Savings and Goals Journal #34

Our snow is melting rapidly, as the temperature is in the 40s in the daytime and we are having lots of sunshine. Which also means lots of mud. That is pretty good encouragement to get our back yard into shape this spring and summer!

My Valentine’s gift from Grampy. I love it!

In the Kitchen

Even with the kitchen makeover mess going on, I was able to stick with my meal plan for the most part last week. My daughter made taco soup one night, so I moved a meal to this week.

Grocery shopping was minimal this week, so we were able to move a few more dollars over to the home improvement fund. I’m still planning meals from the pantry and freezer. The main grocery purchases are dairy and produce. And, of course, potato chips for Grampy (bought on sale.) 🙂

Once we got the backsplash put up, I was able to get the kitchen tidied up and mostly back in order. That will make cooking and cleanup lots easier and more enjoyable. It’s hard to want to cook in a messy kitchen!

Here is a shot of the kitchen walls before we put up the backsplash. They were a sunny yellow color called “Apple Muffin.” I’m not sure why I thought that was a good choice back when we painted when we first moved in.

Goodbye Apple Muffin!

This week’s meal plan:

In the Garden

No news to report from the garden. I have found that the greenhouse is a great place to spray paint my kitchen cabinet knobs. It’s warm and out of the wind. I set up a spray booth made from a cardboard box on my planting table. I only paint a few knobs at a time and I leave the door open while I spray so the fumes don’t build up.

Home and Family

The kitchen makeover is moving along. After we put the backsplash up, Grampy changed all of the electrical outlets and light switches.

Grampy worked hard changing the outlets. He’s a keeper!

Next I will paint the backsplash white (Valspar 2000 Interior Satin in the color High Hide White). I will also seal it with a couple of coats of polycrylic to make it extra-scrubbable. A lot happens in our kitchen. I really don’t want tomato sauce spatters marring my pretty backsplash!

I showed a before photo of our kitchen window area last week. Here is the after.

No more 1970’s wallpaper! Yay!

The picture doesn’t really show how pretty the window frame came out. It was just inexpensive 1x2s and 1x4s and some stain from the hardware store called “weathered oak.” We sealed it with polycrylic satin sealer.

I really like how it turned out! I am trying to decide if I want to put up a curtain at the top, or maybe a shelf above it. I’m going to wait until I have everything done and then decide.

I’m thinking that completing this project is going to take several more weeks. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago I had the refrigerator pulled out to work on the cabinet above it, and I tripped over the cord and fell and injured my wrist. It’s been feeling better the last day or two, but it has slowed my progress a bit. However, I have found I am pretty good at painting with a roller using my left hand!

Have a wonderful week!

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