SSDreamin Blessings and curses

[Dawn419]

I only share my Bunny Gold with my mom since she appreciates it and seems blown away that I'm willing to share it with her! Never thought I'd see the day that I could give my mom s**t and make her day instead of gettin' my butt whipped for it!

Your "old" neighbors place sounds fantabulous! Doc and I have dreams of our cabin being "pieced together" the same way, as far as the interior goes.

Loved the incident that happened at the cemetary! I am so sorry for your loss but I think it was your dear son telling you that it was okay and he loves you and is always here with you. I have found at least 4 unique finds on our land and everytime I found one of them I have been thinking about my uncle or grandad, whom I both miss dearly.

Did the blackberry's I sent you survive? If not, I'll send you some more when Spring comes (for you), my dime.

 

[SSDreamin]

We are experimenting with our poo - trying to find the compost mix that works best for us. I'm not giving away half my experiment! Besides, I didn't say NO, I just said they'd have to come help clean up the 'over used' spots in the pasture

Denim Deb
Whereas I would only be more than happy to give someone as much horse poop as they could use.

Our next door neighbors horses 'got out' while we were gone the other day (I know they were in our yard, I just suspect it wasn't an accident ), so I told DH I'm gonna go around and gather 'apples' to add to a small portion of compost! Horse poo seems to be the magic bullet around here - if you lived close, I'd be taking you up on that offer! You can just call me the mad scientist of poo

I only share my Bunny Gold with my mom since she appreciates it and seems blown away that I'm willing to share it with her! Never thought I'd see the day that I could give my mom s**t and make her day instead of gettin' my butt whipped for it!

Your "old" neighbors place sounds fantabulous! Doc and I have dreams of our cabin being "pieced together" the same way, as far as the interior goes.
I wish I had half the vision they do - I can look at a space and picture what it could be, but they see piece's and are able to fit them together, like a really cool puzzle

Loved the incident that happened at the cemetary! I am so sorry for your loss but I think it was your dear son telling you that it was okay and he loves you and is always here with you. I have found at least 4 unique finds on our land and everytime I found one of them I have been thinking about my uncle or grandad, whom I both miss dearly.


Did the blackberry's I sent you survive? If not, I'll send you some more when Spring comes (for you), my dime.
I was a bit worried when I transplanted them this past Spring, but they seem to have taken root and are doing fine! I just put them to bed for the winter last week

 

[Denim Deb]

And if you lived closer, I'd take you up on that.

 

[SSDreamin]

DH is on 'permanent' lay off While I am pleased to be getting things squared away, I am in panic mode, which usually happens when he's laid off. We have a bunch of 'extra' stuff up for sale on CL. This is our first time using it, and I HATE it! One real sale and a bunch of scams :/ Wish we could find buyers for the big stuff - real buyers - that would make me less freaked out. DH is fighting me on everything. I want to eliminate the satellite, or at the very least cut it to the bone, but he refuses. I want to shop for cheaper internet, but he refuses :/

Just in case I wasn't spazzing enough, we got a $27,000 hospital bill the other day! Insurance is arguing about it, so the hospital decided we should just pay it, cut out the insurance company!

We talked to the bank about the 'old' house. We are going to do a deed in lue DH went over to shut down the place/winterize it, and found that they had drained the hot water heater - in the house! It ran under the floors. Pulled up warped laminate, to find mold and mildew everywhere Between that, and everything else they broke/destroyed, it would cost us about $5,000 to get it back to liveable condition. We don't have $5 right now, so we're letting it go. I am upset that we have to take this route, but I will honestly be relieved to be done with it. Can't find a lawyer who will represent us for garnishment, so either I have to try to do it myself, or we're just out $10,000. Gah! So depressing!!

We finished (and by we, I mean DH ) clearing the brush out of the pastures. Reseeded them, and fenced off the cows. Yeah, right! Ferdinand is so small, he goes through whatever fencing we put up, and Ice Cream figures out how to get out, then bawls for us to come let her back in! So, between that and the bitter weather we've had, I think we wasted seed. At least we only used half, so we can try again if need be. I can't get over the difference cleaning up the pasture has made! It looks so nice now!

Our pig girls MUST be happy! The winds from the remnants of Sandy blew their hutch over, onto the fence, leaving a big gaping spot for them to exit. They stayed put! DH flipped it back over and stacked it into the ground a bit better. As soon as it was back, they ran in and started playing in the straw They run around all the time, barking! I've never had pigs, so I didn't know they barked! I have to say, nobody can say these girls didn't have a great life!

We have been using our wood stove pretty regular for a while now, and so far it's great! A fraction of the wood used as the outdoor boiler, and it stays toasty in here! DH 'made' a doorway, so the bathroom/game room stay nice and warm now too.

