That's A Cute Little Farm House

Slow and Steady Wins the Race Right?

2009-09-20T16:04:00.004-05:00

I won't post pictures. Just go back a post and imagine the same picture with out the boxes in the background. That's what I accomplished today. It doesn't seem like much visually, but if you break it down analytically it seems much more impressive. The following are no longer taking up space in the library...

5 boxes of stuff burned
1 large garbage bag on non-flammable garbage
2 large boxes of books for the library book re-sale (next weekend - be there!)
1 box keepsake items up to the closet to be put in appropriate boxes
1 box office misc to the office to be put away
13 boxes of keeper books to be stored in the back bedroom until the library can be turned from a play room unto a library

So I'd say half the stuff that was in there is now gone. I'm starting to get excited. I talked to the local flooring store to see if I could get carpet squares for the room, but I guess they don't do carpet squares anymore. He said to come see him about a remnant, but I hate to spend that much money on something that will only be in place for the next 10 years. When it becomes a library we want to refinish the wood floors.

Now I wish I had looked at toy organizers when I was at Target last night. But I think I'm going to end up disappointed because I have all these great plans for everything that's going to fit in the room. I have a desk, a children's size table and chairs, a four piece kitchen set, a wardrobe, three doll beds, a doll high chair, a toy airplane set, and the easel my mom plans to get them for Christmas to get in there. I'm starting to worry there won't be room for any toys once I get all the furniture in.

White Trash Sandbox

2009-07-30T13:16:00.005-05:00

Today Elsie is two!

My poor daughters. It must be a horriable thing to have a mother who is always thinking in the long run. While that's help to build a pretty nice house (Rejuvination fixtures, wrought iron beds, and other items that will stand the test of time and use), it doesn't bode very well for a cool sandbox. Since mom figures how long are they going to play with the stinking thing anyway.

Last year Tim was supposed to pick Elsie up one of those cheap plastic sandboxes for her birthday. Well he never did. So this year it was pretty easy to decide what to get her. We were at a friend's daughter's birthday party and Elsie was playing with a lovely sand/water table. I mentioned to my friend that she was going to be getting a sandbox soon. The friend told me how much her kids liked the sand table and that it was pretty cheap. Her idea of pretty cheap and mine are different, and I knew this before she even opened her mouth to tell me what the price was.

So after weeks of bouncing ideas back and forth in my brain I've come up with my solution to the sand table. Assembly below:

1) Go to your local store and buy a plastic storage box with a lid (there were bigger storage boxes than this, and if I had boys I proably would have gotten one, but the girls aren't intersted in driving big trucks through sand) and two trash baskets who's openings are wider than the bottoms (for support). If I had gotten the bigger box I probably would have had to make this a four leg table, but this way I can just get away with two.

2) Dig around in your pile of house repair stuff and find an old tube of sealent/adhesive. Turn the trash cans up-side down and generously apply the sealent to the bottoms (I did all of this right were I planned on setting the sandbox so I don't have to worry about moving the thing and upsetting the seal).

3) Place the bottom of the box on the bottom of the trash cans so that the weight of the sand will be supported in the most effective manner.

4) Add sand.

5) Stick a few of the fad plastic dishes that were on extream mark-down in the sand of lots of scooping/pouring fun. Finish it all off with the lid of the plastic tote so the sand stays nice and clean.

6) Enjoy with your bossy older sister.

I Might Have Started A Project (But Don't Hold Your Breath)

2009-07-22T11:07:00.006-05:00

OK, I fully realize that this is the most unproductive looking after picture any houseblogger has ever posted. And I don't have a before... but you have to cut me a little slack (or else I'll go back into posting dormancy in protest) ha ha!

Yesterday afternoon I had the girls down for naps and was happily wasting away my life on Facebook when there came a knock on my door. It was my mother. She had come to help me (i.e. forcibly motivate me to) start cleaning out the men's room.

Not because we are going to turn it into the wood-paneled library Tim has envisioned all along. No, it's going to be a toy room. It seems as the girls get bigger so do their toys. So this is a project that needs to be done by this Christmas or else all Santa is going to be able to bring them is cloths.

So Mom showed up with a stack of plastic totes and I grabbed some garbage bags and we set to work. Three boxes of tools and various hardware are now on the porch to be transported to a pallet in the new shed. Various pictures are now lying on the dining room table ready to be hung using the hangers I found in a pile. And three sacks of junk were hauled out. That took two hours and seemed to clear about 1/4 of the room's floor space.

You can't really tell from the glare of the window but much of the remaining clutter in the back is our book collection. I'm going to need a few more boxes before I can tackle that (mom heard some where that books shouldn't be stored in plastic totes because it can cause mold). Also, it's not in the picture but off to the left side of the room is stacks and stacks of paint and varnish cans left over. I need to weed through those and deem which ones are still fit to store.

But that is progress.

And Then The Wait Is Over

2009-04-03T13:11:00.004-05:00

I am a firm believer that good things come to those who wait. I know this drives some people in my life crazy and many question what is wrong with me at times. For instance my mother-in-law does not understand why I do not have curtains in most of my house. This to her is boarding on a mortal sin at times.

A few weeks ago she was at the house and was trying once again to convince me that I needed some by saying that we couldn't have a babysitter out for the girls because she would feel unsafe with out curtains. My thought is that we can't have anyone young and skittish out to watch the girls because the shear size and creakiness of the house is more terrifying than the lack of proper window treatment. Now I shouldn't complain because my mother-in-law is a good person who just wants me to be happy (and decent), and she always offers to just by the curtains I want or just something temporary herself. But I just know myself, and that anything that wasn't perfect would just drive me nuts and eventually I would just take them down to "clean" them and never put them up again. So why waste the money is my position.

Now the wait isn't over for curtains, that's just a example for you all. I'm still shopping there, but I have now found the bedside tables for the master bedroom. TaDa!

It's the Taylor Vintage Steel Bedside Table new at the Pottery Barn. If you remember the bed saga of a few years ago we purchased a metal bed (note I still haven't found that perfect piece for over the bed too). Now for some reason I just don't like the looks of wooden bedside tables next to it. But I hadn't found anything in any sort of other material that I liked either. Glass was too fancy and hard to maintain. Wicker too casual (plus Tim has a strange fear/loathing of wicker that I will never understand, but won't challenge). Plastic too modern. So on and so forth. I had kind of relegated myself to the fact that I would just have to go wood and that I would find something painted black. But it seemed like anything I did see was distressed and I'm not a fan of fake distressed. I like my distress real.

Then the other day at the kitchen table I laid my eyes upon this beauty. It's perfect in every way. The black finish and little brass knob will match the bed perfectly. The little side rails will be so handy in preventing the girls from knocking everything off (both bedside lamps need to go in for repair). The drawer is perfect for Tim's insulin and needle which he needs to have close to remember, but also needs to be out of sight of the girls. And the shelves at the bottom are perfect for all the books that tend to accumulate on my side. Yes, it is a little pricey. But the one lesson we've seemed to learn over and over again with this project is you get what you pay for. So anymore I kind of want my pieces to be more expensive because that way I know there's lesser chance that I'll be disappointed in the quality of the piece once it arrives on my step.

Cool Ways The National Trust Is Using Flickr

2009-04-02T20:10:00.000-05:00

So I've been raising two kids lately and I can't seem to multi-task like I used to. That's my excuse for not knowing these two great photo montages were going at the National Trust For Historic Preservation's web site. Check them out for yourself and think about adding to them next time you are out and about.

This Place Matters- It looks like you are supposed to hold up a sign with these words next to a building that you think is important. I need to look at what they have already, but if they don't have the Park Inn (check out that new website too) I want to do that. And my house of course.

Reuse It!- Seems to be a green inititive to make people more aware of the fact that it is more environmentaly sound to reuse an old building than to build a new on. Rath Pack anyone.

Revenge Is Ours

2009-04-01T09:40:00.007-05:00

We finally got the little fellow. It took a box cage and a carrot (we had been trying lettuce up until this point, guess he didn't like the stuff). So late last night we hopped in the car with our new pet and took him to one of our least favorite contractor's house. Oh, will he be surprised this morning! Lucky for us he doesn't lock the truck.

APRIL FOOLS!

While it was tempting we were raised right and didn't resort to levels unbecoming of us.

It seems to have done minimal damage to the room. Just tore out some of the insulation.

The Newton Woodchuck Project

2009-03-31T13:52:00.003-05:00

Does anyone remember that movie from almost 10 years ago, the Blair Witch Project? Remember how those kids sat around in the woods really freaked out with flashlights shining on their faces? Well that's kind of how I'm feeling right now. Except I'm not in the woods. And it's not dark out so I don't need a flashlight to dramatically light myself. And I don't have a runny nose or a video camera. But I am oh so scared.

Every time the house creaks or the girls make a noise I'm on high alert looking which way and that to plan my escape/find an effective bludgeoning instrument to survive the woodchuck attacker. As of last night Tim almost had me convinced that the woodchuck had left and it was just a little ground squirrel in the library. See this is why our relationship works so well. Tim makes up completely irrational stories to explain away things he doesn't want to deal with. And I support him in this by being stupidly gullible. For the most part it works for us. That is until I go and do something like take Molly's potty stool out to peek in the window of the library. It's very hard to be gullible when you are looking right at the woodchuck.

Now tonight Tim will return home (well, unless he reads this first and then I'll bet he'll make every effort not to), and I will demand that he take care of the situation. Yes, I could and really should do it myself. But I see claiming to be a sissy around wild animals as being one of the perks of being a girl. The cons of course include menstruating and never being able to beat your husband at arm wrestling competitions. Tim will try and convince me that I don't know the difference between a woodchuck and a ground squirrel, and that it was yes, a really big ground squirrel. I will act all insulted for him thinking I'm stupid, even though technically I was stupid last night, and sulk around the house. Then he will eventually give in and try to fix the situation.

Of course, my day will not be complete unless I share this gem with you that he told me on the phone this morning when I called after the woodchuck visual. "Just calm down. It gives you something to blog about."

Where's The Supervision?

2009-03-30T14:20:00.005-05:00

After reading this post at House In Progress a few months back I now sometimes ask myself this and laugh. You've gotta scroll down to about comment #16. And then her reply the next day.

So last Friday afternoon Molly gets up from her nap and I'm on Facebook (and I thought blogging was a time suck) so she's running back and forth from the office. I get done, close down the computer, and she comes running in say "Mama I put the stickers on the table." "Oh, OK." I reply obviously not yet thinking. Then it hits me. I walk into the kitchen to see the kitchen table mercifully clean. Molly looks up at me and says, "No, not that table. In here." and heads for the living room. I obediently follow behind to find this...

Lucky for her I am distracted by some banging and a snarling noise coming from the basement. So we high tail it to the upstairs, and I call Tim at work in a panic. He convinces me to go back downstairs and go into town to my mothers. Which I do.

Last night he went into the basement to see if the rat poison was gone. It wasn't. That apparently doesn't work. He set a trap, but came upstairs convinced that it was gone. I hope he's right.

Here's the great thing about houseblogging. You find out you are never alone. Thanks again for the suggestions Mike!

Creature Discomfort

2009-03-27T13:56:00.006-05:00

Thank goodness Tim and I don't live in the 1800's that all I can say because we would be dead. We are incapable of trapping or shooting anything it seems. In my last post I poked fun at my outdoors-manly brother-in-law, but I do have to say I appreciate him far more than I think he knows. None of the other men in my life share his skill set (well Tim's dad does too, but I want him to think that I'm super smart and cunning so I don't bother him with stupid questions) so he comes in very handy at times like this morning.

Our house sat vacant for about two years. Now I didn't think that was too bad. There was a house down the road from where I grew up that sat for over thirty years before someone refinished it. However, I guess that two years is plenty of time for creatures to become familiar with a house. It seems once they are happy with an area they don't like to move.

I can co-exist with mice. Growing up our farm house always had mice. When they started running around the living room at night while you were watching TV it was time to put out the traps to discourage them a little. We do that here. Last winter we had our first rat. For awhile we told ourselves it was just a really big mouse we hear moving in the walls, but when it started hijacking diapers from the pail we had to confront reality and take care of the situation. We tried multiple kinds of traps and bait with no success. Finally I broke down and let Tim get out the poison.

With bugs it's always that big rush in or out in the spring and fall. For a few weeks I look at them crawling over every available surface on the south side of the house and think I should get out the vacuum, but I mostly just wait until they've found their happy place and then sweep up the dead relatives.

When we first bought the place there was a skunk family that lived in the crawl space in the back of the house. We generally ignored them, having to deal with the stink only when we started up a particularly noisy power tool. When we moved in I decided they had to go so we tried trapping them. We did end up with one right away (since discovering our trapping skills over time I've come to the conclusion that he must have been suicidal), and then nothing again. Tim sat out on the porch for a few nights with a shot gun we had borrowed from his dad with no luck. At this point I was glad we lived on a quiet road because it was probably something that would have generated talk at the local bar had he been seen. So the first couple of years living here we and the remaining members of the skunk family coexisted. A crying baby must have been too much though because shortly after we brought Molly home we never smelt them again.

Two falls ago Tim tore down the old grainery to build his shed. We knew that a woodchuck lived under the thing. We'd see her out and about in the evening sometimes. We just assumed that she would go on her merry way and find a new place to live. Well she did. It just happened to be in the old skunk hole under the back of the house. We figured it out last spring and spent most of the summer trying to trap her.

So last night Tim get out of bed and heads down stairs with out a word to me. I assume he's going down to check his sugar and have a little snack. Well he takes his sweet time so when he gets back I ask what he was doing. "I heard something downstairs." He says and rolls over to go back to sleep. I, of course, ask, "What?" "You don't want to know." He replies. Well he was right. It was the woodchuck. It seems it has transitioned from the crawlspace in the back of the house to the basement area in the middle of the house. What Tim heard was her banging on the duct work at the bottom of the furnace. I guess when he opened the basement door she gave him a less than friendly greeting.

