last friday mathew spent some time cleaning and refinishing some exterior parts of the house. (right) his ladder set-up made me a bit nervous… but it all went fine.
after removing some material that the previous owners used incorrectly to fill large gaps in the front of the house, mathew filled, sanded and preserved the old, exposed wood. this ladder set-up made me less nervous…
the wood preserver STINKS! mathew paints it on and it supposedly pulls any moisture out of the wood and hardens, sort of like artificially petrifying the wood. it turns black in the process. often this concern for exposed wood comes just before the rainy season, but it needed to be done. sadly it makes the front of the house just a little uglier. it’s currently covered in plastic and once the rain stops we can get out there and paint it.
we spent the rest of the weekend pulling up the floor covering, cleaning and moving into the office. here’s what it looks like at night. mathew says it shines like a beacon when he’s coming home (we just received our blinds and haven’t installed them yet.) the neighbors have all been watching the room’s progress and it’s gotten rave reviews.
(left) during the week i saw this car being taken away. it must have come out of one of our neighbor’s garages and i thought it was cool. i wish i could see it refinished! (right) and mathew’s mum, sue is visiting from england! she’s staying in popo’s downstairs unit and it’s nice to see her and have the space used again.
yesterday we proudly attended eva’s graduation from the samuel merritt university accelerated nursing program. and when they say “accelerated” they aren’t kidding. eva studied her butt off and is becoming an RN in only 12 months! eva is one of the sweetest, most caring and conscientious people we know; we know she will be an amazing nurse.
(left) sue, mathew, me. (right) me and eva.
mathew, daniel and eva.
it’s a big weekend/week for mathew. stay tuned for a BIG, birthday post!