January 31, 2012

Base cabinets went in yesterday.  It's really starting to look like a kitchen!

 The space in between the corner base and the tall utility cabinet is where the dishwasher goes.

Now, we're ready to go and order the counter tops!

January 30, 2012

We have cabinets!  Yesterday, they started hanging the wall cabinets in the kitchen.  Ok, we also have paint in both bedrooms, the living/dining area, and in the kitchen.  He said he would be very glad not to have to move the cabinets out of his way again. 

He's also been putting up light fixtures, etc.  Thanks to Claygirl for the beautiful fan pulls.  As you can see, we're putting them to good use. 

We had purchased a matched set of ceiling fan/light sets at Lowes last summer for the living/dining area.  They were on sale, but we didn't notice that each one used only one 60-watt candelabra based light bulb.  The living/dining area is 15 feet wide and 35 feet long, and really two 60-watt bulbs isn't enough to light that area, but it's way too late to take them back now.  Instead, we decided to put those fans/lights in the bedrooms and get different sets for the living room.  Apparently, the federal government has decided to place energy restrictions on these ceiling fan/light kits so they are not allowed to use anything larger than 60-watt bulbs.  The candelabra bases further restrict what type of bulbs you can get.  We did find sets at WalMart that take three bulbs each instead of just one bulb.  Now, if we can just find two that match each other, we'll have it made.  Everything is really coming together quite nicely.  It all looks beautiful.

Lump Charcoal

We recently bought a small metal trash can with a lid. Drone has been using it for an ash bucket when the wood furnaces need cleaned out. With the lid on, it smothers any "fire" left in the ashes. When the ashes are cool, he sifts them through his dirt sifter screen that he made (to sift rocks from dirt), and voila! What's left is lump charcoal. He has about 10 lbs of it so far for use next summer in the grill. 


As far as the house goes, he's been sweeping up all the drywall dust and caulking & prepping the kitchen for paint. 

January 18, 2012

It's been an exciting week.  Son #2 (Bud) has been here to help Dad work on the house.  The drywall mud, tape, and sand process is all done.  Windows cleaned & taped off, all the prep work done, ready for texture.  

They sprayed texture on ceilings & walls of both bedrooms today before they ran into a slight snag.  Low on drywall mud for the texture.  We went to town & got 8 more boxes of mud -- and a 1/2-inch drill, since mixing the texture mud seems to have killed the 1/2-inch drill he has owned for 20 years or so.  Anyway, he unloaded it all when we got home & put it in the house where it'll stay nice & warm & dry and ready for tomorrow.  It really does look fantastic, even without the paint on yet.  ;-)  

AND, on another good note, it seems as if I have figured out how to add photos to a blog entry.  Yay!

Butchering is done for now.

The hogs are done and in the freezer.  We really like the new sawblades that we bought through Amazon.  Much better blades.  This meat saw has paid for itself more than once over, that's for sure.  Glad to have the pork in the freezer and the hogs off of the feed bill.  Now, we only have the one feeder pig to turn into next winter's fat hog.  ;-)

January 6, 2012

The new photo added above will show you what he has been up to.  He has a good portion of the dozer piles cleared away from the pond bowl, cutting it up for firewood.  There are big fat stacks of firewood at the house and at the mobile also.  I love the way the house is reflected in the pond.  I also added a photo of my favorite "break spot" for while he's working on the house. We're still waiting for a few COLD days strung together to get those last two hogs butchered.  Maybe this weekend?  I really am not thrilled about snow or ice, but I do worry that we need some kind of winter moisture so we don't end up with drought this summer.  Maybe a little rain?  Hope all is well with everybody.

Happy New Year! 2012

Hello again.  Christmas has come and gone now, and this is the first day of a new year.  Hopefully, 2012 will bring good things for all of us.  The drywall is mostly sanded now in the house, he'll be ready for texture soon, and then paint. The paper/tape machine got here, as did the paint sprayer.  It's been so hectic for him around here with cutting firewood (for 2 furnaces), plus regular chores, and he did start butchering, then I had the flu (or something) right after Christmas, which I may have passed on to him..  

Anyway, I guess life gets in the way of our plans sometimes.  He did get the feeder pigs sold, except for the one we're keeping to feed out for next winter.  As for butchering, we were supposed to get several cold days in a row, and he started the first one.  They moved a refrigerator out of the storage shed and into the shop to use in case we needed it.  As it turned out, it was needed.  The rest of last week warmed up enough, he decided to wait on the other two.  So, there is one down and two to go still.  

Christmas dinner was good, we went down the hill to Shanna's.  I took a pie and some dressing.  Between Shanna, Angie, and Eve (with some help from hubbies & daughters), they had the rest taken care of.  It was a good day.  I did end up with the flu Tuesday, though, which wasn't fun at all.  I must have shared it, because Lee has not been feeling great for the last few days.  Hopefully, we'll get rid of all that stuff.  We are hoping and praying that this new year, 2012, will be a better one for us, for all of us, and for the country.  We all need it.  Happy New Year, folks!