Wednesday, December 31, 2008

December 29, 2008







Well Christmas is over and it's time to get to work on the house. The kitchen comes first and is in such need of our time as you can see in the photos. I have pots, pans and dishes everywhere. I should refuse to cook until my conditions are improved.


We bought the materials today and finalized our plans. I'm pretty sure this is how the professionals do it minus the gingerbread house and popsicle stick napkin holder on the drafting table. Maybe the pros don't write measurements on the existing structures with sharpies either? That 20 pack of multi coloured sharpies I bought at Costco were awesome! I think every tradesperson we had in the house managed to go home with one or two. They were in high demand. Turquoise was my favorite.

Cabinets start this week!









December 24, 2008











We're ready for our first Christmas in the new house! We cut down a tree out back, I decorated it while the boy hung out and Donnie went in to work. Who works on Christmas Eve anyway? The family started arriving in the afternoon and by the time Santa arrived we had a houseful of overnight guests. Notice the tree is decorated with beads, lights and Christmas cards? I can't find my box of tree ornaments anywhere. Oops.








Tuesday, December 09, 2008

December 8, 2008

We are snowed in today! So we sat down to work out kitchen details. Did I mention that our original plans are still with the kitchen guy who didn't do the work?

From left to right across the kitchen wall with the big window we will have:

1. Some as yet unidentified piece of cabinetry. Maybe something unfitted or like a narrow hutch, or both.

2. Fridge. This is already in place. It's black because Donnie wanted black. I don't mind it. It's an all-fridge because I wanted that. They warned us it would be noisy but wow, it's noisy.

3. Straight run of cabinets with stack of drawers about 30" wide, sink cabinet with two doors underneath, dishwasher, undercounter oven and last, cabinet with drawer on top and open space for stoneware underneath. I like the one Pioneer Woman is building. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pioneerwoman/3026789035/

You really should read her blog www.thepioneerwoman.com

The countertop will be random length 2X6 counter top. Donnie will place and glue them and I will plane, sand or whatever I decide to them to get them ready.

Once the cabinet front is ready I will be hand painting them - black. Sort of a warm, antique black if you can picture that. Originally the island was going to be a deep distressed red but I'm leaning more towards a dark stain now. We'll decide later.

December 4, 2008




We sat down to talk about the kitchen cabinets. It's a bit nerve wracking because we don't have a lot of faith that we will be able to do this joint project without killing each other. Like Isaac says, "Remember the window well incident?" In that case it was best to work seperately but here I'm the cook so I need to be involved but Donnie is the carpenter so he needs to be involved. He hasn't done cabinets before so it's not like I can show him pictures and he just does it. We need to figure it out. By talking. And working together.




So, we know what we want it to look like. We're both fans of a primitive painted style, inspired by The workshops of David T. Smith. Me because I like the look and I think it will work with the farm house. Him, because well, it looks simple and lie one of the easier options. Maybe he likes it too.




After we agreed on the basics (which were already laid out for the cabinet guy we hired who didn't perform) we decided to go away and think about it and talk again on Saturday night. Yay, date night.




December 3, 2008

Donnie and Doug have been working on the garage wiring on and off all week. I think it's now done since the outside light came on tonight when I went out to feed the goats. That's kind if nice. As long as it doesn't come on when I'm sleeping I'm fine. We situated the house and our bedroom so I'm the farthest away from any yard activity so I should be good.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

November 29, 2008

We started planning for the kitchen. It looks like I am going to have to revamp my plans a bit. My final draft is with the AWOL kitchen guy and the plans I have here are just not detailed enough for the two of us learning how to builds cabinets.

November 24, 2008

Donnie built the garage door today. It looks massive. I guess I'll get to stain it in the spring. I can't get the stain I want this time of year anyway. Apparently it's a summer product. Who knew?

November 22, 2008

It was lucky the roof was finished last week because we woke up to a huge early snowstorm! We really need that door.

November 20, 2008

Donnie and Dad finished the metal roof on the garage. They had been working in spurts because it's been either too windy or too wet to get up on the roof safely. Finally it's done and we're ready for the winter. Well, we need a door first I guess.

November 1, 2008

I spoke with the kitchen guy again. He's still not started. I'm beyond frustrated. I guess I won;t be cooking Thanksgiving dinner any time soon :/ I told him I needed to make other plans and forget about having him do the work for me. He said he would be able to get the island alone done by Christmas so I asked him to call me back with a new price. In the meantime Donnie and I are planing to undertake the kitchen project ourselves as soon as he is finished with the garage and available. Too bad kitchen guy has my plans!

