When a friend tells you, “I’m coming back and we ARE going to paint those cabinets of yours”, you catalogue it under sounds fun … we’ll see what happens.
Then, when she and her granddaughter (one of our favorite small people on the planet) show up in frigid temps and a few steps ahead of a snow storm … you think, “How did I ever get friends like these?!” Another pair of friends showed up last fall and helped paint the hallway entrance and now this …
If I’d known that buying a hundred and ten year old farm-style house was such a magnet for people who love to do projects and who volunteer on their own, My Guy and I might have bought one a long time ago!
Here is a sneak peak of some of the process.
This is the “before stuff” and a rare sighting of H who, while fond of friendship, creating beautiful things, and knocking down walls with sledge hammers … which we stopped her from doing on this project … is NOT fond of being in front of the camera. I had to ignore her though because she is a beautiful person and because I caught a shot of her in the midst of her creative mojo.
I’m not any more fond of the camera but this is the best way to give a sneak peak at paint color. Also you can see H in the last photo, detailing those shaker doors. I’m so thankful for her steady hand … and her steady friendship. Painting while taking incessantly and dancing around each other and open cans of paint, we reminisced on the fact that we’re not far from 30 years of friendship. Of course this comes with the revelation that this year will find me celebrating a birthday and an age that starts with the number 6. Oh well …
Living a long drive (or short flight … whichever is most convenient at the time) from each other, we don’t get much time together any more, so her efforts to spearhead this project are more than meaningful. During our meet ups, we usually find a moment to marvel at how the unlikeliest of personalities have weathered three decades of friendship and lots of shenanigans. We met when our kids were small … kids and parents alike, have grown up together. So many stories … some tears … gut splitting laughter …stories that get repeated over and over … down on our knees prayer for our families … pushing each other into things we wouldn’t otherwise try … junk food … fancy dinners (if you don’t count the broken Christmas ornament that fell on the Cornish hens) … dead possums … all the stuff of a prized friendship.
Where’s My Guy in all of this? Well, he’s the reason … thank you, Honey … that the doors are off the cabinet. And he’ll be the reason that they’ll go back up.
I think I should have mentioned that there isn’t a true AFTER shot yet. I’m working on a goal to post every Tuesday before 8:00 PM so maybe you’ll get to see My Guy and his handy work of reattaching doors NEXT week.
One reason that we didn’t quite get to the final touches before my self imposed blogging deadline (which I’ve missed by an hour) was all the entertainment outside of our window. That snowstorm I mentioned did come and it awakened ravenous hunger in the critters at the bird feeder. I have more pics for another day … but here’s a glimpse of some of the battles that grabbed our attention.
Hurried home from work to throw together dinner and get this published. Happened to catch this picture just in time to add to the blog.
He was determined to get all the doors up before we ate, which he did. Now we’re all pooped. H and VR leave tomorrow (so sad to see them go) but we’re thrilled about how far we got. New knobs and a few touch ups will take place this weekend and in a mere seven days time we’ll have our refreshed kitchen.
While you wait for the pics of the final results you can speculate about what we chose for knobs. Lots of deliberation went into this simple addition … almost as much debate as the paint color. I’m excited about what we chose and what it will add to the final results.
Until next week …
Shelly
PS
A little more of the fun we have. Can’t let good snow go to the waste, no matter what project is waiting.
** The heading is a WordPress free image and is not my own photo. All the rest were taken by me and are the property of this blog and Sausmus Photography.
Thank you for reading “Small Stuff”. This is the second of two blogs sites that I keep. You can find more on my thought&faith blog at rashellbud.wordpress.com. Wishing you a beautiful day full of the Small Stuff that transforms life into BIG STUFF.
A note to my “silent” readers … thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my work. I’ve learned that many of you are shy about commenting or hitting the like button, but I want you to know that I appreciate your visits and invite you into the conversations whenever you are ready.
Wishing you peace in all things … Shelly
Small Stuff 
How nice to have such good friends who have been in life so long and help with house projects. I could use some like that! I’ve been enjoying the snow here too, if not the frigid temps!
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Yes, those lifetime friends are the best albeit rare. I’m so grateful for them. Our cold temperatures continue here, but it’s not unusual for winter to be harsh where I live, unlike our friends in Texas who are struggling with the freak weather they’re experiencing. Sounds like you’re getting some of that too. Thanks for “stopping in”!
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My pleasure Shelly.
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