Seven Months of Construction

It has certainly been a while since we posted anything on this blog. Fifteen months and 4 days if you really must know. Not sure what prevented us from doing so, but maybe we just got lazy. Lazy is probably the best explanation.  But I really must place a bit of blame on Facebook.  It seems in my laziness I can slap a couple of pictures shot with my phone up on my "Wall" and then somehow believe that is real communication.  But everyone knows that Facebook is never REAL communication.  It is a "cocktail party" at its best.  But we all know that a "cocktail party" is never a substitute for a real conversation.

 Nonetheless, we are back and have something to talk about, our recently remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. 

I initially started this blog post to describe what Max and I just went through in the planning and preparation to upgrade the bathrooms and kitchen of our 119 year old home.  

I simply must interrupt here with very strong advice.  It's been said before but certainly bears repeating. Never- and I mean NEVER- say you absolutely won't do "you fill in the blank".  You'll do it.  I guarantee it- you'll do it.  I said that I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER undertake a major remodeling of my kitchen. NEVER.  But not only did I giddily sign on to a MAJOR REMODEL of the kitchen, we added in three bathrooms to made sure we were really, really, really inconvenienced.  Let's just say the last  seven months was a bit like hunkering down in a storage warehouse with a continuous stream of construction workers with appropriate loud equipment interrupted daily by another trip to another restaurant where we for sure sat next to someone that was going to irritate Don while we ate food we'd rather not be eating at that moment.

As I was starting the 4^th paragraph describing the process (and I see with Max's added comments this is now the 5th paragraph), I was getting tired of going through the long drawn out experience and realized that anyone reading this would probably give up and just look at the pictures.  We had delays, set backs, and 7 months of parking in the street because my 3-car garage was turned into a carpenter shop.  So to summarize, in just about exactly 7 months our kitchen and 2.5 bathrooms were stripped to the frame work including all of the plumbing and electrical, and then completely rebuilt with new wiring, new plumbing, new floors, new walls, new ceilings and all new fixtures.  The biggest change was in our kitchen.  Below are a couple pictures of the kitchen taken before the process started. 

Northeast towards the back porch

Northwest with the refrigerator on he left and the sink below the window on the left.

Here is the kitchen after demolition was well underway.  Once again for perspective:

 Above, looking west toward the driveway at the window that was above the kitchen sink

 Looking Southwest where the stove and refrigerator were located.  In the lower center of that south wall was an old pantry that was set in below the back stairs.  We think that it was probably an outside cold storage space when the house was first built because our kitchen and bathrooms were added onto the house well after the initial construction.

Looking East towards the old bathroom and on the right outlined in blue, the doorway to our dining room.  The back door and the wall to the left were all removed to expand the kitchen/bathroom.

Not shown in the above pictures is that the back porch was disassembled and saved and the north wall of the house was removed and a new part of the kitchen was added.  

Here is our new kitchen.  It is almost twice the size of the old one and now has a walk in pantry and next to it is a new full bathroom.

Above,  looking South towards the front of the house with the 5 burner cook top in the center and the short hallway to the dining room on the left.

Looking northwest toward the garage.  The center island has a prep sink on the other side and the stools and sitting areas at the island were the idea of Max so she could have grandchildren help her in the kitchen.  The window on the left is original and still above the sink.

Looking east where the old half bath used to be.  Behind the door is a walk in pantry and behind the double oven/microwave/refrigerator is a new full bathroom.  Did you hear the part about the double oven.  Oh yes, DOUBLE OVEN! The new back door is to the left of the ovens.

Looking west from the new back doorway

Looking north from in front of the sink.  The two windows are new and the new back door is on the right. As I look at the pictures I realize that the pictures just don't do this new kitchen justice.  You just must come and see it for yourself.  It is absolutely stunning!  We worked with our architect, Rod Sidley and a team of expert carpenters who were amazing at embracing the history of our house- and building a kitchen rich with details that flows seamlessly from the part that is 119 years old. That said- just let me know when you'd like to come and visit- we have the room!

