We've Got Wheels

Our 1997 Ford F150 is tired, falling apart and has more than 250,000 miles on it. Soooo...on our way to my oldest son's, we spotted this car. Stopped to take a peak and called the owner. Two hours later it was ours for the princely sum of $800.

It's a 1996 Crown Victoria with 106,000. MINT inside, no rust, and drives like we're on a magic carpet ride. Gives us a little more security too, living far from town and not knowing lots of dependable people here. Now, if I go shopping and Sweetie stays home he has wheels in case he needs to leave here.

While out yesterday we also stopped at the local Habitat Restore and bought a 24" upper kitchen cabinet - for $29. If we wait long enough I'm sure an 18" upper cabinet will come along. Then our kitchen remodel will be complete. Total cost thus far: $400 for cement board, tile, grout, screws and thinset; $29 for two additional kitchen chairs (wahoo, we now have four chairs!); and $89 for three kitchen cabinets. I had called Lowe's regarding the cabinets and the cost new would've been $255 plus the 260 mile round trip to get them. We still need new/recycled counter top to cover the new configuration. In the meantime I have pieces of plywood over the new areas.

Are they the cabinets I'd really like to have? Of course not! But, they're within our budget; we've recycled someone's cast offs; and we didn't go into debt!!! And, we could have saved money by re-applying the sheet vinyl as it came up in one piece. But, I didn't like the color/pattern. Even with little money, I'm still picky! Ceramic tile gave us a fireproof surface behind and below the woodstove and absorbs the heat from the woodstove and the sun streaming in through the sliding door.

Today is my youngest sister's 47th birthday so I have cooking and cleaning to do. Dad's taking her out for supper tonight and she'll be here tomorrow for lasagna, garlic bread, salad and ice cream.

My son feels better and plans to finish the tile job tomorrow morning. He, Sweetie and I are all offering suggestions as to how to best proceed with the bathroom remodel. The entire floor has to be replaced down to the joists which means all the fixtures come out. It's our only bathroom so good thing we have two camp toilets and a solar shower - though it's getting a bit nippy here at night.

Frost has killed the last of our veggies, despite there being no forecast for frost. Weather reports are great but they're not specific to every square inch of an area. I've kept a garden/weather journal that will be good to refer to next year. Still have onions to pull and dry/freeze but otherwise we're done. Hard to believe there will be snow here by Halloween. That's usually when we have our first blast of miserable weather preceded by rain, wind and ever decreasing sunshine. The electric bill already reflects this as it's now dark by 8:15 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

Well, time to get to work. Hope you're all doing something every day to prep. Even if it's planning!!!