So the rest of the night I had nightmares of her eating her way through the basement door and gnawing my leg off. I must save the children! When Tim called this morning about something he said, "Yeah, I figure I'll come home tonight and they'll be this really fat woodchuck staring at me in the middle of the kitchen." Because you know she's gotta be hungry because there's nothing down there to eat. And that is exactly what we are hoping for. We put a little left over rat poison down there and hopefully by tomorrow night we'll have a dead woodchuck in our basement. Yes, it looks like poison is becoming the Newton family weapon of choice. Now the only thing that's got my pickle (if I lived in the 1800's I'd say that a lot more I'll bet) is that Tim thought someone was in the house and didn't say anything to me. If you are reading this dear, I would like a little notice when about to be killed so I can enjoy the last few minuets of my life. You know, panicking appropriately.

I'm A Giver

2009-03-24T14:04:00.003-05:00

I think Etsy is just cool. Every time I see or hear something about it I go to the site and spend hours looking at stuff. And I tell myself, "Self, next time you have to give someone a gift use this site because the stuff rocks and it's super cool to support craftspeople." Unfortunately that little conversation I have gets lost in my brain space and to this day I have never ordered anything from the site.

After lunch today I was flipping through April's House Beautiful magazine and noticed they had a full spread of stuff from the website. Look at this (Tim the Tiny House Earrings are my favorite, you know just in case you were wondering)! And this! I love these but Tim would hate them. Maybe I could get away with a few in our bedroom, but that would suck because they are too cool not to be seen.

All I can say is Tim's outdoors man, manly man brother Tom better hope I don't get his name in the drawing this Christmas because he so needs this.

The Return Of The Big Box Shopping Experience Part II

2009-03-22T15:56:00.004-05:00

So I must say I had a lovely experience at the Home Depot. Tim on the other hand did not.

Tim ended up re-arranging my plans for me, and so we ate before hand. And supper took much longer than I expected so when we got to the store I sent Tim in search of items for weather-proofing the windows and I headed out in search of refinishing and landscaping items.

The refinishing stuff was right were it was a year ago and so that was a breeze. However, the Home Depot was in the process of creating their outdoor landscaping section and most of that stuff had been moved out there, but it was not yet open. And as I'm figuring this out I notice a college age looking kid right in front of me with the smock on. I approach him, not expecting much, and end up pleasantly surprised. He took me right back into the unopened part and the waited at a courteous distance and didn't make me feel pressured to make a choice so he could go back to re-arranging stuff. And then just as I emerge from the landscaping section I see Tim headed my way with what looks like not even close to what it will take to tackle the window job, but that's his problem now.

So we head for the check outs and of course there is just one open with a line. This does not bother me because three years ago with the housing market was booming there was only one check out open with a line. We wait our turn and when we make it to the front there is a cute and bubbly high schooler at the check out. She greets us like an exited puppy all friendly and I think to myself that yes, this has been a success. I leave Tim to pay the bill and take the cart back to the dead zone where all the used carts gather.

When I return I hear the cashier (now this is not word for word people, I didn't tape the conversation) say, "Oh God, not this song again!" Tim responds, "Do they keep playing the same music over and over again?" I catch the beginning strains of Eric Clapton's I Shot The Sheriff as she replies, "Yes and it's really crappy. It's like all this old stuff my dad listens too." At this point Tim has also recognized the song and gives a little nervous laugh, "Oh yeah, my dad really likes this song too." With that I'm am biting my lip so hard that I'm about drawing blood because Tim owns the CD that this song is on. And I can honestly say I have never heard Lyle (Tim's dad) go on and on about the musical genius of Mr. Clapton. We will not go into how much Tim loves Clapton's Lady In Red. If I was a decent singer I should have sang a line or two of it. The cashier would have thought I was bonkers, but it would have made Tim turn even redder than he was.

But I am on my best-wife behavior and don't do anything to embarrass the poor young thing (the cashier, not Tim). But as soon as we are out those huge automatic doors with our purchases safely in bags I can't hold it in any longer. "So your dad likes Eric Clapton?" "What! Yes, he does." Tim's voice is two octaves higher than usual, "He sings that song every time he hears it. All the time!"

The Return Of The Big Box Shopping Experience

2009-03-20T14:20:00.003-05:00

I never again thought I'd reach this point, the state of being excited to buy home improvement related things. Tonight my mom is watching the girls and we are going to buy home improvement type things. And I am excited. I am going to stimulate some economy, well as much as Tim will let me before yelling at me and then we will sulk all the way home trying to distance ourselves as much as possible as you can in our economy sized car. Yes, it's been a long, long time since I've been able to say I'm excited at the prospect of entering a Home Depot.

You know it's been over a year since I have been to any type of lumber yard, big box store, or even in the home improvement section of the local K-mart? That might not be strange to a normal human being, but to a house blogger it's quite a dry spell. I mean from early spring 2003 until around 2005 we were going weekly to multiple venues. Seriously. And lets just say in that time I developed a aversion to them.

Now before you get all excited an think we have the next big project to start, we don't. I just want to get some things to do a little work on our landscaping, and stuff to seal up the attic windows which I think are a major culprit in our leaking when it rains. Oh and I've got to get some things to finish up the buffet.

So tonight I am going with a fresh outlook. No longer fresh in my mind are the rows and rows of cheaply made items that I know are going to disintegrate the minute they are installed, the smocked help with their don't ask me attitude and hard to find ways, and the end of the evening bill that always ends up in the triple digits even though you are only buying a can of paint and a home improvement magazine. Tonight I am going to expect more. And I am also going to wait to go out for supper when the shopping is done so I can have a few glasses of wine. You know just in case in the last year Home Depot hasn't cleaned up it's act. Here's to optimism!

Wait... Did Hell Freeze Over?

2009-03-02T20:07:00.003-06:00

So remember that piece of furniture I was refinishing? Did you click on the link? Did you notice the title of that post? How it was #1, like there was going to be more posts about it. And then you waited and waited and then you started to think that maybe the buffet fell off the face of the Earth. And then you went on with your normal life and forgot all about it. Well no more my friend! Today the buffet was dragged out of the corner it had been pushed into, and I went at stripping with a renewed zeal that didn't even last until lunch. But fear not I did return after eating.

Now the buffet has been stripped over once. I used Parks gel stripper for the first time. My stepfather had recommended it and it did a decent job. About the same as the Dad's we had used for much of the woodwork in the house. I don't know how the comepair price wise yet since I haven't bought him a replacement for what I used.

I just have to figure out if I'm going to stain it or not. Over the years I've grown partial to non-stained wood, but that could be my sub-conscious trying to save time and those pesky brain cells that die off when you use harsh chemicals.

Something else I'd like to mention. I don't know if I said this or not in the earlier post, but I'm refinishing this at my stepfather's shop in town. Well, I have to say so far that it has been a lovely experience. When we are there together he does his thing and doesn't offer a lick of unsolicited advice, and when I do ask for help is always willing to drop what he's doing and lend a hand. Now this may all back fire for him because I'm having such a lovely time there that I'm thinking of other projects I could do in his warm/well stocked shop.

I Admit To Loving David Hasselhoff

2008-12-29T19:43:00.008-06:00

Note: I was six. When you were six you did stupid things too. Ate glue, thought the opposite sex had cooties, figured if you whined in a high enough octave daddy would really buy you a pony...

I was six and I was in love with David Hasselhoff. Sure, if you asked I would get all defensive and say I really liked the car and not him, but I was lying and I was really truly in love with him. Well, what a six year old knows of love anyway. Which proably means I'd share my coolest Barbie with the really long hair with him, but only if he'd let me drive the car. Hey, even a six year old knows you gotta give to recieve.

But times change. I don't know if it's an older and wiser sort of thing or if time just changes a person. Long story short I've traded my David Hasselhoff lust for Daniel Craig lust. When I am 60 will I be slightly mortified that I had a crush on the blond James Bond? Only time will tell.

What does this have to do with my house? Well lately I've been dreaming a lot about other houses. I was in the middle of one such dream where I had purchased an old church with the most beautiful stained glass windows and the typical quaint church kitchen and cabinets and a loft that I was going to turn into my bedroom. Molly came in needing something and Tim rolled over, "Your turn." I came this close to beating him with my pillow, and I have very heavy old feather pillows. It would have hurt.

So I wonder is my house becoming David Hasselhoff? Will it too loose it's appeal? What does a person do then? I know I will never be ashamed I lived in this house, like I am kind of really ashamed of my David Hasselhoff stage. But what does change in a person?

Sometimes I wonder if it's because I wasn't true to my sense of style when we bought it. Tim loves all things gothic/anything curved and I love craftsman/anything square so this seemed like a good compromise for us. You know one where neither of us got what we want.

Fire at Historic Mason City, IA Home

2008-12-13T14:16:00.002-06:00

So sad.

Fire guts historic home

Click on the little video camera icon before the story to see a film of the home before the fire.

Photos of the House From Last Post

2008-11-05T17:57:00.004-06:00

The red line in the above photo represents where a three story tower used to be. I've seen a picture of this and it was beautiful. At the JC hall they have a then and now photo album of some of Greene's older homes. I need to see if I can borrow it because it would be neat to share with you all.

Unfortunately she won't have the money to replace the tower. Definitely know how that goes (check out four paragraphs down in June's journal, the two story porch -and ignore the raving about the roofer- I was very wrong).

Here you can see where she was working the day I stopped. This new roof line was originally a flat roof, and the interior ceiling was hard to gage (since it was gone), but probably not over six and a half foot. I think it is a nice addition to the house, kind of balancing out the taller front with the shorter back.

Now that my camera is back if I drive by and she is working maybe I'll see if I can bother her for a few interior shots.

You Know That Annoying Person Who Stops For The Tour

2008-10-22T19:05:00.006-05:00

it's me.

So there is this house on the way home in Greene that had a for sale sign in the yard that I really like. I'll try to remember to get pictures next time I go in for work.

But anyway I heard around town that the realtor wasn't even showing it to people because it had been sold already, which is really strange for this small town. So the other day I drive by and there is a pile of stuff in the yard and the roof is ripped off the back upper story. Ooooh, exciting! So Sunday I drive by even though I was headed in the opposite direction and see someone in the yard working. Tim is in the car with me and we are supposed to be on the way back to my mom's to get the girls. I try to talk him into stopping. He majorly protests, and I decide to put being a "good" mom a head of my house lusting. So I head back to my mom's just long enough to quick eat some roast and find out the first name of the woman who bought the place.

I offer again to let Tim come with me, and he now says that he doesn't want to go because seeing a house in the beginning stages of remodeling will "depress" him greatly. -sigh- I miss my old house hunting partner. If I had known he would end up like this... OK I still would have bought our house and put him trough it. He's being a big baby. Sorry to those of you who like him and take offence at this. I like him too, in fact much, much more than you. But he's still being a baby and he needs to get over it. Hey, is anyone looking for a new market? How about Psychiatric counseling for the home-improvement weary? You know, to get them back into that naive/cheery state of mind that comes pre-project.

But I digress. And I go it alone to the house. I tried to get mom to go briefly. She though I was nervous to go by myself. Not true. I don't know about you, but after I see a house I love to talk about it for hours. How do you do that if no one else saw it? You can't. So I just bottled it all up inside until I could sit at a computer and spill it all to you.

So I head up to the house and she give me a look I am sure I have given many others in my life time. I explain to her who I am and give the required list of relatives that you need when you aren't actually from the small town yourself. Once proving my "heritage" I ask to see the house. Explaining that I could come back at a time when it's more convenient. NOTE: This is a nice thing to do if you are putting someone in this uncomfortable situation just in case they have unmentionables strewn all over the house or something like that. She said that she shows the house to anyone who asks and that she was just taking a break. I told her I had been in the same situation and that I promised not to give any advise. That seemed to break the ice, and I had a lovely tour.

She purchased the place because she had always loved it and was afraid because it had such a cheap purchase price it wouldn't be properly cared for. She is planning on selling if the opportunity arises or possibly running a bed and breakfast.

The woodwork in the house was beautiful and never painted. Tim missed out. Especially since the main staircase had a Gothic-ish arch in the rail that he would have loved. It seemed a bit small to me, but I think that mostly comes from living with 18 rooms for the last 5 years. Let me tell you it can change a girl. The kitchen is a decent size for a house of it's age and she is going to be moving a few walls around to make the flow of the house a little more efficient. Plus add a few more bathrooms.

As the tour drew to a close I wanted to cling to her legs and beg her to hand me a hammer or maybe let me strip woodwork just so I could feel "that way" again. Instead I demurely offered her a tour of my home next time she was in the area. We also discussed salvage shops. She is looking for an old built-in for the dining room and I told her they might be a better bet than the antique shops she had been visiting. I just now need to get the information to her along with a thank-you note for her hospitality.

"Monkey With A Tool Belt"

2008-10-08T17:18:00.005-05:00

Are you a houseblogger with children or just a handyperson with children? OK, maybe you're like me and you just really think tool belts are cool, and even if you didn't have children you would find some on the street just so you could head over to your local library and check out this cool book...

"Monkey With A Tool Belt"

I haven't taken it home for the official Molly testing, but I'm going to guess that the pictures are a little too busy for her. There's a lot going on in each page. But the art is way cool and while I feel kind of funny about some of the made up tools the monkey's self-sufficiency make up for the weird feeling created by having a snozz remover.

This Contractor Respects Nap Time

2008-09-22T18:17:00.002-05:00

Today the roofers came and patched in all the places where the shingles have blown off since last time they were at the house.

I was in the back of the house when I heard them start up. I headed outside to make sure they had found the shingles in the barn. When I said I had just heard them Lucas said he had been here awhile with the lift. He had slowed way down before getting to the house because he figured the girls were napping.

How's that for service? I know you're jealous aren't you.

