Today our priority was to get some things done at the top of Gram and Papa's list. I began by putting WD-40 on the bathroom vent fans. We hoped that would be enough to bring the noise down and it was. Some may need to be replaced eventually but they are useable now.
Next, while Heidi and Rebecca attended a class on solar oven cooking I worked on a solution to keep Papa's office from solar cooking.
What's hard to see in this photo is Papa's window. I've already covered the top right one with cardboard. This shows how much sun has been coming in and heating things up.
I measured and cut pieces to fit from our large collection of moving boxes.
Rebecca and Heidi tag teamed to create cloth covers so that they'd match the color in the room.
Next we went on a field trip to a furniture place Papa found online. It was all the way in Phoenix but it was worth the trip. We found 5 chairs that meet our needs. Most importantly we found two matching chairs that Gram can get into and out of easily and move around in. We've been looking hard and, until today haven't found them. In the picture above you see Heidi testing how well an office chair spins. We are very thorough you see at Valiant Furnishings ;). Another blessing is that all 5 chairs fit easily into our big van.
Next came an important job. What you see on the left side of the picture above is a pipe that is full of roots. This is the reason our sump pump has not been working.
Our new hero Matt from Schroeder Plumbing came and saved the day. We are also blessed that Heidi is friends with one of the owners Kelly Schroeder.
He dug out a several pounds of what appear to be Oleander roots. The previous owners had Oleander taken out of the yard so hopefully this won't be a recurring problem. Matt encouraged us to use root killer just to be safe which we did this evening. It is so great to have the downstairs bathroom functioning again.
While Matt the plumber worked Heidi couldn't rest knowing Gram still needed her bathroom painted.
She is a happy painter. Gram, Rebecca and Sarah and even I helped paint.
Here is a shot of the two walls we did. We left the other two walls the light brown that matches their bedroom walls. Heidi tells me that "accent walls" are a thing. We think it turned out alright.
Papa rewarded all the effort today by treating us to Costco pizza. As long as we were there Heidi and I picked up the TV stand Papa has been wanting for him.
We topped it all off by taking the kids for a swim. I even got to get in. The kids immediately played "Minnows grab Papa shark" and hugged me at the same time. I felt very loved.
Hard to rank in importance getting these tasks completed--the fans no longer shriek, Gramma now has comfortable castor chairs, the drywall in the bathroom is now painted in her favorite color, and the living room is now less of a solar oven--a very productive day!!
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