A new look

I have to keep on reminding myself that I live in an old house.....lovingly built back in 1970 by my two hard-working parents.....they did the best that they could with the resources that were available to them at the time.
After my Mum passed and the house maintenance fell under my portfolio, I began taking small bites off of long-forsaken projects that were never thought of or completed.
I worked hard on the downstairs, and I am fairly pleased with its outcome.
Upstairs however is another matter.....some areas still look as if they're stuck in a time warp.
I had been wanting to update the kitchen for a while now, and recently I bit the bullet and started the process.
Remember the ugly piece of purpleheart wood that was delivered many many weeks ago that had to be returned and then another piece came to replace it?  It was the beginning of the project.
Let's get started.
The eyesore for me was this cupboard above the bar....and those two lonesome spindles..... and the two shelfie thingys weren't doing it for me either.....every time I looked at it, I just wanted to rip it down.
It was definitely time for that "ugliness" to go.

I loathed the entire look...the dark wood was not my favourite, and the arched raised insets continued to just get my goat every time I saw them....they somehow reminded me of a coffin insert....perhaps something from the recesses of a childhood memory at a funeral......I don't know.

Wow I took a selfie!!!

Now we can see where the wood comes into play.  The countertop was resurfaced with some large 24"x48" black ceramic tiles, and the countertop edge needed to be finished properly.

There goes the long length of wood through the planing machine on its way to becoming a thing of beauty.

Time to remove all the doors and shelves.

Note the new open look kitchen without the "bar cupboard whatchamacallit" hanging around.

 Removed all the hinges, knobs and catches too.

I then set about removing the raised "coffin" inserts from the doors.

It's nice to have friends who have power tools that you can borrow at a minute's notice.
The jigsaw came in quite handy and the job was finished in no time.

I know you're wondering what on earth I would do with these ....it was suggested that they be tossed as firewood.

A large sheet of 1/4" plywood was used to make new flat inserts for the doors. Templates were drawn and cut out using the same jigsaw.
My friend then used his high-powered router to cut a rebate for the new inserts to sit in.

Glued the new inserts in with Liquid Nails, and the "new" doors were beginning to take shape.

Next it was time to paint the hinges.

All the hardware was cleaned and sanded and then a silver paint (Sherwin Williams) was applied.

Yes, every single piece of hardware was painted....even those tiny tiny screws for the hinges.

Throughout the process, I had several work tables....because I am crazy....and only crazy old me would decide to refurbish her kitchen cabinets all by herself.

 After a few days of cleaning (Purple Blaster), sanding, caulking, and making minor and major repairs, it was time to start painting.

First step a good primer.

The "new" wood trim around the countertop was painted black to match the black tile.

The fridge was feeling left out, so I painted that as well with a special RustPro paint.

It was then time to sand off the old varnish from the doors.

I worked outside on this task, and my Overseer made sure that they were all done properly.

The upstairs back patio became my painting workshop.

Drawers all finished.

No project runs smoothly from start to finish, and I encountered some problems along the way.
Problem Number One moved into position.
The new wood trim was not adhering well to the edge by the sink drain board.... this was due to the bad fabrication of the countertop edge.
Thank goodness for my friend who came along and saved the day by affixing a long bar clamp with extra nails in the trim to hold it all together.  The clamp was in place for a few days to make sure that the wood behaved properly.

It was exciting when I finally managed to replace the newly painted doors back on to the cupboards.
See how excited I was, I have already packed the ware back into the upper cupboards even though all  the doors were not finished.

Decisions....decisions....decisions.
Time to choose the back splash tile.  I chose the one on the left  which was a bigger tile and had a rough textured stone finish. 

 

  Bigger tiles meant I spent less time tiling....yeah!

The tile spacers that I had were way too big for the space I wanted to create under the first row of back splash tiles on top of the countertop, yes folks, what you are seeing is plain old pieces of cardboard that were used as a spacer for that purpose.

Problem number two then reared its ugly head.

The bar had a wooden surface area and therefore needed a special tile adhesive to use with a wooden surface.
A friend of mine recommended a tile cement especially formulated for this purpose, "but it dries really quick, you have to work fast when using it" he said.
I thought we worked fast when installing the tiles (yes, ex-hubby was helping me with the tile cutting of the huge tiles), but oh heavens after we had installed the tiles, they were still quite loose after a few days, and the middle tile in particular was quite rocky like a  see-saw.  I decided to take them all up, and scrape off the dried on adhesive and start over again.


After scraping it all off, and dry-fitting the tiles once more, the middle tile continued to rock. We thought we had an uneven surface, and the bar top was secured, but the tile continued to rock.
It was then discovered that the tile was warped and could not work.
I know I purchased B-grade tiles, but all the others were great.

 

 Called up my friends at the tile store, and they told me to bring it back (yes already cut).  I received a tile to finish up my project.  A big thank you to Terrific Tiles and Mr. Hoyte for putting customer satisfaction as their number one priority.

 

 DAP Weldwood Multi-Purpose Ceramic Tile Adhesive

Now armed with a new tile, this time I purchased a different tile adhesive, a pre-mixed mastic for wooden surfaces.

