it. Good Job Becky all that treadmill and dieting sure paid of in this adventure huh!!