I didn't take pictures of all of the old bathrooms since they were really too small to get much in the picture.  Here is the one picture I took of our old guest bathroom on the second floor.  The picture is looking west toward the driveway. I have to admit I never, ever showered or bathed in this old bathroom.  The people I know and love (daughters and dear friends) do tell me it is one of the worst they've ever been forced to use.  I'm afraid no new curtains or new bathroom carpets could even dent the deterioration of the ages.

And here is that same room during demolition.  The other bathrooms were stripped down to the same level of demolition.

Below is the new guest bathroom.  This was Max's own creation and our only bath tub in the house.  Of course we had to have one bathroom so Max could give our young grandchildren baths. 

Don't you love it!  Can you believe the transformation!  And the claw foot tub is cast iron- so it holds the heat- perfect for a long hot soak- as well as a very long time to play with toys for the grandchildren!

Having windows in bathrooms in neighborhoods creates problems of privacy.  Max was determined not to cut out the light in the bathroom, but she also didn't want curtains.  The leaded glass was her solution.  All of the leaded glass (yes there are more) are installed in front of our high efficiency double pane windows.  The picture below shows the patterns the glass makes on the walls in the evening as the sun sets in the west.

Next is the first floor bathroom with its leaded glass window.  On the far right is a large shower with a glass partition and glass door.  This window provides diffused light as the morning sun shines in.

And finally, below are several pictures of the master bathroom.  The first with the shower in the background.  This shower is slightly larger than the downstairs shower, but the fixtures and tile are the same.

Below are views of the cabinets from opposite ends of the bathroom.  Not shown or evident is that the ceramic tile floor in the master bath is heated, so the floor is always warm in the winter. 

And finally there is the window in the master bath that is on the wall opposite the sink.

The only thing not included in the pictures is that my office was taken over by Max and I moved to the front of the house.  But my old office was significantly reduced in size in order to give Max a new big double closet for her off season clothes and a new space for a second floor washer and dryer.  Ahhhhh! The absolutely luxury of not hauling all of our laundry down to the basement from our second floor bedroom and then back up again!

We are keeping the basement washer/dryer for heavier loads of laundry. And when we were getting the house ready for our first out-of-town company I was actually using both the second floor and basement washers and dryers to quickly wash all the towels and sheets.

I'm not including any pictures from the outside, since it is still a bit of a mess from the winter storms.  We did expand our brick patio area and our back porch was rebuilt and looks just like our old "new porch" except this one came out a bit larger.

So the house is now available for visitors and Max and I are back in our new kitchen enjoying all of the space and new appliances and often trying to remember where we put something in our very spacious cabinetry. We actually have whole shelves that have nothing on them, drawers with nothing in them.  

But best of all this kitchen invites conversation.  We can all gather around and laugh and tell tales and Don and I can keep on cooking with nary a pause.  Come and see for yourself.  We'd love to have you!

Twentynine Palms

After our return from Michigan on Sunday evening (see previous blog) Max and I had one day to recover, do our laundry, and prepare for our next adventure.  Now I want to chime in here.  We are really rushing this to "publish"- hopefully we'll proofread at least enough. But the Kappel's arrive tomorrow- and of course there will be Thanksgiving (and a baby baptism thrown in just for a bit more excitement)- so we are really up against a deadline.  So here goes!
This next trip involved much more extensive travel taking us to Twentynine Palms, CA which sits on the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert.  Twentynine Palms is a town, but more than that it is home to the Marine Corps largest Base.  The desert terrain around the base provides an environment not very different from parts of Afghanistan, and consequently it provides excellent training for the Marines who deploy there.

But we didn’t go there for the dry desert air or the scenery of Joshua Tree National Park that is adjacent to the town, we went to see Clint who had just several weeks before returned from Afghanistan, and also to meet our new  granddaughter, Amelia Cole Kappel, who arrived on October 11.  Of course we can’t forget Amelia’s siblings, Reeder, Hayes and Weiler, or Marianne who has contained and nourished these children during Clint’s long deployments to the Middle East.