My Silly Silly Husband

2008-09-08T18:24:00.005-05:00

So last weekend we are in the car going some where and Tim and I are talking about the Corn Palace (I don't remember how we got on that topic). I asked, "Do you think they put new cobs on every year?" And Tim replies in a slightly deeper voice, "Would you be interested in purchasing vinyl siding with realistic corn grain?"

hee hee

Bringing Home Some Bacon

2008-08-18T15:14:00.003-05:00

I am now a librarian. OK, so just a part-time librarian. I start training ASAP. Tim seems to think this means I will have lessons on how to push my glasses way down to the tip of my nose and stare disapprovingly at people. Do you know what this means?

Money! Yes, since I quit my full time job money has been the limiting factor around here for accomplishing things. No money = no work on the house. But now with a little careful saving we can fix the broken shower head. We can find a faucet for the tub. We can make a toy room for the girls. We can DO things!

Buffet Post #1

2008-07-23T14:33:00.001-05:00

This last winter my aunt gave me my grandmother's buffet table. It had sat in her basement for quite some time so it has a mold issue. Her daughter had wanted it, but has since decided she won't have room for it in her house. I jumped at the chance to have it because I need another piece for the wall next to the bathroom door in the dining room.

Plus, I love pieces with a family history. So last winter I moved it right to my step-fathers shop with hopes of refinishing it before Christmas. Those of you with small children understand why this didn't happen. Now my mom has offered to spend the remainder of her summer break from school watching them so I can get it finished by next Christmas. Thanks mom!

It's not a "fine" piece of furniture. The exterior of the cabinet is an oak veneer. The legs and mirror frame are oak. But amazingly the old mirror is in wonderful shape, and the curved glass of the doors survived a household of 7 children and is still in two whole pieces. So once I get it in place in the dining room Molly and Elsie are never going to be allowed to set foot in that room again. Sorry girls.

I actually started the project yesterday, but I forgot the camera so I don't have any shots of the cabinet as a whole. Sorry. Yesterday I took all the hardware off and stored it away in a baggie. I removed the glass from the doors, and let me tell you that was the most nerve-wracking thing I've done in a long time. I was sweating and it wasn't hot in the shop. Bruce (my step-father) then helped me glue broken pieces of the veneer and replace a missing drawer guide for the upper drawer.

Today I got the mirror out of the frame and glued up where wood was separating on the frame. Notice I had lots of help from Cleo the shop kitty who decided that frame was also lovely frame for her ample kitty body.

It's been so nice. I had forgotten how good it feels to have a project. For some reason I really enjoy doing this sort of thing. Lately I've even been having a longing feeling for another house. Someone bought the house two miles down the road from us and has been doing renovation work on it. I'm surprised Tim doesn't stop driving by it with me because every time he does it goes, "Look they have a dumpster! Do you remember when we had a dumpster every summer? Don't you miss getting a dumpster?" or "Look their windows are out. Do you remember when we didn't have windows? I wonder what kind of windows they are going with." and so on and so forth. I know it drives Tim nuts but I can't help it. Tim doesn't have the found dumpster memories I do.

What Happens When You Don't Blog

2008-07-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

This happened about a month ago...

Our friends Doug and Em came over and the first thing they say when getting out of the car is something to the effect of (I can't even closely remember the words since it was a month ago), You have a shed, that wasn't on the blog.

We had it built this winter as you can tell from the pictures.

It still needs a floor. We kind of ran out of money to do that.

I'm excited to get it finished though because then I can move all the tools and remodeling stuff we have acumulated over the years out of the libary and then turn that into a play room for the girls.

The contractor we had build it was named Molli (I think that's how you spell it). I think they were out of Cresco. They had built a shed for Tim's dad, and he really liked them. We really liked them too. I think they travel all over Iowa (maybe even the midwest?) so if you need a shed let me know.

So there. Now everyone finally knows.

When It Rains It Leaks

2008-07-03T14:34:00.005-05:00

Image from JLG Lifts http://www.apisupplyinc.com/jlg.php

OK... so we've had these leaks for awhile now and we've been hoping that if we ignore them they will go away. Don't laugh. Yes, deep down we knew they wouldn't go away if we ignored them. But I did say hope didn't I. And hopes don't have to be realistic.

So I am to the point that I can't ignore them any more. Tim is still in denial. This is causing some marital tension, but then would it be a renovation if it didn't. So I am hoping. DON'T LAUGH AT ME... that we can attempt to solve this problem over the long holiday weekend. Notice I said attempt, that's because while I can slip into denial at times I tend to wake up to find myself practical again. So I realize that it is probably going to take a few tries to get these leaks back down to nothing, or at least to the point where we can happily ignore them again.

So I was thinking what we really need is a construction lift so we can check things out with out risking our lives hanging out windows. And then I got to wondering do others of you housebloggers wish you had one oh say in the garage or barn to pull out and use when you need it? Or is it just me who was stupid enough to buy a 52 ft. house. It's OK you can say it's just me. Can I ask for one for Christmas? Or will Santa get my letter, open it, and blow cocoa out his nose as he laughs calling the Elves over. I can see it now "What does she think we are Rent-A-Center!" he would say as his belly jiggled like a bowl full of jelly.

So maybe we'll do something on the house here in the next couple of days. Or maybe not.

And please don't respond with dire warnings of death by black mold. Yes I know. -sigh- But then again we all gotta die of something.

Picture Of The Girls With The House In The Background

2008-06-05T13:25:00.003-05:00

The picture was taken two weeks ago. Can you see the problem we are hoping to fix this weekend?

hint: It's nothing to do with the house. Yes, that has problems, but luckily you can't see most of them at that distance.

Couple of Cute Little Girls

Thanks Jen!

Argument For An A-Frame

2008-06-02T15:15:00.002-05:00

Read this in Sunday's paper. Interesting.

Parkersburg's distinctive A-frame house survivied massive tornado

Waterbury House

2008-05-24T15:07:00.003-05:00

Link

Now this is what I like to see in on-line real estate. Pictures! This is the same company that had the 7 mile road house listed so I still don't understand why that house didn't have a photo gallery like this.

This house was up for sale a couple of years ago and I really wanted to see it then. Lets say in a parallel universe I didn't have children (I refuse to send my children to Charles City to school, I can judge, I went there) and I didn't have this strong adversion to living in town . This would be my house. I love it. LOVE it. But I couldn't talk Tim into "wasting" the Realtors time. But would it really be a waste? Why couldn't I have a city and a country house? He doesn't say it but that is really what he is afraid of. We have a tendency to buy things we look at. Stupid commercial building.

So if any of you out there have mind bending control powers or voodoo or something like that point it at Tim and use them to convince him to take me to see the house this time. I'll take the camera, maybe I could even get away with the video camera. How cool would that be! And you know I would share the spoils with you all. Hey, that makes me think. I could take video of Tim doing something like picking his nose or scratching his bum and threaten to post it on YouTube unless he gives me an "alternative" video. Hehe! Sometimes it's good to be evil.

A Silly Girlie Post

2008-05-20T13:24:00.003-05:00

So I was catching up on my houseblog reading last night when I came upon a post on the Devil Queen about housebloggers who blog no more (don't be giving this blog that look, yes I know I am one of those he's talking about). It was about this guy who is giving up remodeling because he is going to become a male model. Of course I have to check that out, because I happen to like good looking men. And if this good looking man is doing remodeling work I might have to pick up this here ream of paper to fan myself a bit. My!

So I click on the link and before the page has a chance to load (I have dial up) Tim comes in from mowing. I reluctantly gave up on waiting to go spend time with my husband, who I married because he is so good looking and does remodeling work for me. So really it wasn't a loss.

But now today I get the page loaded and guess who he has on his blog roll??? Little old me. A male model finds the print version of myself interesting! I'm all tittering and blushing alone in my computer room. Man, I wish I had combed my hair this morning!

And so you don't think I'm completely shallow I'm starting with his first post and reading in chronological order, not trolling for pictures like I really want to, hehe. I must say so far it is a very good read, I'm sorry to have found it so late, and that he won't be posting any more.

And if he gets a chance away from that new exciting life to read this little old post I must say even though I don't have any idea what you look like you will still be my go to guy for all modeling jobs here at the farmhouse. Who knows I could be secretly writing one of those sultry women's romance novels. Yes, I could be, you don't really know what I'm doing with the time I'm not blogging anymore. And I could need a male model to photograph for the front cover. I can see it now, "The Farm Wife's Secret" or maybe "Love In The Time Of Remodeling".

His blog is: Nate's Fargo Fixer-Upper .

Front Door/Back Door

2008-04-24T14:21:00.003-05:00

Kelli over at Sugar Creek Farm tagged her readers the other day on pictures of your front and back doors. How perfect for you other housebloggers. So if you haven't done it yet, your it!

The front door opens up onto the porch we rebuilt a few years ago. As you can see we have most of the painting done on it, but we need to door the floor yet. So far it's been a good thing we haven't because it's become a place to run saws so we don't have a mess in the now finished portions of the house.

Once we have a warm weekend when I am not so busy I will clean off the wood scraps you see and give it a good sweeping. Then I will venture out into the play house and retrieve our porch furniture.

The swing was just put back up last week. Last year Molly was terrified of the thing. This year is no different. She cried until we took her out. Hoping to inspire her to give it another try the best way we know how we placed Elsie in it. She loved it! Tim had her swinging as high as his head and she was shrieking and giggling. She's going to be my wild child.

This shot is out the back door to the left. I didn't want to open the door all the way because the cats were trying to escape and it's not cat chasing weather (when is it ever?).

It's hard to see, but where there is no grass is our pile of dirt that we have been using to landscape and fill in the last few years. I can't wait to be done with it and get rid of the weedy mess.

The little cream colored structure is Molly's play house. I don't think I've done a post on it yet. You'll have to wait until later this spring when we get it moved on to the pad we poured.

If I had taken the picture directly out the door you would have seen the spot where one day, hopefully, there will be a garage. Then this door, and the mudroom will get much more use as this will be the primary door the family uses. Someday I hope to have a lovely winding sidewalk to the garage and a herb/cutting garden planted around it.

As you can tell by the pictures it is raining here. Want to know why? Well because I chose today to pick up the trees forever plants. Yes, I'm having flash backs to Halloween when it seems to rain every year and mom always made me wear a coat over my costume. What's the point then?!? When I got up this morning I thought maybe I could get away with planting in what looked like a gentle mist, but by the time the girls and I got going it was a all out rain shower. So I stuck the plants in the wet hay covering the foundation of the playhouse, and will wait for the next sunny day.

Old Map Site

2008-04-11T14:49:00.003-05:00

Thanks Gary,

So I was catching up on my regular houseblogs and I came across this link on This Old Crack House. It takes you to a site where you can see old maps of your area. Granted the ones they have don't go far enough back to give me any information I didn't already have (however I did learn the old school house down the road that was tore down that Gladys Cable went to was Number 4). But it's still fun to look.

The site is: Historic Map Works.

Real Estate Listing

2008-04-10T15:06:00.003-05:00

On my last post it was noted the sad lack of detail that went into the realtor's on-line ad of the home. So I decided to do a little comparison shopping to see if that's just how the Realtors in this area worked. So here are some cool houses from competing Realtors for your viewing pleasure.

Parson Real Estate- Cool virtual tour, lots more details
http://parsonrealestate.com/list/res/B1/index.shtml

New Age is pretty low on the info too, and annoyingly they have a more picture button that doesn't have more pictures for the one i wanted to see
http://www.newage-realty.com/listingdisplay.php

Cedar Valley- lots more details and a nicely organized photo page.
http://www.cedarvalleyiowarealty.com/index.cfm?fa=listings.view&listingid=41016&propertytypeid=1

The house being sold by Cedar Valley is why it would be nice to have more photos up. I like the way it looked on the outside, but once I looked at the photos of the inside I knew it was a house I would never be interested in.

This is the first time I've really looked at houses on line. When we bought our first house we saw it in the local paper. Plus, back then we didn't have a lot of choice because our spending range was so limited.

Before we found this house we went with the approach of if we drove by something we like we'd find out who owned it and then take a look inside. Sometimes we'd use a realtor sometimes we wouldn't. After awhile it got out we were looking for a fixer-upper and Realtors started calling us. I've been meaning to do a post on the houses we looked at before we found this place. Especially since some of them are close to falling down now.

Seven Mile Road House

2008-04-08T14:41:00.004-05:00

Seven Mile Road House

I've been driving by this house since before I could drive. It's been for sale now for awhile (I just keep forgetting to post about it). I think it is so beautiful. And it's set back far enough I don't think you'd notice you're on a fairly busy highway. I was all excited to look it up because I've always wondered what it might look like inside, but the realtor seems to think nature photos and bird tracks will sell the house better. I don't know how listing homes works, maybe they don't show inside shots if it's not vacant. Or maybe the inside is really, really hideous. But I can't really picture that because it's so well-kept on the outside.

Trees Forever

2008-03-29T15:09:00.003-05:00

Our town sells trees and other landscaping plants at very reduced rates every spring. It is wonderful!

Our first year participating we bought all of our windbreak trees. Our second year we replaced trees that got flooded out and bought a couple of crab apples for the front lawn. Oh, and a willow tree that Tim mowed over like a month after we planted it. Our third year we bought a maple and some bushes for landscaping around the house a long with a replacement for one of the crab apples.

This year I am getting fruit. I wanted so much more but I went a little crazy and spent $65 dollars. Hey, you can't eat crab apples so I don't think that's money wasted. I got 8 rhubarb plants (I love rhubarb), 8 raspberries and 8 black berries, and 4 each of a concord grape and then another type more suitable for eating off the vine.

Why do I love this program? Because for what I pay for these plants if they die I don't have major guilt.

New And Improved Cute Little Farm House...

2008-03-26T13:46:00.003-05:00

Now With Door Bell.

Yes, that's right, we you visit us you can now ring the doorbell and we will answer if home. Well, if we are home and want to see you that is. Just kidding!

