Spring Is In the Air!

We came back from KW last week for a couple of weeks. Neal needs to wrap up things in the office and get things organized before he can leave. Originally, I was going to stay in KW until work on the kitchen was completed and get the construction on the bathrooms underway.  But, they finished up the kitchen and weren't ready to start on the bathrooms so I came home, too. We were so surprised by the wonderful weather - Spring was in the air. On Saturday, it was so nice out that Neal decided to take the sports cars out of the garage and shine them up!! A sure sign that Spring is here. Could Summer be that far off???

Last Fall, a lady bug found her way into my bathroom upstairs. I immediately enrolled her the LBRP (Lady Bug Relocation Program) which protected her from getting squished, stepped on, drown or otherwise killed. I took great care of her during the Fall and Winter. When I got up today, the sun was shining and it was nice and warm outside. So, I decided today was the day to 'relocate' my lady bug friend. So, I scooped her up onto a tissue and carried her out back. Now, she's flying around outside in the warm fresh spring air! (And I don't have to worry about stepping on her in the middle of the night anymore!)

I had some errands to do in town this morning. It was such a nice morning, I decided to ride my bike. Neal put the bikes in the front when he stored them for the winter so I was able to get to it without a problem. But, riding your bike in Lynnfield is very different from riding in KW. For starters, there is a lot of sand on the side of the road from the winter that goes out about 12 - 18"  which is where we ride our bikes. That made it a little dangerous since the cars go so fast and the sand makes the road slippery.

Another differance is that there is no place to store your bike when you get to your destination. In KW, there are more bike spots than there are parking spaces for cars. I stopped in at the Village Pharmacy to get a b-day card for Chris and had to lock my bike to the piller out front. But, it worked and it was so nice to be on my bike.

Next stop was the post office. We had forwarded our mail to KW through April 1. But we still haven't received any mail since we got back and today is April 14. So, I rode my bike over to talk to the Postmaster and see what was happening. Again, no place to park my bike so I left it against the outside rail. Only after I got it set up and locked, did I learn that the Lynnfield post office is closed from 12:15 - 1:30 every day!

By the time I got back home, it was time for lunch. I decided to go over to the lake in Wakefield where I could eat outside and study my French. So I packed a lunch, my French flashcards, and my chair and had lunch outside. I didn't take my bike because I wasn't sure if I could carry my chair on my bike and I forgot they had benches at Lake Quannapowitt. Anyway, it was a nice day to have my lunch outside. The only thing missing was Neal.

It was a beautiful Spring day. I hope you got to do something outside to enjoy the weather!

Kitchen Remodel - Deja Vu

Since we will now be spending more time in KW, we want to do some remodeling. The kitchen was first up. Within a few hours of emptying the kitchen, I had flashbacks to remodeling the house in Lynnfield. And it wasn't pretty.....We transformed the guest room into a make-shift kitchen storage room.

You might remember, we arrived in KW on Monday afternoon and that night Neal cooked us steaks on the grill and we had our "Ned Said, Red" wine to celebrate. At 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the workers began to arrive and started to demolish the kitchen. Memories of our wonderful dinner outside on the back deck the evening before began to fad - very rapidly. The workers started the demolishion by pulling out the appliances. First, they removed the old stove, microwave and the dishwasher.

Next, they pulled out all the old cabinets, drawers, sink, counter tops, etc. This is the kitchen standing in the doorway looking toward where the old stove and microwave used to be.

The space where the old sink and dishwasher used to be.

The cabinent that used to hold the pots and pans and the silverwear drawer used to be here. We left the frig in place for as long as we could.

Looking from the kitchen into the hall/entrance way.

Although we had no kitchen, we did have our priorities and kept access to a few necesseties of life in KW. The coffee maker...

And the blender.

Once they finished the demolishion, they started to insall the new cabinets and drawers.

We had to wait 2 weeks but finally the appliances arrived.!! This is the oven and the dishwasher still in their boxes.

And the new refrigerator.

Because the sink was being delivered with the appliances, they couldn't finish the countertop until they were all delivered. So, once everything was here, we gave them the sink and they started on the template for the  countertop. In the meantime, they were able to install the microwave.

