The Frames: Est. 2008

Signs of Fall on the Farm

2011-08-23T19:58:00.000-04:00

We finally got our customized rock! It took 3 months and I just couldn't be patient - I was excited for our rock and also to give Mom & Dad & Teddy & Diana theirs. Mom, Dad, Teddy & Diana all helped us so much on our house, we wanted to get them something special to show our appreciation. I'll try to get pics of theirs sometime.

I think they did a great job! Eric plans to set it in concrete and fix up the surroundings a little.

Our pear tree has lots of pears, they are currently hard as a rock but, will soon be perfect for eating - I can't wait.

It took a while for our sunflowers to bloom. I love them - don't pay attention to our weedy garden.

Here's a picture of the side of mom and dad's house. They're are installing Harding Siding on the upper floor - it looks really good but, it's a slow process.

This is the front, these two dormers will eventually hold beds.

Summer Lovin'

2011-06-23T13:48:00.000-04:00

I love summer. One of my favorite things to do is to go to yard sales. A few weeks ago there was a big one at the highschool and I scored the following:

The frame on the right was a Christmas gift from Eric's cousins, John & Teresa. I just love it. Teresa has one like the frame on the left and I always wanted it too. Well, I found it at a yardsale for $3. I'll fill it with a good picture of Eric and me soon.

I found this little 4th of July decoration at Big Lots - I love it.

Log furniture: Big Lots.

Eric decided that our garage was getting too junked up with his lawn toys, etc. So, now we have this: It's only half finished and eventually, it will be a large metal building with a picnic shelter on the front.

That's all for now. Enjoy your summer - I am!

More Spring Additions & Celebrations

2011-06-01T12:54:00.000-04:00

Our bucket of flowers accidentally turned over and the flowers, still continue to bloom. Well, it didn't really accidentally turn over. I found this old bucket in the woods on the farm & created the "accident".

Eric has been working really hard on our garden. He planted tomatoes, beans, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, and squash. The deer have stayed away so far but, a rabbit ate a few of the cabbage plants. So, we placed chicken wire around the ground, which has kept the rabbit out, so far.

This is my small herb garden.

Our flowers are blooming pretty good. I know you're probably thinking that some mulch would really improve the looks of our flower bed. But, with all the wood in our house, I think it would be smart to keep mulch away b/c it can easily be infested with termites. I'd like to buy some pretty pea gravel to place around the flowers. But, that expense can wait for now.

This past weekend was full of celebrations. My lil' cousin (Baby) Danny graduated from high school. Mom and I ran out for his graduation ceremony & his party. His momma is so proud!

I celebrated my Sweet double 15, in Eric's words. I had my party at the campground on Sutton Lake. It was an awesome party. My aunt, Vera, had this banner made, which I just love!

My sister fixed up this game, which was really fun! You tossed a ball and tried to get it in the cup, if you did, you got the prize in the corresponding bag.

Mom made a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzled on top! It was delicious and perfect for a hot day!

My friend, Kristi, drove from Harrodsburg, KY for my party. I was so thankful to her & everyone that came.

Even little Trent got to play the game, with the help of Eric.

Yesterday, was also a joyous occasion. It was my & Eric's 3rd Wedding Anniversary. He was off work Monday night, so we got to wake up together Tuesday morning. I had something to take care of after work so, I didn't get to see him before he left for work that day. But, when I got home, I was surprised with flowers, a card, and dinner. It was such a sweet gift. I love my husband so much and I guess he loves me so much too!

I'd like to give a special thanks to Mom, Frankie, Dad, Vera & Boyce, Eric, Kay & Jason, Diana, and everyone else that helped make my 30th birthday a very special day.

Spring Additions

2011-05-03T12:23:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, when the water line was being put in, Eric's grandpa transplanted some bushes for us, from our old house in Strange Creek. These are burning bushes and there are also two shrubs by the porch steps. Mom said, they make our house looks like, it's been there forever. Also, we purchased 10 Azalea bushes from the Clay Farm Store. Eric planted a few in the front and planted more today.

This is the arch that Eric & I were married under. That is a VW bug bird house, which has yet to be inhabited by a bird. And there is a rose bush planted underneath, which was trimmed back very far, so likely no roses will be appearing this year.

Mom gave us this lovely potted plant for Easter. I've been watering it every other day and it seems to be doing well.

Our West Virginia furniture finally made it to our new home. See, Eric's cousin recently moved into our old house, so we finally had to get all of our remaining things out of there. Eric finally got all of his "stuffed" animals, I mean the mounted "real" animals down in the basement. I will share a picture of that once we get the basement painted.

Eric also added this old fence for some nice decoration. I made the wreath & mom & dad helped me attach it to the fence. I added a little more grapevine but, it needs a lot more, which I will work on when I have a chance. We plan to order a customized rock with our name on it to place in front of the fence. I can't wait to get that. Stay tuned for more spring additions!

