When I moved into this house about 29 years ago, the dining room rug looked terrible. Not only was it old, but it had been stained because a refrigerator had been in the corner. The children of the family that owned the house must have spent their time spilling grape juice. The rug was worn, too, and in the years since, the rubberized back showed through.
I made an effort on the room once, painting it then stenciling grape leaves around the top of the walls. The next step was to put in new flooring but two weeks later, after a heavy rain, the roof caved in, wrecking the paint and stenciling. I gave up on home improvements then.
Then Gary came to live with me and began to spiff up the house. While I was gone, he and his sister Kathe picked out paint and his nephew Angelo came and helped out, too. Two coats of primer and a coat of paint, scraped and painted windows, new door framing and we have a new dining room.
Gary also undertook to change the rooms upstairs, swapping bedrooms to give him a bigger office. We're still moving things around up there, changing dresser drawers and so forth.
I like what he has done. I am planning a winter trip with the thought I might have a new and improved bathroom on my return.
*************
I continue to work on tour figures. I've toted up the cost motels, campgrounds and other lodgings. During the 36 days I was gone, I spent $417.66 or an average of $11.60 a night. I had estimated $10 a night, figuring on using my tent, but from time to time campgrounds were unavailable and I wound up in motels. Still that is not a bad average.
I'm still working on the final figures, but it looks like I made a small profit. I looked over my photos today, preparing for a lecture on my travels which I intend to present at libraries this winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment