Go, Willie!

Willie Nelson turns 80 on April 30!  And he's doing a birthday concert over at The Backyard near Austin on April 28.  I'd love to go over there -- and that's saying a LOT for me -- I do NOT normally like to go to any live concerts - or anywhere else that has huge crowds.  But for this? . . . I would definitely make an exception if Mark were interested!  Tickets are $42.50 - not all THAT bad.  And I'd love to hear him perform at 80!  On the other hand, it would take us about 8 hours to get over there, then we'd no doubt have to stay in a hotel after the concert so we wouldn't get home until Monday evening.  And Mark has plans for all kinds of things over that weekend so I guess I better forget about it.  But it WAS a thought . . .

There's a Willie Nelsons 80th Birthday Year FaceBook page out there, too.  Apparently I'm not the only one who's impressed!

As for me, I've been feeling amazingly energetic myself lately!  Got home yesterday and spent almost two hours handling all sorts of things that I wouldn't have done - even one at a time - until very recently.   Progress!

I thought the guy who owns that "Jack's Kitchen and Bath" over on Government was coming by to measure for our new counter tops between 5 and 6, so since I got home from work yesterday at 4, I decided to work out in the barn and pasture until he showed up.  Well he was running a BIT late -- he finally came by about 7:30!  He did do all the measurements for the new counter top and he also had a really good idea that hadn't occurred to me -- I was planning to have him just do a 4" back splash so we could use bead board as the main backing.  That way I can re-paint it whatever color I want whenever.  But the distance from the counter up to the window is about 8 inches so there would have been a very small strip of bead board there, and since the 42" wide sink is right in front of that 6-foot-wide window, it would be better to have something waterproof behind the sink.  (We're NOT very tidy!)  So the guy suggested that just under the window that we run granite all the way up to the window and then do a windowsill out of it with the same rounded edge as the counter top.  It can be a little deeper than the wooden sill so it will be a great place for plants!  Then instead of just cutting straight down to meet the rest of the 4" backsplashes, he will angle it out decoratively.  Sounds like a fine plan to me!

This picture is on their web site.  That's how the wall under our window will be dealt with,
but then it will taper down to just a 4" backsplash on the regular walls out to the sides of the window. 
(Not crazy about that "shelf" there, either, but I DO really like the idea of a granite window sill.)

We WERE going to drive down to their warehouse on the other side of New Orleans next weekend after Mark comes home, and choose which actual granite slabs to use, but he said that unlike the light colored ones with the large patterns, the ones I like best actually don't vary.  So I guess we won't have to go look after all!  (Mark will be happy.)

As I mentioned in that earlier blog, at first I wasn't sure which of those dark colored granites I liked best, but the more I think about it, the more I think the black and brown/gold one is best.  First of all, it's brighter than the Verde one.  And if the cabinets ever get re-painted some other color one day, it probably would be way better to have that on there than one with green in it.  The brown/black one actually matches the window structure, too -- and that will be very noticeable . . . probably more noticeable than how it matches the cabinets since the first thing you see when you walk into the kitchen is that giant window. 



Not a very good picture, but it's the only one that shows the color of the window itself.
That granite should make a fine windowsill, I think.



Okay!  Glad to have that decision made. 

That company also does cabinetry and does THAT cheaply as well.  I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't have had them build those new drawers instead of David.  It's taking him a loooong time, while it would have taken them a matter of a couple of days.  In fact, installing all that granite is only going to take them ONE day! 

Well, I guess I'll wait and see if David gets it all done soon.  If not, well . . . now I know who to contact anyway!