Yes, it's been a hardship not having a doorbell in a house that is 3x as long as many of the houses around here. More than once I've been up in the laundry room and caught the glimpse of a car driving out of the drive way. Which is a disappointment. Though, if I was logical about it I would realize that the car was probably a vacuum salesman or something. Everyone we know knows the door bell doesn't work and walks right in and yells up the stairs.

The actual door bells and wiring have been installed for quite awhile now. The problem was I couldn't find a door bell I liked. I was briefly excited when Rejuvenation came out with door bells, but none of them really tipped my trigger either. So I asked the electrician if we could just install the insides of one and I'd build a box to go over it (You should have seen the face of my electrician when I was telling him this, you could tell he was thinking, "I sure am glad I'm not married to you!"). Which he did. So now I just have to go see my step-dad about getting something made. He has a woodworking shop and a carving machine that I think I might use. Although it might take me a while to decided on a pattern!

Along with the doorbell we now have the downstairs bathroom, dining room, and all the upstairs wired. They even put the fan and ceiling fixture in the downstairs bathroom for me. They offered to put the wall sconce in too, but I explained to him that I hadn't found one I liked. And at this point I think his wife owes me for showing how difficult "some women" can be.

My New Blog

2008-03-23T14:14:00.002-05:00

I've decided to start a new blog for my non-houseblog related musings.

Beyond the Cute Little Farm House

With BFF's Like This Who Needs Enemies

2008-02-22T21:19:00.000-06:00

Notice the covers feature 16 year old girls... hint, hint

So today in the mail we recieve these lovely publications from my college friends Janette and Nathan. And all I can say is just you wait until Nathan has his midlife crisis. You think it's funny now, but he too will someday wish to be young again. And you know what, Nathan has never had that shiny new sports car, now has he. A few hundred for a cell phone bill is nothing compaired to a car.

But now that I think of it Tim has had that shiny expensive new vechicle, and a cell phone addiction. -sigh- OK, I loose.

If you look in the back of one of these things they have a short listing of other DUMMIES books you can purchase. I was curious if they had any sort of home improvement book. I did not see one of those but they did have a "Exercise Balls For Dummies" listed. Now for some reason I find that hestiricaly funny. I think it's because the ball is plural.

TTFN (ta-ta for now according to the book)

ugly waterlew

2008-02-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

"Urban decay in a small Iowa town"

That statement pretty well sums up this page I found on Flickr. Really cool photos from around the Waterloo area. I just don't know if I agree with the "ugly houses" part :)

Bed and Breakfast For Sale

2008-01-31T19:13:00.000-06:00

Would you like to own the place where Tim purposed to me? Tim sure would, but unfortunately we don't have an extra $399,000 laying around.

Govern Farms and Homes

Iowa Falls, IA

2008-01-27T13:49:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon my mom and I traveled to Iowa Falls. It's around 50 miles southwest of Greene, and I had never been. We didn't get much of a chance to look around town, but I am definitely going to have to head back with my camera (I tried taking shots with the cell phone, but the pictures really suck so I'm not going to even try to post them). They have some amazing architecture both on their Main Street area and in the residential areas. Also it looked like they had some really cool Main Street businesses.

Aaron, Jeannie, and Mike In Real Life

2008-01-27T11:41:00.000-06:00

So the original plan for last Sunday was to leave the kids with my mom and head on over to Iowa City to meet Mike of Foxcroft and Aaron and Jeannie of House In Progress. Aaron and Jeannie were guest speakers at Mike's Iowa City Friends of Historic Preservation annual meeting.

Well, mom called and she wondered if she could back out because they were working on putting stone up on the wall of their kitchen. She did a kitchen addition on the house about two years ago and the wall hadn't been finished yet. Their goal is to have it done by the supper bowl party they are supposed to be hosting. I told her I was fine with that. We understand major projects before parties totally. Plus, living so close to so many family we don't have problems finding sitters.

So Molly was going to Tim's folks for the night and Elsa was going along for the ride to Iowa City and then going to hang out with my sister. That was until Molly got the plague. OK, not quite the plague, but some sort of head cold. If you remember from a previous post we had gone to a play date with a friend that developed RSV so I was seriously worried she'd hit the high temps that Elle did. We made it through the night with no problem, but I didn't want to make the in-laws responsible if anything went wrong. So Tim was unwelcoming volunteered to stay home while Elsa and I headed out in the cold.

Tim was very unhappy with this arrangement, I think he had even read up on what was happening on the two blogs so he could stay current with the conversation. But he, being a good husband, also realized that now days I have very little outside adult contact and that this meeting meant a lot to me after following these people for around five years now.

I had a wonderful time. Mary (my sister) and I ate at a wonderful bakery next to the library and then headed over for the meeting. She and Elsa hung out in the children's area while I attended the meeting. It was so wonderful to see a like-minded group of people come together to accomplish so many great things for their city, really inspiring. And Aaron and Jeannie gave a wonderful talk. It was fun the see the beginnings of what would become their wonderful site, and to see them share some of their wealth of knowledge. I would recommend them highly to any other group looking for speakers. I even won a book! More on that in another post though.

My only regret was it seemed like there wasn't enough time to chat. I was sure Aaron and Jeannie were anxious to get on the road and I had to get Elsa so Mary could make it to work on time. Of course, before I left we had to stop for a gelloto, because you can't find that in my neck of the woods.

On the way home I called Tim to report that I was on my way and find out supper plans. He asked, kind of snidely, "So was it worth the 5 hour drive?" Yes, it defiantly was.

wwjbd

2008-01-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

or What Would James Bond Do

So of course the morning I do a post on how the furnace hasn't gone out it goes out that evening, and doesn't stay lit. So last night Tim gets home, eats, and then gets suited up to do battle in the cold. In the mean time I'm cleaning up after supper when his phone vibrates. I pick it up and say, "That's funny it didn't ring, I was standing here the whole time." I then turn around and continue wiping. A couple of seconds later I turn back and see him poking at the phone with his hand over the screen. "Are you texting?" I asked in an amazed voice.

Ok, I know this makes me so totally uncool, but I believe that texting is best left to people who are not grown men. Something about it really turns me off. Picture someone who is the epitiamy of manhood, like James Bond, poking at his phone using stupid abbreviations. You can't right? I rest my case.

So back to our conversation. He shows me his screen. "wtf," I exclaim. "What are you a sixteen year old girl." "Your just jealous you don't know anyone who text messages," he replies.

Which is not true. Tom and Jen text message. For some reason I accept this. Maybe because when they started they were actually teenagers. Maybe because they are so darned cute because for some strange reason they seem to still want to talk to each other after being married for two+ years. I think of them as young and cute. I don't want to think of my husband as young and cute. I want him to be a tool wielding, furnace fixing machine. And this text messaging crap is interfering with both.

The phone vibrates again. "idk, what does that mean?" he asks. I feel a little better because if he doesn't know all the slang maybe he's just starting down this dark path and he can still be saved. "I don't know, maybe," I reply. He types away furiously for a bit and then heads down to the basement. I assume he is going to get tools, but after the minutes drag by I figure out he's down there texting where I can't see him. So the situation has gone from weird to creepy and no one is fixing the heat. -sigh-

James Bond wouldn't sit in his basement text messaging. And you know what, James Bond wouldn't come to bed smelling like burnt corn either. But I suppose I'm disappointing in ways too. I imagine Bond girls shave their legs more than once a month.

Corn Furnace Update

2008-01-21T13:56:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry I said I hate contractors. That was a little extreme. Like I said there are a few that we couldn't live without and are very pleasant to work with. But unfortunately we have found that to be a very small number. For awhile we figured it was because we had made the mistake of not hiring the expensive contractor. This corn furnace has taught us that price does not a good experience make. We've come to the conclusion that for us doing the work ourselves has been much more rewarding than hiring it done. That being said if the furnace continues to not keep up we have decided that we will purchase another heating manifold and install it ourselves. So no, I don't hate contractors, I hate working with them.

I think like todd said in the last post it was a case of bad communication. The plumbers we had out to do the work seemed experienced in what they were doing, and were much better (honest?) in answering our questions. I wish that we could have dealt with them from the beginning instead of the owner/salesperson combo we talked to. So maybe that's a secret. You need to stick with smaller/local businesses. But then again that's bitten us in the butt too. And as for recommendations we learned how unfortunate those could be with our roof debacle. I don't know what the answer is. I just have to go on with the belief that people who mislead others are going to have to answer for that someday, and be happy in that knowledge.

Thank you matt for the offer of help. As of right now I'm hoping we won't need it. As for a cleaner we were told that we wouldn't need one with this system. Which was another reason why we bought it.

When the plumbers came back out they removed the solid auger we had been using and replaced it with a hallow one. They said they don't install solid ones on corn furnaces anymore and don't know how that one made it on our unit. -sigh- It seems to have made the difference. Tim had noted that even how it burns seems better and we haven't had a problem with it going out since. This is the longest it has consecutively run ever. My dad made a good observation. He said that the auger probably makes the difference because a hallow one wouldn't conduct heat as much as a solid one. The solid one was probably conducting the heat and causing condensation (which he had noticed outside the tube and thought was strange) which caused the feed to gum up.

The fact that it is now running after the replacement makes me feel better because these guys had my husband and I feeling like a couple of morons. They kept telling us how they had retired farmers who ran the thing with no problems and didn't understand why we had problems. Well, from what we can tell now it's because YOUR auger.

Other minor issues you should know if you are thinking about getting one. They are NOT maintenance free. The salesperson made it sound like you just had to clean out once a month or so and otherwise you didn't have to pay any attention to it. Wrong. We have to poke around at the fire twice a day. Tim does it first thing in the morning before leaving for work and then in the evening after supper. So don't expect to take an overnight away and it still be working when you return. That being said the technician we had out here said what the owner told us about having someone around to watch it constantly is a bunch of baloney. That people are able to leave there stoves and go to friends houses for play-dates and return to find them working. We've also found that you can't adjust the thermostat. I'm one of those people who loves it cold when the sleep. So I had a programmable thermostat that dropped way down at night and then warmed it self back up before I was up in the morning. We can't do that right now. In fact, if we mess with the thermostat setting at all it seems to lead to problems so we no longer touch it. I don't know if this we be better once we have the shed built and have a heaver load on the system. I'll have to let you know.

I Hate Contractors

2008-01-15T09:01:00.000-06:00

Things are pretty glum around the farm house these days. We don't understand. Are all contractors jerks? I mean I think we are pretty good judges of character, we seem to have so many lovely friends and family. Then why are we incapable of picking a decent contractor? OK, not all of them have been horrible (we love you Wedeking Electric please come soon to wire the dining room), but it seems we get more bad apples than good.

For the last three days the furnace has not kept lit over 6 hours. Last week it worked fine for us. Tim would go out every night and stir the pot a bit and things were a nice and toasty 72 degrees. And when the weather turned so did our luck.

They sent a guy out yesterday. When Tim called last night Mick (the owner of the company) said that we had bad corn and just the slightest crack can cause the furnace not to work. Now isn't that something you should tell the customer before they purchase corn? Also, he was upset to find that I was not home. The girls and I had gone for 4 hours to a friends for a play date. I guess you are not supposed to leave the furnace. Isn't that something they should have told us? Now if someone said to you you can't leave the house for the furnace to work effectively would you buy the furnace? I think not.

So we got up this morning to our cold house and Tim called Mick again. He said that this is the last time he is sending a guy out for free and we just have to face the fact that we have a bad batch of corn. Now here's my solution. We will waste even more of our time (Tim was supposed to be a work hours ago, but he's here waiting for the contractor) draining the bin. We will then purchase "approved" corn from the contractor and then see if the damn thing works. Or I am seriously tempted to say to them take the damn furnace and the coil that you put in that is too small to heat the house and we'll just pay for the work plumbing the two together. Then we'll go to another contractor and start over again.

I am so tempted to e-mail the company a link to this post and a copy of my site stats. Let them know just how fast word of mouth can travel when you have a houseblog. I suppose I had better just settle down though.

Rath Administration Building Purchased

2008-01-10T10:05:00.000-06:00

Exciting news. The Rath Administration building has been purchased to be renovated by Mako Waterloo Corporation. Read the article here.

Waste of Fricking Money

2008-01-04T10:36:00.000-06:00

I want to call my husband and scream and yell. But I won't because I am a good wife.

They came Monday and installed the corn furnace the rest of the way and the last few days have been a constant battle with it. If it actually stays lit, it doesn't keep the house warm. I let the temperature fall to 63 and then I'd bump the propane on to catch it up so I don't know just how low the thing would fall before it would keep up.

Yesterday morning the contractor came out to start the fire because Tim had to get to work and we couldn't figure out why it would have gone out (he said it was feed that plugged the auger, but when Tim looked at it this morning after it went out again he said the auger is not sitting right and it's grinding the corn up into feed). I talked to him about it not keeping up and how maybe we need a bigger exchanger on the furnace. He told me that the exchanger was more than big enough for area this size in that "Don't be stupid" tone of voice. I wanted to make a nasty comment, but not only am I a nice wife, I am a good person so I just smiled sweetly at him bottling my anger deep, deep inside.

What really burns me is we used a really expensive contractor. And it's still not right. Arrrrrrrrg@!#$

Well today that anger is itching to get out. I need to get somethings tonight at the store and I just know Tim is going to make a fuss about price and not having any money. Well at least the camera case I plan on buying will work unlike that stupid corn furnace he bought. There I said it, and hopefully that will be enough and I won't have to have a complete melt down in the middle of the Target store.

I wish I had a time machine. I'd hop in it and travel back to October and forbid Tim from buying that stupid corn furnace. Instead I'd take the money and buy a Wii and the Guitar Hero game (I played it with my cousin last weekend and fell in love, I even dreamed about it last night, serious). Then if I was angry I'd just rock out until my anger subsided...