At this point, we are well into week 3 of "Chaos in Paradise"......

After this things seemed to  move along very smoothly and quickly. They finished up the counter tops and installed the appliances over the next couple of days. The tile-guy came and installed the backsplash and we were done! This is the door style of the new kitchen cabinets and drawers. They are white.

We didn't do any major redesign so the appliances are pretty much in the same place as they had been. The countertops are Corian in a color called "Oat".

We used a company that custom makes the cabinets so that we could maximize our space. The corner cabinets on each side of the oven use every inch of space. Before there was a lot of filler and dead-space that I could never get to. The new doors are double-hinged so they swing open the full width of the lazy susan and provide easy access to the space.

This cabinet is to the left of the over but operates the same way.

We had the counter top between the kitchen and the dining area slightly bowed and rounded off. We can put a couple of stools there or just use it as a pass through for serving and cleaning up after dinner.

 

This much of the work was completed by Easter Sunday. So even though most of our kitchen 'stuff'' was still in boxed up, Neal decided to put our new kitchen to the test!

He made a wonderful rack of lamb for our Easter dinner.

He made potatoe with white pearl onions and green beans almondine and served it all with a loaf of fresh bread and a nice red wine. It was outstanding!

 Our kitchen remodel was an adventure but well worth it. We hope you all had a wonderful Easter, too!

Wreckers' Race

Last Sunday, Schooner Wharf held the Wreckers's Race. This is a sailboat race that begins at the entrance to KW Harbor and ends 7 miles away at Sand Key. In the old days, many boats hit the reef at Sand Key and 'wrecked' as they approached KW. Back then when a ship hit the reef, the boats in KW raced out to wrecked ship. Not to help the crew but because the first boat to reach the wrecked ship got to claim the majority of the salvage aboard the wrecked vessel. But that was then and this is now. These days, the winner of the Wreckers' Race get their bar tab at Schooner Wharf free. Last Sunday there were 43 boats in the race. This is the starting line - between the green can and the red nun that mark the entrance to KW harbor.

The starting gun sounded and they were off!!

While it was a really sunny, cloudless day, it was very windy. The wind coupled with the currents at the mouth of KW harbor made for very choppy conditions.

But, the strong, steady wind made for an amazingly fast race. The winning boat made it the 7 miles to Sand Key in under an hour. They sailed back almost as quickly. We rode our bikes over to the beach at Ft. Zachary Taylor and set up our chairs along the harbor to watch the race.

 The boats came back so quickly, we were there to watch some of them sail back into the harbor.

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

The Last Leg

On Monday, we left Ft. Lauderdale and continued our south bound trip. This was the last leg on our ground journey from Lynnfield to Key West. On Monday, Neal took Frank for his dialysis treatment. When he came back, Bernice made a wonderful breakfast and we spent a nice morning together. After breakfast, Neal and I pushed off to KW. It's typically a very slow drive along Rt.1 south but it wasn't too bad. Being a Monday, by the time we  made it to Rt. 1 there wasn't too much traffic. It was a beautiful, sunny, perfect day for a drive down the Florida Keys. The views were fabulous.

And I had the most handsome driver! Who wouldn't have loved the ride down!

We got to KW around 3:00 pm on Monday. The cabinet makers were scheduled to come on Tuesday at 8:00 am to begin the kitchen demolition so we had to empty out the drawers and cabinets. But, we also wanted to recognize my wrapping up my work life. So, when we arrived in KW, we walked over to Faustos's and Neal bought a couple of steaks and we ate out back.

Mmmm, my handsome driver turned into a handsome chef!

When we went to Camden last summer, we visited "Cellardoor Vineyard". This vineyard is  owned by Bittina Doulton, a 40-something ex-Fidelity Investments Fund Manager turned vineyard owner. It's a really beautiful vineyard and I highly recommend it if you make it up to the Camden area. While we were there, we bought a few bottles of a red wine that she blended in honor of Ned Johnson, Fidelity's Chairman. This seemed like the perfect occasion to open a bottle and toast Fidelity, who took good care of us over the years.

We sat out back and had a great dinner in KW.

Bon Appetite!!