Much Ado About To-Do

"You need," said my husband, "three lists."

"Three?"  I asked, looking up from my Wedding To-Do Notebook,
with its ink-and-tear-stained pages.

"Yes," he said.  "One titled 'Things Cass Wants To Have Done Before The Wedding,' 

one for 'Things That Should Be Done Before The Wedding,' 

and one for 'Things That Actually Will Get Done Before The Wedding.' 

That'll be the shortest one."

"Wise guy," I muttered, and picked up my pen.

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But the ol' dude is right.

Thankfully there are loads of things crossed off my infamous & lengthy Wedding To-Do List.

Like -- book a venue, line up the florist, reserve the church, and buy my wedding shoes.
Two pairs, in fact.  I do have priorities.

Those sorts of things are skipping along just fine.

It's the "To-Do" List for That Old House that's giving me conniptions.

Things like:
Get the house painted.

House, power-washed and looking sadly nekkid.

Decide what to do about our some-OK and some-not-OK shutters.

Oh yeah, these are fine.

Put in an Instant Garden Of Earthly Delights

and banish those big prickly New Jersey weeds.

"Million Bells," look like teensy petunias, but don't need deadheading.  That's my kind of annual.

I'm not going to mention certain curtain sewing plans I have.  Nope, not gonna mention them.

We are making progress.

On Saturday we plunked a few pots of things here and there,
and Howard did loads of weed yanking, bless his heart.

I love hibiscus, and they bloom till frost.

Sunday afternoon we sorted through the house shutters and found some that we think are still viable.

We hung four "good" ones back on the porch, to make sure they can pass with a little scraping and sanding.

 This is what makes old wood shutters so special -- dimension and shadow.
Lots of shadow.  They add depth to a house, not just color.

 These are working shutters.  They can actually close over the windows, and in theory
their louvers can be tilted up or down, using that vertical rod on the front of the shutters.
This shutter, below, is missing its lower rod, but it's in the old crock, ready to be re-attached.

I say "in theory" because decades of paint make moving the louvers a challenge!

Our painter may not agree with our assessment of the shutters.  Can't say that I blame him.

Even Howard and I admit that some of the shutters may be too far gone to rescue.

 Ya think?
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Also on Sunday, I tiled behind the kitchen sink,

so that the wall insulation won't come coyly peeking out anymore.

 I actually put the tile on a board that I'll attach under the window,

where it will impersonate a backsplash.

 These tiles don't go with the other kitchen colors, but they were fairly neutral and crazy cheap,

less than $5 a sheet at Home Depot, and thin and easy to work with, so work with them I did.

I've hit that "I ain't so fussy now, let's just get it done!" point.

Still to do: Grout.  Dirt colored.  My mama didn't raise no fool.

We also put new seats on the bathroom potties, but I opted not to show you those improvements.
You're welcome.

I'd share my entire To-Do list with you, but there's no need to traumatize you gentle folk.

I'm sure pretty much all Mothers-of-the-Bride have similar lists.

It will all get done.

At least, everything on that third list is a dead cert.

Because today is the last day of May.
Beginning tomorrow . . . it's the Wedding Month!
Daughter Alida and Josh tie the knot on the 25th.

I'm so excited!  And that's the best part.  :-)

 -- Cass