Cheery And Cheer: Mother/Daughter Week in Spokane

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Mother/Daughter Week in Spokane

Sweet Rocket growing wild in the back of Gabe and Mark's back yard.

A couple weeks ago I flew with my husband and son Dane to Utah to get Dane settled in Provo where he'll attend college at BYU and Dan had some business meetings there (in SLC) as well. I was there just a day and 1/2. Then I flew to Spokane where my daughter Gabe and her hubby Mark live. Mark has to travel for business for four months and left just days before I arrived so I was there to take the sting off the separation and to do some major house and yard work at their cute little cottage whilst Gabe was at work each day. It was a wonderful week and we had the most marvelous time together and I really enjoyed waking up in my little red and white bedroom there, drinking my morning hot chocolate while reading mail and social media, and then dressing in the same paint covered outfit I would wear almost all week during the day and just get to work taping, caulking, painting, running to the stores for this and that and then cooking dinner for us each evening and after, talking and planning.

Gabe had asked me to paint and decorate the guest bathroom, paint the living room and then create a couple flower beds in the front yard by digging out a bunch of weeds and grass and then assist her in picking out plants for those beds, a large back yard one that she had prepared, some patio pots, and then a plan for her veggie/herb circle garden. And to cook dinner every night. Here's how the whole trip looks in pictures.

Here I organized Dane's drawers in his dorm - I wonder if he is keeping them this tidy?

After tons of shopping and unpacking, Dane and I have a Cafe Rio lunch - yum

The night before I flew to Spokane, Dan and I walked all over Temple Square in downtown SLC and I was in awe of the spring flower planting - so glorious! I am taking these after dusk but my camera really picked up color in spite of the darkness.

The Salt Lake City Temple (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) with Hyrum and Joseph Smith in the foreground - sacred ground there and so peaceful.

My welcome to Spokane.

Gabe and Mark's little cottage. I had already cleared grass and weeds from the areas in front of the porch for this picture. This is a little rental house; like many rentals that change hands too quickly for much landlord maintenance and TLC, it has wear and tear, chipped paint, a spotty lawn, etc. But they will be there 3 years and the lawn is already much improved from months ago. I painted a couple other rooms when I visited last summer, we will plant flower beds and do general repairs, caulking, painting, etc. My kind of fun! Below is the guest room I slept in. The door leads to the guest bath obviously, now much more user friendly and cheery.

Dinner number one - salmon broiled with lemon and butter on butter lettuce, sprouted red, brown, and wild rice, steamed broccoli.

Original dark pea green paint - getting ready to tape and cover furniture with plastic

Dinner number two - butter and romaine lettuce, chicken with tarragon, baguette rounds toasted with goat cheese under the broiler.

Where I woke up every morning

LR looking into the dining room

Before bathroom - boring beige, trim and woodwork that hasn't been painted in a couple decades, peeling caulk (not shown)

New paint color - it's Guilford Green historic color by Benjamin Moore. The color before was a dark pea green. Gabe didn't want to alter it too much since the landlord is touchy about paint color so we kept green but made it lighter, brighter and more neutral.

Living room the morning after I painted it

prepping for renewel

Bathroom before pic - dark and dreary

Dinner number three - salad with boiled tiny potatoes, bacon, fried eggs, tomatoes, shaved parmesan.

Really really good salad dressing - kind of similar to Cafe Rio's - and the second time you've seen this picture - I tried to delete the other one but it wouldn't without deleting other pics - I'm still figuring out this blog stuff.

We ran to Trader Joes to buy chocolate chips and Gabe kept tossing junk food in the basket. I tossed in the Ganache cake meant to be eaten on Sunday - which it was - we took it to Tilley's house for dessert.

I'm certainly not gluten free but we tried these because Trader Joes bragged about them so much in their monthly flyer and darn if they weren't super buttery, crunchy and delicious. Who cares what kind of flour is used - they are yummy (for a store bought cookie that is).

My third day wearing this paint outfit

The best trim brush to alleviate hand fatigue - short handle!

What I drink when I paint - diet Mtn. Dew. And I listen to Pandora Country Music and sing at the top of my lungs.

I love that wall radiator. New paint color - Powell Buff by Benjamin Moore. Again, we couldn't change color too dramatically but this is a buttery beige and looks more yellow than it appears in the pics.

The backsplash of the vanity is a vinyl tile so I just primed and painted it to match the wall - definite improvement

New shower curtain, towels and a shelf for guests to use for their toiletries

Dinner night four - broiled steak and roasted carrots, peppers and onions.

The Finished Guest Bath

L to R = guest bedroom, living room, dining room

Dining room valance I sewed and hung

We screwed a basket in to the vanity for another area for guests to put their stuff.

New valance I sewed late at night

Requisite candy jar

Front yard beds with coleus. impatiens, lobelia, and alyssum. This area gets part shade. The toy soldier look will disappear as it all grows into a colorful mass.