random stuff = really long post

As you probably know, I am a maker of lists. The lists are supposed to help free up some of the memory space in my brain, kinda like using cds to free up disk space on the compy, but sometimes it works and sometimes, well, sometimes the lists are either combined with other lists or are discarded uncompleted, or, as in the case of the list in the photo below, live on for a long time:

This list has been around either since last Christmas or the Christmas before that or maybe even from one of Cory's birthdays in a May in the last few years. Jack and I put together this list one day when we were talking about projects that needed to be done around the gardens that wouldn't cost anything but some of our time. I wrote the list and stuck it on the fridge with a magnet and it's been there ever since. I know it's been there on the fridge for a while because one of the things to be done is to 'install switch in Cory's amp' and we gave him the amp that needed a new switch a couple of years ago. Anyway, every now and then, I clean off the front of the fridge and check out the list. Today I checked out the list and there were three more things that could be crossed off:

Yep, all that is left on the list is to install that switch, reassemble an old picnic table, install the new door locks that we bought before my gramma died in 2005, and assemble and finish a nightstand that Jr started in shop class in high school before he graduated in 2007.

Yes, we move quickly on our projects...

And speaking of projects, I don't think I've shown off the new cutting board Jack made for my kitchen. He started talking about it when we moved into the gardens in late 2002, but--check it out--it was totally worth the wait:

He made it out of maple and edged it in 'blood wood'. Seriously. It is a beautiful addition to my kitchen, and like I said, worth the wait.

And finally, I include a photo essay on the basement remodel. The beginning was over a year ago, when we opened the crypt. Perhaps I haven't mentioned the crypt. Okay, it wasn't a crypt, just a big rectangular hole in the floor. No bodies were found. Just another curiosity we found in the gardens.

Check out the fireplace, the peach-colored walls, the pine paneling and trim:

here's the crypt:



and the hallway:



This is where Jr and the drummer painted a bullseye on the wall of the old bedroom and threw hatchets for points (because who needs darts when you can throw hatchets?):



Here's the drummer after he knocked down the walls and ceiling of the bedroom and hallway:



Here's all of the crap--I mean, construction debris and stuff--we needed to organize. We discovered all kinds of extra wiring in the ceiling and walls that needed to be cleaned up. Notice there is no fireplace now. (Yet another killer project, knocking out that hulking mass of bricks. So glad we've got men in the gardens.)



More crap...including the pile of 2 x 4's that used to be walls...



and, now, it's an open space, ready for, well, more work

Tricked ya' huh! You thought I was going to end up with a finished basement. Not even. We still have plenty of sheetrock patching and sanding and some plumbing to move and then more sheetrock patching and sanding. Then we can prime and paint. Of course, we still need to install new radiators (after more plumbing) and we'll need a ceiling and lights, and oh jeez about a hundred square yards of carpet.

Yes, we have a few things to finish, but man it feels good to be at this point in a project.