Lot's of Progress

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

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

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

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

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

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.