Also, today Dad helped Eric plow up the land for a garden. Soon, we'll be planting veggies!

City Water in the House!

2011-04-25T08:59:00.000-04:00

We've had city water in our house for over a week now! It's wonderful! Last Friday I got home from work with Eric on the tractor with his thumbs up! We have water in the house. Halleluja! At first our washer didn't want to work but, with some work, mom and I fixed it! So, last weekend I did 6 loads of laundry - it was so exciting. Plus, I get to use my dishwasher, which is hard to get used to b/c I've hand washed my dishes for a long time.

I am so thankful to Dad and everyone that helped with the water line.

Lattice, Landscaping & Water

2011-02-25T08:37:00.004-05:00

I'm sure most of you are aware that Eric and I have water issues out on the Kerr Farm. Last year when we moved into our house, the old well was producing plenty of water. Then one day, there was no water. So, for the past several months, Eric has been hauling water on his days off. Sometimes, we would run out & that is a horrible feeling. We got several estimates from contractors to dig a ditch for a water line to run city water out our driveway that is 0.7 mile. We had prices from $10,000 to $25,000. Well, my dad, being the incredible person that he is, found a good deal on a ditch witch and decided to take this task on himself. I am praying that this huge piece of machinery can do the job. I have faith in my dad & I'm sure he'll get it done. The day I have city water running through my house will be a joyous day! This is a beautiful piece of equipment to me!

Eric and I both had President's Day off. I work for the state and it just happened to be one of Eric's days off. Eric had the notion to go to Lowes and buy lattice for around our porch. When we got to Lowes, their wooden lattice looked crappy, it was full of knot holes and wasn't very sturdy. So, we looked to the next shelf at the plastic lattice. It's is guaranteed not to rot away, so for only $40.00 more dollars, we decided to go with it. With the help of Eric's dad, we got it up & I love it. We also put landscape timbers down as a frame for a flower bed. Right now, we only have two stacked up. After all the materials and tools were put away, Eric decided that another row needed stacked up - so we're not completely finished. With pretty weather not too far away, Eric will have flowers and bushes blooming away.

I'm so proud of our little house! It's truly a blessing! I can't wait for spring & summer - are you with me?

2011-02-01T12:33:00.003-05:00

Our back porch a few weeks ago.

Our back yard with almost a foot of snow.

This was over a month ago when the snow melted and the turkeys found the corn that Eric fed to the deer. There were 18 turkeys in our front yard and poor Eric slept right through it :(

I just wanted to include a picture of my new corner shelf. My sister-n-law made it and it was my gift from the Yankee gift exhange we play on Christmas at Eric's grandparent's house.

This winter, on the Kerr Farm, it has been blistery....I mean horribly blistery. We had nearly two feet of snow at times, once the snow melts, there's mud and then it snows again. I'm keeping the thoughts of spring time in my head and I'm very excited of the thought. However, it makes me think of house projects. Our #1 priority is getting city water out to our house. I'd like to put up lattice and plaster rock on the outside garage walls. Eric and I also want to prepare a place for a garden, which will include an electric fence and a lot of work to the soil.

I've been stressed lately because it has taken 103 days for Consol Energy to provide Eric and me with insurance. I bought a internet hot spot device that was supposed to be awesome and it really sucks in Clay. Then add to the mix that Eric and I weren't invited to his grandfather's 80th birthday party. I was upset about that but, I'm over it now.

A Little Bit of Everything.....

2010-12-02T12:23:00.002-05:00

My lil' cousins, Niki & Taylor at Thanksgiving.

Lexi is looking straight at the camera. Kaylin Marie loves her baby cousin, Taylor.

Mom & Dad got the roof on their house, which is exciting. While we were on the roof, we got a nice view of guys on the cell phone tower, they were to the very top.

This is my niece, Jaidyn at Thanksgiving at Eric's Grandma & Grandpa's house.

I put out a lot of Christmas decorations this year. This is "Kerr's Carriage" given to me by my Aunt Brenda several years ago.

This is an ongoing house project: reupholstering my dining room chairs. Mom scored the new material (chair on the right) at a yard sale for 50 cents, I love it. I have 3 of the 6 chairs recovered.

Well, that was a quick run down of what's been going on in our lives for the past couple of months since I've blogged.

Good Times

2010-08-20T15:23:00.009-04:00

Our cookout was a wonderful success. We had great weather, delicious food, and of course, great company. So many of our friends and family came out and we want to thank each of them.

