30 August 2005

Trim Photo Up-date

Here's the window in the mudroom. It just needs nail holes filled and touch up paint.

Of course the rest of the room also needs its woodwork installed (see the door left of the window).

And I'm not expecting to get any more done this weekend since it's my weekend to work.
Here's the kitchen woodwork Tim has been painting. I think it still needs another coat.

The other night he made repairs to all of the kitchen headers so they are next on the painting assembly line.

Happy Birthday, to Me

There's a charged battery in the camera (thanks mom!) so check out my surprises from my lovely husband.
I just finished hanging these. I can now actually hang coats in the coat room.
And now Tim's hats have their own place so I don't have to find them in the bathtub anymore.
Here's a close up of the hooks. They are numbered 1 to 6 and each number has a different color. I got two sets for a total of 12 hooks, one set for each wall.
This is my other present. A vanity for the master bathroom to hold all of my treasures.

29 August 2005

From Sloth to Envy

Last night we attended a house-warming/birthday party at the home of some college friends. A good time was had by all, but I was definitely feeling a little green-eyed monsterish because:

A: Small children were able to attend the party and not worry about having a nail in their foot or a power tool related injury. In fact, the greatest danger to the children was our husbands who decided that it would be fun to play keep-away/dodge ball with a two year old and a large rubber ball. Luckily the only casualty was Tim's new glasses.

B: We moved in first. Shouldn't we have the house warming party first? I know, I know, they were never with out actual walls in their house. Still it feels wrong that we are not at the stage where we can entertain friends and family after almost three years.

On a positive note my sister returns from Germany tomorrow, with the camera charger. So soon I should have pictures of the beautiful buttery-colored kitchen woodwork Tim has been working so hard on.

27 August 2005

Waterloo Tour of Homes 2005

There were seven houses on this years tour. I've attached the photos and ranked them as my personal favorites (Tim does agree with my #1, however I'm sure his personal ranking differs from mine).


#7: This house had the most amazing garden! A couple of months ago I became strangely fascinated with trumpet vines. This man's garden had this amazing trellis with a really beauty busting with bright red flowers. And the hydrangeas... to dye for.



#6: This home is new construction. The great thing about it is the contractor used smooth Hardie Board siding. We had not gotten a chance to see the smooth stuff in living color yet. I must say I was very impressed with the siding portion of it. The scallops, trim boards, and soffets left something to be desired in my opinion.



#5: This house had amazing antiques. But what sticks out in my mind was the great storage they had built up on the third floor. Three rows of shelves. Oh the stuff I could collect!



#4: What caught our eye in this house was the use of limestone in the landscaping. I wish my camera was working because they had the most beautiful half moon of limestone surrounding a fountain and tree. Exactly like what I want to do outside of the master bathroom window.



#3: This home is currently for sale. Unfortunatly the listing page has NO photos of the interior. The tile work in the place was amazing. Even the ceilings were tiled in the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen also had this great tiled breakfast nook. Something I had never seen before were the tile covers for the heaters and cold air returns in these rooms. Also the shower had vented tiles!



#2: This house was massive. I was completely turned around during the entire tour. The mural in the dining room was amazing and the kitchen had the old cabinets along with the old marble countertop at the pass-thru to the dining room. Hands down the most beautiful woodwork on the tour.



#1: What a great project! Highlight of this place. The concrete countertops! Also the master bathroom was painted the same purple as ours. Except for they had this amazing slate shower that as Tim put it in front of the older ladies in the room with us, "Was built for group showers."
Just...can't...take...him...anywhere!

26 August 2005

Mary Will it Fit in Your Suitcase?

Here's my thought yesterday while reading this article,

"I bet that whole house has less woodwork than my kitchen alone. I want one."

I am soooooooooooooooooo burnt out.

24 August 2005

In the Waterloo Area This Saturday?

Well then I'll see you here!

We have so much going on this weekend. There's this tour, a model helicopter rally, and our good friends are having a house-warming party. I had thoughts of spending the weekend in the Twin Cities, but I've been waiting all year for this tour so I guess that's out.

23 August 2005

If a Picture is Worth 1,000 Words...

Then I've got a lot of typing to do.

My little sister broke her camera's battery charger so my mom took hers (the camera I use) to Germany for her to use. I had charged the battery just before she left (two weeks ago) and was able to use it up until yesterday when it finally died while taking pictures of the window trim I had installed in the mudroom.

The window trim was all I accomplished this weekend because I had to stop and take a sanity break. The trim in the mudroom was a cut up mess. One of the PO's told us there was a fire back there at one time so I wonder if that was part of the reason.

Last week we picked the beadboard pieces up from the stripper. Tim has started painting the kitchen woodwork, and it seems strange that the kitchen is so close to being finished.

21 August 2005

Back In 1948


Tom found this old shingle label in the hay.

At the bottom in tiny letters it says copyright 1948.

20 August 2005

Hot and Steamy Night


Last night I got home from work and the yard smelled like fermenting hay. So we decided at midnight it would be best to move the two giant piles of very hot and steamy hay away from the barn.

You know, just in case.

18 August 2005

Tim was telling me about his day before leaving for work this morning.

Yesterday afternoon Tom, Tim's brother, came over to help shovel hay out of the barn. Tim was saying how suprised he was that they weren't finding any rats or mice living in the hay. I jokingly replied that they were afraid to go up there becasue they might fall though.

"Oh that reminds me." Tim said. "I had a little accident." He said at one point he started falling though the floor, "It all seemed to happen really slowly." So he figured he'd just fall forward to stop himself. So he threw his pitch fork and went to catch himself with his hands. Only problem is his hands went through the floor too. "At that point I thought, crap I'm dead." Lucky for him there was a post in between his legs and arms so the rest of his body was supported.

