The best part of "Christmas Trees" is being with the Edwards family. Jim and Jeff have been best friends since 2nd grade and are so lucky to have each other. Maybe I said this in an earlier post, but one of, if not the, best things is listening to them reminisce about their childhood. They are both so relaxed and happy when they're together.
This year we were especially lucky because Jim's sister, Sally and husband, John, made the trip from Hendersonville for "Trees". John is a fantastic chef, and he had the 4 siblings, Jim, Steve, Sally & Larry + spouses, plus honorary brother, Jeff, for a wonderful dinner and reunion of sorts. I don't think anyone stopped smiling all evening.
Dinner with some of our Maple Row Family and friends - from top left - Heather Edwards, "Christmas Tree Jim", Kaylee Edwards, Jackson Edwards, Some party crasher, Nancy (I can't believe I can't remember her last name! I've totally drawn a blank.), and Dr. Ferris Gorra (Jeff worked for him in Washington, CT while we were building our home/office in Easton).
Kaylee showing her tongue acrobatics!
Jackson being Jackson
****
After we left the farm, we went to Bren's for the night and then to Raleigh. We had an 11 AM appointment on the 10th (BTW our anniversary - "37 of the happiest years of our lives") and decided it was silly to drive home and then drive to Raleigh the next day. We met our friends from Easton, Sandy & Bill Berry, for dinner at Sitti, a Lebanese restaurant in Raleigh. Very good food and better dinner companions. Wednesday morning we headed to Majestic Kitchen & Bath Creations - Constrata Division - in Youngsville, NC. This place is beyond amazing. It is HUGE with slabs of marble, granite, quartz everywhere being cut, polished, fabricated, etc. We chose the kitchen granite before we had to change our subway tile because "The Tile People" couldn't get the silver tile we wanted. From the smallish sample, it looked like it would be fine with the new, darker subway tile - not! When we saw the huge slabs, it did not work at all. Below is our original choice and to give you an idea of the size of the Constrata, the slabs are 8' x 11'. We are, however, putting the original granite on the porch.
Our super helper, Jason - his family owns the business.
A small part of the operation
The new granite. We're happy with it, although we saw a quartz that we loved. Only problem was the $22/sq ft additional price. Not within the budget!
It will look good with the stainless appliances.
****
While we were in CT, Phil was on onsite inspector. On the 5th he took these photos - we have a driveway,
a sidewalk,
a finished fireplace,
a sketch of the island with the "dog house",
and a tiled lanai (aka screened in porch!) with cabinets.
Of course we stopped at the house on our way home from Raleigh to find we now have
garage doors,
partially finished glass shelves,
a partially tiled master bath,
a partially tiled guest bath,
and a beautiful mosaic in the entryway.
We also found the prep sink was in the kitchen - not installed luckily. Jeff realized that the we were sold a sink and a disposal - only problem was that the sink drain was too small for a disposal. Not only that, the butcher block counter that it will sit in is already cut. Next problem was they don't make a sink with a large enough drain in the same size. Great! Three days of emails, phone calls ("Whisper Down The Alley" style), a slightly larger sink, more $$$ of course, and the problem is hopefully solved.
****
An interesting coincidence is 4 out of 5 of us in the ukulele group have December anniversaries. To celebrate we all went to Myrtle Beach - actually Pawleys Island - from Friday to Saturday. We stayed at The Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort - it was wonderful. $100 a night for a one bedroom condo on the ocean including a terrific breakfast. The weather was wonderful.
My favorite subject
Perfect beach walking day
The reason for this particular date is that Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC, has their "Nights of a Thousand Candles" on the weekends in December. It is spectacular. A few facts about the event -
Number of lights: 500,000 mini lights and 350,000 LED lights
Number of candles lit each night: 5000+
Number of candles floating in pools: 500+
Length of extension cords: over 3.5 miles
Number if candles used in 9-day event: 54,000 votives, 1500 pillars, 4500 tea lights
Number of staff & volunteers lighting the candles: about 40
One of many attractions
It isn't a good photo, but most of the majestic old trees had the mini light version of Spanish Moss.
****
We returned Saturday and, of course, checked out the house.
More of the master bath was tiled,
the floor is finished in the guest bath,
the glass shelves are complete,
and they began grading the yard (guess we can call it a yard now instead of a lot). I got an email from the landscaper asking what planting we want because she wanted to order them today! We said no. We better have a meeting first.
That's it - caught up one more time! I'll head to the house in a bit - I made Apple/Blueberry Crisp for "The Tile Guys".
Hope you aren't all bored to tears! More later .......
No comments:
Post a Comment