Twentynine Palms is not a an easy place to get to.  The closest airports are over an hour away and not on the main routes of airlines that leave from Cincinnati.  We have driven there once, but that is a 4100 mile round trip.  So our routine approach is to fly from Cincinnati to Las Vegas and then rent a car and drive  the 175 miles across the Mojave Desert to Twentynine Palms.  The road is mostly two lane and very straight with almost no traffic.  The speed limit is 55, but we usually can make the trip in about 2 hours and 15 minutes.  You can calculate how fast we drive on your own. Let's be real honest.  This is a beautiful country- and there is certainly beauty in the desert.  But by my calculation this was our 9th and 10th trips driving across the Mojave Desert.  I'm really over the desert.  I'm ready to move on. ENOUGH ALREADY!

We arrived on October 31 and our first priority was to see Amelia, as Clint was at work.

She is a beauty! Big eyes, dark hair, gorgeous olive complexion.  It was love at first sight.  And so cuddly!

And, of course, October 31 is Halloween, and on a Military base in a base officer housing neighborhood where all the residents are married with young 1 to 1+n children each, Halloween is a BIG DEAL!

I wasn't ready for Halloween on a Marine Base for families.  Now I knew from our previous trips that Marines have a lot of children.  In the United States the "average" child per family around 1.8.  But not on a Marine Base- don't think they got the memo on average family size.  Now I don't have any statistics to back this up- but I think the average is at least 3 per family.  Well I watched this parade of children on Halloween and I'm real comfortable with my numbers!

Reeder was a princes with a peacock mask

Hayes was a Ninja, Blue Man, Monster Truck Driver.  That boy is creative.

Weiler became a skeleton wearing his skeleton pj's, although somewhat grudgingly.  It was his first Halloween in which he participated, and all of this seemed a bit scary to him.  But once he figured out that people were giving you candy if you just walked up to their house, he was on board!  That boy does like candy and before long he was running up to the houses with the big kids.

Max assumed responsibility of Amelia, that is when Amelia wasn't hungry. Marianne and I sat out front- I held Amelia and Marianne passed out candy.  We started with a BIG TUB of candy.  The steady stream (sometimes you might even say a mob) of children- often accompanied by their Marine father- started the parade that continued without any pause for 2 and a half hours.  I was totally amazed.  I don't ever remember seeing that many children...

But she definitely wasn't alone in working on this duty.  Holding this 3 week old little girl was shared by many and Amelia didn't complain.

Some children are tough to photograph either because they sense the picture being taken and pose or they sense the picture and have a negative reaction.  But Weiler and Hayes seem to have this amazing relationship with my camera.  Maybe it's because I try to photograph them from a distance with a telephoto lens, but for what ever reason I love what I capture with them in front of my lens. As you can tell Don was in his photographer role for this visit!  And the pictures are wonderful!

Reeder can be tougher to capture, but when we do it is worth the number of failures.  

When we go to Twentynine Palms, we always try to get into Joshua Tree National Park and this trip was no exception.  Clint had to work, but we took the kids (all four) for a hike.  Amelia enjoyed being strapped onto to either Max or her Mom, and occasionally Weiler got a lift, but Reeder and Hayes took off for an afternoon of rock climbing.  We were at a place called Jumbo Rocks.  The name is pretty obvious once you get there.  The geology provides rocks the size of houses to small buildings that have been exposed by erosion leaving Jumbo Rocks.  Reeder and Hayes love to climb among these rocks. Now I might mention here that I'm really not that into rock climbing- hiking yes- rock climbing no!

We had a picnic lunch before starting out and soon Reeder and Hayes were out of sight as they scrambled up the rocks.  Marianne's friend and routine companion on her "interesting adventures", Jessica, arrived just after lunch and joined us with her infant son Gabe.

My 300X telephoto zoom lens certainly came in handy.  These two had no fear and climbed among the rocks like a couple of ants.

There is a trail back through the boulders, but we quickly lost it and just kept heading toward the sounds of Reeder and Hayes.  We found a narrow route and squeezed between a couple of "rocks" and finally came out into an open area where we relaxed. Have I mentioned that I really am not that into rock climbing- particularly rock climbing with a baby packed on my chest... Just saying...

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The two babies slept well strapped onto Max and Jessica.

While the babies had their next meal of the day we noticed that we hadn't seen Reeder or Hayes for a while.  Eventually Reeder returned to let us know that Hayes was stranded in a spot he couldn't climb out of and needed a little help.  Reeder led me to him, and I'm not really sure how he got down there, but with a little effort and some heavy lifting I got him out.  At least he wasn't hurt, just a little scared before I got there.