I guess shoveling work is now on hold too. The hay pile has reached the point where it covers the window they are pitching it out off. Unfortuantly we had a heavy rain last night so now we have to wait to burn the pile. That doesn't hurt my feelingins. I'd rather wait until the crop is out of the field and push it all out there and burn it away from the barn.

16 August 2005

Here a Quilt, There a Quilt

While Katkit13's idea of a quilt over the new bed is lovely. I don't think that's the route I want to go. See my mom's hobby is quilting and she is amazing. But we have amassed quite a collection in the master bedroom already. I'm just looking for a little some thing different.
This is the view across from the bed.

She made this one for us for Christmas 2002. Tim picked out fabric and I chose the pattern.
The quilt on the left was done by a family friend of Tim's.

The quilt on the right was a wedding gift from mom.
She didn't make this quilt for us. But I loved the colors in it, so she gave it to us. It works beautifully in the big bedroom.
The wall hanging is a pattern created by my Aunt Carla. Another talented quilter in the family, who also designs patterns.

The quilt one the bed was a 4-H project done by yours truly.
This wall hanging was done by mom as last years birthday present to Tim. It hangs in his office. I think it matches great with all his airplane stuff because the pattern reminds me of propellers.

12 August 2005

No More Sleeping on the Floor for Me


The replacement part for the bed arrived yesterday afternoon. Tim had it put together and happily sleeping away by the time I made it home from work last night.

I love how it looks, but I definitely think it needs a little something-something over it. I'm thinking about a piece of old linoleum that I saved out of the mudroom. I'd see what that looks like, but I can't quite reach that part of the living room. I can see it on top of the pile just taunting me though.

It might just be easier to go out and find something new. Maybe I could find an old stain glass window someplace. Ha! Not so special now are you Mr. Piece of Tile.

11 August 2005


This caught my eye in the September issue of Country Home. It is tile wainscot. We had planned on using subway tile for the bathroom downstairs, but this is an intriguing new option.

I love the way it looks, but I worry that once I get it up it will look to modern for my tastes.

I visited the web site in the magazine, http://www.klaffs.com/, but couldn't find any information on this specific tile type. The blurb in the magazine says it's $92 for the three tile section (8 in. wide x 45 in. tall).

10 August 2005

One Very Bad Weekend

Sugar Creek Farm's blog has the story of what happened this weekend. I was at the airport when it happened. I had just gotten there to see if I could bring Tim some supper. I think I held it together pretty well. I didn't start crying until people started showing up asking if that was Tim.

A couple of months ago I had a job interview. One of the questions was, "What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in life." I sat there for a little bit knowing I was supposed to say something about success at college or winning that internship. But all that I could get out of my mouth was, "My husband and I have been restoring an old house for the last three years and we are still married." I could see that my answer threw her. She finally replied that she and her husband had a few small jobs done, and that was definitely something to be very proud of.

So I just wanted to take these few seconds to say I could not do this without you. I love you. Fly careful.

08 August 2005

We Love our Electricians

Yes, we have the worlds greatest electricians. Thank goodness because Tim's only foray into the world of electrical ended with a bang (bang, get it?). However, I must say that they do cost a pretty penny. But I guess you get what you pay for holds true.

I got off the phone with them tonight after explaining that we had another third of the house ready to have the wiring wrapped up. Of course they could stop in for a few hours. But how soon do we need it done because this week is pretty full up. I said, goodness I was just hoping for by October. That got a chuckle out of them, but I wasn't kidding. I'm not worried, they have never not been here with in two weeks of me calling.

So I explain what we want done (smoke dectectors in the bedrooms, under the cabinet lighting, and outlets in the rest of the up-stairs), and how he can get into the house if we are gone. Yes, you read correctly. I trust these people in my house with all of my worldly possessions by themselves. No, love has not made me blind. I am the third generation to inherit these guys. My grandparents trusted them, my parents trust them, and my entire extended family trusts them, so how could I not.

I could go on for hours more about how lovely they are. But it's late and I don't want to bore you. I just wanted to say that you can have a positive experience with a contractor. All it takes is family and a lot of money.

Check Out this Beauty

Tim and I were out for a drive the other day and discovered this old beauty somewhere between Osage and Mason City. If I had to I don't think I could find it again.




The exterior architectural details on this house made me drool!

Can you see the diamond pattern in the fish scales?

The exterior doors had different patterns in the panels.


Here are a few interior shots I got from some of the windows.

No formal stairway in this home.

Parlor/living room???

Assuming this is the dining room with the pass through to the kitchen.

The kitchen.

The outbuildings on the acreage.

Mystery Plant- Not a Cucumber


I guess no refrigerator pickles for me :(

Although I'm still not exactly sure what this is. It's got a funny texture to it.

06 August 2005

Impatient with a Capitol 'I'

Our new bed part is being shipped out Monday. I can't wait that long! Maybe we just have bad bed karma.

On a completely unrelated subject take a look at these great photos they took of Tim over at Sugar Creek Farm the other day.


05 August 2005

Disappointment with a Capitol 'D'

So here's the new bed. Yes, I know it's on the floor. No, it's not supposed to be.
Here's the reason why. There was no shipping damage to the box. I am very disappointed. The reason we didn't go with a JC Pennys or McGregors bed is to avoid something like this. We e-mailed them last night as soon as we discovered the problem. We got a reply back asking for a fax of the installation instructions with the problem piece circled. I also sent them a copy of this photo. We are now waiting to hear back from them. Keep your fingers crossed they don't have crappy customer service!

I guess this is so disheartening because it really makes me question the quality of this product. It's falling apart and we haven't even used it yet. -sigh-