Hello again, it's been awhile! 

We've been quite busy , but not the fun kind of busy, unfortunately.

 My husband has been suffering with his back for almost a year. 

Due to a series of unfortunate events he wasn't able to have surgery 

for quite a while. He thought he was having chest pains one morning while we were at our home Endless Summer. 

I wanted to head to head to the local hospital but he didn't "think" 

it was a heart 

attack 

we were heading home that day. So he wanted to wait until we were home.

Yes I know I probably should have  insisted.. Men

When we arrived home we dropped of doggies and went straight to the hospital

surprisingly he was taken in right away , thankfully no heart attack.

After he saw a heart specialist , the doctor found one tiny blockage 

but felt it wasn't worth the risk of a stint yet.

 He continued to have pressure and pain and finally ended up with the stint anyway.

A couple weeks later he was saying he was still feeling the tightness in his chest.

He was scheduled to have his Cpap machine which was about 8 yrs old checked out at VA . 

Turns out the Cpap wasn't producing enough output of air when he wore it at my causing him to breath harder. causing , you guessed chest tightness.

They replaced his machine and he's been fine ever since. However,

his back decided to go south. Caused by an old injury from work,

he was getting worse and worse. 

He was ready to have surgery but one problem. When they place a stint they also put you on Plavix, a blood thinner...

Which his cardiologist wouldn't let him come off of.. 

He was almost wheelchair bound. We ended up purchasing one of those walkers with the sit on because he just couldn't walk more than a few feet without sitting down.

My 6'1" husband was was bent over like a 100 yr.old man! After much discussion between us I made appointment for him with the cardiologist. 

I told my husband his dr. needed to see him  how much he had deteriorated since he had seen in Feb. It was now first of Aug. I wanted the dr to visually see how bad he was.

Stunned the dr. authorized his surgery and allowed him to come off the blood thinner.  He had his surgery , however he suffered massive muscle loss in his butt and thigh on the right side. His surgery went well but now the weakness in his muscles caused another issue. 

We decided to sell our little cottage by the sea , because it was requiring more work than he was now able to do. Frankly we hadn't been up there hardly at all in the past year.

We said our last goodbye to our little cottage in December. The people who purchased it LOVED IT   and were trying to get us to sell the house with everything in it. Yeah, not happening! I had plans to buy another home , either build it or buy one being built by builder. 

After checking with Hiline homes we discovered it was too involved to work with them! You have to have someone else prep the land, order all utilities brought in , provide porta potty etc. Before they will start, then YOU have to paint the house inside and out , you have to finish any decks , driveways.. etc 

We didn't want to physically, and literally build a house. We wanted to watch someone else do it all!!

In the end we went with a great builder who was building a new home 1 block from beach access. We've been able to pick out our colors, granite , door styles, flooring. the only thing I didn't get to pick was the color of my cabinets because he had already purchased them in a medium grey... hmmm hoping this works out.

The cabinets look pretty dark under this plastic...

I will be posting pictures as we get them. We're hoping to get up there soon to sneak a few pictures and measure windows!

In the meantime Terry is doing better, still having PT to build his strength up in his legs , but it's all good.! Until next time TaTa!

Another knock off!

My talented husband has done it again! I found this awesome 

Shelving unit on Birch Lane. I really wanted this just wasn't sure where I could put it!  I've decided that I have a furniture problem! Maybe it comes from working in a vintage store where talented ladies find pieces that most people would turn up their noses at and create something new.  

Then there are shops like Pottery Barn & Birch Lane Joss and Main with their gorgeous designs and furniture you never knew you wanted until you see it! 

 Right now the shelves are a bit sparse until I can discover those perfect pieces to display on it.  In the meantime I am enjoying this lovely piece.

He also created the headboard for our guest room . I think it looks amazing! 

Unfortunately it's going to be a while for any new creations,  my husband has a back injury which is putting him out of mission for a few months until he can have surgery.

 In the meantime I am checking out fun stuff like this on Pinterest. Pallet sofa table ! Love!

HAWAIIAN BLISS!!!

 Now anyone who knows me , knows I love Hawaii! So doesn't take much to get me headed in that direction!

