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birthdays and gardening

in ,

Someone had a birthday this month - and that someone has an affinity for chocolate. In his honor I made this chocolate cake with berries and cream. I have to say - it was quite delicious. We munched on it for a week...mmmmmmm cake.

birthdaycake

I have also got my little garden going, thanks to john and his superior building skills. He has built me a start of 3 garden boxes. I think in a few years this garden might actually produce some yield (if i don't kill everything first.) The berry bushes we inherited from friends have taken off nicely and are already producing some delicious raspberries/blackberries. Can't wait for the blueberry bush to come in and the few peaches we have on our trees. I have also discovered we have wild blackberries ALL over the yard. I suppose I might try to transplant a few of them - although they seem more bitter (maybe good for pies or jam though?)

Here's to a short week!

the munchkin

in ,

At 21 weeks we got another sneak peak - finally starting to look like a human:

21weeks

So this week the family is out boating in the BVI. Being 6 months pregnant (and really needing all of my vacation days for when the munchkin arrives) I opted out of going. Working while everyone else is out on the ocean isn't fun, but at least I have plenty to keep me busy. I've started clearing out the guest room and yesterday put together the crib. It's all starting to get real and still a lot of work to be done.

munchkinroom

it's been awhile

in ,

I'd like to apologize for the hiatus - things have been a bit crazy around here (see below).

bun in oven 

So lets see here - whats new - We spent the entire fall/winter waiting on a kitchen table that never arrived. It's a long story but ended with us demanding money back and purchasing a new table from somewhere else. I love it - now we just need chairs......Sullivan of course volunteered to check it out first and make sure all was satisfactory.

table

And now it's spring! Finally. After what seemed like forever and 2 snow storms ( i know it doesn't seem like a lot to anyone who doesn't live in the south - but for us it was monumental) Spring is here and our yard is already getting way out of control again. Even after pillaging it all winter for firewood.

firewood

Now that spring is officially here. I've been putting john to work in the yard digging out giant stumps and building me some raised garden beds. So excited to get those going started from seeds this year, we'll see how that goes - my black thumb doesn't tend to like to make things grow - HA!

While walking around the yard the other day I did discover 2 random peach trees. I suspected them of being peach trees last year, but never saw any peaches - this spring however, we've got a few buds going, so i'm hoping I can keep the squirrels away long enough to get a few. Mmmmmm peaches.

peachtrees

I know it's going to be a busy rest of spring and an even busier summer and fall with the little one joining us mid August. I will try to be better about posting and not let it be another 5 months with out a post :)

Happy Spring!

mostly done

in ,

Not a whole lot of action in the kitchen since the last post. Just some last odds and ends. The contractor is done (aside from the door he broke the other day so we're getting a whole new door  - but that is the absolute last thing he's got to do.

Since then - John's been working on the sanding and staining of all that wood in there. It took us a while to decide on a color - but  we finally found one we both agree on - and I think it looks great! Still more to do on the other side of the kitchen - but the cooking area is done!

20140107_kitchen

finishing touches

in ,

Thanksgiving is over - and everyone's gone back home. The kitchen is...well...it's almost finished.

The guys were back yesterday, hard at work, putting up the ladder rail and knobs and draw pulls installed. Now just a few more finishing touches and this kitchen will be complete and we can have our house back to ourselves (not that we haven't enjoyed chatting it up with all the contractors every morning and evening.)

:)kitchen_finishing1

Oh and that kitchen table we were waiting on for thanksgiving - wont be ready until Christmas now - guess it's a good thing we had a back up!

countdown to T-Day (1 day)

in ,

With the Nowak's and Porter's in the house the contractors were sure to get us a working kitchen for the big day. But judging from the pics from the day before - they still had a very long way to go - I wasn't holding my breath.

They were at the house all day working hard - at one point I think I counted 8 contractors in the kitchen working...

Not to be detoured by the noise in the kitchen we all hung out in the living room watched some movies - went out for lunch and generally just tried to stay out of their way - while still having a good time, and a few drinks. The sun set and Kent started making his now famous "Outlaws" for us - while I made coffee for the workers - who were still at it.

Finally around 8pm they said they were as done as they were going to get - the lights, stove, sink, fridge and dishwasher were all working - so they were going to clean up and go.  They had made good on their promise - while the kitchen wasn't done - it was definitely functional at 9pm when the contractors left the house.

T-1day

No sooner had they closed the front door  - than we started up the baking - it was going to be a long night.

the list of goodies was short, but time consuming. But I could think of no better way to break in a new kitchen than with a large batch of Porter Rolls (even if it did take until 2am - thanks for staying up mom!)

nothing like a porter roll right out of the oven - even at 2am

countdown to T-Day (5 days)

in ,

well. the new, updated timeline puts us with a finish date of wed. nothing like cutting it close!

but. we did have some progress yesterday. there has been a huge hold up with the tile, it was ordered the place just wasn't delivering. long story short it took a ton of phone calls and trips up there, along with the constant nagging of our contractor, and 1 month+ after he ordered "in stock" tile, we finally got it in our hands, and it looks great!

tile guy is coming back today to finish up, then its off to the races on monday!kitchen_t-5days

countdown to T-Day (7 days)

in ,

Ok so I know I said i'd post something everyday, BUT that was when i thought there would be work done every day.

