I've been absent . . .

You know how one thing leads to another?  That's the story of the last couple of months!  Remember in October when my DD and GD were here for a visit after my son's wedding?  Well the microwave broke while they were here and we replaced that.  Then a couple of weeks later the refrigerator started acting up.  This wasn't the first time, it was about 15 years old and had been worked on at least five times during it's life.  We decided that before it completely gave out, it needed to be replaced.  A new one was ordered and we waited.  It was scheduled to arrive right after we returned from house/ dog sitting for my DS and new DIL.  We had a nice time "vacationing" at their house while they were away.  The fridge arrived a couple of days after we got home.  Unfortunately, it took the delivery guys about thirty minutes to destroy it while they were trying to reverse the door opening.  Back it went and a new one was ordered.  Then we wait another three weeks.  Well, DH decided to go ahead and remodel the kitchen while we waited.  We pulled up the carpet from the kitchen floor and found two layers of tile underneath.  We got that scraped up and had to get all the glue off the cement before a new ceramic tiles could go down.  We worked on that for a little over a month, a small section at a time.  What a job!  Here's a pic of the floor in progress:

The grey area is the clean cement, the dark brown patch is old glue that has to come up and there is a small patch of the old carpet to the left of it covering the last of the sticky glue to be removed.  Here the counter top has been removed, too.  That was the other big destruction job.  The old counter top matched the light tiles on the backsplash and under the cabinets.  Right at the sink area, the three layers of the particle board are still visible.  There were the three layers of particle board, all glued and screwed down with the small ceramic tiles on top.  We had to locate were the right screws were to detach it from the cabinets.  We worked and worked and worked to get it all torn apart and ready for the new countertops and floor to be installed.  In mid-January, the countertops and floor went in, then we worked and worked to get everything back into place.  The new fridge waited in the family room until it could be set in place.  Since the old dishwasher didn't work, that was replaced and DH decided to order a new range so everything would match.  OH, the laundry room is attached to the kitchen, so a new floor went in there, too.  And shortly before that was finished, the washer started leaking, so since the dryer was 15 years old, a new washer and dryer were ordered, too!

Everything is finally in place and it looks so nice!

We kept the cabinets, just used a rejuvenating oil on them and they look like new.  New counter tops and new tile floor with new appliances.  Now I have to get back to cooking!

I did manage a little stitching, but not much! 

 

 

These are some of the embroidery for the Wish Quilt from Red Brolly.  There is one more, then I can start on the piecing.

I also got the center for my DS and new DIL's wedding quilt together:

Now I have to add the border and get it quilted. 

I have essentially gotten all my Spring housecleaning done since everything in the house was covered in construction dust, so now I should have time to get back to sewing and blogging!  I have been keeping up with everyone's blog but I didn't always comment.  I hope now I will get rested up and back to normal!