Celebrating the Fourth with massive home improvements and plans

July Fourth--the proper holiday--started out on the gray and foggy side.  Would it be too damp for the long-delayed painting?  We weren't sure.

I did a laundry--not too much leaking--and hung the clothes out to dry.

Sarah continued with her drawings.  We've decided we should put in a new bathroom, experimented with moving the bed to face west instead of south and have now moved on to thinking about moving the kitchen upstairs.

As Sarah and I conferred on various permutations, Sam, who had made great strides with the weed whacker yesterday,  conquered a few more weeds and then pulled out the lawn mower.  The house is no longer floating in a sea of high grass--one more miraculous transformation.

Primer on Porch

The skies cleared and the painting began. Triumph after triumph.  This is not my department but Sam and Sarah managed to get two coats down--the oil-based primer around the edges--and the second coat of a darker latex.  Note deft brush handling.

While the painters painted, I began dinner, grilling the chicken legs and thighs which had been marinating in garlic, ginger soy sauce and orange juice.  Also grilled onions and zucchini which I added to sauteed onions, mushroom and garlic.  And mashed potatoes as well.

After dinner we went over Sarah's weekend work--plans for every room of the house--all looking very complete and excellent.  Now we have to figure out how we can manage to do it all for next to no money.

A fine challenge.

When the sky darkened, fireworks resounded over many sets of hills--but none were visible.  Sarah and Sam headed off towards the city--will they successfully evade all traffic coming and going from various fireworks?  We will soon find out.