Home is Where Your Hearth Is

 

 

We've lived with unfinished projects in this house since 2007.  After awhile you don't even see the things that need to be done.

 

  Most are small, hidden jobs like a few baseboards here and there, or trim in the kitchen that doesn't show.  We're good at ignoring these things.

 

Until you have an event, like for instance, a baby shower, at your house and then all of a sudden all of the unfinished projects need to be finished yesterday!

 

 

The fireplace in our family room was one of these projects.

 

When we built this house I wanted the fireplace high enough on the wall so that we could see it from the kitchen and the eating area.  It's so nice to be working in the kitchen and be able to enjoy the cozy fire.

 

It's also nice to have a hearth double as extra seating when there's a lot of people here for a family get together or a party.

 

For years we tried to come up with some kind of surround.  We couldn't agree on tile, brick, or stone.  We looked at antique mantels. We looked at custom mantels. Nothing was quite right.

 

So we've lived with wonky drywall and OSB for almost seven years.

 



Until a couple of weeks ago.

 

The mister repaired the drywall around the edge of the fireplace.

 

He painted and installed baseboard.

 

Then he made a removable, padded, upholstered hearth.

 

 

 

 

I like it a lot.  It was an inexpensive fix. 

 

We may do something else with it someday.

 

But for now we checked another thing off our to do list.

 

 

And the ladies at the baby shower thought it was a pretty comfy place to sit.

Bookcases!

Cue the hallelujah chorus!

 

The bookcases are done!

 

The Mister did a fabulous job on them. 

 

I know I'm a lucky girl to have a husband that was willing to tackle

this huge job.   Thank you sweetie!

 

 

We've had boxes and boxes of books in our storage room for the last four years

that are now seeing the light of day.

 

Fireplace surround, hearth and mantle are still on our list.

It'll be a great project when the weather is cooler and we're not spending so

much time working in the yard.

 

There's a nice little spot for the television and it's accessories.

 

And lots of storage underneath.

Our last house came with a large built in bookcase.

 

I spent months sifting through books at the thrift store looking for fun titles and covers

that were just the right colors.  It's a sickness, what can I say?

 

But the result was pretty cool.

 

Cute accessories...hello from Hollyhocks and Honeybees boutique.

It's called the Hive and she's having another one in the fall.

 

And now I have my decorating books out and available.

 

It's like seeing old friends.

 

It was a long and tedious project but soooo worth it.

 

It's so nice to check off another thing on our to do list!

 

9-1 1

 

 

We had quite the snowload on the wing of our shed.

 

Heavy, wet, icy snow.

 

The Mister decided he should do something about it.

 

I stood in the warmth of the house, my cell phone in my hand

and dialed 9 1.  Ready to push the other 1 when he fell off that icy,

slippery roof.

 

But he didn't, thank goodness.

 

 

 

 

 



Happy Anniversary

 

 

41 years!

 

How can that be?

 

Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

 

 

Happy Anniversary sweetie!

 

 

Check out those sideburns!

Behind the Fence

This is the view from my kitchen window.

I love looking out on our backyard in the morning when the sun is just

coming up over the mountains. The sun shines through our huge old walnut

tree that provides welcome shade during this long, hot summer.

Behind that white picket fence is our vegetable garden.

There's also an old chicken coop that was here when we bought our lot.

It's barely standing and when it rains the roof leaks but we're going to try to fix it up enough 

so that we can keep it.  A project for when it isn't quite so warm.

We have a compost pile next to the coop.  It makes great compost out of 

leaves, lawn clippings and kitchen scraps.

We put an old Adirondack double chair back there.

I love little spots in the garden to sit and read or dream and plan. 

We've been collecting fallen branches from our big trees to use in our fire pit this fall.

The mister built a couple of boxes this year.  We weren't sure if

there would be enough sun for vegetables since this area is in shade 

until about 11:00.  If they do well, next year he'll build a few more.

He also decided he'd make his own upside down tomato planter.

We've already harvested a few tomatoes from it.

The pumpkins are spreading out.  The grandkids like to pick them

and take them home when they're ready.  And of course they're

great for fall decorations.

Last year I canned 30 pints of green beans.  This year we have lots

of leaves and no blossoms.

Is it the heat?  Is it the shade?

Tomatoes and yellow crookneck squash in this box.

All the planting, weeding and watering is finally paying off.

The harvest has begun.

Cupolas and Weathervanes and True North

About 5 years ago I found a great deal on a weathervane at a garden nursery.

So I bought it and it's been sitting in the garage gathering dust ever since.

Every time we cleaned out the garage the Mister would mutter under his 

breath about hoarding and enough junk around here and such.

So I finally got busy and found a vinyl cupola on line and on sale.

AND free shipping!!  I LOVE free shipping.

I bought it here

.

The Mister, being the Mister, measured the shed roof so that it would 

sit in the exact center...

Then he took a compass up on the roof so that he could find true north and 

set the north arm exactly pointing to the exact north.

Cause that's how he rolls.

I would have eyeballed the whole thing and probably got it pretty darn close.

Cause that's how I roll.

I love my cupola and weathervane!  I love to see it swinging in the wind.

And if you ever need to find true north come on over to my house.

Happy Birthday to the Mister

Eat your heart out ladies, he's taken!

Happy Anniversary 40th Edition

I was nineteen, he was an older man of twenty five when we married.

Boy, did we ever have a lot to learn.

As in all marriages there have been ups and downs.

The last few years it's been definitely up.

We've had four great kids and now eight fabulous grandkids.

We've been so blessed.



Happy Anniversary Honey!

Timing

December is always a busy month for me.

Well,  I guess everyone is busy in December.

There's home tours, parties, shopping, wrapping, decorating,

baking, cleaning, and the list goes on and on.

So here's the conversation the Mister and I had the other day.

Him:  "I think this would be a great time to get a few things

done around here."

Me:  "Really?  Like what do you have in mind exactly?"

Him:  "Like finish up door trim, baseboards, things like that."

Me:  "NOW??"

Him: "Well, not if you're going to get snippy about it!"

We've lived in this unfinished house for three years now.  And NOW

he wants to start moving around furniture and empty the linen closet?

Aaaaaah!

One thing I've learned after almost 40 years living with this man

that when the project mood strikes it's best to just get out of the way.

Pantry

Unfinished door trim...

Pantry

Finished door trim

Gotta love it.

Happy Anniversary to the Mister

Happy 39th Anniversary! 

Where has the time gone?

This man lives to make me happy.

And he does.



Birthdays

Today is the Mister's birthday. We took a little break from working on the house and spent the day in Salt Lake City.

Our first stop was the Clark Planetarium where we saw this...in 3D...at the Imax theatre. It was a little freaky but the mister loved it. He's geeky like that.
We had a late lunch at the Blue Plate Diner, wandered around Best Buy for awhile, then drove home in a huge rain and thunderstorm. That was definitely freaky.

Today was the beginning of our 7 birthdays, 1 anniversary, and Mother's Day in 2 1/2 weeks. This year we'll have one big celebration on May 1st so nobody dies of cake overdose. More celebrations to come!