After the last piece of tile was installed, it still felt rocky, maybe paranoia on my part, I decided to weigh it down with some large bottles of water for good measure.....worked like a charm.
 Finally, I could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

 Ta-dah!!!

Ta-dah!!!   dah!!!!  dahh!!

It's not completely finished yet, but at least it's back in operation.
I've still got some shelves to install above the stove area, and the floor tiles need to be replaced....all in good time.


This story would not be complete without filling in a few gaps.
I know you're wondering what became of the cupboard above the bar... it went to a new home.

Yes, ex-hubby will be able to make use of it....reduce, reuse, recycle in action.

My girlfriend also made use of the raised wooden insets from the cupboard doors. She decided that she would have her carpenter make her some bedside tables and use them for that purpose.....reduce, reuse, and recycle at its best.

The good thing is, is that I can see where the best part of the month of July and part of August went to, and even though my summer was an extra hard working one, I wouldn't change a moment...I enjoyed it all.

Bamboo time

We had some decent rain showers recently, and everything in the garden went berserk growing in leaps and bounds as if on some kind of supernatural growth hormone.
After the awful drought that we experienced earlier this year, the rainfall was a welcome gift but.....

.....look at my bamboo growing "wild and wassy." (uncontrollable manner).

Yesterday evening, my dear friend who loves orchids paid me a visit.  We stood chatting for a while, and as I walked her up the driveway, she admired the bamboo and asked me to save her a few stalks when I trimmed it back.....she would use them for her orchids.
No problem.

 Early this morning, I decided I would trim the plant and deliver the trimmed stalks to her....what a lovely surprise that would be.

 Of course The Overseer was keeping an eye on the proceedings.

 

A nice big bunch of bamboo stalks which my girlfriend will use for her orchids.....she will allow the stalks to dry first.

I finished the job in less than ten minutes.
I was thankful that it was not a hard task like this bamboo cleanup in the above photo.....having the power company come by to trim back the bamboo from the electric poles can be expensive.

Seen today......

Today sneaked up on me......the very last day of the month.....the due date for many bills and services to be paid.
Where did the month of July go? Gosh, it sure went by quickly..... I still can't believe it.
Headed into the city to take care of  imminent payments and also to collect a few items.
We are almost at the end of our Crop Over season, with the climax on Kadooment Day Monday. The stores and the streets were gaily decorated with colourful buntings and flags and the tourists and locals alike were enjoying the lovely calypsos being played in the stores.
Running to catch the elevator in one store, I heard the sweet lively sounds of a Tuk band.....

The Tuk band is uniquely Barbadian and has its origins in the slave culture of 17th century Barbados, thus it remains one of the  indigenous forms of folk music on the island.

Originally banned by the English as subversive, plantation owners believed that the drums were being used to send messages between the slaves.
The tuk music surfaced officially after emancipation.

Originating from the fife and drum marching band of the 18th century British regiment, it seems the word "Tuk"  may have been derived from the Scottish word "touk" meaning to beat or sound an instrument.
Today the tuk band is made up of a base drum, a kettle drum (snare), a triangle or some other percussion instrument and a penny whistle which has replaced the fiddle as the lead instrument for the last 120 years.
The bands play an important part during any festive season, especially at Crop Over.
There are several tuk band schools to preserve the island's cultural heritage among the younger generation.
 
The Tuk Band is usually accompanied by costumed characters that are African in origin like Mother Sally, Shaggy Bear, the Donkey Man, and the Stiltman.

 

 Mother Sally with her exaggerated derriere represents female fertility and usually accompanies a tuk band.
The music is lively with a pulsating rhythm and Mother Sally chooses this little girl to dance with.

 Surrounded by such infectious music I found myself tapping my feet and doing a few dance moves myself.

 

 

 

I think the little girl is happy with a big grin on her face.
I should have recorded the performance but I didn't....sorry.
Here is a Youtube video link.....enjoy.

I'm still here

Wow, I've been missing for over a week.
I had drafted a small post to let you know of my whereabouts, and it went a little something like this....

"Tomorrow.........will start the ball rolling for my summertime maintenance chores......days of hard work starting in the early morn and finishing up around dinner time.
I will probably be too tired to blog as usual, but rest assured that I will have tutorials of every project that I undertake during the period."

Those words are over two weeks old....my how time flies.
I am smack dab in the middle of a big project which I hope to have finished by next weekend.

 I did manage to find a little time to wander the garden to check out what's happening before starting my work routine for the day yesterday.
Here's what I found:

 

 "Heck Mum, something's wrong with your lettuce!"

The lettuce (both the green and the red variety ) had bolted.
Thank goodness I had just planted some romaine lettuce seedlings, so I will still be able to enjoy fresh salads.

My okra plants were flowering, and then I looked closer.....

..........my first okras.

The Portlandia was showing off it beautiful big white flowers.

The heady scent of this unknown jasmine was almost too much to bear.....my nose was intoxicated.

The Duke of Tuscany did not want to be left out of the party.

 

The blue butterfly Clerdendron ugandese was not far behind....the delicate flowers should be opened by next week.

The Lakeview Jasmine was laden with tons of flowers....a total delight for the bees.....I didn't want to get too close in case I was stung.

After that wonderful walk, it was time to get my work day started....no rest for the weary they say....I'm enjoying every minute of my project.