Jeff Gula, Kim, the Wu Family and Hussein (friends from work):
Marshall & Karl (friends from work):

Dad & Uncle Ricky:

Kristi, Jenn & Beth (friends from colleg):

Guy & Shirley Kelly:

Keith & Terra Burdette:

Tommy, Tom & Donna Williams (our neighbors):

The Butcher family & Lexi:

Aunt Valerie:

Diana, Jaidyn, Marsha & Gary, John & Teresa:

Teddy, JB, Madison & Matt:

Dad & me:

Mom, putting hamburgers together:

Doc & Judy:

Basil & Virginia Hershberger

Brantie Nottingham

Justin & Reathal:

Sandy & Len Martin:

Hussein & Noura:

Joy, Yeuming, Faith & April Wu:

Vera & Boyce:

Butcher:

JB, Paula & Matt

Rki (prego):

Lesley:

Thanks so much for Frankie for taking pictures, to everyone who brought food and/or drinks. Thanks to Eric for grilling, Tiny for fixing the grill. And especially to EVERYONE who helped build our wonderful house and helped with the cookout! WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Cookout Time

2010-07-16T14:37:00.002-04:00

We have finally scheduled our cookout to show off our new home. Please come and join us on August 7, 2010 at 3:00 PM. The food will be ready at about 5:00. Sorry, if I didn't have your e-mail address (I was going to put the link for the e-vite but, I don't want someone to have directions to my house)....so, please e-mail me at michellekerr25@yahoo.com, if you need directions!

We hope to see you there. You may need to bring some chairs.

The list of things that need accomplished before the cookout isn't too unrealistic but, we'll see.

Eric - just in case you see this - here is the list: (I LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR US!)

buy & install water filter
move dirt pile
install screens on windows
finish ceiling in basement
build walls & install doors in basement
straighten & clean ENTIRE basement
lattice under porches
lay block & rock on outside
landscaping
hang curtains, which I just ordered yesterday, I'm so excited for curtains!

Decorating 101

2010-07-07T13:23:00.003-04:00

This is a blank wall in the guest bathroom. Ten minutes later - it's my masterpiece. And the best part - no holes. I used Command hanging strips, they rock! The Wall Words were purchased at TJ Maxx - I love them and they even stick to the wood walls in the dining room.

I should have taken a picture of my shower curtain, it has light purple and green stripes - I swear this arrangement matches it. Frankie got me a shower curtain and accent towels for me for my house warming party at my 2nd to last house.

I had to throw some wedding pictures in too!

I can't show all my decorating styles and tips - you guys need to come see it in person! We have a tentative date for a cookout - August 7th - but, it's not set in stone. I'll let everyone know for sure.

Living & Loving It

2010-06-10T07:08:00.005-04:00

My kitchen is pretty much complete. I forgot my paper towel holder at the old house but, the kitchen is really nice, especially my dishwasher! This beautiful piece of furniture is a pie safe that Eric's dad made. The hearts fit right in.This is the computer room/spare bedroom with the twin bed. Mom drew the tiger picture, which I will always love. The word wall, "Count your Blessings" was especially easy to put on.

Willow loves the new furniture and so do we and so does Gracie and Jaidyn.

Casie painted this for Eric and me for Christmas.

Eric did this arrangement. Mom painted the saw on the left and Casie painted the one on the right. We're so lucky to have artists in the family!

See, I told you.

This mirror was the first thing we hung in the house.

Final Work Projects & 1st Move

2010-06-01T08:44:00.003-04:00

Diana gave me the idea of buying sticky tile to put in the bottom of the kitchen cabinets. Mom took on the task, which was a little difficult but, it looks great and I think will last great. It goes really well with our counter tops too. This dinette set was given to me by mom and dad, it was my great grandmothers, Dollie Stout Conrad Doss. Eric and I love it and it is so special. I plan to soon recover the chairs and make matching curtains. Once I get the house unpacked, that will be my first project.

Mom and I on moving day!

Our first lunch, actually sitting at the dining room table was Subway, and it was special! This is our first big move. I've been storing most of my belonging for 2 years and we got all of it moved in. This weekend, we plan to move everything from our current house into the new house.

This is the picnic table that Eric and his dad made. It is very nice and holds a lot of people.

Eric, with the help of Eugene and dad poured this concrete pad outside of the garage, which is very nice.

These are our new steps to the basement.

Once the decorating starts, I'll try to post some pics. Can you believe it, we're finished with construction. Well, the basement still needs some work but, I'm still moving in!

Getting So Close to Finish

2010-04-26T09:57:00.004-04:00

Here's the kitchen before counter tops.

Here's the kitchen after counter tops. We couldn't get the no drip edge because the back of the counter top wouldn't fit under the rock. The straight edge, though, fit perfectly under the rock.

My lovely walk-in-closet shelves that I'm so excited about!

This is paneling that is on the outside wall of the bathtub, where all the plumbing is.
By the way, we have water running in the house....through the pipes, not the walls!

The upstairs is 99% finished, we still have a few door locks to install, the shelf for above the washer and dryer, and the small bathroom sink vanity needs to be built but, that is pretty much all. Now, it's time to give the entire house a good cleaning and once the house is completely clean, we will start moving stuff in. But, we won't physically be moving in until the back deck is built and the basement is pretty close to being finished. Probably sometime in June, we'll be living there!