 Let me just start there .. My husband ,our daughter , Nicole (Nici to us) and her hubby Derick decided to whisked Nici away to Hawaii , while their youngest 15 yr old. Christian was touring Europe playing concerts with  200 other kids from across America . Her son being the youngest on the tour.... nail biting time for mom... So While he was going to be gone for 16 days , I thought we could at least break up the time with a trip to Hawaii right?? yeah!

 We have owned timeshare at the Bay Club at Waikoloa Big Island  for years so we headed there. If you ever get the chance to stay in this area it's  great !   They have a service where you can order groceries (mostly breakfast  simple lunch chips etc)  it was awesome . It was nice to know you wouldn't have to go hunt for a store right away !    They offer free shuttle service to shops every half hour .

Guest  includes 2 free movie rentals

 Master

  one of several pools

 master bath suite full kitchen, washer and dryer and barbecues  each has their own patio.

As you can see very nice ,exceptional service, they offer trips , hula lessons, parties on site, movie nite. All kinds of things to do if one wishes to participate. 
The Waikoloa Resort has tennis courts, golf, 2 shopping centers the Queens Market and Kings Market. They offer everything from clothing ,fast food ,jewelry restaurants art . Just about anything you they have it.  
Highly suggest Ippy's Three Pig's Happy Hour 
$5 drinks !!!   see happy daughters face! Pork sliders  chicken wings, full sized cheese w/ fries on their appetizer menu !! Yummy, full and easy on your wallet!

 Three Pig's 

Appetizers 

   No, it wasn't just about the food but I will say this IF you want to save money and have great food and drinks , hit the happy hours at the good restaurants.

 They have awesome ,delicious appetizers $5 drinks including my kind Blue Hawaii's , MaiTai's ,beers, well's.   
  Sam Choy's had THE MOST yummy chicken wings EVER! They were HUGE, 8 of them crispy to perfection in a zesty sauce and then we ordered the short ribs to 6 meaty ribs yummy! $ 5 drinks .... We were good to go! Bubba Gump's is even better ! at $4.50 an appetizer  we ordered 5 different apps 4 drinks and two full meals that we split bill came to $101.00 for the entire bill!

    Cruising around the Big Island  my husband Terry always with the 'tude!

           

 Stopped at the  Ancient Hawaiian Village P‘uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park 







Nici getting cheeky with the tiki!

LAVA-LAVA BEACH  this beach is near the Bay Club about 1 mile away parking available. There are restrooms and  places to wash sand off , best to bring your own chairs or towels

 not many lounge chairs available.   Glass bottom boat leaves from this location . They charge $27.00 per person VERY reasonable !  Make reservations early!

We saw some amazing sights, ate some awesome food, bought great art,swam with the fishes, took lots of pictures, spent quality time with my lovely daughter her great husband , and my own great guy! 

Hated to come home ! Aloha!

My Husband's Newest Knockoff!

            Our cute little beach house has been getting neglected of late . Now that our remodel is finished it is time to turn our attention back to the beach house!   
  We inherited a lot of the furniture with our little house , much of it was in good shape. As people do,  we prefer to replace it with things of our own taste , which we have been doing little by little. 
   Our current coffee table is actually quite functional, not bad looking . The top slides open in the middle to reveal a nice deep space for stashing books ,games extra blankets etc.  and a lower shelf for additional storage which we use for our collection of board games. The problem is it's  size. It is just too big for the space when all the family is there to get around it. Measuring 45" by 24" which probably isn't all that big but with these oversized couches it is. Which we will be keeping for a while yet, it is tight!

Enter this cute table! This is Ethan Allen's version at a whopping $1598.00   ,which I am sure it's worth every penny !  Hand cut hewn wood from some forest somewhere exotic yada yada yada! I think artisans were thrown in there somewhere  

 Just not my budget ! Here is my husband's knockoff version! 

It is just about finished is just waiting to be giving it's top coat . SCREAM! I love it!   It's pared down size 34" by 22"  gives us back some valuable real estate around the couch I still have storage for board games!   Cost you ask?  

$140.00  total for wood . Our exotic wood was Hemlock , wood glue, nail brads, sponge brushes, minwax pre stain conditioner , minwax kona stain, minwax varnish.