Slow Ride -da dum dumb, da dum dumb-

Take It Easy -da dum dumb, da dum dumb-

I'm In The Mood...

Corn Furnace Day Two

2007-12-08T11:51:00.000-06:00

Well here's the furnace in it's new home. It's just sitting there now unattached because we don't have our bin that we purchased yet. The guy we bought it from called this morning and he still hasn't heard anything about it. They had sent it in to have some parts replaced so hopefully it will be a decent bin for quite awhile even though we bought it used. Now that I'm looking at that picture I wonder how close that is to the wedding tree... Not that I can do anything about it now.

Here's the new insert in the furnace. As you can see it still needs to be wired up. When they left yesterday afternoon they said they had a couple more hours of work left that they would finish when they came to tie the bin in.

Isn't all the new copper pretty?

Here's where it enters into the water heater.

On an unrelated subject it's now final. We are having the Brinkman Christmas this year. My Uncle Mark's family were the only ones not able to make it so we will have 33 people total. Our biggest party yet! So this afternoon we are headed out to Osage to the Mennonite Bulk Food Store to buy candy making supplies. And then up to Stacyville to visit the grandparents.

Corn Furnace Day One

2007-12-07T10:40:00.000-06:00

So yesterday morning the plumbing contractors showed up to start work on the corn furnace. Yesterday Tim also read that corn is supposed to get up to $5. -sigh-

This is them digging the trench. The dug from the back of the house where the pad sits over to the north side and into the plywood we have up over the old coal chute. This chute has proven to be quite handy and we've ended up using it as an inlet to the house many times now. Good thing we didn't get around to landscaping that side of the house last spring, huh?

Here's the pad this morning before the arrived. Ignore the gray thing in the foreground. It's just the table saw that died on us a year ago (I know, it's white trashy).

And here's the new corn furnace. It's green. I wanted gray, but since Tim has become manic about getting this project done he pretty much stopped consulting me on anything about it. I had to take a picture though because isn't the little trailer they have to haul it nifty. It's suspended on a cable in the center see?

As I was making lunch yesterday I was thinking to myself. I sure hope they don't try to pressure test the lines after they work with them. See we never had that done since we did the plumbing ourselves. And with our luck I picture them pressuring up and the whole house exploding in a giant fountain of water. Yeah, things are pretty good here at the Newton house and we're waiting for the next disaster to rear it's ugly head.

Home

2007-12-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

Elsa at 4 months with Mr. Bear her tasty new friend

Tonight we had Elsa's four month appointment so we left Molly with my mom. Elsa was going to get shots, and Molly can be a little protective when it comes to her baby sister so we decided this was the best plan of action.

Well on the way there I noticed something fall from Tim's lap out of the corner of my eye. It was Molly's blanket. The one thing she can't possibly live without. Yes, that's over exaggerating, but try to tell that to her. So I called Mom and told her where to find the back up blanket once she got to our house.

Molly check out one of the few Christmas decorations I have up so far...

With that deer-in-the-headlights, caught-red-handed look

When we got back to Mom's that night she said that when they turned the corner and headed north to our house Molly saw the lights and said, "Home." Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? Neither Tim nor I had heard her say the word before. So it was great when we pulled up and Tim went to get her out of the car seat and she opened her tired eyes and gently said again, "Home."

Dear Santa- 2007's Wish List

2007-12-01T21:43:00.000-06:00

Sugar Creek Farm 2008 Calandar,

White Christmas Tree,

Bradbury and Bradbury Wallpaper,

Oh and this house and furniture for the girls (ok, ok, and me) and maybe the farm to go with it.

Hey, I've been a pretty good girl this year so I can expect a lot right?

So Near Yet So Far

2007-11-30T20:36:00.000-06:00

Rake, IA appears to be 2 hours away from my MapQuest search. That's probably far enough away that Tim will put the kibosh on going to this open house at a church a couple turned into a house. Check out the video footage on-line. But it doesn't look like it does the place justice.

Here at home it's been published in the paper that King Corn will tentatively be played at the Community Center on Monday, December 10th at 7:00 pm. I'm hoping that happens. I really wanted to go to Iowa City to see it with my sister, but it's looking like that's not going to work out (sorry Mary, I'm saving my trip bargaining points to come to the Iowa River Power Restaurant with you and Bjorn). So hopefully Kelli over at Sugar Creek Farm will be able to make the short trip down and go with us.

Thank You Jen

2007-11-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

I've become so lazy about taking pictures since my brother-in-law Tom married Jen. Her camera is a permanent attachment which is why I was certain she'd have some great photos of the dining room the night of the party. You can check them out at Newton Boer Goats- Also...

I love how in the first picture it looks like Lyle is trying so hard to think of the answer.

And it didn't bother me at all in real life but now that I see those folding chairs in the photos they look so tacky. I really need to start going to some sales, those little bent wood chairs shouldn't be that hard to find right?

Tour of Homes in Des Moines, IA

2007-11-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

I'd really love to go to this, but with the holidays upon us now it's hard to justify shooting a whole day. Especially when I don't even have my decorations up, my shopping started, and the fact that we are now definitely hosting a Christmas party. -sigh-

Waterbury homes present the holidays

Cement Pads

2007-11-26T20:44:00.000-06:00

Today Tim took the day off of work to pour the concrete pads for Molly's play house and the corn burning stove. We haven't had the cement truck out here since we poured the footings for the front porch. Tim says he remembers cement being $40 then (~3 years ago), he's interested to see what it's going to be now. Did you know that when you have concrete poured at this time of the year there is a winter charge? I guess that is for heating the water, the different blend of cement, etc. So my advise would be to wait and do it at a more typical temperature/time. But those of you who know Tim know that when he decides he wants something he wants it RIGHT NOW.

My step-father came out this morning to help. Tim was really worried. Almost to the point he was going to refuse his help. I wasn't too happy about that. I'm pretty sure Bruce has been working with concrete since he was in diapers. Generations of his family have run the cement plant here in Greene. Why would you refuse free help from an expert.

Well, Tim was worried his forms were not up to snuff and, even though he didn't admit it, I think he was worried Bruce would try to discourage him from pouring it today. But I talked him into letting Bruce give him a hand and I know he's pretty happy I did. The concrete was firm enough to gently walk on late this afternoon and it's now covered in a nice blanket of straw and tarps for the night.

If you read this Bruce thank you again!

This is the pad for Molly's play house. It will face the kitchen door/window so I can keep an eye on the girls while they play in it. The little out butting in the front is a step. Tim nicely rounded out all of the corners so nothing was sharper than it needed to be.

I forgot to take the camera when I went out to look at the pad for the corn furnace. It will sit behind the house where the burn barrel used to be. We put it there because it was decided since we were going through all the cost of putting this furnace in for the new shed we might as well buy a little bigger one and heat the house with it too. Everyone we've talked to who has one likes their corn burner.

We're going to have to take the electric heat insert we got for free off of the top of the furnace to install it, but that thing has proven to be a dud so I'm not to upset. Plus, it was free so we're only out the labor and installation supplies for installing it.

Our First Party In The Dining Room

2007-11-19T09:41:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. I thought of the camera right when I got everyone seated, but something came up and I forgot completely about it. Maybe Jen has a few and will post them on her site.

Tim and I agreed that it went very well. I forgot a place setting. It was stupid really because I remembered to borrow a booster seat for Connor, but then forgot to set a place for him. -sigh- If I had it to do over again I think I would have squeezed a folding table onto the end of the dining room table. I know it's less classy, but then we all would have fit into the dining room. I didn't get much of a chance to talk with Kyle and Amy before they left.

Molly had been on the road the last few days, staying at Stacyville Friday night and all Saturday and then to my moms on Sunday before the party. I was worried she'd be a real crab, but she did very well. She really didn't like sharing her toys which I'm horribly embarrassed about. I know I shouldn't expect it, but I want her to look sweetly at our company and offer up even her most favorite of toys. Instead, she'd stock piled her treasures on Grandpa Lyle's lap expecting him to guard them for her. And no mom, you don't have to say it, I know she's just like her mother.

I know it's not quite Thanksgiving yet, but last night I couldn't help thinking how much I have to be thankful for. A good husband, a beautiful home, healthy children, and wonderful friends and family (mom, thanks for watching Molly so I could get the cleaning done).

And Kelli, we missed you and the family. One of these times we're bound to get everyone together, right?

Can't Talk Now...

2007-11-17T17:20:00.000-06:00

The party is tomorrow and we have a ton of stuff to do. But just a few quick pictures of the progress.

The Customer Isn't Always Right I Guess

2007-11-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

What ever happened to that school of thought? I went "shopping" today. It was a very painful experience. First I had to return a sleeper I got as a gift that Elsa was too big for. Well the person who bought it for me took off the tags, but I did have a gift receipt. It took me 20 minutes at the counter to get my money and by the way the lady treated me you'd think I'd had asked her to build Rome in a day. My 1 1/2 year old complains less in a month than what that lady did in that 20 minute interval. But I consider myself lucky because I did get money back and sometimes when I go back with something I'm not so lucky.

Later on today I headed out for groceries for the party on Sunday. I'm doing a ham. I decided this because my mother has done a ham for a couple of occasions now and it's very easy to do and very tasty. Well I went to the store (large chain store that now sells groceries, not the local guys) she told me she buys it from. And low and behold right when I walk in there is the ham. But it looks a little too big so I head back to the meat department but I'm not finding the ham. I'm in a hurry because Molly is crabby so I decided that I'm not going to mess around I'll just send left overs home with the guests. So I get to the check out and they can't find a price. It turns out this particular ham is part of a dinner pack. You need to buy a bunch of other crap just to get the ham. At the time the cashier is telling me this Tim is already very unhappy and embarrassed (he doesn't deal with going against the norm at all, he likes life to be like those credit card commericals where everything runs perfectly until the person with the check book shows up), and he can tell I'm going to get belligerent. I sense this, but I still prod on. I ask if I could possibly buy the exact same type of ham with out the additional stuff. The cashier looks at me like I'm asking her to cut off her arm and sell it to me. At this point Tim cuts in and says I must have the wrong ham (ooooooo, does that make me mad!) and we'll just pick out another kind. We pay for our other purchases and I'm steaming. I lite into him saying I know exactly what kind of ham my mother buys (I do!) and what are we going to do... Tim manages to get me out of the store and into the car promising me he'll go back and pick out a new ham and it will be fine. I call my mother on the way home to whine. She makes me feel better by telling me a couple different ways you can doctor up a plain ham. I start to feel a little better.

I'm the customer, I'm always right. And to me the right thing to do is to sell the customer who wants a freaking ham the freaking ham!

Molly's Run In With The Grate

2007-11-14T10:20:00.001-06:00

Last week when we were refinishing the floor in the dining room we had to take the grates out. Well one of the grates is right around the corner from the door. The night we did that Molly takes off into the room and rounds the corner and BOOM, she's in the floor. Luckily she was more scared that hurt. She had just gotten a giant knitted winter hat with the braided tassels on the side that are so popular now from Grandma Ronnie and that protected her head from the sharp edge of the floor. She went all the way in, one leg in the tube. After some hugs and kisses she was down on the floor again running at full speed. But we haven't let her back in there since. But now she'll be free to roam once again because Tim got the grates refinished.

He's of course on a kick so he took the living room ones with him too.

Downstairs Bathroom Faucet Arrives

2007-11-13T14:19:00.000-06:00

That last post was so boring that I had to add another one today since we got the faucet for the downstairs bathroom.

It's a story of how houseblogging saved the day once again. The sink above was in the house when we bought it. Not actually attached to a wall, but just lying on the floor. I really liked it. Tim says because it is square and I have a affinity for all things square.

The only problem was Tim wasn't happy with the old faucet and your normal big box store faucet wasn't going to cut it with the openings it had. So one day I was reading a post over at House In Progress about their bathroom. I clicked on their link to Chicago Faucets just for fun and just happened to run across the link to our new faucet. It's apparently called a shelf and angle back lavatory faucet. Who knew? So now the sink is a go.

Thank you Aaron and Jeanne!

Yesterday's Progress

2007-11-13T09:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening Tim got the pass-thru doors stripped. He didn't use the typical stripper we use, Dads (we bought it at K-Mart). Instead he used a furniture refinisher. This is what he also used on the foyer stairway. It's much more liquidy than our normal stripper and Tim just sprays it on with a spray bottle. He seems to like working with it better. I can't say myself since I haven't had a chance to use it yet. Tim said it was really great on the dental moldings we have downstairs.

He also got the doors stained. He said they turned out nice. I can't wait to see them. I've got to get the bottom of the pass-thru cleaned out today so he can beef up the shelves. They really sag under the weight of all my good dishes.

Weekend Up-Date

2007-11-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

Saturday we got the woodwork up in the dining room and the two bathroom doors operational. The door to the bathroom was on previously, but the knob wasn't in place yet. Of course we weren't able to locate all of the pieces. They are around here somewhere, it's just going to be keeping our eyes open for them. Like ask I was sorting the dining room woodwork I ran across the tiny pieces of door stop that were missing from the living room double doors.

Sunday I wiped everything down in the dining room while Tim painted on the kitchen porch. Then later that night he helped me move furniture in.

The table and chairs my mom bought maybe 20 years ago at an auction. It was in our kitchen on the farm. The cabinet is that one the neighbor had out in the yard. The picture on the wall Tim's mom bought me quite a few birthdays ago. The rug is way to small for the space, but it will have to do until we can find a rug we like/come up with the cash for it.

The only woodwork that didn't get put up (besides the few missing pieces) is the trim around the pantry pass-thru. The doors weren't refinished yet so Tim took those down and hopes to work on them the next few evenings so they are done in time for the party on Sunday.

I'm A Little Worried

2007-11-10T10:22:00.000-06:00

At first I was thrilled that Tim was excited to work on the house again, but I guess this is a classic example of be careful what you wish for. He's become almost frantic. He's talking about taking this here or that there to be refinished. I don't know where the money is coming from since he's planning this shed project also (I'm starting to think I should make sure he's not dealing drugs).