Progressing, little by little

2010-04-07T07:03:00.004-04:00

Here's dad chopping up a tree root, so that he can get the water pipe hooked to the well. Dad dug the water line ditch yesterday and hopefully this weekend Eric and his uncle, Clinton, will get the line put in.

Eric put these lights on the porch a few weeks ago.

This is a 100+ year old wormy chestnut beam. It was salvages from the deconstruction of his parent's first home. Eric and his grandpa chopped it up with an axe and painted it with polyurethane. I think it adds a lot of character to our ceiling. Notice the new light fixture that will hang over the dining room table.

These lights....I'm not crazy about but, we had a really hard time finding the right lights to hang over the mantle. They'll probably grow on me.

That's all for now.

Doors and More

2010-03-22T07:12:00.002-04:00

This is our septic tank. This is exciting because installing the septic is one of the last big and expensive projects. Dad and Teddy worked two days by themselves and Eric took off work on Friday to help them. Then Saturday dad pretty much got everything covered up.
We have 180 feet of leach line.

Teddy and Eric installed all the interior doors weekend before last. I learned the skill of installing door handles, which was actually quite simple. We're leaving everything natural. Stain is pretty but, we like the doors and walls just as they are.
What do we have left before we can move in? Build walk-in closet and over the washer and dryer shelving, install closet doors, run water from well to house, install hot water tank, put plywood up on ceiling of front porch, build back deck, Put insulation and plywood up in basement, poor concrete pad in front of garage, and wire kitchen and basement for electric. I'm sure there is more.....but, give us 2 months and we should be ready to move in.

Flooring Project Complete

2010-03-08T07:16:00.004-05:00

Honey Rose colored oak flooring went down in our Master Bedroom, walk-in closet, living room, dining room, and kitchen.Our brother-n-law, Scott really stepped up and was a lot of help. He provided most of the tools and lots of labor.Once the floor is clean, it will be beautiful!Mom and I even helped a little.Here is the finished product. The flooring makes the rooms look huge!

Finally, the french door was painted...now I just have to paint the outside.

Sorry, for not many pics....it's 7:30 and I've got to get to work!

More lights, more plumbing, & FLOORING!

2010-03-01T07:24:00.004-05:00

Eric, with the help of Grandpa Branti, Tony Massey, and the Boggs boys, installed flooring in the two small bedrooms. This is hickory....I love it and it will be prettier when it's clean! This is natural red oak...

New kitchen light

Dad has installed everything required to take a wonderful shower.....oh, except the water! But, I'm really excited to take a shower with this shower head.

Grandpa Brantie and Dad have pretty much completed the plumbing. They worked on it last Tuesday and were 5 joints of pipe short of being finished.

I'm not crazy about our vanity lights in the bathrooms. But, I had to choose something and this was the closest thing that I could find to something I like. I'm trying to find some glass globes that aren't $7.00 each. Once they are added, I think I will like it better.

2010-02-16T08:52:00.003-05:00

We now have a divider wall in between the garage and the basement. Plus, we got in our first load of fire wood!Eric and his dad built Eric's "hunting room" which will contain all his hunting clothes, his gun, tree stands, etc.They put log siding on the walls....once we get a ceiling, it will look nice. This is my wonderful pantry. The bin on the bottom will hold cans for recyclables and the top shelves will hold whatever I desire!Brantie (Grandpa) spent most of his time over the weekend doing plumbing and electrical work. We now have lights in the two small bedrooms.

This is the ceiling fan in the master bedroom.

Mom and dad did a lot of plumbing, here they are installing the sink faucets.

I took this picture standing in the small bedroom. They could hear us working but, it didn't bother them.

Tile and Tin

2010-02-08T14:22:00.005-05:00

Eric is now proud to say that he can lay porcelain tile. Dad showed him the basics and Eric did it. Of course, he had a little help here and there but, he worked really hard and about killed his back. Here is the foundation, hardy backing, that was screwed down onto the plywood.Next step, mortar, tile and spacers.Dad and Teddy had to cut a few pieces to fit in tight places. This is the guest bathroom/laundry room.

Voila.....here is the finished product. I love this tile. The grout was messy but, it was cleaned many times and sealed yesterday.

Dad had to read up on how to install our wood furnace. He did a great job and the wood burner works great. So great that Sunday when we were working, we had to shut it down b/c we got way too hot.

This is the master bathroom.

I love this tile too, it's a basic grey design that looks a lot like marble.

Mom and I did a lot of sanding and staining last weekend.

We have three doors installed on the kitchen cabinets and burgundy tin on the ceiling.