DH is using some old cabinets we got to make me a kitchen island! It will be 5 foot square, with lots of cupboard and counter space, plus he's building in a drop in area for the meat and wheat grinders, strainer, etc. to go Right now, the top will be made out of plywood he got from work - 7 ply, that they used for forms, that they were going to throw away! I went online and picked out the laminate for the top though - he said we'll redo the laminate on the counters too, so I found a cool pattern, in two shades. A light one for the counter, and a darker one for the island. And some stick down tile to 'match'. I only hope it's not all discontinued before we can afford to buy it The color for the island only came in 5 x 8, so DH said he'd use the leftover to redo the counter in the bathroom We are using leftover paint to do the kitchen walls, and leftover stain to help the cabinets match. There will be a small, 6 inch by 2 foot space at the end of one set of cabinets, that he's making into a bookshelf for me! Oh, before you wonder how on earth it will fit, the kitchen is 13 x 28, with cupboards along one long and one short wall. I will have so much cupboard and counter space, I won't know what to do with it all!! My kitchen table still fits in there too, and my baker's rack, so for big kitchens

The guys are getting ready to go up hunting, and i have my to-do list all ready for while they're gone. I am going to chisel out the broken tiles in the bathroom floor and replace them with some extras I have from my wood stove backboard project (easier to do when they aren't home, so the mastic has time to dry), sand and paint the ceramic tile trim in the bathroom (it's black, and I want tan), make one of DS#2's Christmas presents, sew up insulating curtains for the livingroom and bathroom, paint some trim that has been bugging me (it is painted part way with dark brown, part with ivory - yuck!) and, if I have time, I'll paint the kitchen. Best part is, none of it will cost anything out of pocket! I plan to use scraps/paint leftovers/and an old blanket! I think I'm being overly optimistic, but I hope I can get it all done and surprise them when they get home!

I dehydrated a bunch of tomatoes that were rock hard and wouldn't ripen completely, then I ground them up into tomato powder. Four softball sized tomatoes made 1/2 pint of powder Been dehydrating everything I can get my hands on lately! I have a feeling we're definitely going to need it all, if the lay off lasts as long as expected :/ Really need to get cracking on canning up the pork and venison that's left in the freezer, so there's plenty of room for some more!

I have lots to do, and I'm running out of daylight, so I better get off here. Hopefully, I can post pictures of my finished projects soon!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So sorry about the lay off, but hooray on the new kitchen island!

 

[Denim Deb]

You'll have to post some pics when you're done.

 

[BarredBuff]

Sorry about his layoff.

 

[SSDreamin]

Thanks for the Layoffs are the nature of the beast in his line of work (he builds bridges), but this one really stings - it was a pretty bad year, and an earlier-than-normal layoff is just the icing on a nasty poo cake for us

OK, picture time!

First up is the fireplace backer I made from six different colors/styles of scrap tile we had from other remodel jobs. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Next is the right side of my kitchen. Not technically a 'before' picture, since the island is already in (try to picture the room with just the table and chairs in that gigantic empty space). A few things to note: The shiny silver along the back counters is foil backed insulation - there are beautiful glass block as a 'back splash' along that wall (the NORTH wall ) which looks nice and lets more light in, but is COLD in winter! The kitchen has a drop ceiling now, that is dirty and ugly that DH is going to raise/drywall. Also note the missing tile. It seems that they had run out of the lovely blue tile, and left it that way :/ The bakers rack is just beyond the shadow, around the corner to the right.

This is the left side of the kitchen. Please excuse the stuff piled up on top of the frig I didn't do well showing it, but we use a rigged-up light above the stove right now, with a grocery bag taped to the wall blocking the vent opening - that will change!

This is a closer shot of the island and the back counter. Can you see the missing drawer back there? Hopefully, DH will be able to make an exact copy of another drawer to put in there!

So, the plan is: New counters, sand and refinish ALL cabinets (the original ones are smoke damaged - they never had a fire here, but they DID have a faulty FP that filled the entire house with smoke at some point, and doing all of them will help tie them/the island together, as they are two different styles), replace the flooring, replace the sink (I hate that thing! You can't set a glass in it - it'll slide down to the drain, and break. Ask me how I know ). I want to paint all the hardware too, as they are different styles too. The style I love, is on the island cabinets - replacing the other to match on all the old cabinets would be crazy expensive, so I'm hoping paint will do the trick. Painting the walls and trim, replacing the curtains with blinds/a topper. The top trim piece above the cabinets will be removed, giving me a shelf to stuff more baskets and stuff I'm also trying to knit a braided rug out of some old odds and end yarn I have to go in front of the sink - wish me luck! I am hoping this will be finished by Christmas. DH says it will be done before that. We'll see...

Oops! Forgot to mention - all of this, and the bathroom remodel, will end up costing about $600. The biggest expense is flooring ($230!), followed closely by counters/island top ($196), because of the square footage. We are using stuff given to us, salvaged, scrounged, or left over from other projects. Also forgot to mention that I know the water heat thingy is hideous - DH said he could build a wood cover for it (we heat w/ wood), but not right away, as it would be expensive. :/

 

[Denim Deb]

Like what you made and I'm sure the kitchen will be great when you get it all done.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Love the fire place backer! You can do tile work fo rme anytime. I really enjoy remodeling jobs - but what I love the best is when they are FINISHED!!!

After Hurricane Ike we had to replace my entire kitchen....geeze what a mess! Tore everything out to the bare walls and replaced all cabinets and counter tops. Not complaining too much because I finally got my granite counter tops. I had just enough insurance to cover the kitchen re-do - but it left a LOT of stuff for us to do out of our own pocket.