New Project

The latest remodel is putting in

a new bathroom downstairs.

This room was the laundry and

a quilting corner for my mother.

She had the cubbies built in.  The cabinets

above have the upstairs plumbing running

through them.

                                  The other end of the room is the laudry area and also served
                                                                as a pantry of sorts.

                                                   So we're off on another adventure.
                                            Bill began demo with the idea of salvaging
                                                               what we could.

                                           Some of the panelling will be reused in the room.

The pipes were exposed when we stopped.

Others came in to demo the rest of the room this

week.

We are under the gun to get this finished asap and

we have soooo many friends helping - going above and beyond.

Moving Rocks (Large Ones)

 Bill and I finished the upper part of the new flower garden on Sunday.

The rock mess on the right of the steps is in the process of being

moved.

We put the last huge rocks on the top.  It's amazing what

you can do with a tractor.

 Bill brought fill in from one of his many huge

mulch piles out in the back.

I raked it into fill in some of the dips.

Also raked out some of the debris - it's amazing what I had

to remove besides sticks, roots and chunks of rotted

trees.

There was a little metal roofing and the latch to an old ladder.

Buddy was just observing when we walked the back forty.

He's really not sure about the new dog.

But after we begged him to come along he decided Chester

wasn't all bad.

Next year I think the garden may be that patch below the

new garden.  It'll have to have stumps and large, round rocks

removed and some fill brought in, but it's a much sunnier spot.

And Bill and Chester will reclaim their lawn.

Bunnies

I can't remember ever seeing rabbits in the yard.  After years of

coyotes every single animal had disappeared.  Good for the

garden, not so much for someone who loves to see wildlife at

every turn.

These photos are a little blurry but you get the idea.

They were playing like kittens.

Attacking each other.

Zooming around the yard.

A few weeks ago Bill found these two in the weeds while

he was weed whacking.  All of them were traumatized by the

whole event.

They are now over it - the rabbits and Bill.  They aren't

really afraid of any of us.

And there seems to be enough vegetation around to keep

them out of my garden.

So when they aren't eating they are playing their days

away. Not a bad way to spend the summer.



Amazing

Over the past week we have had the floors refinished in the

living room and the kitchen.

Mike Chattin and his son Max came in last Sunday and began

with repairs.  The stack of wood you see in the photo

above was cut out of the library floor (which will eventually be

replaced). We moved the rug, cut wood out and replaced it with

a piece of plywood.  Once the rug was back no one was the wiser.

After repairs to the hole in the floor were made from the cellar Mike

removed the remaining floorboards in a staggered fashion.

The boards were replaced.



While Mike patched Max sanded a previous patch to see if the wood matched

or if they would have to replace some of the boards there as well.

Another patch made in the middle of the floor. 

The floor before sanding.  The light spot is from my father's shoes

when he sat on the sofa.

Bill decided we should do the kitchen floor at the same time.

No repairs were needed in here. We told Mike to just sand and poly.

More "before" photos of the kitchen.

A little blurry but I thought Buddy looked funny peaking around the corner.

He knows somethings up.

After talking to Mike on Friday we arrived Saturday to this.

AMAZING!

Beautiful maple flooring with a cherry threshold going into the library.

A large burn mark in the floor in front of the fireplace that we didn't

know was there.  Adds character - we can make up stories about that mark.

And the kitchen . . .



Beautiful oak with walnut plugs.  My Dad put this floor in when

I was in high school (many years ago).  I remember putting those

plugs in.

The change (improvement) is just amazing.  And to really

appreciate it you have to walk on it with your bare feet.

The one thing no one warned me about was what a HUGE mess

this would make.  I was thinking demo/drywall mess.  Think 100% worse.

Playing with Dirt

The weather has been nothing but wet.  This weekend I planted

my chard and two rows of potatoes - Katadin and Russets.

I probably could have done more but the black flies were beyond belief.

Bill spread a pile of gravel in the driveway on Sunday.  Now the

dips and holes are gone.  Notice how nice the field looks in

the background.  With all of the rain we can't do anything

but walk down there right now.  Hoping for some dryer weather.

There's Nothing Like Homemade.

Cheese - Farmhouse cheddar.  It's not a true cheddar because

the process is a little easier and doesn't age as long.

I cut it open on Saturday because the suspense was

killing me.

It was a very creamy textured cheese with a little tang to it

reminiscent of goat cheese but not quite as strong a flavor.

I would make it again.  I did expect it to be a drier cheese

than it was.



 Yes, and it's sugar season.  The weather hasn't been so

cooperative and we got off to a rocky start but have made

some really good syrup this year.

Bill at his usual job.

 Ahhhh, I can just smell that maple deliciousness (is that a word?)

I love the way the rig takes on a life of it's own when you're

boiling.  It seems to huff and puff.

Just smell the aroma - now for a nice cup of warm syrup.

The Groundhog Was Wrong

I pulled out my latest shipment of seeds and dreamed of spring

to a backdrop of feet of snow.

I can't see the garden from the window I normally watch it grow.

The living room is much darker this week.

This is why. I'm looking toward the kitchen window. Now this

happens every year to some extent, some years are worse than

others.

This just looks rediculous to me. The little black things are

tiki lights - just waiting for summer.


It's also a good thing that all of the wood we need for
this winter is already in the shed.

Bill had made an effort to keep up with it all with the tractor,

each week pushing back the banks to make room for more.

Yet, with all of the snow we continue to have here in Rowe I

have to say that I almost enjoy it. It's beautiful, clean and white

right now. I love the sound it makes under your feet.

But since it's been four weeks since the groundhog pronounced 6 more

weeks of winter, he was either wrong, lied or is much, much

farther south.