October 2, 2008














Finally! We're getting the dirt work done that we expected to do this summer! Bucky was here for the day and did a wonderful job cleaning up the yard, placing my big flagstones, lining the point with left over rocks, setting retaining walls and more. We still have lots to do by hand and with our tractor but we're officially done with the stuff we needed help to move. Some of those rocks are massive. Bucky runs the machine like he's picking the rocks up by hand and never seems to scratch or drop a rock or make a mistake.


September 27, 2008




Donnie is putting up the first of the roof trusses. We bought the engineered trusses again just like with the house. So far they look like they will go up easily. Donnie and Dad will work on them this week.


September 20, 2008


Donnie has a loft in his garage. I'm looking forward to getting some of the junk out of the basement. Now we need a roof.

September 16, 2008

Donnie called the kitchen guy for me. We hadn't heard from him since he last told me that he had just started. This time he told Donnie that he had just bought the materials and was starting tomrorrow. I'm getting concerned about the whole thing. We knew he'd take his time but we've already missed our house warming date and it's not looking good for the promise he made me to have it done by fall. This time he promised Donnie he'd have it done in the next month.

September 11, 2008




The third wall is stained and up!


September 10, 2008

The second wall is up!

September 7, 2008

The first garage wall is built. Donnie wants it done as soon as possible but definitely before the snow comes. After the garage we're startig wrok inside again so obviously I want it done asap too! Tomorrow I stain the wall. I chose the same deep red that we used on the house trim.

August 28, 2008







We hired someone to pour the garage slab. It was quick, painless (except the cash) and turned out much better than the slab we also paid for in the basement of the house. We did all thelead up work and the slab crew were only here a half a day.






August 22, 2008


The goats have a barn roof thanks to Donnie and Dad!.

August 16, 2008


The goats have arrived! We have no roof on the barn but maybe the weather will be nice? Donnie built a little lean to inside their pen to keep the rain off them if they choose.

August 10, 2008

The barn is now finished up to and ready for the roof trusses. We only have a few days before the goats arrive so we need to hurry!

August 8, 2008


Donnie has the floor and 4 walls up on the barn. Isaac and I linseed oiled the barn floor.

August 4, 2008


Isaac finally has shelves in his closet. They aren't pretty but he's happy and his clothes are off the floor.

July 26, 2008




Donnie rented a tractor for the weekend. Partly to dig to footings for the garage but partly to see if he really wants to buy one for himself. The verdict? He wants a tractor but won't bother with the little digger attachment.


The exciting part for me was that I have my first little patch of "lawn." We moved top soil onto this rocky hill this weekend! I also finished my famous window well with flagstones surronded by more topsol and planted grass seed!

July 16, 2008

I called the kitchen guy today. I was surprised I hadn't heard from him yet. I was expecting him to call me when he got far enough along to show me what he was dong and to discuss colours. He said he had just started and would be in touch in the next week or two.

July 3, 2008









The entry way is done! The bench and closet are done although we'll do more with the closet next winter by adding a door. For now it's finished and ready for the final appraisal. The door trim is done and looks great. The door in the dining room is also trimmed but didn't turn out as well. It had to be wider on the right to meet the post and it just looks wrong. We're still thinking about what can be done to look better. The stair landing is done and looks nice and the skylight trim in the loft is finished. They took a whole day each! The trim in the downstairs bathroom is finished as well.
Donnie will be taking a month off to recover from a kidney biopsy so this is the last day before we get the appraisal and close the mortgage. It looks like we're closing without a kitchen!

June 20, 2008











Once again, we've managed to get some loose ends tidied up. A month of progress these days looks like a week or less did in the winter. Still, it's progress and it counts!


I finally bought blinds. I went for cheap but tolerable to keep the sun out of our eyes with the TV. Walmart special! Donnie finished the walls around the top and in the den it's so much lighter than the rest of the walls. I really hope it fades to match soon. We also worked around the entry area and will soon have a comfy place to take off our shoes and jackets. The wall leading to the baseet is half done and my favorite acomplishment - the bathroom door is done! It's awesome! People either love it or hate it as soon as they walk in. Lucky for me, I love it! We also cleaned the house building equipment out of the loft. It's a lovely space. Better than we imagined.








May 31, 2008











We've been slowly working away at the interior of the house although with the nice weather we're spending more time outside and less time in the house.

Dad is working on the pieced wood around the top of the den door. Dad and Donnie have completed the walls above the upstairs landing. I finshed painting our bedroom but the wall trim is still unfinshed. It likely will wait til next winter. Isaac painted his bedroom loft today too. It looks great. He was going for a graffitti look and I think he got it.




May 30, 2008







The kitchen guy came today and we talked about the style of the house and my plans. I want the ktichen to look like it has been there for ever. The syle is called primitive although the red or natural (can't decide) island is slightly more detailed than the black perimeter cabinets I plan on painting the cabinets. He likes the island plan and figures it won't take long once he gets started. He is not able to start for a few weeks though.