demolition

The demolition at our farmhouse is fully under-way. Greg hired some workers to help take off molding, rip up carpet, and take out the cabinets. Originally, we were going to donate the fixtures to Re-Store (a Habitat for Humanity organization), but since so many of the workers wanted them, we decided to let them have it, after all, they probably needed it more than someone who could buy it at Re-Store. I think we'll still have a stove, oven and dishwasher (circa 1992) to donate, but my guess is no one will want it.

Okay, now for the photos of the destruction process. I'll have a few more to post later this week. The framer's are there now and have knocked out some walls and it's looking a lot more open, which I love! Until now, I haven't been that excited about the whole process, but now that progress is being made, it's definitely getting more fun.

These are of our two upstairs baths. We're keeping the tubs and toilets. According to my dad, "They just don't make toilets like they used to."

You never know what you're gonna find when you start ripping things out.


This is the master bath. It was arranged rather strangely. Where you see the black marks on the wall, that was where the vanity and sinks sat. And, there was carpet beneath that area....make-up and toothpaste-stained carpet. Then, by the window, was the toilet. Yes, you could actually sit on the pot and look out the front of the house at the same time. Yikes!

Needless to say, we're rearranging this area.

Remember me saying that we were going to rip out that wall to the left of the fireplace and expose the brick? Doesn't it look better and more open already? I'm so excited.....well, I was excited until I learned that the drywall on the back of the chimney was stuck directly on, and because of the drywall held in the moisture, we have mold. It's easy to fix since it's located only on the chimney, and I'm so thankful we decided to rip that up.
Here's the laundry-room. We took these shelves down and they're going to work perfectly in the barn for Greg's shop area.
Still in the laundry-room, this door is being taken out and the room expanded to the corner of the house (you can see it through the glass). Then, the washer/dryer will sit next to the little closet that houses the water heater.
I don't think I mentioned the staircase earlier, but the railings are about 8-9 inches apart, meaning small dogs and children can easily slip right through. We're going to have to take out the railing and replace it to pass inspection.
Here's the kitchen sans cabinets. We're adding lots of windows in here along this wall.
And, the stove will sit in this area (below). This is the area that backs up to the fireplace.
And, here's the half-bath without the cabinet. I like it better already.
And, my favorite discovery. Once the house was removed from this upstairs bedroom, the room seems so much larger. Love that!

fly prevention program

Sure, I know it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. No, I didn't fall off the planet, I've just been extremely busy with Studio Calico plus some other personal business to attend to. I'm alive, doing well, and there should be no cause for worry. Another reason I haven't posted is because I've only taken about 3 photos in the last 2 weeks and I can't stand to post without photos, but here goes.

A couple of weeks ago, Greg informed me that we needed a fly prevention program at our farm. When I first heard this, I about laughed myself silly.

FLY PREVENTION PROGRAM?????? You've got to be kidding me. I really thought he had made it up.

Turns out, most of our cows have pink-eye and the cause for pink-eye in cows is due to the flies on the cow-poop landing on the cows' eyes. Yes, it's a wonderful thought, I know.

So, off Dad and Greg went to Southern States (another farm supply company here) to get a thingy for the cows to walk under that scrapes along their back with some sort of repellent on it, some spray-repellent, and some L8400 (I think those are the right letters and numbers), which is an injectible antibiotic.

The first order of business was to herd the cows and calves into the corral to spray them down and inject them. The first time they did this, it took all day....literally. All. Day.

Still, they couldn't get one of the female calves sprayed, and after the second and third day trying to pen her in to treat her, we were getting worried she might go blind. And, if she had gone blind, we wouldn't want to sell her, we'd just sweet-feed her, make her fat, then butcher her.

Luckily, with all the practice of corralling the cows every 3 or 4 days, they've gotten the hang of it. Greg now has a cow call which consists of beating a bucket on the feeding trough and yelling "Here Cow" in an announcer's voice. Funny, but effective.

I'm proud to say, they've treated all the cows multiple times and our fly prevention program has a high success rate. Yes, we still have flies. There's no way to get rid of them all, but there's much less, and the pink-eye is under control.

Also, I'm proud to report another birth on our farm. Our fourth live birth occurred on Thursday. We have one more to go this year, so wish us luck.

I'll be back later this week with photos of our partially-demolished farmhouse.

Father's Day & Sneaks all rolled into one

This is the card I'm planning to give my dad tomorrow made using July's kit. Normally, I'd make a card using up supplies from past kits so that I could show you the whole thing, but I'm limited on scrap-space here at the apartment so the only thing I have is my July kit. I'm majorly using my stash!