For do it yourself projects this one went really well. I was amazed how quickly and easily he seem to make this one.   Hope you enjoyed this knock off! He's going to make another one for the den of our main home. I'' ll take WIP (work in progress) pictures next time. Bye for now~ 

It's finally Done!!

Our gorgeous new kitchen is finally done! It is amazing how much damage "hidden " damage water can do!  One the floor was removed around the sink and dishwasher area , it was discover that water had seeped under the floor to the cabinets warping them as well. 

  After inspection underneath the house water had managed to find it's way underneath there too. Good news was it was easily taken care of under the house with massive air dryers. 

 The kitchen cabinets were another story altogether. They had become warped, the drywall was damp behind it and had to be cut out so large portion of lower cabinets and wall were removed as well as the floor 
   down to subfloor. the kitchen was completely taped off with industrial vinyl sheeting , heavy fans and dehumidifiers ran 24/7 for about 3 weeks!  Trying to dry out everything . It has to be bone dry before remodel can begin, not black mold please!!!! 

The inspection resulted in complete removal of all my cabinets ( they had been designer built no longer available) and couldn't be matched , my granite counters couldn't be saved, so I received a new kitchen!  Thank GOD for State Farm Insurance! Our experience went smoothly , our agent was great!   I can not say enough great things about the service we received! our service! My neighbor has another big named insurance  company  and is going through a nightmare for the same thing . 

My desk used to be 2 levels a high side and low side ,  now it's one nice level surface which I love! I swapped out the 2 doors on each side for deep drawers for files and such. The cabinets above the desk only were 36" one full cabinet and the a half one . We went  with 42" cabinets and doubles! My wonderful cabinet builder suggested building the cabinet over the refrig out and adding slats so I could place all my oversized cookie sheets and baking pans in there instead of my over worked pantry! I love it!

The glass cabinets were my idea, I really wanted them! As long as we could add them and stay within the insurance budget, I wasn't paying anything out of pocket!  The cabinet over the sink didn't exist, for whatever reason the builder left it a empty space which always bothered me so I had a vintage shelf there. This was a perfect opportunity to add one! We decided to take these up to the ceiling . I have 2 !! ount them 2 pull out spice cabinets for all my spices! SCREAM! no more drawers stuff with spices everywhere! One is bottom right side of the stove the other right above next to microwave.

Backsplash was the only thing that was saved from original kitchen.   I wish I would have taken pictures of before but forgot. Our kitchen had white cabinets, with a nice granite. 

 The center island and the cabinet on the left side of this picture all are now drawers. I no longer have any cabinets except the upper ones and the one under the sink.  All the others are wonderful heavenly deep drawers that hold my pots, pans, electric skillets, mixing bowls, Foreman grill, Bella blender, assorted Corningware French ware & lids!

The granite is the most gorgeous stuff I have ever laid eyes on. 

It beyond anything amazing! It is white with bits of grays tan

black  

has shades of  violet , blue, greens veiled by layer,of white iridescent  quartz so that you only get to see hints of color here and there. There a bits of black onyx with tiny shells the patterns of what looks likes ancient sand.  Serg,  our granite guy, does not have one seam in this granite ! NOT ONE!!  The way he creates his pattern is the craziest thing I have ever seen , it involves , long sticks that he glues together with a hot glue gun , but hey , NO SEAMS and it fit perfectly!  We love the finished kitchen and our new floors, my hubby repainted so it's like have a whole new downstairs. Since we were having the floors done we decided to take the new floors into the livingroom and dining room area , and I am happy we did. I love the way it turned out too.  I and had been wanting to turn  the dining room into a real dining area so this was the first step in getting that done. 
 Well I've chatted long enough , next time I will show off my $150.00 dining room set !

We're still waiting to get back to the beach!

Back in May we had a pipe burst under our kitchen sink , in our main residence. 

Let me just say this , I do not know how people stand living in their homes during major remodeling projects! 

Our tale started off with a massive water flood under the sink. 

My husband and I scrambled to clean up the water poured out everywhere! We have manufactured wood floors so water is not your friend! I grabbed my carpet cleaning machine to suction up the water , which worked actually really well . My husband set heaters that had running for the next 4 days just to make sure things dried out. 

We thought were good , then about 2 weeks later we started noticing buckling of the floor in a area several feet away from where the water had been! 

Called our insurance company, TIP OF THE DAY! most of the time these things are covered by insurance if you call right away!  Servpro came out and turns out water was sitting under the  dishwasher was pushing water out under the floor and as we walked we were pushing along the floor even further!

 So new floors right? Wrong! Cabinet was water logged, cabinet that housed sink and dishwasher would have to be removed and replaced.  Cabinet people came in stated that cabinets were European specialty order & oh goody no longer made! So now we would have to have all new cabinets! 

Our granite counters were only a couple of yrs old  so we were hoping they could be saved? Nope , they broke ! 

So after 3 full months we have a brand new kitchen , thank God our insurance covered it !  Here is a little peek of our new kitchen new pictures to follow.  As you can see Teddy is ready to to head to the beach!!

The beginning

                  Endless Summer the beginning.                This cottage sat vacant for 3 yrs. The railings were dried out from lack of maintenance , the beige color had faded , the accent color was a deep brown had washed out  to green!
  Good news ,she was only 5 yr.s old when we found her and was a nice tight ,strongly build home. Something to be said for good bones and good builders!  

This after repainting , doesn't look like same cottage does it?

The master bedroom was large but painted this color made it feel cramped,. Previous owners picture from listing. We also inherited a lot of furniture from previous residence .

Fresh cream walls with new art and shelving , light airy curtains . Bed frame and bedding .Looks fresh and inviting.

 The red wall had been repainted before we saw it , I would suppose the Realtor suggested the change to the pale yellow on the rest of the walls. Fell in love with the fireplace , which uses propane so no wood chopping for us!

Fresh cream walls add to light airy feel splashes of color come from accessories. Still waiting to replace couches. Little by little we are coaxing our little cottage into it's full potential. 

 Kitchen was in good shape just plain . over sized dining table took up a lot of space. 

added sand pails sand castles , fun curtains and my hubby tiled the back splash in gorgeous pale hues and complimentary marble tiles . The center island butcher block top is from Ikea  counters, cut down to fit our island. My husband added bead board around the back and sides of the island and painted SW tidewater. 3 mismatched stools were added painted in colors matching the seat cushions on the dining set.

added oiled hardware from EBAY

guest bedroom , unfortunately it was the worst shape of all and I forgot to take a picture of it. It had a monstrous homemade bunk bed the literally took up the whole room. It was the first thing my husband dismantled. In one word GROSS bed wetter ! Yikes!  After, it's is a room worthy of guests with it's Queen sized bed (IKEA 99.00) large enough to move around and have 2 nightstands. with full, closet even a dresser and flat screen TV! Display shelf items picked up at EBAY as well as the  bedding from PB but found on EBAY half the price new! Picture was from Zazzle.

the key here is to do a little at a time... Have fun 

finds deals online, we will have owned Endless Summer for 2 1/2 years now ,it is still a work in progress and we are loving very minute of it! 

Little table from Joss & Main but I also found it on Amazon, just a matter of who had better price.

A lot of my finds came from Mor  furniture  OREGON (dining table set was 374.00) seat cushion recover material came from Fabric.com and so did kitchen curtains. Best selection of beach themed material and low price!

I have picked up accents pieces from Joss & Main pillows, beach themed items & accents. Hint ! check whole site sometimes same item will be listed in 2 different areas under different name , 1 will be cheaper.

My spurge Pottery Barn octopus serving tray ... pricey but had to have! 

Basket on hearth from EBAY, however these have been showing up on Joss & Main new and cheaper sometimes as set for around $33.00.

Sea shells , some collected, usual ones also came from Goodwill  and shopgoodwill.com

Also shopped our own house for items to bring up . Bedroom shelves were all made by my husband , Pottery Barn knockoffs. There is a link on side that will take you to DIY instructions. Similars shelves like these were 300.00 on PB small ones were 169.00 .   Shell mirror EBAY 

Shutters! loved these but at 400.00 a pop not so much!

 My husband made these for me for about $25.00 total !!!!  and I love them!!

goodwill find (in process of recover )chair was $14.00!! Material cost 20.00! 

From this (100.00) Amazon find

                        to this repaint and distressed

Hope I have given you some idea's !!