The kitchen is looking a little dark but, we're trying to find a bright kitchen light and also a light colored counter top. We'd like to have something light with burgundy flecks. If anyone can find a counter top that would go great in our kitchen....please forward it to us.

Here we are installing the sink bowls onto the bathroom sink counter tops.

Lot's of Progress

2010-01-27T08:27:00.007-05:00

Eric worked very hard putting the wood on the walls. Dad and I went to Elswick's Lumber and almost bought all the basswood they had. I really love the character this wood has.

Our flat screen will look beautiful above the mantel.....with the Corinthian bronze light fixtures on each side.

The wall to the right of the basement door is my favorite. I love the looks of the wood....Eric said that it's rot.....oh, well, it's pretty rot!

Heat and air ducts.....it's taking a REALLY long time for our heat and air system to get installed but, they are making progress. I think it's close to being finished. I had to design the pattern for this board that goes over the sink. I thought hearts would be cute...we have hearts in our rock wall. Of course, Eric doesn't like this but, I do. I thought Teddy did a great job cutting my pattern out but, he doesn't really like it either. What do you guys think???

Small bathroom sink cabinet.

Double bowl sink cabinet and medicine cabinet in our master bathroom. The faucets cost twice as much as both cabinets, including the bowls.......seriously!!!!

Mom finished the mural last weekend, thankfully, she's alright! She added a beautiful deer into the scenery but, I forgot to get a picture of it.....I'll get it soon.

I worked on my paint job, doing some needed trimming. Dad put log siding (same as on the outside) up on this wall in our master bedroom.

I helped very little but, when dad needed me to hold something I was there. Plus I made some awesome Taco Soup for lunch....YUM! I think the final product turned out wonderfully. We are going to keep these logs completely natural.

Last weekend, Teddy and Eric worked really hard on making our kitchen cabinets. They are custom white pine, which we will stain red mahogany.

Mr. Eric was worried that I wasn't going to have enough cabinet space, so worried that he thought I should send back my dishwasher. I told him he was crazy...I do have a full pantry that is the size of a small bathroom.

I think the cabinets are looking great. Teddy has two more doors to make b/c we ran out of lumber. Then, we have to stain and add the hardware and they're done!

I need help. We are putting tin on the celing in the kitchen/dining room. We don't know what color will work. Our sink faucet and lighting is bronze......so what color would look good???? Hopefully you can see the available colors on the picture below. If you think you have a good eye for color, let me know and I will send you the pdf and you can get a lot better look at this. I'd really apprecite your opinion b/c we're going to need to order the tin asap! Thanks!

Back to Work

2010-01-11T11:00:00.003-05:00

Hunting season is over, the holidays are over and it's time to get back to work on the house. Eric and I spent all last weekend at his mom and dad's house. Eric and his dad made 2 cabinets for our bathroom sinks and one medicine cabinet. We are so fortunate to have a wood working shop at our convenience. Teddy is teaching Eric all his skills so hopefully Eric will be able to do this work on his own one of these days. This is the frame, notice the 3 drawers are different sizes. They did that all on their own.Eric covered the inside with this paper that looks like old boards.
The stain is Red Mahogany and the knobs are brushed nickel. Our sink faucets are brushed nickel also.We still have to mount the sinks onto the vanity top but, that will be once we are ready to install them in the house.If all goes well, they will start making our kitchen cabinets soon, which will look very similar. We thought about going with another color stain but, we like this so well, we will probably go ahead and do the kitchen cabinets in red mahogany also.

Caffe Latte & the Wood Furnace

2009-11-17T07:10:00.007-05:00

It's hunting season and my husband warned me that working on the house was going to stop until after hunting season. Well, I'm not a hunter, so I'm doing what I can. I had three different companies give me a quote for installation of our heating and cooling system. Hopefully this week, we will be getting that installed. We went Saturday and purchased a wood furnace, which will definitely keep our house warm. But, on those days when Eric is out hunting or we are away for a couple of days, the heat pump will kick on. Our rock back splash in the kitchen has been done for quite some time but, I don't think I ever got a picture of it up.

In October Eric and my dad made a trip to Colorado for a Elk hunting trip. They had a great time. I made a goal that I was going to get the house painted while Eric was gone since he despises painting. My cousin loaned us a sprayer to stain the outside of the house and we still had it. I figured that since I was working alone, spraying was the only way that I would get it all done. I took off work on Thursday, taped all the ceilings off and painted the primer coat. I was out on the farm all alone until 8:30 pm. It was dark and extremely scary. We only have 2 lights in the whole house and none on the outside! Then Friday evening I painted the first coat of color and Saturday I sprayed the second coat. The color is caffe latte and I love it. It's a beautiful color of paint. I'm sure you can't see its true beauty in this picture of the bathroom wall. It was a difficult 3 days but, I got the house painted and Eric was very happy with my efforts.

