camp houses and ponds......

Well, we had another interesting weekend here in the woods.  Where the yellow slide is in this picture, there used to be a playhouse.  When we had it in Alabama, it was on 8 foot posts. It is no longer on 8 foot posts and no longer in the trees.

Here is it's new home.  On the little peninsula into the pond.  Much work was needed still as the deck on it was only 2 foot wide.  We originally built when Alex was 6 or so.

Ready to work!

Well, almost ready......we need to watch the fish first!  Here is one of our little bream!  And, yes, our water is now that blue!  We put some kind of dye into the pond which is supposed to reduce the amount of weeds growing in the pond since it tints the water.  I think Terry might have put a little much in.....lol.

Here is the original deck looking over the pond.

Getting the posts into the muck and level was quit a scene,  Alex enjoyed it though since he could get into the water.  :) Decking halfway done!

The neck pier - minus the hand rails which will be added later.  It is a little over 8 foot wide and 12 feet long.  Looks like a great place to do pilates in the afternoon!

One corner is still a bit low and will be adjust on Wednesday.  Terry needed to try it out.

Not sure who will enjoy it more - the grown up boy, or???

The growing up boy!

I bet I can figure that out pretty quick though!

What do you think?

Just long enough of a run to make a big splash!

Oh yeah! I think they both like it!

A time for new beginnings.............

I was on Spring Break this week and we did a little bit from our list of things to do.  I finished up the drawers from the kitchen and Terry got all the knobs and pulls on.  We are debating over what to put between the cabinet and counter tops.  I know I want stamped metal behind the stove but can't decide whether or not to carry it around under all the cabinets.  So many choices!

One morning I woke up to let the chickens out and it looked like jewels in my front yard.

The chickens didn't care about any of the beautiful things - they wanted breakfast and were in a big hurry!

We also had visitors this week.  They are like you crazy, old aunt that makes a lot of noise and never wants to be forgotten.........LOL

Max had to say hello also.

They stayed a little while and rested before moving on.  We have had several pairs stop and rest.

I transplanted and trimmed my rosemary bush.  Not sure if it will be happy in this pot and I need to settle it down a little more.  This is one of my only plants the chickens did not eat last summer.

AND we worked on cedar boards.  We trimmed them, planed them, measured them, and hung them.  We finished most of the living/dining.kitchen area today.  We have about 8 feet let of the ceiling to do in this room.

We started over the kitchen ceiling as well.  There is 8 feet to finish in this room.  We have not started on the laundry room or the closets yet.

Our bedroom is now finished - ceilings, walls, trim and baseboards.

Bedroom from the northeast corner.

And the last wall with the tv.  My amazing husband made a floating shelf to hide all the cables and things in.  It looks so different in there.

Kitchen ..... part 2

 Still working........cabinets are in and "stuff" is put away.

 

I painted all the doors and got them ready to go on Friday.  Then I hung them all on Saturday.  I was too tired to paint the drawers so I left them until Sunday.

Other angle:

My kitchen table no longer holds the contents of the entire kitchen.  I also got a new fruit bowl this week. :)

Ok.......drawers painted but no knobs yet.

This will be what it looks like once the cedar is up.

And today's results!  Knobs are on all but two drawers.  I picked up the wrong on for two.

I did decide to put the pulls on the fake drawers and think it looks good.  We'll see about the polishing affect when washing dishes.

I washed my countertops for the first time in 4 years.  That was exciting!

Finally....more progress!

Scooter likes the trip to Sam's Club too!  This was a box the boston butts came in.  He thought it was perfect for sleeping out of the wind.  Maybe I need to make him a cedar box to sleep in.

ANYWAY!!!!!  We finally have more progress to share.  A snoop around Craigslist got Terry thinking about kitchen cabinets again and we decided to go and price cabinets.  At one store, for two base cabinets, it was going to be $600 for finished white cabinets.  We went to a discount builders store and got unfinished birch cabinets with plywood shelves for $500 for 2 base cabinets and 4 wall cabinets.  SO this weekend we dismantled part of the kitchen.

After much stress with painting, we were ready to install the wall cabinets.  Terry had never hung cabinets before so this was an interesting process..........hahaha.

He actually did quite well with only having to adjust the cabinets once.

Level and plumb!

Cabinets are in all but the lazy susan for the corner on the floor. We have some questions about it still.  Off to Lowe's to get knobs and pulls for the drawer.

I like the house to be fairly clean so having the kitchen throw up all over the rest of the house was stressful!

Putting the doors on.  The handles and paint finish as well as the pattern on the door are all very old fashioned looking.  That is what a cabin should be like.......right? 

One wall nearly complete!  Hopefully the corner cabinet will go in tomorrow and then we will be able to get the next two cabinets with this week's paycheck.

It has been 18 months of living in the house with shelves for cabinets.  It sure looks funny in here!  haha  I will get better pictures after the corner cabinet goes in..........in a $1000 we might have counter tops, too!

Sunday Afternoon musings............

It has been raining, raining, raining, raining, and raining here.  We have been unable to get anything else done on the house.  The ground here is like sliding on a mud slide when you walk anywhere that has no grass or gravel.  Our gravel is slowly squashing into the mud.  As soon as it dries up a bit, we will need more gravel. The poor hens are soaked through!

I am feeling soaked through as well.  LOL

Alex and I have both been under the weather for the last week and are both on the road to recovery.  

I am ready for some sunshine, blue skies and flowers!

Merry Christmas!

Here are our latest picture updates.  Alex was given a foosball table from a co-worker of mine and he and Terry have enjoyed it.  Behind them you can see his unfinished bedroom wall.

He is so cute when he is sleeping!

This is Alex's bedroom with the ceiling, walls, and top trim finished.  We still need to do the baseboards and closet.

We have one wall of our bedroom and half of another finished.  I also tried a new bedspread to make it more cabin looking.

This weekend we worked a little on the ceiling in the living room.  We have now used up all the dry cedar that we had cut and will be back to sawing logs soon.

Alex got a new down-style comforter and curtains for him room.  Don't mind the mess at the top- it is my next project.

Christmas dinner of homemade lasagna and rolls.

And best of all............my Christmas present from Alex.  He saved his allowance and bought it all on his own.  This is the first present he has paid for and picked out all on his own. :)  I love it!

Hope you all have a happy holiday season!

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I apologize for not updating in a while but we have been a bit busy. We have planed, cut and sized nearly both piles of cedar boards that were cut.  We have about 4 more rows to plane and cut.  We will work on them this weekend.  Here is what we have finished so far:

Ceiling in master bedroom:

 Partial wall and window framing in Alex's room:

Around Alex's door:

Entire ceiling and parts of two walls.  Here is everything that is covered except the ceiling.  This picture is not true to color as the above two were.

Our chickens have been growing like crazy and we are getting between 9 and 14 eggs a day!  Anyone need fresh eggs????

This girlie will not lay her egg in the house like the rest.  She is a bit of a rebel!

This is Tilly who was being picked on.  She is growing her feathers back nicely!

Munster is getting bigger but is still pretty mellow.  He does crow at me when I don't let him out quickly enough.......lol.