It's Hot!

Things are heating up here in Northern VA. It’s been in the 90’s and that’s a little too hot for me. I am a cool weather person and had rather be a little cold than hot. I had 4 ripe bananas and this morning I turned them into banana bread. My Sweetie and I got up early so we could put the bread together and pop it in the oven while it is still cool in the house. He mashed the bananas for me and dusted the pan while I mixed up the rest of the ingredients. Before we knew it, it was all together and popped into the oven. He even washed the dishes. I must say it was delicious!


We've been hard at work on the house. We have applied to re-finance and of course that means a new appraisal. The housing market has dropped 38% in our area, which means we must do everything we can to beef up the appraisal. We have quite a bit of unfinished areas in our house. It is a 2 story (3 stories counting the basement) house but we've never finished the 2nd floor. The main floor has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a family room, large kitchen (with large island), dining, formal living room, laundry room and a nice foyer; we felt the house was big enough and we probably would not use the 2nd floor. Our basement is a bright daylight basement; it has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a living area. It also has 2 rooms that are unfinished. Our son and his family are currently living in the basement until they can find a place to rent/buy. All that to say, I now wish we had finished the upstairs just for this appraisal but the appraiser is coming Monday and unless a miracle happens that space will look just like it does now, unfinished. The appraiser told my husband in a phone conversation that above grade spaces appraise much higher than basement spaces. When we moved in we were so tired of working on the house, we didn't finish some of the “finishing” work. The columns on the porch were left unpainted, some of the trim work needed "repainting" and some of the door casings were not finished. All this has to be completed by Monday. We are almost done but still have several more hours of work. Most of it on the outside and here it is as hot as a firecracker. Lesson learned, "get r done" rather than waiting. The bonus is that once it is finished we are done and can enjoy the worry free feeling that comes when something is completed.
Our home is a country cottage. While I love the primitive style I must admit I decorate in a cottage style. I love all the cottage colors and patterns. It’s still a work in progress but to us it is “home sweet home”.