KaeEll, I love Nigella too!

It's gorgeous here today -- very spring-like, although we had very high winds last night, and they're still lingering today. I think that I can safely say, though, that spring has finally arrived in Virginia!

KaeEll, I'm really sorry that you're having so much trouble with your bathroom project. It honestly shouldn't take twenty two days to complete. I've been burned by contractors so many times, but I did get lucky with our bathroom contractor, and the entire thing was gutted, and then finished within one week. Two men arrived each morning at precisely 8:00 a.m., worked nonstop until lunch, took a break, and then worked until about 6:00 p.m. By the end of the week, I had a completely new bathroom. They borrowed a few inches of space from a hall linen closet to accommodate a longer (whirlpool) tub, reworked a bit of plumbing at the tub site, tiled the wall around the tub all the way up to the ceiling, ripped up everything down to the subfloor, and then retiled it, gave us a new toilet, a new custom-built vanity/sink/fixtures/medicine cabinet (mirror, lights), and we added a new floor-to-ceiling cabinet with drawers and shelves in the area between the sink and the toilet. We also had them put a heating light in the ceiling. Done in a week.

All of this talk about your bathroom project, and then a phone call from my neighbor a few days ago (she's planning to do both of her upstairs bathrooms, and her kitchen all at once), has inspired me to revisit my own kitchen issue. I'm honestly scared to death to even THINK about it anymore, but may take a deep breath and dive in. Now that I've told you how happy I was with our bathroom contractor, my neighbor told me that someone else had a negative experience with this same company, so any kind of construction appears to be a total crap shoot! This is part of what makes me so nervous...

I had a phone call from a contractor last night who seems to want my project very badly, but I thought that while he sounded nice, he also sounded a bit too pushy for my taste. I just don't know what to do. I find my kitchen to be completely unbearable at this point, which is depressing for someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do, but I don't want to be jerked around again either. My neighbor agrees, and is going through the same thing. Her husband has apparently found an architect that he likes, but Pat isn't convinced. I told her that she REALLY ought to interview one or two more companies, but her husband doesn't want to wait any longer. The whole experience is just totally scary!

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that your contractor shows up, and gets this work completed forthwith! It really really shouldn't take three weeks to do a bathroom. It just shouldn't...

We had our doll club meeting yesterday, and I was tired by the time I got back home. Although I had fun, it was a long morning, and a long drive up to Rockville, MD and back in the pouring rain. Our annual spring doll exhibit needs to be hung on April 1st which means that I have a lot of sewing to do between now and then. Several of our primary dollmakers haven't been able to produce much during the past several months because of fluke injuries; one lady broke her upper arm when she slipped on some icy grass, another lady tripped over some exercise equipment (how ironic is that???) and literally shattered her right hand, and another newer member just had carpal tunnel surgery. We're dropping like flies...!!!

Fortunately, a quilting group is going to be exhibiting with us, so the space will be nicely filled without so much pressure from our club to produce. I'm going to be making about a dozen "dolls" for the two enclosed plexiglass cases that are available to us, and I'm going to show you what I'm making. These cute little dolls are about 20" tall, so they'll fit nicely in the cases which are 24". Wish me luck!!! The fun part is all the embellishing with buttons, lace, tuille, beads, etc... This doll (which could also be used as a large pin cushion) was designed by a woman named Jill Maas who lives in New Zealand.

The picture below is what appears on the pattern, and isn't a picture of my own work. I just wanted to clarify that! My dolls are still in progress, although Jim cut the dowels for me, and drilled holes in the bases. I've glued them together, and now need to paint them. I have three bodies sewn and stuffed, but haven't done any heads yet. I'm planning to make about a dozen of these things, and would like to finish a few smaller dolls for the walls.

Oy...









-- Edited by Moore ideas at 11:27, 2008-03-20

Moore, I just love your dolls! They are so whimsical and gorgeous. I used to collect antique marionettes, much like the dolls your club makes. But apparently they scared the dickens out of our middle son, he finally told me. I gave them all away about ten years ago during a purge spree. I should have sold them!

Ted promised to track down the contractor tonight. (Remember I gave him the project to keep the peace, lol.) I hope you're right about the timing! I understand the time from the template to installation of the limestone is 3 weeks, and he hasn't made the template yet, so we're cutting things awfully close.

As for your kitchen project, we moved 5 times because of kitchens! I could never bring myself to tackle such upheaval. Of course that was before the kids were ensconced in schools and neighbourhoods except for twice when we moved within the community. My current kitchen is a horror. From the minute I decided to buy this place, I had sworn up and down to get rid of the green counter tops and have yet to address it. We've been here almost 7 years! We bought the house for the lot, the trees, the crown mouldings and the proximity to a wonderful little plaza a five minute walk away. The plaza's been torn down for in-fill townhouses, the trees are diseased, and my neighbours are snoopy weirdos. Is it time for another move?? I'd love to if Scotty could just beam us in.

Oh, remember that issue of the Ryerson University student and his Face Book "cheating"? It was decided that he would not be charged or expelled.

Hey guys I got some good news. I submitted my resume` last night for our local cable/internet company, hoping to get something overnight or what not, and got a call back already this morning!!!! I have an interview Tuesday at 2:30. The hubby is going to apply as well and we're hopefully we can figures omething good out lol. It's right down the street so it'll be great to save on that gas we're throwing down the toilet when he drives 40 mi there and back.

Good luck, Jess. That would be wonderful to work close to home, especially with gas prices what they are today. Who would look after the little ones?

What great news! I'll definitely keep my fingers crossed for both of you.