Gosh, April is almost gone!!

Yikes, I thought we'd be much further with our beach house renovations than we are now! Oh well...all in God's timing, right? Everthing seems to take longer than we thought and every nook and cranny needs "something". We were busy re-creating our guest bedroom that we have in Ridgecrest to our house in PH last weekend. We are painting the top of the walls in a Ralph Lauren blue (very dark, nautical) and the bottom of the walls are beadboard and painted a semi-gloss Whisper White...love the contrast. Painting the dark color is not easy!! We had it all done in Ridgecrest and in PH we are doing it ourselves. I will still have to go back and go over some areas where you can see some differences in coverage...ugh!!

On the bright side we sure love the beautiful weather in Port Hueneme! We still can't believe that we go around the block and there is the beach!!

We are also having fun trying out new restaurants...we tried a Thai Restaurant in PH called The Blue Elephant" and loved it and also had a nice pizza (fabulous whole wheat crust) at the California Pizza Kitchen at the Pacific View Mall (yeah, I'll actually have a Mall!!).

We are still going between our Ridgecrest house and our beach house in PH so we are not moved in yet...its giving us time to adjust to the whole idea of leaving Ridgecrest which will not be easy in many ways. However, this is all giving me new meaning to the saying "Life's a beach"

Here's a picture of the PH house in the Spring, taken the other day! And, roses from the backyard!

Patti

Decorating decisions!!!

Yikes!! Decorating decisions!! Fun, yes! Hard to make? Yes!! Don't get me wrong..I LOVE to decorate!! LOVE IT!! But, I just can't seem to decide on so many things!! For instance, in one of the guest rooms (we'll have two...hoping for lots of company!) I could not decide on what color to paint the walls...so, I finally went with my favorite white..."Whisper White" by Dunn Edwards. Whisper is a soft, warm white and I'm glad now that is what I did...it will be restful to the eyes and will allow other color into the room. OK, phew, another decision made. But so many others still to go.

Baseboards....I've been seeing them in magazines and other blogs that are more squared off, no fancy designs, just plain...they seem to go good with a beachy look but would love to hear from other people what they think of them...and, 3 inches is what we can find usually should we look for something higher like 4 inches?

Light plugs? Go with the ones we've always known and had with the little on/off switch...or, install the bigger kind that you press down on, that the switch is wider...these are more work to install. Will it really matter? Does it really make that much of a difference? Questions, questions!!

I need to get more pictures up and I will try to do take some this weekend...that way you can see what I am talking about.

Anyway, we are coming along with the remodeling...carpet is coming up next week and all the ceilings will be painted next week too. If you have any ideas on baseboards or light plugs, etc. bring 'em on!!

Pictures!!! coming soon!!

Thanks for reading!
Patti

Neighbors

One of my desert house neighbors is moving next week. We have lived down the street from each other for over 27 years...I know it will be hard to say goodby. However, at least she is moving to a town where we will be going through on our way to Texas to visit dh family, so we will see them again. However, it won't be the same. Another neighbor moved (everyone's retiring!!) recently too and we will be next. We will miss this neighborhood alot...in fact, we will probably never experience this again...we have keys to each others houses, watched dogs, picked up mail, saw kids grow up and move away, cooked meals when a family member passed away or when there was another need. We took care of what needed to be done many, many times. This is hard to find. All these years we have had an annual garage sale the Sat. before Memorial weekend...and, then that evening we had a block party at the end of the block and (in the early years when we were all younger), some of us would sit out late and talk...the last few years we were back in our houses by 9:00 or maybe 10:00pm!! At Christmas we have a "house to house Christmas party"...usually with 3 houses hosting, the last house being dessert. Its always been a nice way to catch up on what everyone is doing and what their plans for Christmas are, etc. Everyone has always enjoyed it. I am going to miss those things.

Cleaning Ladies!

Wednesday's (well, every other Wed.) is our cleaning ladies day! Its always a busy morning for me because, well, you know, I have to CLEAN before they get here...you understand, don't you? You never want people to see how you REALLY live...its much better to have people think you live a compeletely spotless life!! Ha!! So, I run around like a chicken with my head cut off and clean...well, mostly I "pick up"...pick up all my/our junk and move that junk to another spot...where it does not look so, um, junky!! Laundry is another big chore...there's always tons of that to do. How can that be with just 2 of us is beyond me...the other 2 living in this house at least don't wear clothes!! However, evidence of their very existence is scattered all around the house...othewise know as "pet hair"..lol. But, that's ok..they are worth it!!

I won't be having cleaning ladies at our new home...no, I will just "cowgirl up" (or will it be "surfer girl" up???) and clean the place myself!! Now let me say that I have had the same lady since the early 90's!! In fact, her mom was my original cleaning lady. Over the years almost everyone in her family has cleaned my house...it takes a village?? Yeah, even her grandfather used to come and he'd do the kitchen!! Her dad helped out once and I think her brother too?? What a family affair!! So, I will enjoy the luxury of having my floors swept and cleaned and dust taken care of...for awhile...until its time to go.

Tuesday is a busy day for me...the morning is Scrapbooking and the evening is Agility!! I am going to miss both when we move to the sea....I can do both elsewhere...but, the faces will be different!! Oh, not my doggie faces...those will be with me for a long, long time (please God!!)...the people's faces!! Can you tell, I am a "relational" person...relationships mean a lot to me! So, I am glad that both my money stealers...um, hobbies (haha) are on Tuesdays...so, when I come back to visit I can do both in one day.....I'll be asking my dear, lovely, wonderful Ridgecrest friends for a bed or couch or blow up mattress to lay my head on...and a warm place for my doggies too!! I am looking forward to returing the favor, and often, at my house by the sea....

Pictures will be up soon of scrapbooking and agility!!

Today, being Tuesday, is my Scrapbooking Day...I gather with several other ladies to scrapbook for a few hours...ok, I don't always get much done...its also a great time to share our lives and I do get alot of that done!! haha...I will miss this gathering very, very much when I move...we've been getting together for at least 7 years. I hope to make it up to Ridgecrest once a month and join my group to see everyone and catch up...and, maybe do some scrapbooking!!

Its Sunday and we thank God for a beautiful sunny day here in the Mojave Desert...thank you Lord for loving us and taking care of us!

We met with our dear friend and contractor today (over lunch after church) to go over the next projects on the beach house. Some of the projects are: making a very useless "linen closet" (which would not really hold in linens, even the previous owners did not use it for that) into a book case...I love books! Also, re-doing several door trims, adding beadboard to one guest room.

This blog is different from many that are about decorating, etc. in that we are not "DIY'ers"....we can paint though!! DH is handy but there is more work to be done that we have time for and our dear friend/contractor is much faster and is available!! Mind you, its a 3 hour drive from our desert home. So, its a good option for all of us. I do love decorating and know what I like but can't always come up with ideas...that is where other blogs have helped me tremendously!! We want our new "beach house" to be "ours"...a reflection of us...., a fun place for friends to come vist and feel comfortable...and a house that truly is a "HOME".

We hope you stay tuned to see our adventure unfold....
Patti