What We've been up to... {a Kitchen redo}

Lots of memories here ~ sweet ones of family,

Amanda baking with me to procrastinate just about anything else we had to do ,

Sarah {my niece} and Rachael taking turns SITTING in the bottom drawer,

Jason and his buddy, Glen, making mac and cheese {almost every day}

Muffin hiding from thunderstorms under the sink,

cookie dough and mile high apples for pies.

I remember when the kitchen was not opened to the dining room
and we took the wall half way down!

--- loved getting a peninsula---

always - always dishtowels in multiple locations!

It worked hard for us for 25 years, but the bottom cabinets really needed to be replaced.

They look okay from a distance, but up close ~ different story!

... and so the work began...

I did a lot of packing up and cleaning up...

and came home from work each afternoon to new surprises of how much Chris got done during the day.

Off with the school clothes and on came my "construction dust" clothes.

We've been working until midnight.

I'm always so amazed at how brave Chris is as he measures and cuts

sheet rock, adds new outlets, plans for extra lighting...

Everything he does is just right!

Saturday morning, we looked out over our kitchen space and said,

"Thank Heavens we're on time!"

The installer was on time too ~ 8:00am bright and early.

Here's a peek at the top cabinets.

I put a tea set on the shelves just for fun.

We kept the soffits; lots of wiring runs through them and 

I discovered that everything you change adds a lot more $$$ to the project...

so we changed very little.  We were very disciplined at reminding ourselves that

we just needed to replace tired old cabinets.

...some crown molding will dress up the dated soffits...

we hope :o)

There are still some things that need to be done.

{finishing work, counter tops, and resetting the appliances}

{I'll be without a kitchen sink for a while, hopefully not too long!}

 *

Thanks for visiting and catching up with me!

I'll keep you posted on the progress and do my best to catch up with everyone.

Have a wonderful new week dear friends and family!

 I pray that God bless you always

as you all are such

blessings to me!

Maria

ps.

Pinterest and GardenWeb's kitchen forum are such valuable resources

for gathering ideas and information.

I also thank everyone out there from whom I received great advice! 

a heart for you ♥

I will give them a heart to know me,

that I am the LORD.

They will be my people, and I will be their God,

for they will return to me with all their heart.

 Jeremiah 24:7

Giving thanks for all my blessings

...for the love of the One who made me...

and for

my husband

my family

home

work

play

and always,

you, dear friends

{near and far, but always close in heart}

{Always in Our Hearts}

I will never, never forget September 11, 2001.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who risked their lives

and those who

...gave their lives...

to save others.

Firefighters, EMT's, Police, Civilians

the incredibly brave passengers of flight 93 whose call to courage that morning

saved our Capitol.

Thank you

to all our service men and women who continue,

every day,

to answer that call to courage.

May God Bless You,

Always,

taking a nap is

soooo

good for you!

My dog, Misty, knows how to take care of herself.

She gets a good night's sleep,

enjoys tiny little snacks,

eats a light supper,

and takes a nice nap every afternoon.

she's always

so sweet, gentle and adorable!

Misty is a good example ♥

When I come home from work these days,
I'm finding that I could use a nice little nap.

 ~   ~   ~

"Think what a better world it would be if we all
-the whole world-
had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon
and then lay down with our blankies for a nap."
— Robert Fulghum

(All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten) 

~
"True silence is the rest of the mind;

it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body,

nourishment and refreshment."

 ~   ~   ~

Wishing you a quiet, restful weekend!

{I know I need one ♥}

Labor For Your Neighbor ~ Our day is done, but there's so much more to do!

This is what the sidewalks and roads are like in Prattsville, NY.

The boots I wore kept my feet cozy and comfortable and I needed them to be.

Thank God Amanda left them behind!

 With God's Grace, a lot of team effort and spirit,
our Labor For Your Neighbor group got quite a bit done.

We spent the day working inside one of Prattsville's special businesses.
This is Briggs {nice and clean} before the flood.

They make baseball bats and other wood products.

The owner was sooo very grateful.  He lost so much equipment and wood.  We tried to salvage as much as possible. I pray for his spirit and strength to regrow his business and wish him all the best.

The captions in the photo album below tell a lot of about our day.

It was long,

and I started to daydream about

clean hair, clean clothes and a nice cuppa afternoon tea or coffee.

BUT

it was actually difficult leaving Prattsville knowing how much help they still need.

The National Guard is everything you expect them to be 

~ what wonderful young men and women ~

The Salvation Army makes great coffee;

God bless them and all the other volunteers for providing

comfort, food and beverages when our day was done.

As many people in other parts of the world know,

clean-up after a mother-nature event can take years.

Chris and I haven't stopped talking about other ways to get people together

for long term involvement.

"Adopt a home"

maybe?

The slideshow moves quickly, to pause mouse over on the bottom right to see the square stop button.

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and encouragement

♥ to all,

Maria

Labor For Your Neighbor

  

From the NYS Governor's Hurricane Recovery Team:

­

Conditions and What to Wear: 

"Due to the conditions in the storm-damaged areas, we recommend that participants be over the age of 16 and in good physical condition. Participants should be prepared for scenes of devastation. You must wear sturdy long pants (jeans), a long sleeve shirt, and work boots. These clothes WILL get covered with muck and mud."

-------

Chris and I are getting ready for the
Governor's "Labor for your Neighbor" work day today.
In our confirmation email, we were told to wear work boots.
{I only have sandals and Mary Jane Sketchers in my wardrobe!}
But, lo and behold, I found Amanda's old EMT boots!
Guess what? They're Sketchers :o)
God is so funny!
He knows how to say "I love you" doesn't He?
...and "don't worry, I've got you covered..."
Those old EMT boots have one more job to do!
I'll let you know how it goes.
Say a little prayer ♥

Sky-Watching Irene's exit

Time to say good-bye to Irene.

Chris and I lost power for 36 hours, but

we feel so fortunate compared to some of our local families and businesses.

Some of our favorite farms sustained serious damage.

Shaul's and Barber's Farms

We love our local farms ♥ and wish them well.

We hope and pray that the families displace by severe water damage

also find a way to move forward.

The morning of the storm we dashed about in between

gusts of wind and torrents of rain and gathered apples that fell from our trees.

Apple pancakes were now on the menu.

{Thank you, Saskia, for putting that idea in my mind :o)

Our power went out a few hours after we enjoyed this hearty meal.

As of today, all the water surrounding our home has drained away.

 Our little espalier tree is now standing upright.

{Thank you, Chris}

It looks like it will make

~ a nice recovery ~

That is our wish for all that endured the storms of summer 2011.

{photos taken today in Schoharie County}

 May He make all things new again.

~

This week and next week children, faculty and staff will go back to school.

 Getting my pencils sharpened ~ hoping my mind is too ;o)

Dear friends and family,

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

God bless all who share His Love in everything they do!

 ♥

 Maria

~ ~ ~

A little note in Memory of Klaus Peter, 1960-2011

 {From the Sky Watch Team}

Klaus was an active participant, supporter, and eventually owner/maintainer of Skywatch and the founder of That's My World. He loved nature, photography, and sharing his knowledge and beautiful images with us all. We can't begin to say how much we will miss him.

~

Thank you, Klaus, Sky Watching has been a great JOY to me!