2/20/2012

The counter tops are here!  We picked them up today, along with our Merlite for the kitchen and assorted other connectors and finish nails.  I think all the BIG stuff is now on site to finish out the house.  In the meantime, he's got the bathroom sanded, getting ready for texture.  He's been trimming out the closet and utility room, moving all the tools (again), and cleaning, and more cleaning, getting ready for the rest of the paint.  He put the cement backer board down and laid tile for the hearth.  We picked Colorado slate counters, which we thought would go nicely with the oak cabinets and the Travertine tile that we picked out for the floor.  Here's a piece of the floor tile laid on the counter. 

It's all very exciting.  Step by step.  Day by day.  God had truly blessed us throughout this whole adventure.

Winter Work

It's been kind of a strange winter with temperatures being unseasonably warm so far.  However, we've still had to have firewood to run two wood furnaces this winter, one for the mobile home and one for the house.  We've had paint, drywall mud, and other items in the house that we don't want to freeze, and he's had to have heat to work in the house too.  We have had a few colder snaps also.  In running both wood furnaces, we've definitely used some firewood this winter.  Of course, the three other households all use firewood too.  

Drone tries to help keep Sis & her hubby keep up, and the boys also work firewood with Dad.  He skidded some tree tops up the hill this past week.

Sis got herself a new toy:

She said she can run this one just fine:

In the meantime, Drone took advantage of the cold weather to butcher some of the werthered meat goats:

and so we spent yesterday cutting, grinding, and packaging more meat for the freezer.  Sis & Shanny came up to help, so there were four of us.  Many hands make lighter work.  We got it all done yesterday and most all of the cleanup too!  It's been a busy week. 

A Man with a Mission.

A few months ago, Drone picked up a small tortilla press at a little store in Ava.  After a little dickering, he got the price down to $10.  He was happy with that.  He found a recipe for home-made tortillas and proceeded to pick up some unbleached flour and make some tortillas with his new press.  It worked pretty good.  The only thing wrong with the tortillas was that they were too small.  He wanted Burrito-sized tortillas instead of soft taco sized.  He looked at all kinds of the larger tortilla presses online and finally decided he could and would build his own.  He talked about getting some slab lumber from the mill and having it planed.  Then he came up with a better idea.  We went to the store and bought a set of 3 wooden cutting boards and some hinges.  When we got home, he went out to the house and came in a while later with a nice wooden tortilla press.  He's used it a few times already, and it works pretty good.  

To the left is the press that he made, and to the right is the press that he bought.  Both work, but the one on the left sure lets him make bigger tortillas.  Mission accomplished.  

Our counter tops are ordered.  Now just waiting for them to be shipped to the store, so we can go pick them up.  The color/design is called Colorado slate and should go real well with the floor tile we picked out.  In the meantime, he's been hooking up light fixtures and plug-ins, and other little stuff while waiting for more big stuff.   It's all important.  Every little thing goes into making it all a home. 

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!