Inside it reads:

Dad,
Thanks so much for all you have taught me (or tried to teach me :) through the years. You have been an example of patience, yet not tolerance of wrong. You have shown me what it means to be honest and trustworthy. When you make commitments, you mean them. When you make promises, you keep them. When you agree to do work, you do it. Throughout my life you have sought to make decisions to benefit your family spiritually rather than materially. You have taught me so much and molded me into the person, daughter, wife, friend, and worker that I am, and I am grateful.

Happy Father's Day,



And, my last little sneak.

TGM - bathing in a tropical paradise

If you've been following my blog, you know we had to move again, this time into an apartment while we wait for our farmhouse to be remodeled. Well, yesterday was that day (moving day #2 this year).

While I was at VBS last night, Greg was home with pink eye, I asked him to pick up a shower curtain liner and some rings so we'd be able to take a shower this morning. He has a way of spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than he should when he's asked to pick up one or two things and getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I ever ask for at the store, so I told him these 2 items should cost about $3-5 together.

When I got back home last night, I didn't bother to check out the purchase because there were too many boxes to unpack, so it wasn't until this morning I learned that I would be bathing in a tropical paradise.

What's funny about this is that at any other point in our marriage or living arrangements, I probably would have flipped out and told Greg there was no way I'd hang a beach scene in our bathroom for our company to see, but at this point in my life (and it's a crazy life right now), I actually thought it was funny and I was happy to hang it up.

When I thanked him for my tropical oasis, he told me it was either that or pengiuns, and that he knew me well enough to get the tropical oasis.....LOL.

So, while I was taking photos of our staycation this summer, what was behind curtain #1?

I was just going to take photos of him and never post them, but I couldn't resist. When I wash my face, I generally think that it's relaxing and gentle, but doesn't it look like he's inflicting pain upon himself?

(if this photo is removed later, you'll know that G saw it and had me take it down....heehee)

proud owner of a door

I had been thinking for some time that I wanted to use a salvaged door somewhere in our house and after seeing this in Better Homes and Gardens (June issue, I think), I decided we could use a door going from our breakfast area into our mudroom.


I know it's going to be a room that's used lots and lots. We already used that area of the house (even in its un-remodeled state) to pull off our rubber boots and pick ticks off the dogs, so I want that mudroom to be accessible but able to be closed off so our company doesn't see our muddy mud-room.

Last week, we were in Nashville for the Garden Tour and while we were waiting to meet Amber and Trevor, Greg and I ventured into an antique store. They had lots of things I wanted (of course), but this was the thing that really caught my eye.



It's an old screen door with a metal grid and it's in perfect, used condition. It doesn't even have a knob for the door, which is good, because after talking to our builder, we can choose to make it a regular swinging door, or make it into a pocket door (which due to space, we will most likely choose).

I like that this door can close of that muddy mud-room and hide our mess, but it's still transparent enough to see through when someone's there. What do you think?

newness

Several of you have already noticed my new blog design. Didn't Amanda do a fabulous job? She's done several blogs that I just loved, plus she's an amazing scrapper, so I was ecstatic to have her give me an update.

We now have a geese infestation at our farm. It started with just a couple goslings and I'd say, "awwww, how cute." But, now, it's turned into a traffic hazard and a mess of, well, mess. But, I still say, "awww, how cute."

At this point, I must point out that Greg (in all seriousness) calls the goslings, "Gosselins." This is just another typical Greg moment that keeps me amused from day to day. Anyone know where he got "Gosselin"? Well, we've quit watching that show, but apparently the vibes are still seeping through.



And, probably the reason you're here is to see my sneaks for Studio Calico's July kits.

This one contains all items from the main kit plus the acetate paper from the DIRECTOR's CUT add-on.


This one is a sneak of my favorite layout I've done so far this month. And, it's a 2-pager, too!!!
All the items except for the camera stamp are in the FIELD NOTES add-on.

disheveled

Normally, I feel very "pulled-together" but this week, I've just been off, so I'm warning you, this post will be random.

My nose is clogged, my ears are stopped up, and I've finally relinquished and will be going to the doctor.

To top that, on Monday, we'll be moving into an apartment as we await the remodel of our farmhouse. If you had asked me a year ago if I'd ever be in an apartment again, I'd have laughed in your face. I am a true home-body and I don't like loud music, people walking above me, parking 300 yards away from my front door, so apartment life and me just don't agree. But, hopefully I won't be there much as I'm dividing my time between the farm and the office.

Yesterday, we had a third calf born at our farm (I'm only counting the ones born alive now), and we have 2 more to go this year, so things are looking up.

I'll leave you with a few photos of our children :)

tour de farmhouse part 4

I'll start today with the bedroom you first come to at the top of the stairs. It's actually a fairly good-sized room, but you wouldn't know it because of the house that's sitting in the middle of it.

Cute idea and let me tell you, the mice LOVED it. Lots of evidence of that.

Not practical for us, so this is a must-go.

The next room you come to in the hallway upstairs is this room.