While I was painting and being too difficult to work with (I was being a brat), Mom was in the basement painting Eric a fall scene on the concrete block wall. Here is stage one. Stage two will consist of deer. Eric loves it so far. We both can't wait to see how it turns out.

Hopefully, it won't be so long until my next post.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T12:42:00.005-04:00

The finished product. I am very proud of Eric for all the work he's been doing. I am very thankful to Grandpa Brantie, Teddy, and mom and dad for all their help!

Mixing the Quick Crete for the Rock Wall

The stairs to our new beautiful front porch!

Eric and Teddy worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday building the porch. They really worked their butts off. Dad helped with the stairs.

The building continues

2009-08-26T15:21:00.005-04:00

We finally got a load of material from Lowes, which consisted of OSB and Drywall for inside and the building materials for the front porch. Mom and dad ordered their block from Lowes last week and they might get it next week. They’ve had trucks to break down and drivers in the hospital so it is hard to get a delivery right now.

Thanks to my uncle Basil, we have a beautiful, level front yard. Basil spent most of his younger days on a dozer and now he is up in his years and still has the touch. He did a wonderful job on our yard! We thank him so much and thank God that he is still able to get out and work like in his younger days.

This Saturday Eric and I plan to install this beautiful handmade wood mantel. Eric cut it out himself, sanded it, and varnished it. We plan to hang it on the living room wall, which will be covered with natural creek rock and our, soon to be purchased, flat screen will hang over the mantel. More pictures to come.

Wiring & Insulation

2009-08-17T08:16:00.004-04:00

Dad dozing on our yard.

Wiring in the living room.

A dry wall putter - upper....provided by Uncle Boyce.

Installing insulation in the ceiling.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry. I forgot the digital camera and had to use my phone.

For the past few weeks, Eric has been working diligently on the wiring. He, along with the help of his dad, his grandpa, and my dad, have managed to get the upstairs completely wired for electricity. Plus, last week, Allegheny Power came out and hooked up to the main power pole and ran underground to our house. We are very excited to have power now!

Also, the walls were insulated a couple of weeks ago and this past Saturday, we got insulation in the ceiling. So, our walls are ready for dry wall.....very exciting! Dad has been working a lot on dozing the dirt around the house to make our yard nice and level.

Cedar Stained Siding

2009-07-21T13:35:00.006-04:00

To all my followers: Cookout on August 1st, 2009 6:30 pm....come and join us for some food and good times, plus you can check out the house in person!
We wanted the color of cedar and I think we got it. Eric and I are happy with the color. What do you guys think?

This looks dangerous, doesn't it?

This side litterally took about 15 minutes to stain...even with two coats.

This "high side" was the first side that they attempted. It was the hardest and took the longest to do.

This is my cousin, Tiny, he graciously helped us apply the stain to the log siding. With this fancy spayer, it made for a pretty easy job. I can say that b/c I was only gophering and taking pics....but, I'm sure it was a lot easier than brushing or rolling the stain on.

We have absolutely had so much help on our house. My cousin Butch helped us out tremondously on getting the stain.

Sunny House

2009-07-13T10:34:00.004-04:00

There is a dug well behind the house, it's probably been there since before the 1950's. We didn't have any idea if we could use it for water or not but, my dad had Dale Grose to bring his well drilling rig out and clean out the well. He pulled a bunch of trash out of it & FOUND WATER. So, we are really excited and think that we may be able to run our house on this well. This is a picture of some the metal dad pulled out with a magnet. The well is 88 feet deep and there's about 15 feet of water. Dale told us that it will pump about 8 gallons a minute.

I called today and ordered a water testing kit just to make sure the water is safe for drinking. I'm going to pay to have the water tested for arsenic, fluoride, lead, and nitrates. I also have to call another lab to have it tested for bacteria. It never hurts to be safe! Eric thinks I'm crazy and am wasting the money but, I don't care. If there is something bad in it, he'll be apologizing to me.

Dad went out on the farm this morning and took this picture. It is really the best picture of the house, yet. You can actually see the color of the roof. Eric said that it looked like a picture out of a magazine.

Check out our siding!

2009-07-10T08:08:00.004-04:00

Our house looks really tall here!

Eric and I both love our burgundy door & think it goes great with the siding, hopefully it will go great with the color of the stain! We are getting a cedar color and hopefully by next weekend.

This picture was taken from inside & it was raining.

We've had outlet boxes in for a while, I just forgot to get a picture of them.

Everything is still messy outside but, that will change soon! The outside of the house is pretty much finished, we just need to get gutters and build the porch and deck.

Eric's Uncle Clinton & his crew are doing a wonderful job, especially considering this is the first time that they've installed this type.

The corners make it look like real logs....they were the corners alone cost almost as much as all the siding!

