I'm still here

Hello!

Hi!

Yup, I'm still here.  Life has been interesting since my family made the big move to our new house.

We moved and closed on the house in early November.   

It has been quite a change, moving into a house out in the country.  

It has been a wonderful change. 

This entry is going to be sparse on images.  Actually, only one image. Sorry. 

There has been two "snow storms" since the move.  The first one was on Black Friday.  That was interesting.  Plows hadn't made it through so our van was the first one on many of the roads.  That was scary. The snow was getting scooped up by the front of the van and coming up on the windshield.  My son's eyes were HUGE by the time we got to a main road. 

The snow accumulation was more than a foot.  The above image was taken Nov. 25, 2012 and shows my back yard.

The family is slowly getting into a new routine.  There are still boxes to unpack and the room that will be my craft room/office, is still chock full of stuff. 

There is still stuff to do around the house.  But up until recently (and when we weren't sick) we were prepping our old house and getting it ready to rent.  That's all done and now we can start on the new house and get everything taken care of.  Because before you know it, it will be Spring and there is 101 things that I want to do outside. 

I've been asked by quite a few people if we were going to keep the Happy Place or sell it.  Right now, there is no plans to sell.  Emotionally, I don't think I'm ready.  We've put a lot of heart and soul into that piece of land. 

In knitting and spinning news, I haven't touched my knitting or spinning in almsot two months.  Sad. I want to change that soon, but if I have time to knit or spin, then I have time to work on the house. 

Well, that's my little update for now.  :-)  Now that I have a bit more "free" time, I hope I can write more frequently again. 

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! 

Getting ready to show off

There was a flurry of activity at the house today.  The appraiser is coming tomorrow and everything needs to be "show ready," so to speak.  Hubby took the photos with his phone. 

Look -- a sink!  Even a counter.  Just this past weekend the counters were still cluttered with odds and ends of stuff that needed to be installed.  Now the counter is nice and cleared off.

The bright light in the upper right is the chandelier light from the dining area.  I was there as they wheeled the fridge in. 

Different angle on that side of the kitchen. Yes, the plastic is still on to keep everything looking "fresh" -- at least until we start using the appliances. 

Wish us luck that everything goes smoothly tomorrow! 

Crown molding

Today we headed out to the house and the man of the house stained and put up the crown molding in the kitchen. 

 This is the first time I will have crown molding. It really is a nice finish to the cabinets.

While DH was putting up the crown molding I was out in the yard cleaning up the odds and ends that were still around from the construction.

Yesterday when my DH was at the house placing the floor trim he happened to look outside and saw that we had a visitor.

A young deer.  Turns out he/she hung around the house for a bit and then took a rest in a clearing 100 feet from the house.  Now this deer doesn't bother me, but next year if I have a garden, deer better stay clear.

In related news, the electrician is supposed to be out at the house tomorrow wrapping all the stuff that only he can do.   Sometime real soon the appraiser will be out there to check the place out.

Any day now we could start packing stuff up and and moving big items out.

More stuff happening

Things have still been going on at the  new house.  I finished staining and varnishing all the doors in the house.  I think eight interior doors, three sets of bi-fold doors for the closets and both my hubby and I stained and varnished hundreds of miles (not really, just feels that way) of trim.  Trim for around the windows, around the doors and along the floor.  So much trim. It's turning out fabulous.  Tomorrow I will be varnishing the *last* of the trim tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a photo of a set of closet doors.

 I'm loving how the color turned out.  I'm just so pleased with that color.  Just loving the richness of it. 

Another thing that happened is that we purchased a riding lawnmower.  We ordered from the online home de.pot store.  Oh, this was a tale, let me tell you. We ordered the lawn mower and when it got to the local delivery company, the shipping guy called me and let me know that the item was damaged.  Took more than two weeks for the lawn mower to be returned back to the company before I could get my credit back.  

I ordered it again and Home de.pot shipped the second one out right away and I had received 10 percent off for my troubles.  The lawn mower showed up very quickly and here it is! 

We kept the plastic on it to keep it looking "fresh."

 

As soon as we got it running hubby took it for a spin.  He played it real cool, but I know he was quite excited to play with the new toy. 

In other house news I got the all the paperwork for the house done and submitted to the bank. It's "real" now. I received a call from the banker today to lock in the interest rate.  Now the house has to get finished so the appraiser can go check it out.   So ... about three to four more weeks and it will be ours (finally) if everything falls into place like it should. 

I did take some time to play a few weeks ago.  There is a corn maze in my area and I decided to take my son to it.  TONS of fun and I would definitely go back.  They have a FB page. 

They had those cut out things that you stick your head in and someone takes your photo.  My son asked me to take his picture but I didn't have my camera.  One of the people that was running the concession offered to take our pictures and she emailed them to us. That was really nice. 

Here we both are. I think I look like I'm wearing a nun's habit since you can only see a bit of my hair.

 

This is what I've been up too.  Not too much else going on.  I'm knitting very little. I've got a scarf on the needles and am using some of my handspun.  I'm spinning and crocheting not at all.  There's always winter, right.

