Sparkle and Shine

I hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was very productive. We didn't really go anywhere or do anything but stay on the property and work. The men continued to shingle the roof and they also installed the skylight! Michael's friend Jason, helped out on Saturday.

The men could only go so far with the shingles before they had to stop and cut out the opening for the skylight.

                      Michael decides exactly where the opening will go in the bathroom ceiling.

                                                       And then starts framing and cutting.

  Jason stayed on the roof and made the first cut. 

                                                                 Let the sun shine in!

                                 And Voila! A skylight. Now the bathroom will be nice and bright.

While the guys worked on the roof and the skylight, I kept myself busy cleaning the gas stove that was left in the house. At first glance I thought we would just junk it. It was a terrible mess with caked on grease and grime. It would require more than just a good scrubbing. But upon further inspection, I decided it was worth the effort to at least try to make it look new again. I checked all the burners and although slow to start because they were filled with dust and grit, they worked just fine, 

so did the light panel. 

I disassembled, scrubbed and scraped (mostly with a razor blade...carefully of course) for over nine hours! But look at the beautiful, sparkling stove we now have! I discovered it's a 2002 Maytag so it still has a few good years in it. It's not my dream stove but it sure beats spending hundreds of dollars for a new one and it also provides a non-electric way of cooking should the power ever go out.

I'm looking forward to our first Thanksgiving dinner cooked in this stove.

On Sunday, Michael got a bit creative and decided to play around with a

 few designs for the front door overhang. 

                               This is just a temporary design but it is fun to play with ideas.