June 19, 2009

2009-06-22T07:29:00.005-04:00

We've had the trim up around the windows and doors for a couple of weeks now but, I'm just getting the picture up. We hope to get the siding installed sometime within the next two weeks. We love our garage door. I plan to paint the side door the same color brown.

I absolutely love our front door after mom and I painted it. It matches our roof perfectly.

The focus of this weekends work was getting our water line installed. Dad rented this bobcat/ditch witch. We have over 3,000 feet of water line to run and therefore lots of digging. Well, dad and Eric didn't exactly know what they were doing but, they did try their best. They got about 120 feet of the line in, in 7 and 1/2 hours. They ran into a lot of rock, which makes for extremely hard digging. We have called several "professional ditch diggers" to get estimates and no one has called us back. So, we're not exactly sure what's going to happen with the water line. But, dad and Eric did get in our power line and now we're just waiting on the power company to do their job!

Windows...June 6, 2009

2009-06-08T09:54:00.010-04:00

Awwwhh...8 beautiful windows. We love them!

Eric on the Kubota Tractor, he loves getting his picture taken!

Here is a great foundation for our stairs that lead to the kitchen.

Teddy, Brantie, and Eric sawing out the stairs.

This is the brainstorming session on "how to do the stairs."

Here is the view of the windows from inside.

Here is the first window that was installed and I have quite a funny story to share. The 2nd window to be installed was opened from the cardboard and the plastic was taken off. Just as they were getting ready to install......I noticed it was BROKEN. OMG....we couldn't believe the window was broken. We (dad, Teddy, Eric, and Brantie) opened another one, it was broken too. Then we opened up another one....It was BROKEN too! We couldn't believe it, 3 out of 4 windows were broken. I frantically tried to get ahold of the distributer, no one was in the office and I left a message on the reps house phone! Eric was worried to death that they wouldn't replace the broken windows b/c we had them in our possession for 2 months. I assured him that I would have everything taken care of. Well, we decided not to open anymore windows until we heard from the distributor and knew how they were going to deal with our HUGE problem. So, in the mean time, Teddy & Brantie worked on building our stairs, Eric, Dad, and I worked on filling gravel around our drains and prepping for the backfill. So, we worked for several hours and then after lunch we were upstairs checking out the 1 window that was able to be installed. THERE WAS A CRACK IN IT AS WELL! It was very small but, sure enough a crack.......Well, after a few more minutes of panic, my dad decided to feel the crack with his finger nail and it was glue that looked so much like a crack, it fooled us all. We proceeded to check the rest of the "cracks" and they were glue, very deceiving glue. WHAT A RELIEF! Our windows are fine, we still had the afternoon to get them installed and so now we have windows! Crazy & Funny day!

Mom and I gathered some scrap material and made this wonderful dining table.

This is our shower in the master bath.

This is the shower/tub in the guest bathroom.

It's a Wrap

2009-06-02T17:50:00.003-04:00

Exactly 1 year prior to when this picture was taken, Eric and I were standing very close to this exact spot, exchanging our wedding vowels. We spent our anniversary working on our house but, it was still a good day.

Mom and I swept out the whole basement. It's still not very clean but, way better than before. Eric helped a little but, him and dad worked really hard putting the house wrap on the outside of the house.

May 31, 2009

Lowes should be paying us for this advertisement!

We have a door

2009-05-19T07:15:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Mrs. Erin E-C, I got the adirondack chair fever. Eric and I lucked into these babies. We watered proofed them and they go great with the bench that we used in our wedding. In the future, they will become deck chairs.

Eric, dad, Teddy and Grandpa installed this french door in our dining room, which will eventually lead out to the deck. I will probably pain the door burgundy to match the roof.

The job wasn't as easy as they hoped it would be. The door fit tightely in the hole.

TIN ROOF....Burgundy

2009-05-12T07:16:00.001-04:00

RB Roofing and CN Contracting was kind enough to lend a helping hand in putting the tin on our roof. If anyone needs work done, let me know and I'll get you their phone numbers. Business advertisment is the least I can do! Also, Frankie's bf, John helped a lot!

Of course, Teddy, dad, and Grandpa Branti helped.

Eric is trimming the tin and doing a great job!

Gracie, Casie & Diana came to sneek a peak at the progress. Mom, Frankie, Gracie and I took a walk to the top of the mountain. Mom and Dad have a swimming pool where they are digging the basement for their house.

Here Eric & Teddy are taking a sit down but, work is going on in their head....The work on our house really has just began!

The view of our roof from above.

We have a house....almost.

2009-05-05T07:05:00.000-04:00

They all worked to almost dark. I think it's beautiful! Stay tuned....we're hoping next weekend that we will be able to get our tin on! Then our house will be "dried in".

Over half of the roof trusses are on. I love the tree, but its top needs cut badly.

Tony Massey, Clinton, and Scott waiting for the next truss. I know these guys are working hard but, I think they truly enjoy being up on top of a house, especially with the view that they have up on the farm.

