The Kitchen is Here!!

We were told in the beginning that it would be hard to fit the dishwasher & microwave in, due to the old chimney but we figured out a way (buying a smaller fridge and putting the microwave above the fridge). We have plenty of storage, plenty of counter space and we love they way it turned out.

I paid an extra few hundred dollars to upgrade the granite from a Level 1 to a Level 2, but it was worth it! It's such a unique color pattern and compliments the cabinets well. I also special ordered the copper sink from Mexico. It took forever but was well worth the wait!

"Things"

When someone you know and care about leaves this world and moves on to the next, especially at a young age, it tends to adjust your priorities. The things that seemed so important before, become less important and those things which you haven't paid so much attention to recently, become more so.

What are the chances of me being at a funeral for my friend, in her 30s at the exact same moment that my son was at the funeral for his friend, in his 20s? Literally, we were 2 states apart, grieving our losses for the same 2 hours. I don't believe in coincidences, so I have to believe that there is a message for me in that day.

I have a sign in my house that says, "The best things in life are not things."

I have been so wrapped up in "things" for the past 4 months, that the relationships and friendships in my life have suffered and I need to put those priorities back in line. I will post new pictures of the house soon, but this post is dedicated to two very special people:

 Spc. Kenny Alvarez

1990-2013

Shelby West

1974-2013

The Wood Floors!

We had several people tell us what a big job it was going to be to refinish the original wood floors on the 2nd level.....but we had no idea! We rented the sander on Sat, thinking it would be a few hours and we'd be done. Nope. We returned it Sunday night after many many hours of hard labor.

This morning (Mon) I went to work on the edges with my little hand sander and started putting on the varnish.

To be able to show off this home's beautiful cedar floors will all be worth it when we are done. Here are some pictures of the progress....

BEFORE....

 DURING.....

 AFTER:

 This is Natalie and Anna's room after 2 coats...WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

 This is Emma's room after 1 coat...

A Little Paint

I must admit to being a bad blogger lately. I promise I have been working hard every day so more pics are coming! But here's a few of the light fixtures downstairs and the paint upstairs. Also, my sink should be coming soon so I should have my kitchen next week! It can't come soon enough!

These first 2 pics are of the upstairs family room/office area. I still need to pain the ceilings, but a little neutral tan paint can go a long way. Our new, big window really lights it up in the morning.

This is Natalie and Anna's room. They like blue, so we did one wall in the light blue from downstairs.

This is Emily's room. 1 pink wall and it's a very light, subtle pink.  I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. It kind of reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream. :)

I know this is supposed to be an outside fixture, but it was so cute, I wanted to be able to see it from the inside!

The chandelier over the dining table. Love it! 

 Most of our lights will look like this, with a few exceptions.

 This is the ceiling fan in the living room. We also put up new, bright white mini blinds and they give the room a crisp look.

Sod & Gutters

After one attempt at seeding the areas in the lawn where the Juniper bushes & the wheelchair ramp had been, we decided to spend the $200 on sod. SO WORTH IT!! It's so nice not to have the mud to contend with & the instant green, lush grass is wonderful. I thought we would notice the loss of privacy that the Juniper provided, but we don't.

These pics also provide a good look at the new gutters and rain spouts that were installed earlier this week. We are looking forward to our first big thunderstorm to test them out!

If you are wondering, yes, we plan on painting the outside soon. We wanted to get the inside up and running first, but the outside makeover is coming so stay tuned!

Moldings

We have seriously neglected the 2nd floor to concentrate on the main level and it is coming together beautifully. This week we are getting light fixtures and I DIY'd these window moldings myself. The raw wood versions were less than 1/3 of the cost of the ready-made, non-wood moldings so I'm painting, cutting and installing my own; one window at a time.

One of the complications of our home (that I didn't fully appreciate until this project) was the fact that nothing in this house is truly square. It's all crooked, which is one of the things we love about this place and it definitely adds to the character. But it does make things like moldings and baseboards difficult. I still want to add another coat of bright white, fill in the gaps with silicone and finish the touch-up paint but what do you think about how they are turning out?

This is the raw wood that I am starting with...3/4" x 3.5" x 10'. Using this real wood instead of that expensive fake stuff keeps costs down and also keeps it a little rustic.

The Circle of Life

I have decided that I was in a little bit of denial about how much death occurs on a farm. From the mouse in the barn who met a horrible demise many years ago to the fallen baby birds that I could not save, to the pretty Robins that our cat catches to our beautiful Lady Diana, who was killed by a fox on Sat night. It sounds silly but we were a little sad. She was our buddy and we didn't do enough to protect her. But where there's death.......

there's also life.

We bought 3 new chickens yesterday and they are adjusting to life at the Dye Farm.:) These chickens won't be getting named!