More photos of the new kitchen

I was so excited about the kitchen being 95 percent done that I headed out there after picking my son up from latchkey.  So here is a tour, of sorts, around the kitchen. 

Here is another shot that is similar to the one in the last blog entry. On the right the big open space is for the fridge. The microwave will go above the stove and we still need a light fixture and my hubby will be putting up crown molding.  

Here is a shot I took while standing in front of the laundry room doorway. 

Standing in the same spot but looking to the right.  The empty space is for the dishwasher. We still need to get the electrician to the house to run wiring for the stove, dishwasher, and some misc. wiring throughout the house

Here's my window above the sink. :-) I forgot to mention the color of the cabinets: chestnut. Dark color cabinets are more in style, but I didn't think a dark color would work in that house.  

I'm standing off to the side of where the dining room table will be.  Lots of space!

Okay, now I see that somehow a pink line inserted itself into the picture above.  Weird.

Now I'm standing where the dining room table will be.  Looking at this picture reminds me of an exercise in my seventh grade art class.  It had to do with lines and distance.  But you know what else I'm thinking of?  There's enough room for an island!

Thanks for taking the tour.  I will post pictures when everything is complete.

Preview: The kitchen

This photo was taken with a iPhone and sent to me this afternoon.  Oh, how exciting!

By the time I noticed I had this photo in my email the second side of the kitchen was finished.

You can also see the flooring.  I think it all looks great together!!

I'm heading out after work to see it in person.

Today's project and meeting neighbors

Today I helped my hubby with the building of a shed.  I don't know the fancy name for it, but it's a 10 x 12 metal shed.  We got it at Menard's a while back and last week the floor was built while I stained the doors in the house. 

It was a was a learning process and if we ever build another one it will go crazy fast compared to this time around. It's sturdy as heck though.  I dare any wind to try and blow it down!

The whole family participated.  My son put washers on the screws It felt like there were thousands of screws and bolts that needed washers (But I'm sure it wasn't that many).  His little fingers were perfect for it and because he was such a good helper he earned a few extra bucks for allowance.  He really was a good trooper today

The shed happens to be under a few Oak trees.  The acorns were falling all day until we got the roof on.  I can only imagine what it is going to sound like next fall.  With a couple exceptions it really is like the particular area was meant to have a shed there.  It was pretty level and the trees weren't too close. 

Today I also met the lady that lives *right across* the road from the new house.  Those neighbors have a hobby farm, I think.  Two horses, a few dogs, few cats, several chickens and a few geese.  Turns out there is a fox in the neighborhood and it's after her chickens.  She said she's been live trapping for several months and so far has caught only raccoons.  She thought my son would get a kick out of seeing a live one before she went down the road and released it. It was pretty calm, all things considered.  It was impressive to see how big the raccoon was. Probably as big as a Maine Coon cat.  The neighbor said this particular raccoon was the biggest she had caught so far. 

Tomorrow the vinyl for the kitchen is to be installed.  Exciting stuff! :-) I think after that they will start putting in the cabinets and the rest of the kitchen together.  The appliances were delivered yesterday.  I can't wait to see the kitchen all put together. 

Siding

The siding on the front of the house is all done!  

Looks like just how I envisioned it!.

Picture time!

I've had some people asking me for pictures of the new house while it's in the process of being renovated. This blog entry is a bit picture heavy.  The majority of these photos were taken two weekends ago.  

Here is the kitchen.  This side will have the kitchen sink and the dishwasher.  The window provides a lovely view of the back yard. 

Here is a picture hubby took out of the window.  It's like a painting out there. 

Here is the back door.  You see one of the many birches on the property. 

Here is a shot of the hallway.  At the time the photo was taken the hallway was full of the doors. 

Here is a photo of what will be my craft room. Nice color eh?  The color is called "Olive oil."  

Here is a shot o the living room from the hallway.  Wanna see what I see when you look out that big window? 

Here you go!

Here is a photo of the livingroom from the doorway that connects the livingroom to the dining room. 

One of my favorite shots from the day I took these photos?

This one.  My son was sitting out on the porch "surveying his domain"

This past weekend the family and I went out to the house.  Hubby was working on a shed and I was staining the interior doors.

Hubby took a photo of me staining the closet door in the living room.

Here are the two doors I stained in the kitchen.  The left one is a half W.C. and the right door is the laundry area. 

I love this color of stain.  It's called "Gun Stock".  I asked hubby about it and he said that it's more of a cinnamon color.  I love the red hues that this stain has.  Makes me very happy.  

I still need to put a coat of poly on the doors.  This coming weekend I will be either staining bi-fold doors or putting a coat of poly on the doors. I haven't decided yet.  Some point in the near future I will be staining the trim.  After working on the doors the trim will be a piece of cake.  Just need plenty of room for the boards to be spread out. 

My next blog post I will share pictures of the yard and surrounding area.  I'm still in awe about how pretty and big the trees are.