Last night on the way to my uncle's birthday party we drove by an old house they are fixing up in Clarksville. I made a comment about the scaffolding they had up and Tim replied, "Yeah, I might paint the porch this weekend." I looked at him with disbelief and said, "Wouldn't it be better to get the trim in the dining room since we have a party planned for next Sunday?" "We'll see," he said. Which means I'll do what ever I want no matter how stupid it is, thank you.

Then again before bed he drags me out to the foyer and says, "What about blue for the walls? We could have it painted before Thanksgiving." "You mean before next weekend?" I ask. "Yeah," he replies. I tell him no.

You know, maybe he's taking some of those drugs he's selling...
Some how I must stop him before he starts 20 projects and doesn't get the dining room finished for the company. Stay tuned to see if our marriage survives this weekend.

Projectitis

2007-11-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

Definition: Disease causing swelling to portions of the brain related to memory. Most common symptom is forgetting past aches, renovation disasters, monetary drains, household messes, etc. The effects of this disease include waking up in the morning and saying "I can't wait to work on the house this weekend."

As my husband did this morning. Seriously. Sickness it's the only explanation.

The remedy is a good stout weekend of trim application, furniture moving, grate refinishing, and mess clean-up.

Four Years Later

2007-11-08T22:12:00.001-06:00

The light in the dining room is up. We purchased if off of Ebay just over four years ago. Amazingly this delicate fixture has been moved all over and never broken. Right now it is missing the crystal ball that hangs in the center, but I remember seeing it up in the attic a few months ago so I'm sure it can be relocated with out much trouble.

I think it's too high. The only problem is who ever rewired it didn't leave enough wire to hang it very low. In fact, we had to remove links from the chain to hang it. I'm keeping those links and after a few years (when I get bored with having an actual working light fixture) maybe I'll have it re-wired again to hang at a more respectable dining room height. Maybe in say, four years. For now, since it is such a delicate fixture I don't think it looks awful. The final call will be made when the table gets drug in.

Dining Room Floor Refinished

2007-11-07T10:06:00.000-06:00

Here's a shot of the finished dining room floor. Want to know how dusty it gets? Look at that wall on the right.

We are guessing this is maple. It's not the original floor in here. You can tell because it was put in around the baseboards and door trim. Someone told me that this is a "school house" floor. When they shut down the one room school houses people would take the flooring out and install them in their homes. I don't know for sure if this is what happened here or not.

It's a beautiful honey color that goes very well with the red walls. Our only complaint is someone at some point tried to sand it down and didn't do a very good job. You can see the mars made in the wood. They are especially bad by the doorway to the kitchen. I tried to take some pictures below.

Tonight I'm hoping Tim will be home in time to install the light fixture and maybe even get the new window trimmed out so we can start to install woodwork.

The Aftermath or Why Tim Had To Call 911 Again

2007-11-05T14:20:00.000-06:00

Tim decided he wanted the new shed to go where the grainery is standing so he chose yesterday afternoon to burn it down.

Here it is before the fire. We didn't take it down when we tore the rest of the outbuildings out because the little lean-to on the side was a nice place for Tim to store the Oliver we mow with. Well, now the plan is for the Oliver to be kept in the new shed so bye-bye grainery.

It's sad to see these old out building go. It really affects the look of the place, but we can't afford to maintain them. We decided when we bought the place that we'd do everything we could to try and save the barn, but we just wouldn't be able to save it all. It's hard, but you learn as you go through one of these renovations that sometime you have to let things go so save something else.

We had spent yesterday morning at my mom's house because Tim had put the second coat of finish on the dining room floor and it was kind of stinky at the house. I really wanted to see the fire, but Molly has been teething and not sleeping well and she had just settled down for a nap and Elsa need to eat soon so I had to pass. Tim wanted to get it started fairly early because we were supposed to go to his folks house for supper. I told Tim to take lots of pictures.

I called him about an hour after he left to see how it was going. He said fine, but the camera had run out of space on the card so he only got one picture. I asked why he didn't delete old photos. He said he didn't know how. I sighed and resisted beating myself on the head with the phone out of frustration. I then asked if he was about ready to leave for his folks. He replied that it was burning fast and to give him about a half and hour. I started to say something to the effect of how to delete photos on the camera but he cut me off saying, "****, I've got to go, I really gotta go." And since he tends to be a little over dramatic I hung up the phone and went to get Molly up for a snack.

For your viewing pleasure, the only photo taken of the burning building...

About a half hour later I got the girls packed up. I headed outside to tell my mom and step-dad good bye. They were working on landscaping around the new addition they built last year. Molly was happy to be outside with all the crunchy leaves and I had trouble getting her to leave because she was busy helping Papa "drive" his tractor. I jokingly said we had to go see if the house was still standing because of Tim's parting words. Mom said that they had heard the fire department leave town and we all had a good laugh.

I finally got my daughter in the car and headed north towards the house. No big cloud of smoke that direction, things were good. I was on the road just at the base of the hill before you see our house when Bubba, one of the local firemen came over the hill. When he saw it was me he laughed and waved. It was then that I got the sick feeling in my stomach. As I crested the hill I saw the house was still standing but the towns entire fleet of fire engines were headed down the road back towards home. Tim is in the yard by a smoking pile of rubble talking agitatedly on his cell phone.

The aftermath, taken this morning...

I get out of the car and make him hang up the phone so I can find out what happened. It turns out while he was talking to me the ditch across the road started on fire. After he hung up the phone he headed across the road to put it out with a shovel. Well, the shovel broke and the fire spread to the corn stalks in the field. He ended up calling 911 (what is strange is this is the second time this month he's had to call, there was a cow in the road that someone hit coming home a few nights before) and they sent out every engine the town of Greene owns. He's like, "Yeah, you missed it Kip and Bubba where here. I didn't ask Kip about the wedding but..." like I had just missed some friends stopping by for a beer. They had put of the fire in the field and then by law put out his building fire. Luckily the building was pretty well gone by that point so he won't have to try to burn it again.

Later on that night as we're getting ready for bed he's telling me that the firemen were pretty serious when they showed up. He was standing along the road to talk to them and they just drove right by him and started putting out the fires. I must have looked at him with what could only be called amazement and said, "You thought they'd chat before they went to work?" "Well yeah," he replied. "A quick conversation, maybe say hi."

-sigh-

Sander Surprise

2007-11-03T15:30:00.000-05:00

Tim went out this morning to run shed related errands. He called around 11:30 and said, "I've got the sander, clean out the dining room." Surprise!

So here he is working away. This was the sander we rented to do the up-stairs hallway, we had an orbital for the downstairs floors. We just got done talking about it and we like that this sander is leaving the "character" of the floor. The orbital would have made short work of it and stripped it down to white. This isn't sanding as fast, therefore "character" remains while still evening out the warping in the boards. We're not that worried about the uneveness because someday most of the floor will be covered with an area rug, and even if we weren't doing a rug the giant oak table will really break the space up. Therefore the sanded area doesn't have to be pristine.

Oooo, I had better find some cute crafty Christmas party invites to make!

Barn Update and Cool Barn Artist

2007-11-03T10:25:00.000-05:00

Here's the library. It's the last room to be worked on here at the farmhouse. There for it has become storage. Though you can't tell, a lot of what is being stored here are tools. The rest of what we have collected is down in the basement which floods every spring. It's not a good situation.

That's why I haven't protested too much when Tim told me he wants to build a shed this fall. I thought we had a kind of un-said agreement that the house would be finished before we started on the exterior structures. But I'm really looking forward to this shed. I can picture tools put nicely away in tool boxes and hanging on peg boards. Tim plans to insulate and run water to the shed so I also picture a nice faucet on the side that I can use to water the garden (this year I would make 5+ trips from the kitchen faucet to the garden). I can use it to clean my fancy paint brush!

He's still pricing and looking at options, he started off wanted to turn the barn into one. But after much angst we decided it wouldn't be the best option for the barn. Plus, for what that would cost we could build a standard tin shed and roof the barn too. So that is what we decided to do. The only problem is the guy we want to do the barn roof is busy until next spring so we'll have to cross our fingers and hold our breath that it survives another winter. He's also looked at options like changing the pitch of the shed's roof to give it a more old fashioned look, but people look at him funny and ask why you'd do something stupid like that (i.e. spend more money to not gain any room).

On to the barn artist. I think I have been a good girl this year. So Santa, if you read this, I would like to find one done for my barn in my stocking please.

Here's the article from Iowa Farmer Today.

My Aunt, The Hooker On The Corner

2007-11-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

Since Tim is out helping my dad harvest corn instead of working on the dining room floor I'll take today to tell you about my aunt Carla's new (ok, it was a year old in July so not quite so new) quilt store.

She and some other local ladies started a quilt shop in one of the corner buildings of their town, Williamsburg, IA. Check out this link to their website for pictures (if they don't come up try clicking the about us link off to the side). They don't really do the place justice. It really does have that "country store" feel they were looking to achieve.

I wish they had a picture where you could see the back wall. On that wall there is a door to a little office they have. Instead of being a solid door they used a wooden screen. It really works well balancing separation of the space with the openness needed to keep an eye on customers who might have needs. It's such a cute idea I wish I had a use for it here at the house!

Dead Line For Destruction Of Rath Pack

2007-11-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

-sigh-

Caught this on the news tonight. I love this building. Click on the picture here for a decent view of it. Believe me it's got a even more style in real life. The unfortunate part is it's in a pretty bad neighborhood.

I'd like to go to the informational meeting the mention at the end of the article, but the way things have been going here in Iowa 60 miles is a long way to drive just to get depressed.

How cool would it be to turn it into one of those assisted living homes (check out the photo album at that place!). Have you seen the new ones they are putting up? For what one of those puppies cost they could do a pretty decent remodel I would think. And no, I don't want to hear you arguments against it and why it wouldn't make sense, so don't post them in the comments. I'm just going to lean back and picture myself living it up there in 50 years. So what if it is in a bad part of town? Mess with me and I'll run you down with my motorized wheel chair and beat you with my cane. Oh yeah.

Ms Scarlet In The Dining Room With The Hammer

2007-10-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

La Fonda Geranium Red also makes for a lovely inadvertent Halloween decoration this year!

Molly as Little Red Riding Hood

(the costume was mine when I was little)

Elsa the pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Review: EZ Clean Paint Brush

2007-10-29T10:53:00.000-05:00

Web site for you to check out: EZ Paint Tools, Inc.

Also check out what others thought.

First off what I used to paint with. i.e. the comparison brush, or for my fellow scientific types the control. My paint brush of choice for most of the rooms in the house is made by Rubbermaid. It's just one you pick up at the local Wal-mart. It had a nice grip and didn't seem to fall apart after a couple of uses. My biggest problem would be washing it up too later or not thoroughly enough so it would gum up and have to be thrown away.

Secondly, painting with the EZ brush. The EZ brush was a dream to edge with. Much better than the control brush. Yes, it didn't hold as much paint, but that was well worth the nice clean lines and the lack of colored goobers on my nice white ceiling. Also the handle of the EZ paint brush is kind of funky. I expected it to be very uncomfortable to paint with, especially since the Rubbermaid has a nice rubber grip. And yes that was true. However, it was not as bad as I thought it would be and in the hour that I used it did not get fatigued. Painting wise I'd choose the EZ brush over the Rubbermaid.

Thirdly, cleaning the EZ brush. As you know I don't really have the set up to clean the brush here at home currently. It would be nice if they could set up some sort of laundry room sink attachment. Plus how do you clean the thing once it gets to be winter and you can't use the hose? A couple more weeks here in Iowa and I won't be able to clean the thing outside even if I had a hose.

Our solution for no hose was to take it to my parent-in-laws. Here's a shot of when you first turn on the water. The water pretty much runs though the center of the bristles so...

I started squishing it around in my hands. Which pretty quickly took the paint from the outside.

Tim wanted a shot, still being upset he didn't think of this idea himself. His way of hitting it on the propane tank also worked, so it just depends on how sensitive your hands are to the cold water.

We should have timed the clean up time, but we didn't. I would defiantly say it wasn't over two minutes for both of our tries. An easy win over the Rubbermaid.

Conclusion: I have one unknown variable that makes this hard to write, the price. If the Rubbermaid brush and the EZ paint brush cost the same I would easily choose the EZ paint brush. However, if the EZ paint brush is 1.5x more expensive than the Rubbermaid I would probably choose the Rubbermaid because I am cheap.

Also, even though Tim may disagree the EZ paint brush should not be used as a water throwing weapon.

You Think You're Having A Bad Day...

2007-10-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

at least you aren't walking around with a can on your head.

So Elsa and I are hanging out on the couch watching Martha Stewart when we hear this banging on the kitchen window. So I put her in the swing and head over to check it out. Well, it's this greedy little cat. So I'm torn about what to do because I was taught growing up not to mess with strange animals. And even though it's kind of funny watching the poor thing stagger around (I know- bad person, I can't help it, it was funny) the front yard I do feel sorry for it. Plus it would probably spend the last of its days in my front yard and end up dying there and how evil and trashy would that look.

Tim had a pair of leather gloves laying around so I put those on and headed out. It didn't run away when I, talking REALLY loudly so it could hear my through the can, walked up to it. It took me five tires before I got it un-stuck, it was really lodged on. And boy was I glad I had those gloves because it was not happy during the attempts. But finally it fell out and ran away hissing.

Of course it chose to run right into the basement. Stupid cat. No, it's not our fault we leave the basement door cracked. Remember what happened last time we had a unwanted cat in the house?

All I know is if it's down there it had better kill some of those mice who keep showing up at night in the kitchen in gratitude.

Dining Room Wall Color Revealed

2007-10-26T10:43:00.000-05:00

Here's the dining room with the final coat of paint. Two coats did the job, I was very impressed with the tinted primer.