Eric is walking out the front door and down our, hopefully, temporary stairs.

Here is a ladder standing in my walk-in-closet.

Teddy, Scott and Eric.

There were 3-4 guys on the ground lifting the trusses to about 4-5 guys on the roof. Then there were a couple of guys on the house floor with a 2X4 to help support the truss. They are so big and heavy!

Here's Scott nailing on a roof truss. It is so awesome that we are getting a roof!

Eric and one of his bff's, David. David lives in Ohio but, travels to WV often for hunting and just soaking in some good ole' WV good livin!

These guys needed a lunch break. Thanks to mom for making food and Diane for sending food. We had plenty to feed these hungry workers. Even the first watermelon of the season! YUM!

Our friends were so much help. Eric's uncle Clinton, who has his own contractor's business helped out a lot and our brother-n-law Scott was just like a monkey climbing around on top of the walls....well, a monkey who knows how to hammer!

Grandpa Brantie, cutting a board.

This is the front of the house. The front door is in the center, the 3 windows will be in the living room and the window on the right is one small bedroom.

When I left the house site, we had a floor. The next time I got there, it looked like this. Eric and his friends from Ohio got together in the mornings for a nice turkey hunt and then came to work on our house in the afternoon. I really appreciate all the hard work everyone put into our house last week! THANK YOU!

And there is our floor, the hole is for the stairwell to the basement. I think it is beautiful!

Everyone is getting a close look at the floor.

Almost finished with the floor

Dad is making sure the trusses are nice and level.

Eric's grandpa was a big help, even though is was going through a cancer treatment on his face and had to keep it covered from the sun.

Here is a shot from the basement floor.

Here Eric is nailing the floor truss to the top plate of our basement wall.

Almost half of the floor trusses are on!

Floor Trusses

2009-04-14T07:19:00.001-04:00

Frankie & John and the boys came home for Easter. John and his boys were a huge help! Frankie......not so much. LOL!

Half of our floor trusses are on!

This is Brian....I think he likes being high up.

John and Johnny helping Eric with the saw.

Look, there's me, holding down a board. I actually cut a couple of boards with Eric's new skill saw but, I got saw dust in my eyes. No, I didn't have safety glasses on....I will next time. We already have our windows - when it's time to frame up the outside walls, we'll be ready.

This is at mom and dad's future house site. Isn't the view beautiful?

Dad is almost half way finished digging for his basement.

More work crew pictures.

Teddy helped us get the top plate on our block. It didn't look as easy as it sounds.

Video of the hard work

2009-04-06T13:59:00.000-04:00

We have a basement floor!

2009-04-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

Eugene is the man....he and Aaron finished the floor. It is smooth and beautiful!Parts of the concrete weren't completely dry, so Eugene was brave enough to be lifted into the basement, hanging from a rope tied to a back hoe.....can you say dangerous?

It's almost complete...

We had an amazing turn out for help. Nine guys were there to smooth out 21 yards of concrete.

Eagle view of the project

Still in the beginning

2009-03-31T13:22:00.000-04:00

Dad, Eric, and Tony had a hard time getting this keyway down. Monday evening we went up on the farm, only to find that the wind had gotten under the plastic and ripped up some stakes. Eric and Dad worked hard and with the help of mom and me, the floor is ready for concrete. If the weater cooperates, we'll pour this Saturday!

In the beginning....

2009-03-30T12:15:00.000-04:00

Here is the ground breaking ceremony. My dad is on the backhoe digging for our basement. The area right where the bucket is will be where we drive into the garage.

Now we have a HUGE hole. I'm thinking....what a mess!

With the help of my everyone and most of the digging by Eric's Uncle Clinton, our basement foundation is complete. He hit a lot of rock, which made it a little harder to dig but, the rock made a great foundation for our house. One corner wasn't quite big enough, so my uncle Ricky had to come in and make a few final digs to get it just right.

Pouring the footers went very smooth. We purchased a new system, called "form-a-drains" they are a combination of forms and drains. They are supposed to be a lot better and easier, however more expensive. The concrete yardage called for 8.5 yards. We ordered 9 yards, just to be safe. The concrete truck came from Summersville. We had 7 guys helping, so it went very fast. And when all the footers were filled with concrete. Dad had the driver to pour what was left over on to the floor.....it was about enough to fill an icecream bucket. Talking about close....we were right on for our concrete! Let's hope that pouring the concrete for the floor goes as smoothly!

Our good friend Eugene and a crew of about 10 guys laid our basement walls up in about 10 hours. The walls look great and sturdy!

Eric's friend Tony helps lay plastic, wire, and keywall....in order to get the floor ready for concrete.

Our brother-n-law, Scott helped paint tar on the outside of our block walls and cover with plastic for extra protection against water.

We have a little bit of time for play. Here's Gracie playing some tee-ball!