Getting back on track

It's been months since I've posted here--over a year, in fact. Well, alright, I've been busy! Still working with T. McKenna Plumbing Inc. here in Fairport, still building kitchens and baths for a great group of new customers. And I'm still working with some truly fine people that I met in the now-extinct Chase-Pitkin organization. We bought a house, too! My wife and I have gone from blissful renters on the west side to delighted (but exhausted) home-owners on the east side. That's where all my free time went, believe me.

We bought a sweet little ranch built in the early 1960's. Since I know a fairly competant contractor--and my wife loves to upgrade and decorate--we've made a few (understatement) improvements. It's not that we've invested a ton of money (well, maybe a few pounds!), but we wanted to put our own stamp on the place. So we started with paint, which is always a smart and economical place to begin. We did a lot of sprucing-up in general, including some serious weeding and mulching in the beautiful gardens that the previous owner left behind for us. Last fall I took advantage of an Indian-summer day, climbed onto the roof, and hoed-out the gutters. Of course we upgraded the original kitchen, but nothing too drastic: we used cabinets that one of my customers didn't want to save (more paint). I haven't gotten to the bathroom yet (yes, that's singular: bathroom...), but we have plotted the location of our future powder room. The entry foyer desparately needed new tile, so we had to make a decision about where a couple of new walls were going to be. The actual half-bath will have to wait for a cash-infusion. Most of what we've done was eighty percent sweat and twenty percent money.

Anyway, I made a promise to myself to get up-to-date here, and I intend to follow-through. I have plenty of good pictures, and a couple good stories. In the days and weeks ahead I'll return here to get those posted properly. For now, it's good to be back. See you soon.