Tuesday went by with nothing done, and yesterday they were putting the final coat down on the floor - so i couldn't walk on it.

Today is the big "work" day - so hopefully I'll have some good stuff for everyone in the morning.

fingers crossed!

and now for your viewing pleasure, since I have no updated images of the kitchen,

everyone's FAVORITE grumpy bunny, FRANK!

frank

leveled

in ,

I thought I should post this before they "knock it all out in a week"

Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I have been assured that this kitchen will be done for Thanksgiving, yet I have my doubts on this. After 2 weeks away we thought we'd come home to some appliances in the actual kitchen, just unpainted doors. It's taken some time, but I do believe that everything is now level and straight and hung.

With the help of many, many, many shims.

20131103_231005

But then they took it all down again to get painted....and there we waited , and waited.

So with 12 days and counting until T-day  - still left to do:

- Reinstall of cabinet doors, moulding, misc wood

- install hardware

- install all appliances

- install lights, under cabinet and pendant

- finish island

- install sink/disposal

- put in countertops

- install ladder poll and hardware

- paint

Not to mention actually unpacking the kitchen items that have been spread throughout the whole house at this point.worried?? who's worried?

:)

kitchen progress...we have progress

in ,

We have started seeing progress and it's great. The cabinets were delivered and are being put together. They've told us that our walls are not straight (the house was built in the 1900s, I know the walls aren't even close to being straight - hahaha) and they've had to use a lot of shims to get everything straight. BUT we have progress and we have been promised that it will be done in time for Thanksgiving. The cabinet doors, counters, and island should all get done while we're across the ocean. We're hoping that all goes well, as I am not sure how or when we will be able to get to the internet to answer emails.

 

kitchen01

kitchen02

kitchen03

kitchen04

kitchen05

kitchen06

 (this is the wall where the stove/fridge/pantry will be)

We traveled to Thomaston,GA to pick up an old library ladder we found on craigslist the other weekend. It is in great shape, I'm hoping this hole ladder thing works out :) We have also been shopping around for a kitchen table. Finally settled on one over the weekend, we're also keeping our fingers crossed that that will be done by thanksgiving....otherwise maybe we can have a picnic on the floor . HA!

There should be a lot more done for the next post - so keep checking back!

we have floors!

in ,

 

 sullivan_flooring

Yep you read correctly. We finally have floors, real ones.  Can't tell you how exciting it is to walk on floors that aren't sticky from old linoleum. Sullivan was checking them out to make sure it was the white oak he ordered. The first floors delivered were the wrong wood, so he had to double check.

Floors are now in, stained and varnished. They look amazing. Now we just need to get some cabinets in there!floors

this one's for you pops

in ,

While waiting on this to progress with the kitchen - we've decided to go ahead and tackle some of the smaller things in the other rooms - heaven forbid we have one room that isn't ripped apart and disgusting.

table

This coffee table has been through it all. An old library table (with the legs chopped off), that was one of the first pieces of furniture my parents owned as a married couple. It  made it through my childhood and came with us to atlanta when we moved. Not having space for it in our old house it became a porch table and got a bit.....weathered.

While it is still a porch table at the new place - the porch is much bigger and more covered  -  I thought it could use a bit of a facelift. So it got sanded, stained and sealed and is back on the porch.

kitchen part 2: the plans

in ,

Finally some forward progress. After months of back and forth - we've finally solidified the plans - and they are mostly within budget. While negotiating we had to do some reconfiguring and I ended up doing some (oh so amazing) sketches - i've posted them next to their real drawing counter parts.

Floor Plans

Looking towards the front of the house:

kitchen_plans_1

Looking out over the sink:

kitchen_plans_2

Looking out the back door and the kitchen/bar nook:

kitchen_plans_3

In preparation for the (hopefully soon) start of our kitchen renovation - we spent a good part of sunday scraping up all the old glue left on the floor after pulling up the linoleum - exciting I know. And john dismantled the island  and frank got moved to a new home in another part of the house.

Starting to look a bit empty in there...

  

SOLD

in ,

Yep you read correctly - Rockyford is SOLD - making our lives so much less crazy (but still crazy).

After many back and forths, fixes, inspections, more fixes, more inspections, texts asking about paint colors and if they could keep our lock box ( ummmm no.....), we have finally closed. It's done.done.done. While I will miss our little house on Rockyford - I am definitely happy to be rid of it - now we can move on to bigger and better things - like the kitchen (coming soon to a blog near you)

SOLD

nowaks 1 - rat 0

in ,

After many traps and a late night chase through the house (sullivan found him hiding in the bookcase) ending in the rat leaping through a hole in the kitchen wall - we thought all was lost. Although proud that our dog had managed to find him and "tree" him. We set a trap or him inside the hole and as our luck would have it - we got him...we were overjoyed: 

and on a lesser note - While settling in to his new home Sullivan has yet to learn that the 2nd door on the porch won't open to let him in. No matter how hard the tries: