New York Renovator

… I haven’t had much of anything exciting around here, have I? Sorry! But in all truth, it has BEEN pretty boring around here.

Just hanging around...

I haven’t done any projects in a long time. The window seat/bench remains unfinished. The dining room closet still has no pole for the hanging of coats. No window trim for the siding around the kitchen window, nothing. We’ve been puttering around with tiny projects, such as setting up the phone station (and trying to get a computer that works). And I did *finally* clean the living room, organize my desk, and get all the business papers in order. That took a week! I made a few trips to various office supply stores in search of desk organizers and a hutch, but the traffic was crazy and I didn’t find anything. So I’m making do.

The kids have been on winter vacation, and we’ve been lounging.

Just lounging...

Unfortunately, some of them got serious bouts of the flu/strep throat. So we’ve been out of sync here. My kids are rarely sick; this is a shocking anomaly.

I have no fun or interesting stories. No yarns or tales of historical tidbits. I’ve run dry right now. Perhaps after a time of rejuvenation, I’ll do better.

So…. what have I been doing?

NOTHING! I’m a SLACKER!

Well, we did clean out the garage and the shed, making the traditional switch from winter stuff to spring stuff (exchanging places with the snowblower, shovels, and sleds to the lawn mower, rakes, and garden tools). Nothing exciting worth blogging about, though.

And that’s about it!

While cleaning out the garage, I peered inside several boxes of my electrical supplies. *sigh* Half the house is still unwired… and I can’t wire the house without gutting it. And gutting the house seems like Mission: Impossible. At least right now. Plus, I just don’t have the time to devote to anything like that right now. I wonder if this house will EVER get finished?! At least maybe get electricity? Or the holes in the walls patched up? :S

So I’m in the doldrums right now. But the home renovation season has just begun, so there’s always hope.

But that’s why I’ve had no scintillating posts about renovating anything! It’s awful to have a home remodeling blog and not be doing any remodeling.

Well, we did pitifully this year. I’m assessing our projects, and regretablly, there weren’t many. We did try some new things in the garden (Adirondack Red potatoes and a grapevine). But my hydrangeas didn’t bloom, and we got no apples this year –weird! Not even any blossoms. I have no idea what happened. Insects?!

Anyway, the renovations were at a standstill, due to money (lack thereof) and my back going out twice this year. Materials costs have exploded in prices– a wall of sheetrock now costs close to $18 with the tax. This blows my mind- is it this high where you live?

My dreams of renovating my kitchen disappeared. I’m not sure when I can get that done. My husband hasn’t had reliable work in about 9 months. We’re waiting for some old guys to finally retire so some positions will open up. But these guys are taking FOREVER to retire. I think once we have steady income again, I can use my blogging incoem for renovations.

Anyway.. I have a new kitty and the kids have schoolwork, so we’ll be busy for the winter. But I’m still going to plan for that new kitchen.