I like the red, what I don't really know if I like is the white ceiling with it. Well then paint it you say. Easier said then done. It has a finish on it so you don't have to paint it. It's paint-able anyway, but I hate to go to all that work when we don't have to, plus it will make it something to maintain. I'll have to get opinions.

Murphy's Law of 18 Month Olds

2007-10-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

If you have shut to door to the dining room to paint (don't worry her kitchen set blocks the other doorway so she was not left unattended) it's bound to happen that your 18 month old decides that is the day to figure out how to work the door knob -sigh-

Oh was she proud of herself, and of course wanted to repeat the trick over and over. Luckily I was just about done. UN-luckily she just about knocked me off the ladder opening the door.

Dining Room Primed

2007-10-24T14:31:00.000-05:00

So here's the dining room all primed.

I really like the gray. It looks super with the woodwork. I'm worried I like the gray better than the red. I'm still undecided. It doesn't help that when you paint the red it's more of a deep hot pink. Luckily it drys into a more reasonable shade.

I primed Monday, painted the first coat of red Tuesday, and the second coat today (Wednesday). I think two coats is going to cover it, but I'll have to make a final appraisal tonight after it's had a little time to dry.

Tomorrow's plan is to take a little artists brush around for touch up where the ceiling meets the wall.

Next on the dining room agenda is refinishing the floor. I spoke to Tim last night about taking care of this and he said after he has the fall tillage done. Also, I need him to extend the frame of one of the windows and I might try and persuade him to install the light fixture. It's a little chandelier and I'm so excited to finally see it installed.

Oh, and check out this cute picture of Molly courtesy of Aunt Jen's blog.

King Corn

2007-10-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

A movie made in Greene, IA? And about a subject I'm starting to really get into, how cool is that!

Remember me telling about that book I was reading on agriculture? Well this seems to be a movie version of the first part of the book. There's going to be a lecture and screening of the movie at Iowa State University and I'm hoping I can make it. Kelli want to come along :)

Check out the trailer. The guy who says "That's corn..." he the funeral home director. And I should know the guy who says "carbs" and the one with the crap quote I'm pretty sure goes to our church. I think I read somewhere that they filmed in 2004 so we would have owned the house for a year, but not been moved in yet, I think.

The Paint Brush Goes To A Party

2007-10-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

Wall Street Journal alert- I took a home improvement tool to a venue where alcohol was being served! :)

Yesterday was homecoming at my college, Wartburg so we had festivities to attend. The plan was to go to the parade and do a quick walk-thru of the campus, head home and prime the walls while the girls napped. Then if was off to my roommates husbands thirtieth birthday bash. Well plans got foiled. As we were heading out we ran into a couple of friends and ended up having a long lunch with them. That didn't leave enough time to buy painting supplies and give the girls a nice nap so sorry but the nap won out.

While at the parade I asked my old roomie if she had a working garden hose (she being more normal than I, did). So I asked if it would be possible to bring the paint brush and wash it out. She, having lived with me, is not surprised by weird questions like this and agreed.

So after nap time I loaded the paint brush up in a cooler with ice packs to keep it as frozen as possible and took off for the party. Only problem is we all got to having such a good time the bush was kind of forgotten about.

Well today we have to head up to Tim's folks for a family-get-together. I know Ronnie has a garden hose so the plan is to wash it off up there. So stay tuned.

Oh, and Molly learned to parallel park...

Seriously, I Did Something On The House Today

2007-10-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

I know, late night readers are rubbing their eyes and you early morning guys are spilling coffee on the keyboard :)

Primer edging complete- check.

You'll also notice that Tim got the doors out of the way. The bathroom door is on (the one next to the window), but it doesn't actually shut because it hits the bottom of the frame. The bathroom closet door is now sitting in the closet, and the door to the kitchen is in the foyer leaning against the wall (I know, not safe for the toddler. I'm going to talk to him about it tonight) so every time I walk down the stairs I think someone left the exterior foyer door open.

So I know you are all dying to know how the brush worked. I'm going to save that for a later post. Mostly because the major selling point is how easy it is to clean and I haven't cleaned it yet. Remember the hose problem? So it's currently wrapped in foil and a zip-lock in the freezer. Hey, that's better than I'd treat my other paint brush so it can't complain (plus you can't hear it 'cause it's in the fridge -get it hehe).

So it took me 40 minutes total. Not too bad, only time for one kid to wake up. Guess which one- hint look at the photo. But what's strange is I wanted more. Yes, if I had a roller pad I would have probable had the whole place painted today. It felt so GOOD to be accomplishing something. I forgot what a high it was. Unless it was just from the paint fumes.

Our Morning

2007-10-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

7:35 AM- "Where is he!" asks Tim who is going in late to work this morning so he can meet a contractor for a quote on cement in the barn. "He said 7:30." "Oh," I reply, "Then he definitely won't be here any earlier than 8:00." There's a chance he won't show at all, but I just think that and don't tell Tim.

7:40 AM- "I'm just going to start the car so it will be warmed up once he leaves," he says. "Do you really want it to run that long?" I ask. "Well, if he's not here soon I'll just have to leave," he replies.

7:45 AM- "I know he'll show up if..." Tim heads into the bathroom.

7:55AM- "There's a truck coming! And it's white!" as he heads for the door happy again.

It seems it's been much to long since Tim has dealt with a contractor and has forgotten how they work.

T - 4 Days And Counting

2007-10-18T16:07:00.000-05:00

Room cleaned- check,
Walls wiped- check,
Paint and primed located- check,
Tools located- brush (of course) and ladder ready...
rollers, roller pads, and tray still needed

Only one thing impeding progress,
Tim.

He needs to get these doors on in the bathroom and the spots he patched sanded down.

But as of right now I can at least do the edge work. The only problem is I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to find a hose to clean this brush.

La Fonda Geranium Red

2007-10-17T13:16:00.000-05:00

That's the future color of the dining room in case you were wondering.

I did end up being able to go on that tour of homes a couple of weeks ago and one of the homes had a deep red dining room like this. Their taste was perhaps a bit more eclectic and modern that my own furnishing-wise, but I think it will look fine with what I plan to do also. I liked how the dark color drew the walls in and made the room cozy.

Molly is at the grandparent's today so I hope I can get the rest of the room cleared out tonight.

Slightly Cleaner Dining Room

2007-10-16T10:18:00.000-05:00

Looking a little cleaner, right? Last night Tim took down the baby gate (the tile backer board screwed into the above doorway), not to worry the play kitchen set is on the other side blocking access. Still it's weird to have a view into the mess from the kitchen. Maybe this will motivate me further. He did this to fix a piece of tape that was coming up so it will be a few days of sanding and patching before painting takes place.

The good news is Tim did know where the paint was. I was just over looking it in the mess of the library. The primer was with it.

And for those of you wondering what that piece of furniture you can only see a corner of is...

It's and old cupboard out of one of the local schools. My mom's neighbor had it sitting outside the house with a free for the taking sign. I was going to use it in the downstairs bathroom as storage, but it's just the height where it hit exactly where the chair rail tile sticks out. So it would look a little funny. So instead I'm thinking of using it on one of the dining room walls. I can store some of my dishes in there. I have a few sets ;) and as you can see I'm quickly filling up the built-in cupboard.

So where did all of the stuff go...

The already packed library of course. Things will get better when the dining room is finished. The trim piled in the middle there is for the dining room, and under that trim is a table and four chairs.

Blog Action Day 2007

2007-10-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

Today, October 15th, people in the blogging community were called on to speak a bit about the environment as part of an effort to raise awareness, it's being called Blog Action Day.

I would love to say that I have undertaken some major project here at the farmhouse, but I can't. So instead I am going to pass on a cool article I read in our local electric company's news letter. It gives steps on how to do a do-it-yourself home energy audit. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I definitely plan to. I'm just holding out because there is a contest where you can win all of the tools they mentioned in the article (well, maybe not the dollar bill). I'm going to hold out for a month and keep my fingers crossed. Well that and I think I will become severely depressed if I try the incense trick. I don't need the incense, you can feel it blowing in and the cracks are VERY visible to the naked eye -sigh- But anyway... here's the link, check it out:

How to save energy with an incense stick, a flashlight and a dollar bill.

Also, for those of you who read in from the area and belong to the Butler County REC (like us) check out their Change a Light Campaign. Defiantly something we will take advantage of.

Mystery A Brewing

2007-10-14T14:55:00.000-05:00

Where's the paint?

Tim's folks were going to be busy today so we ended up staying home. Elsa, even though she is only 2 months old, has decided this ticks her off and is protesting by being VERY fussy today.

I did find the door knobs for the bathroom doors so they can be removed from the dining room. Then I started looking for the paint and primer which we bought sometime before Molly was born. Can you believe it's MI-nonA?

Maybe Tim will know where it is.

Hard to test a paint brush without paint or primer.

The Paint Tool Arriveith

2007-10-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

Need the back story? Check out yesterdays post.

The paint tool is here. And I am already developing issues with the paint job and the brush isn't even out of the box. You need a garden hose to clean it. This seems to be the major selling point of it. Tim is impressed. I opened the box and he said, "Cool, why don't I ever think of things like that."

So back to the garden hose. We don't actually have a "real" outside water hook up. That was on the list of things to do this summer. And since we didn't do much house-wise this summer it's not done.

Our current hose hook up situation right now is you have to attach it to the bottom of the water heater in the basement and then run the hose up through the basement doors. This is Tim's area of expertise. i.e. something Becky doesn't want to do because learning to do it will limit her ability to whine about there being no outside water hook up. Yes, I use ignorance as a weapon. Better that then -ahem- other things.

So again back to the garden hose. This is what I know if it. These pictures suck because I wasn't in the mood to trek around to the back of the house so I took them out windows. Sorry.

Here is a photo of the hose tangle on the scaffolding we built over the basement staircase to side the house.

This photo shows parts of a garden hose. I worry that the ones it the tangle have this same issue. I'm guessing here, but I thing Tim ran it over with the lawn mower. I was watching mow a couple weeks ago and saw him take out an extension cord. I don't know if it was plugged in or not. I didn't want to know. I really need to up the life insurance on him -sigh-

And in case you can't tell I'm not cleaning out the dining room. And it's definitely going to rain tonight/tomorrow so off to Grandma and Grandpa's (Molly's not ours) house we will go. I will clean Monday. I promise, just don't hold your breath.

Oh My, What Have I Done!

2007-10-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

Deep breaths. I need to take very deep breaths.

I have a problem. I have a weakness for free things. If you want to get me to purchase something. Put a "buy one, get one free" sign on it. It works every time. In fact, I will usually buy 5 or 10 or 27, even if it's something I never use. Ask Tim. He'll have multiple examples of specific products. It's one of those problems in our marriage.

So I signed myself up for a free paint tool over at Houseblogs. Figuring I need a little motivation to paint the dining room. We are still planning on having Christmas this year. This is a running joke with my family because we volunteered our hospitality back in 2003 and every year since have been canceling on them. However, we really need to get a move on because back in 2003 there were only 20 of us. This year there should be 25. Already two of my cousins are pregnant so that's a 27 count already for Christmas 2009. Soon our enormous house won't hold everyone and we'll have to rent out a pavilion.

The catch. And there always is one, is that it needs to be done by October 22.

So why freak out. It's just a little prime and paint. It will take a day at the most right? Well maybe pre-kids.

Here's the current dining room situation.

I figure Tim will be in the field this weekend so that gives me Saturday and Sunday to get it cleaned out in anticipation for the wonder tool. Stay tuned for what's likely to be a mess.

Halloween Decorating

2007-10-11T12:52:00.000-05:00

Last week instead of doing laundry like I should have I dug around in the closet up-stairs and found some fall and Halloween decorations. It's not much, I really need to get all crafty on the place ala Martha. I just keep telling myself next year when one is out of diapers and the other can motate on her own.

This painted oil can and the shingle in the top picture are done by this really cool artist from Minnesota. One of the shops in Osage carries her work, she paints on reclaimed items (there are some really cool old windows). I stopped in to the shop and asked if she had a website to share with you all, but the owner got a little nasty with me. I guess she thought I was trying to cheat her out of her commission. My mother-in-law is the one who bought these things for me and she has some cool pieces herself. I'll try to remember to take a camera next time we head north and I'll also see if she remembers the artist's name.

The lighted cat in the window isn't really my style, but Tim really likes it so I put it up. There was a bat one too, but it died.

These little ghosts were a surprise. I found them in a box separate from the rest of the decorations. Neither one of us can remember where they came from. I'm thinking we bought them while we lived in the house in Waverly to sit in the four porch windows.

So for the time being if I want to sit anything on my little plant stand (plants included) it has to be Molly-proof. This little trick or treating basket gives her a chance to practice for the big day. Now we just have to get her to say trick-or-treat.

There are three little bat candle holders in the center of the piano that are hard to see. My hope is next year we will be able to put them on the dining room table. The pumpkin is on it's last legs. You can't tell from the picture, but the stem is broken and it's pretty dented up. Plus, the little blinking light inside decided to die last year.

I don't think I like these leaves here. The looked really cool over the door at the house in Waverly, but I'm just not feeling it here. I tried them on the staircase, but they weren't long enough. I originally wanted to drape them from the kitchen light fixture, but got scared that I'd burn the place down. The fixture gets really hot and the leaves are cloth.

Last, but not least is the cool luminary we got from the Pottery Barn (that's where we got the bats on the piano too) during a sale. The only way it will ever be lit is if Tim does it with out my knowledge. It's made of wax so I'm afraid even though the candles inside are small they will still melt it. And I'm way to cheap to throw it away and buy another.

It's not much, but it's a start.

Houseblogging With Children

2007-10-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

Tim finally got Molly's birthday (May 6th) swing hung on the front porch.