Yes, it's another case of red-paint meets sponge. But in this case, there's two closet doors sticking out into the center of the room. We have an idea for this, that's too much for me to explain right now, but just keep this image in your head because I'll be posting progress to this room. We plan to use it as a TV/play room.

This is the bathroom that's connected to that red room above. VERY interesting texture on this wall: sponge techniqe + sand does not equal Tuscan Villa. Not sure the look that the previous owners had in mind here.

Onto the hall bath. Again, the same technique with a different color paint. I can already tell this will be a fun sanding project....

The next room is a large bedroom painted blue and green.

And, the final room is a small, and I mean small, bedroom that the previous owners used as a play area. We plan to put the twin beds that were in two rooms at our old house here in this room. I'm thinking a trundle bed to the left of that window.....or maybe the right. I'm not sure. We'll see once we measure. And, as nice as the faux-painting is, that will be covered over as well.

For some reason, I don't have photos of the master bedroom and bath. I know I took them, but I've searched and searched to no avail. I will be back next week with some photos of the destruction.

tour de farmhouse part 3

The moment you've been waiting for (I'm positive) has arrived. Today, we take the tour of the living room, kitchen, and laundry. Suh-weet!

I showed this photo earlier, but I'm showing it again to give perspective. The living-room has a decent-sized entry from the front, but now I want you to notice how the front door is off-center from the office to the left and dining to the right. No, this is not the angle of the photograph, the front door is actually a foot closer to the dining room. No worries, though. We plan to scoot the wall of the office out a bit and even up those door frames. Easy fix!

Looking in from the kitchen to the living room. It's actually a long, skinny room, so it'll be a challenge for furniture placement, I'm sure.

Out the back patio, there's 2 sets of double doors. I think that will be VERY nice in the fall to open those up.

Here's a sideways view of the room....and look at that nice mantle. What are those? Nails sticking up???? Ouch! I'm sure the previous owners had a use for that.

Gotta love the brass fan.....

Here's a look into the kitchen from the living area. Here's what I see:

• A wall unit with broken doors and deep enough to park a semi in
• A beautiful brick chimney that's covered up with drywall
• A perfect excuse to do some demolition

Truly, we plan to knock that wall out (the one with the wall-unit) and open up that space from the living to the kitchen. We also plan to uncover that fireplace and show off the brick.

Now, for the laundry. This will be quick as there is exactly 5.8 inches of floorspace in here. Just kidding, but it is small.

Luh-hove the mustard-colored walls. Another awesome sponge painting adventure in here. The cabinets in here are actually the nicest in the entire house (once we cleaned up all the detergent that was spilled), so Greg plans to take them to use in his workshop.

The previous owners left the washer/dryer (well, that was part of the deal). What wasn't part of the deal was the 2 loads of clothes (one in the washer, one in the dryer) and all the socks in the drawers below, which the mice appreciated. After about 15789898238724 loads of Clorox-only, the washer and dryer have been deemed fit to actually clean clothes instead of infusing a musty-smell into them.

From the laundry into the kitchen, this is the view.

And, from the living into the kitchen. Our one main plan in this area is to connect the garage to this kitchen. It's just to the right of the wall you see here and will be easy to do as it's all under roof now. So, that's in the works.

Oh, and the view out that tiny window is the best view of the entire property. Remember the rainbow I posted earlier? That's the field. We're going to remove those upper cabinets and add some more windows here so we can enjoy that view a bit more.

And, last but not least, this is the wall that backs up to the chimney. Staying with my philosophy of "Why would you have drywall if you could have awesome brick?" theory, that wall will be stripped to expose the chimney and the stove will be placed on that wall. Yay!

Again, please feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I'll be posting about the upstairs bedrooms and baths tomorrow.

tour de farmhouse part 2

If you read my previous post, please be assured that dirty walls, nasty carpet, scuffs, stains, and mouse droppings do NOT show up in photographs. So, if you think I'm crazy for wanting to gut the place, I'm not. I'm just a clean person who likes to live in a clean house (sans mice).

That's my disclaimer, so here goes.

This is what you see when you step in the front door: a modest entryway, the edge of the steps and the living room.
And, if you were to stand in the living room looking toward the front, this is what you see.


Okay, now we're back at the front door and we're pretending we just walked in the front door. Look to your right and you'd see this red astrosity, that we are planning to use as an office/scrapbook room.

Yes, red paint and a sponge are definitely to blame for this. But, in better news, I found 2 gallons of unopened red paint that I was able to sell in the yard-sale for $1 each. Score!

Looking out of the office and across the entryway is the dining room which was attacked by the green-paint-monster.

On the other side of the wall on your right (above) is this hallway (below).

It's quite narrow and very uninteresting, so our plan is to knock that wall out and open up that whole area with a few columns for support.

Got any ideas or comments, feel free to post them. I'll be back tomorrow with the living room and kitchen.