Once we got back to the car Marianne wanted to visit one more spot before heading back.  There is a small patch of this desert that for what ever reason seems to be perfect for the growth of cholla cacti.  These cholla are often called Jumping Cholla or even Teddy Bear Cholla.  They got these names because they do look so cuddly, but if one gets too close they seem to jump right into your skin and stick there.  The pieces break off easily and that is one of their mechanisms of reproduction by hooking onto an animal or human and getting carried to a new spot where it comes off and eventually grows into a new plan.

Finally, on our last day (at least our last day for the next four years) we had a final lunch at the Officer's Club with Clint.  I finally confessed my insistence every visit on at least one trip to the Officers Club for lunch.  You would too- well at least all of our female readers would.  There is just something very, very, very pleasant about sitting in a large dining room filled with gorgeous- really "buff" young men.  It's not the food- it's the view- and not out any window.  And then we headed back across the Mojave towards Las Vegas for our flight home.  Twentynine Palms has some wonderful things about it (the community of Marine families and Joshua Tree National Park), but we will be very glad to have the Kappel family back in our own time zone for the next several years. Which is why we're in a bit of a rush to publish this blog- the Kappel's arrive tomorrow on their way to their next assignment.  Clint has been assigned to the Pentagon- and the Kappel family will be living in Arlington, Virginia- a days drive from Cincinnati.

We are a little bit behind in our blogs, but we have a pretty good excuse which will be more clear once we post the next blog. Now I know maybe some folks might think a couple or three weeks is a "bit behind" but quite frankly I think we're a little early with this one.  Why it's not quite Thanksgiving and we're going to wrap up Halloween before the next big celebration starts.  Don't you agree- we're really quite early with this one?

We drove up to Rochester Hills, Michigan in late October to see Brandy, Will and Mikayla, and also joining us in Michigan were Amber and Evan.  It was typically cool in Michigan and we had a Saturday full of outdoor activities.  But to be honest, this blog isn't really about information about our trip but rather a photo album on cute pictures. Don took his camera- so let the fun begin.

First of all, Mikayla had soccer practice.  We all dressed appropriately and set out for the park where her "practice" is held.  It was windy with temperatures in the high 40's.  Now if you're thinking maybe the expression on my face is just the pleasure of watching Mikayla running up and down a soccer field you would be wrong.  I was just shivering.  I'm trying to get use to the Michigan cold!

Mikayla was also well layered and particularly enjoyed protecting the goal. Notice the intensity!

She gets great coaching from her dad as well as an occasional knee on which to rest during slow times during the "game".

But Mikayla also likes to run and can give the ball a pretty good "kick".

Mikayla did kick the ball from time to time, but the running was what held the attraction so once the ball was kicked she could out run it anytime!

After soccer we headed to the "pumpkin patch" to pick out pumpkins for the later Jack-O-Lantern carving.  Mikayla quickly found some of the larger specimens.

  
Amber and Even also found their  favorites.  

Brandy and Will get quite serious about pumpkin carving.  The had purchased special tools, stencil, and pumpkin scrapers.  The dining table was set up as a work station and the four of them focused on their respective designs. Now Don and I did pick out a pumpkin and carried it home to Cincinnati- uncarved.  It now sits quite comfortably outside our kitchen window.  Tis the season.

Mikayla and Max set close by and offered constructive advice about the process and the designs.  Of course neither of them were terribly focused on the process, but mostly on enjoying the occasion.

The products were pretty amazing!  Note the one on the bottom left done by Evan, an excellent rendering of his New England Patriots emblem.

And of course the whole group had to pose on the Broadbent's deck to show off their work.  Max and I didn't really do anything except take the pictures and keep Mikayla entertained while the workers dug out the pumpkins and carved the designs.  I consider our contribution to be one of supervision and direction. Mikayla of course was in charge! You might note that there are 5 pumpkins and only 4 pumpkin carvers.  Well, Mikayla's pumpkin is the the one on the top left.  Mikayla was of course the artistic inspiration. She picked out the design and her Daddy did the work.  

And finally a mug shot with all twelve mugs in the picture.