Crocheting during the Olympics

This year I picked a crochet project.  I have wicked newbie skills when it comes to crochet. Basically I know the basic single, double crochet and triple crochet stitches and that's about it.    I picked the "Blossomy" scarf. I decided to really push myself and expand my horizons. 

I haven't learned to read crochet patterns all that well yet so I misinterpreted a few things and didn't look for clarification always and this scarf is uniquely my own.  While I was making the second medallion I worked the last few rows with the wrong size hook.  One that was teeny tiny, like 1.0 m.m.  How I didn't catch that while I was working the project is beyond me.  Thankfully, crochet is forgiving and I was able to bring it back to where I needed it and I started working it with the correct hook again.

I'm very happy with how this turned out.  It's almost a shame that it's still summer and too warm to wear scarfs. I enjoyed the pattern very much. It's well-written and the different stitches are explained.  I can definitely see myself making more of these in the future.  

Pattern: "Blossomy"

Yarn: MadelineTosh in the "Iris" colorway

Hook size: U.S. size G/4 m.m.

I didn't finish this before the closing ceremonies. Life got too busy so the first week I barely touched it.

We have some windows

This weekend hubby went to work on the house.  New windows were installed on the front of the house.  

 I'm in love with that big front window. It's nine feet wide.

Here's a picture with one of the workers, for scale, standing by the window.

All the interior doors have been delivered.  Those need to be hung and stained. Interior painting has started.

Exciting times!

One more thing taken care of

Yesterday I signed my son up for school in the new district.  In that one action I now feel that we have an anchor to the new house and the new community.

The school sounds better in many ways than the old school. You can bring homemade goodies to class.  It's still a Christmas program rather than a Winter program or "Fine Arts Festival." It reminds me of how school was when I was in elementary school.  There is also another student from my son's old school that will be transferring to the new school.  Same grade but will be in a different classroom.

We got a tour of the school and I think my son my son asked more questions than me.  He wanted to know the important stuff like where the music room, art room and gym was.

Next week there is a back to school event where the kids can bring all their stuff in, set up their locker, meet the teacher and see classmates.  It sounds like fun.

Now I get to review the new school supply list and fill in the gaps.

Amazing how quick the summertime went.

A couple before photos

We headed out to the new house tonight for a bit.  My husband took a few photos of the progress so far.

I didn't mention in my last post that the house needs a complete renovation, inside and out.  So far the biggest improvement to the exterior has been the brand new roof.

 Some new exterior doors have been installed too.  Very nice doors.  I'm pretty excited for when the that big front window will be replaced.  If I had been thinking I would have taken a picture of the what you would see out that window.

Here is a shot of the back.  The back hasn't been cleaned up yet.  Next year there will be a big ol' deck on the back.  I already have grand illusions of canning and dyeing fiber and yarn on the back deck. Again, I should have taken photos of the view.

Playing catch up and some news

Quite a few things have happened since my last post.  We got some more rain. Yay!  But it wasn't quite as much as I had wanted but something is better than nothing I say.

The garden is still growing.  The beans are taking off and producing like crazy.

Here is a picture my DH took of me and the pole beans.  I think that if you stretched some of those vines out they would be well over 12 feet long.  My lattice is three feet or so apart.  The vines are reaching out to each other and creating a bit of overhead shade.

Last weekend I harvested the majority of the tomatoes, green and red, and they are currently ripening up on my balcony. I figured this was better than letting them sit on the garden bed.  The fruits are so heavy that the plants were completely weighed down and not doing so well.  While I harvested I pulled up the tomato plants that no longer had fruits.

We have been harvesting the potatoes plant by plant.  Potatoes this fresh are delicious and make fabulous french fries. 

Next thing to start harvesting is the onions.  The few that I've pulled up so far don't seem to be as big as the one's I harvested from last year.  I'm not surprised considering how dry this year has been.

I also have a bit of a secret that I've been holding onto the last couple weeks.

Ready?

Drumroll ...

Well, maybe not *that* dramatic.

I'm buying a house!

DH and I found a great house, out in the country about 45 minutes from where I currently live and about 20 minutes away from my Happy Place.
 
It's on 20 acres and features great big Norway pines and oak trees and some maple trees.  There are a few acres of a really REALLY pretty Jack Pine forest.  

There is something so pretty about this kind of forest.  The moss, how bright the greens are, even the bone structure of the trees.  It's primitive and alive all at once. 

Have I mentioned the blueberries?  We found some blueberry plants.  **squee**

It probably won't be ours until late September.  I'm not going to lie, this new big event in my life has caused me to have a few freakout moments the last few weeks.  I've lived in my current house for 15 years.  It's comfortable there and it's what I'm used to. Now I'm going to have a longer commute, may get snowed in during the winter, and the eventual changing of schools for my son, but most of it has seemed to worked themselves out.

This is something that I've wanted since I was like 18.  However, life took me on a different path and this dream got set aside while I was busy with another house, starting a family and teaching myself homesteading skills at the Happy Place. "Someone" must have decided I was ready for this and dropped this place in front of DH.

So yeah, I'm nervous and excited all at once. :-)