A while ago I read an entry on a blog I enjoy reading that made me terribly uncomfortable and more than a little self conscious about the content of my site. It basically was a quick little comment at the end of a post about houseblogs that "devolve into garden or baby blogs." I don't think they meant to be mean, but it kind of hurt my sensitive post-baby hormonal feelings. I really wondered if there were a lot of others out there that felt the same way. I thought about creating another site, but I'm already not blogging as much as I should here what would splitting myself between two sites really accomplish?

So here is what I've decided. I will keep blogging here. There will be entries about my children and what I am working on landscaping wise. And this is why... I feel that the acreage and its look is important to the house. Our vision for this place when we bought it was so much more than just the house, and I think it is important to share all of it.

Also, our vision included living in the house with children. This house still bears marks of the girl who's parents built this house. I'm almost 99% sure that our children's bedroom was once hers. Our attic has her name and the names of friends written on a lower part of the ceiling during a play date. She is part of the house and someday my children will be too.

I like most owners of an old house am curious about the families that once lived here. Luckily I have been able to meet a few. I hope someday when another family owns this house they will be curious about me and my family, a kind of circle of life of an old house. I want to be able to show them how happy my family was here and wish them the same.

Life changes and therefore peoples blogs also evolve. It's not a bad thing. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Punch List Revisited

2007-10-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

Back in 2006 I made punch lists to go along with my anniversary posts. Now I am setting up the nifty project tracker bars on Houseblogs so I need to revisit those lists. Would you care to join me? Note: It ain't gonna be pretty.

Exterior:

new roof -major leaks have been replaced
install peak shingles
touch up paint
re-do north porch
fill animal hole
build stairs
install trim work on porch bottoms -DONE, see post
landscaping -started, see post, and post
finish siding
screen doors -two purchased and partially installed

Kitchen:

refinish windows
refinish doors
clean up door hardware
seal doors
hang curtains -done

Pantry:

refinish window
install door hardware
hang curtain -done

Dining Room:

install trim
fill nail holes
refinish windows
find swinging door hardware
clean-up door hardware
prime and paint
refinish floor
install light fixture
hang curtains
install outlets

Downstairs Bathroom:

install trim -done
fill nail holes
refinish window -done
refinish doors -they are refinished, but not hung
clean up door hardware
purchase and install light fixture
install wall tile -just some touch-up work to do here
install outlets

Foyer:

prime and paint stairwell
install trim -about 75% finished
fill nail holes
seal window/build storm -ended up buying a storm
clean up door hardware
wall paper
order door chimes
refinish exterior door

Living Room:

install trim -done, see post
fill nail holes
seal windows/make storm -ended up buying a storm
refinish exterior door
clean-up door hardware
wall paper -done, see post
install light fixture

Master Bedroom:

fill nail holes
refinish windows
refinish doors
clean-up door hardware
touch up paint

Master Bathroom:

order curtain
install missing trim
fill nail holes
refinish windows
refinish door
clean-up door hardware
touch up paint
attach shower plate

Laundry Room:

install missing trim
fill nail holes
refinish window
refinish door
clean-up door hardware
touch up paint

The Girl's Room:

fill nail holes
refinish windows
refinish doors -all that is left is the closet door
clean-up door hardware
touch up paint
install light in closet
install outlets

Guest Bathroom:

install missing trim
fill nail holes
refinish window
refinish door
clean-up door hardware
touch up paint
fix shower head

Up-stairs Hallway:

refinish windows
refinish doors
clean-up door hardware
install missing trim
fill nail holes
touch up paint
install outlets
install register

Guest Bedroom:

refinish window
refinish doors
clean-up door hardware
install missing trim
fill nail holes
touch up paint
install outlets

Hobby Room:

refinish window
refinish doors
clean-up door hardware
install light fixture
touch-up paint
install outlets

Back Stairwell:

patch walls
prime and paint
install light fixtures
install outlets
install missing trim
refinish stairs
fill nail holes

Mudroom:

refinish doors -all that's left is the exterior door
clean-up door hardware
install shelves
install sink

Office:

install threshold plate -it is purchased
hang curtain -DONE
clean-up door hardware

And of course the past couple of years have added more projects to these lists. However, if you look at the big picture, compare what we've done with what we have left, like I have when doing my project tracker it doesn't seem quite as bad.

Mums

2007-10-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

My plan was to share these for the Autumn feature entry in Houseblogs, but didn't meet the deadline. Plus, it's not the greatest composition in the world. I was kind of in a hurry when I took it- hungry baby. Tim bought them this spring at Home Depot (I wanted nothing to do with them because I was a little leery of the quality of plant you purchase from said store). I might have to be a little more accepting of the big box store garden centers now because these puppies flourished. There isn't a square inch that isn't covered with flowers.

I love Martha Stewarts pages on how to care for particular plants (OK so I just love Martha Stewart all around). Here is her page on mums although I have to say I did nothing that she suggests. They pretty much got planted and watered every other day when it was dry.

5 Year Wedding Anniversary

2007-09-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our five year wedding anniversary and so much has changed. And we talked it over and have decided that since the first five worked out so well we'll give another five a try :)

Either a year or two ago I said I would post a photo of the great old church we got married in and so true to my word here is the inside the day we got married.

Some where I have another one that the phototgrapher took from the balcanony (yes, I know he took this one from the balcony too) that shows all the pews and more of the church, but I of course can't find it any where.

Here's the outside sometime ago. We found this great old post card a year and a half after we were married. I need to get it framed.

We didn't do anything special. The girls and I headed down to Waterloo to have lunch with Tim.

Here's Elsa all spiffed up to go.

Tom and Jen's New Porch

2007-09-26T13:46:00.000-05:00

My brother and sister-in-law put an new porch on their Victorian farm home this summer. Tim was supposed to help do this in exchange for all the help Tom's done for us over the years, but Tom must have gotten tired of waiting for him to get around to it and hired a local crew to do the work. If you want to check out the progress over the summer here are the links...

A little bit of remodeling...

Finally finished...

A couple more...

Cedar Falls Tour of Homes

2007-09-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

Aging Beauties

Hey everyone in the area. I noticed this in the Sunday paper. I'd love to go, but Tim said maybe, which usually means no, but I don't want to fight about it now. I'm going to keep pestering him though because it looks like a nice tour, and I'm not that familiar with Cedar Falls and it's always fun to find "new" places.

So Why Don't You Just Move To Sweden

2007-09-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

So as I was writing my last post I was actually thinking of how this wouldn't happen over in Europe. I myself have never been, but from what people who have tell me I would love it because of all the great architecture.

My sister has a Swedish boyfriend (yes that sounds like the start of a bad joke), and it's always interesting to talk to him about building and materials and such. From talking to him I gather that it's not so much creating a museum out of the structure, but using today's technologies to preserve a heritage.

Last time he was here he was questioning the use of asphalt shingles. He asked if they are really cheaper. To which I replied with out thinking it through first, "Yes." But as soon as I said that my mind started working and I replied that, "No, when you take into account cost verses the amount of time the product is durable, then they are probably not the cheapest option."

And I think this is our problem a lot of the time. Our thoughts are not far reaching. When our children grow up and see pictures of this beautiful structure will they curse us for not saving it for them? So there isn't a use for it right now but who is to say there won't be in 10 or maybe even 5 years? How responsible is it of us to keep tearing down (filling up our landfills) structures only to build something new (draining fossil fuels, destroying natural resources, etc)?

When I was a little girl there was a house just a mile down the road from our farm with what was probably a pretty average white four square farm house. But to me that was the most beautiful house in the world. I loved it and was going to live there when I grew up. Well the farmer tore it down. Now I am thirty years old and live three miles from where I grew up. So that house could have actually been a very viable option for me. I don't know that I would have lived there, but the option was taken away long before I was able to make a choice.

Are all the options being considered? Is it really as black and white as tear it down or fix it up? What about maintaining the roof and keeping the place secure, and then really make an effort in the next five years to find a solution that would work. So maybe that wouldn't mean preserving the layout of the original school, but at least you would still have this unique structure in your community. Trust me, no one will ever be able to recreate it.

And yes it's an old worn out building. But give those Swedes and other communities working to maintain their treasures a couple of years and you could see the advancements you need in building processes to make these sort of buildings born again. After all if virgins and Christians can do it why can't Decorah? And what if there is some dreamer out there who loves this building and just needs time to come up with the solution? What is five or ten more years to a 100-year old structure that if given a chance will stand another 100 and out live both you and I.

Decorah's East Side School

2007-09-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

I was watching the news last night and saw this story.
KTTC news coverage of story

What really sucks is the donation to demolish the building.
Decorah Newspaper coverage

It's one of the National Trust's 11 Most endangered places.
There's a photo in this link.

New Family Website

2007-09-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law Jen has started her own blog to show case photos she's taken. She's sure to have more than a few shots of the girls as time goes on. I love the collages she did!

Check out Newton Boer Goats! (That's where Elsa's onsie came from)

Golden Birthday

2007-08-30T13:40:00.000-05:00

Today is my golden birthday. Guess how old I am :)

So I thought I would share my beautiful gift from Tim with you all.

New tip for my fellow remodelers out there. When you hang your light fixture make sure you give enough clearance in case you are ever the recipient of a ridiculously huge bouquet of flowers.

Toilet pictures next time I promise!

Meet Elsa Jean

2007-08-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's taken awhile to get this post off, but things are pretty busy around here even though we technically aren't even doing anything.

I'm trying to get a schedule going, which is made more difficult by the fact that Tim has taken another job. He's now going to be running the privet pilot operations at the Waterloo airport. It will move him from second to first shift. Which wouldn't be such a hard transition if we could just do it, but he had the week we had Elsa off and ran a first shift schedule and then transitioned back to second. Now this week he has off at Deere and he's working the airport job and then next week he'll go back to Deere to finish his final week. -sigh- It wears me out just to type it.

So down to business.

Here's Miss Elsa two days ago. She's a very sweet baby. Much easier than Molly who had colic so bad. The only problem is while she is sweet tempered she is also VERY clingy. And she is definitely a mommas girl. That and her constantly wanting to eat. She completely freaks out if you don't feed her every two hours and she when she finally eats she just kind of munches along not really that into it. So it takes at least a half hour to feed her if not more. I am breast feeding so I am spending 1/4 of my life feeding her. Which drives a busy body like my self nuts.

Here she is on the day she was born. I can't believe we got this shot. Molly was only that close to her for about five seconds. Long enough to decide she wanted nothing to do with this thing with the silly bow on it's head. She's doing much better now. In fact she now can say Elsa and is the first thing she says when she gets up. And then she's not happy until we've found Elsa and make sue she's OK. After that she pretty well ignores her, we'll unless Grandma or Grandpa have her. Then we get a major case of the jealousies.

Here's the big sister yesterday. She was all wrapped up in her blanket trying to get my shoes on. Definitely a girlie-girl.

P.S. Tim did get the toilet in so expect a post on that soon!

Is Privacy Over Rated?

2007-07-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

So I was catching up on some blogs and I noticed Greg over at the Perch house put a "deadbolt type lock" on his bathroom door. That got me thinking. Should I have locks on my bathroom doors? People who have visited is that a concern? Did you leave saying to yourself, "Gee, I'm going to remember to use the bathroom before I get to her house next time." Just the thought of this leaves me slightly panicked and embarrassed. What would Martha say?

I grew up in a farm house with one bathroom that was directly off the kitchen. I remember brushing my teeth in front of company, and it never even occurred to me to be embarrassed that someone might hear me pee. The door did kind of have a lock on it. A hook and ring sort of deal that was about six foot off the ground. Most of my time living there I wasn't tall enough to even reach it.

So in the spirit of democracy here's a poll for everyone out there with a burning desire to make your opinion known (i.e. the four people who still read the blog since I've stopped posting so often: Doug, Em, my mother, and my crazy sister Mary).

7 Wonders of the Newton Home

2007-07-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

OK, seems like there's been a lot of hype about the new 7 wonders of the world. So we here at the Newton house would like to submit our own for your enjoyment. Alas, like some of the world's original 7 wonders, some of them have not survived the renovation, but they still live on in our hearts.

#7- The 3-holer out house. Yes, you and two of your closest friends can share the joy of the call of nature together. Pass the Sears catalog please.

#6- The mysterious locked freezer. Which became less mysterious when we discovered weeks later it was not really locked, but we were to stupid to figure out how to open it.

#5- The 52 ft. high roof peak. I don't know what the requirements are for one of those rotating beacons, but my ego says the house should need one. The story behind our insanely pitched roof is supposedly this: The farmer who built our house was in competition with the farmer a half mile down the road. Every time one of the men put an addition on their house the carpenters just packed up and headed down the road because the other farmer would what something bigger and better. Well, our farmer discovered that the other guy was going to end up with a taller house so he calculated just what height it would take to beat him. This also explains why the north side of the roof was built to look like it is caving in. Since if a pyramid's height grows so must it's base the roof had to be dented in a some point to make up for lack of space where the house meets the roof.

#4- Our "first" toilet, the toilet in the master bathroom. Ask anyone who's restored a house what a civilizing moment having a toilet in the house is. Especially if you've had to use nature's facilities when working at the house for over a year.

#3- The light fixture above the kitchen sink is the only fixture original to the house, and it's even in its original place on the wall. Don't believe me, check out the kitchen photos from when we first saw the house.

#2- The mint green toilet on a sticky tile pedestal. What makes this even more spectacular is the fact the PO's plumbed it to empty directly into the crawl space below this section of the house.

#1- The industrial tile floor patters in the mudroom and laundry room. We have purchased some pretty pricey and unique items for this house and it seems like these two floors are what gets us the most praise.

Wow. Now that I'm reading over this post I've noticed 3 of the 7 wonders are toilet related. I must be a little more stressed out about the up coming baby and the lack of a toilet downstairs than I had realized. What would Freud say?

Do we need locks on our bathroom doors?
	No, I'm a risk taking dare-devil.
	Yes, I'm a nervous prude.
	Don't care, just get the stinking down staris bathroom done so you have something better to blog about.

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