Another Visit to Watsons Art Gallery

mermaid

Stopped in at Watson’s Art Gallery to see what we missed over the summer.  

So much!

Got to see the NEW 2015 t-shirt art for the Homosassa Art, Craft and Seafood Festival created by Gil.

Is this amazing?????

mermaid for t-shirt for the Homosassa Arts, Crafts and Seafood Festival
A Redfish Mermaid

I saw it on Watson’s Facebook page while I was out of town and was really excited about it.

Not only are we breaking precedent by revealing the art before the Festival, the shirts will be available for sale at Watson’s Art Gallery as soon as they arrive.  Which should be very soon! Yippee!  

There seemed to be a lot more art at the gallery, too.  Such a wide variety!

The gallery had a “Wine and Paint” class last week but I missed it.  I signed up for the next one on September 25th.  Fun!  

Cat Valentine was playing at the Gallery that evening so we stopped by to check out her music.  

Cat Valentine
Cat Valentine

She was so good–playing everything from Fleetwood Mac to Black Keys–and a very fun person.  So I signed her up for 3 hours of entertainment at the Festival.  Another change–we’re having music both days.

Always love visiting the gallery!

Friday Meanderings

squirrel

Went to a meeting yesterday.

And there was a damn squirrel….

squirrel

squirrel

Squirrel

I know, you’re saying–First, why is there a squirrel at your meeting and second, why is there a Michelob Ultra in the background?

And the answer is…

That’s the way we hold meetings in Old Homosassa.

So why aren’t you at our meetings?  We need VOLUNTEERS! The Homosassa Art, Craft, and Seafood Festival is a huge event.  This is the only fund raising event that the Homosassa Civic Club has.  With that money we run the club, give scholarships, support Veterans groups, help children.  

We have a lot of children here that do not eat on a regular basis.  Some don’t even have shoes.  We have a lot of rich people but a whole lot more in poverty.  

You don’t have to live here.  You can join our club.  It’s $3 a year.  Really.  Think about it.   

Okay.  Off of my own personal soap box.

(We need volunteers)

I didn’t see a whole lot going on this weekend in Citrus County.  Personally, Terry and I will be hitting up local businesses for donations.  

Save our water week is coming up.  Yeah, I’ll probably be giving you grief about that one next week! (Let’s get our waterways cleaned up!)

The helipad meeting is on the 3rd.  

I’ve been updating my websites.  (just in case you didn’t notice)  And I’ve been working on my “diy” site.  (Yeah, no one looks at it. Makes me feel like that loser that doesn’t get picked for the soccer team. Oh yeah, now I remember, I was that loser!) Maybe a loser, but never a QUITTER.  No not me.  Next Tuesday and every Tuesday for six weeks, I’m doing a series of creating totes. Beginning with really easy stuff and progressing to a wee bit more difficult.  You can do it!

And then when I’m all finished after six weeks, I’ll be giving a tote away.  Yes.  You get to choose.  All you have to do is comment and my entirely random method will pick the winner. The posts will go up on Tuesday on DesignsbyKTGreen.com. The first one will just be boring intro French seam stuff.  But you can start commenting on Tuesday on DesignsbyKTGreen.com and just every Tuesday until the series is finished.  At the end of the six weeks I’ll just pull all those comments together and pick the winner.  Totally randomly.  (My entirely random method will be cutting a bunch of numbers up and throwing them in a bag, numbering the comments, and pulling the WINNER! Yeah, and you thought I was high tech!)

And, since few actually look at DesignsbyKTGreen.com, you have an excellent chance of winning!

Yippee!

And onto better and more fun news….the countdown is 8 WEEKS until Darin and Kathryn’s wedding!

2012_10_13darin
Here they are at Alan and Lauri’s wedding. Darin had to do a little speech. Kathryn’s thinking, I’m not making anyone do that at my wedding!

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

 

 

 

 

Renovation Reality 2015

A Few Projects from the Basement Renovation

Our annual visit to see our kids and grandkids in North Dakota lasted six weeks again this year.  It was nice to get out of the heat and rain here in Florida and fun to play with the grandkids. (We missed those days of perpetual rain) Most of our time was spent working on renovating the basement.

A little history for those who are new to the blog, three years ago, our son Alan suggested that we renovate his basement so we would have a private place to stay during our long visits.

Sounded like a great idea since little Miss Pippety Piper was not appreciating being moved out of her bedroom every summer.  I would walk into what was now our bedroom and there would be Piper, facedown on the bed and clinging to the bedspread.  

Or sometimes she would just be wistfully staring our of the bedroom window. ‘ I used to live here.  This was my space.  So Sad. Heavy sigh’ 

DIY Pouf
This was from our visit in 2013.  Hated throwing her out of her room.  But it was a question of survival.  Was I going to sleep in Riley’s room?  Not happening!

If she had been a little older she probably would have figured out how to chain herself to a bed leg.

The basement was kind of finished but not really usable for anything other than laundry and storage. Alan and Lauri designed a new layout with a guest suite, a bedroom for Riley, a laundry room, and a large ‘Jack and Jill’ bathroom.

When we arrived for our visit last year, the new walls were just being built.  Before the end of our visit, we had doors, the walls and ceilings were painted, and flooring was installed, We bought some very used bedroom furniture that was hideous but sturdy, a new mattress.  A shower/bathtub went into the bathroom and a base cabinet was added to the kitchenette.  We actually got to sleep in the suite a few nights before driving back to Florida.

Before our arrival this year, Lauri had went “Black Friday” shopping and scored a new shiny refrigerator and smart TV for our suite.  (The TV had Netflix and we were hooked on House of Cards by the time we left).  

Then Terry and I arrived on the scene.

First job–a toilet in the bathroom! Followed by a countertop and sink installed in the suite’s kitchenette.  

Next, a coffee maker!

Toilet, sink, coffee–we could see a light at the end of the tunnel!

We debated over the seating arrangement.  Recliner and chair?  Loveseat? Sofa Bed? 

We finally settled on a small couch and after lots of shopping for an inexpensive but perfect size, we bought this one.

couch

And it’s gray. But looked baby blue once we got it down to the room with the beige carpet and cream colored walls.  Another challenge.  But I assured everyone that I would bring it all together with new drapes, comforter, and pillows. 

A vanity went into the bathroom right before company arrived.

Jes and Andrew
Jes and Andrew being mobbed by Piper, Riley and Adley.

Then back to work. I don’t do power tools–I leave that for Terry.  (I’ve sewn over my thumbnail with my sewing machine, I can’t imagine what I would do with a table saw!) But I did all the staining and helped with the installation of the door trim,

While we got A LOT done and the space is quite comfortable, there’s still much more to do. Baseboard.  Some trim around the windows. (And fixing up that U G L Y bedroom furniture) Unlike me, Lauri likes working with power tools and plans to get the baseboard installed before our next visit.

But here’s a few shots of we did get done…

kitchenette
Still need an upper cabinet and microwave in the kitchenette.  That’s a sliding glass door behind the drapes so we have our own entrance!
kitchenette
See all that junk food in the cart? That’s how we get the grandkids to viist us!
Maggie
Had to squeeze a picture of Maggie into the post!

bed3

Renovation Reality 2016.  End of the series?  Probably not–next on the work schedule is a bathroom remodel for the second floor.

Next Thursday I’ll share a few of the projects that we worked on to make the basement home.