Christmas at the Farm

Welcome to the farm. It's beautiful right now, covered in snow. This huge tree stump on the edge of the woods looks like an enormous bird in a nest. I am spending a few days out here enjoying the beauty and thought it was a good time to share it with you all.

Welcome to our porch. It wraps around three sides of the house. We are happiest at the farm when there are cars everywhere. That means we are sharing it with people we love.

Come on inside and hang up your coat. The pictures on either wall are of a blue and a white heron, native to these tidelands, and a sight to behold when they are walking by our pond. We bought this place unfinished, and it is a work in progress. We have finished the electricity, the gas, the heating, and painted the barn and the outbuildings. It's starting to have some presence.

Welcome to the cozy living room. This room was the entire original house, built 110 years ago. The pine plank floors are the original wood, but the fireplace was rebuilt a few years ago. The fire is hot, and Christmas music is playing. On the mantle are precious pictures of Joey surfing and boating. It brings him here with us. He would have loved this place.

It's difficult having Christmas without him. But we are at least doing better than the previous two years. The focus of our Christmas tree is the best news of all: "there's a good time coming".

That's where our hope lies--in a bright new shining world where we will all be reunited again.

Have a seat. Joe's is the red one, mine is the leather one. I know it's kind of a role-reversal, but that's just the way we prefer it. But we share both chairs with whoever wants to sit and stay awhile.

The windows behind the dining table look out on the woods. It is so renewing to watch the trees. They give me comfort and strength.

This is my rustic, roomy farm kitchen. Notice the farm sink, the wood counters and the 48" stove. Cooking here is a real treat, especially if someone is sitting at the island counter, talking to me. If not, I put the country music channel on the tv and get all swept away with mixing and stirring and the charm of the lyrics. I never knew I was such a country girl till I moved to the South.

At the bottom right corner is my bicycle. I found it at the Goodwill. It was born the same year I was born, so it gets a place of honor inside the house. It's red and blue and has a brown leather seat. It really deserves a post of its own, so one of these days I will do that.

Thanks for visiting. More pictures later!

Merry Christmas to you all.

Our New Sidewalk

I just love a central sidewalk leading to the front door. Mostly because I hate weaving on the skinny edge of a driveway, trying to avoid the dirty cars brushing up on my clothing as I squeeze my way past to get to the door. So in the past couple of weeks, we hired our neighbor Zach and his friend Jake to create this curvy and functional brick pathway for us.

Isn't it just beautiful! We couldn't be happier with their fine work.

Here's the dynamic duo after a hard day's labor in the blazing hot sun.

To say the least, this is not for the weak or wimpy.

Zach also mows our lawn every week and he is in such great demand in the neighborhood, he seems omnipresent sometimes. I'll tell you why. He's honest, reliable, bright, polite, respectful, and has an incredible work ethic. He is 16 and is as hard-working as most grown men.

His dad and mom have a lot to do with that too. He's been raised well and he is just like them. Truly wonderful, generous, salt-of-the-earth people. His dad has been going through chemo and radiation for the past year to rid himself of a brain tumor, and this family has shown tremendous faith and courage in the battle of their lives. I am kind of in awe of them all, as you can tell. I am also very happy to report that Zach's dad's treatment has been effective and the tumors are shrinking.

We are so blessed to have these amazing people as neighbors.

My Entry Closet Transformation--Before and After Pictures

Ready yourselves. I'm going to reveal a dirty family secret. Just look at this mess!

Shoes, coats, scarves, all in a deplorable state of disorder!

Yes, it's true! We would just coldly and carelessly chuck our shoes inside the entry closet when we came in the door! What a mess.

This is what it looked like pre-remodel-- with the doors off and all cleaned out. Poised to start the remodel. Check out Carpenter Dan's plan below.

~Dan the Man's Plan~

Moldings, bench, beadboard, hooks, shelves.

Scroll down to see the finished product...

The Beautiful Afters!

~The Finished Product~

Gorgeous! 13 hooks, a shelf and a lift-top bench for the shoes. It also looks gorgeous from the inside!

Dan the Man, remodeler par excellence!

Another fantastic project by the ultimate craftsman.

We love this guy!

Please notice the padded lift-top bench.
Thank you, Dan! You're a genius and a gentleman!

Note that the shoes are now neatly laying in the storage bin below.

Last view of it empty...5-4-3-2-1....

This is how it looks now as we start to fill it up! Beautiful and orderly--the perfect balance between form and function.

Simply lovely!! Oh, I love this little nook!

Bathroom Remodel--Before Pictures

Remember this? Six days after we moved in to our new house, the water heater in the attic, (yes, you read that right), the water heater in the attic burst and flooded our upstairs causing significant damage to several rooms.

Here the girls from the insurance company tackle the clean up and try to figure out what to do next.

Yuck and Ugh! Soggy insulation from a collapsed ceiling.

Three rooms were flooded and the blowers blasted 24/7 for 3 noisy weeks.

Check out the water damage in the bathroom. Ewwww!

While we wrestled with the insurance company, we had the good fortune to meet a friend of a friend, Dan from Flawless Carpentry.

Dan is the Man--the ultimate remodel/fix-it guy. He knows how to do everything, is intimidated by nothing and he takes a lot of pride in his work and his work ethic. He is honest, skilled, efficient, and reliable. He is also a really great guy which is important when someone is in your home every day.

The whole bathroom had to be ripped out.

Dan had to saw through the old fiberglass tub/shower to get it out.

The demolition is done. Dan measures twice and cuts once. He's a perfectionist, which is just what you want in a carpenter. His standard is higher than ours!

New plumbing and waterproofing in the shower. Now we've got a blank canvas.

It already looks better!

But wait till you see the finished product. Just scroll down to see that.

Gorgeous!!

Bathroom Remodel--"After" Pictures

TA-DA!! Dan's beautiful, precise tile work. It feels really good under foot. Don't you just love our retro tile? It's in the shower and on the bathroom floor.

Here you can see the crown molding at the ceiling, the subway tile in the shower,

and you get a little peek at the wainscoting.

Here: the vanity, the granite counter top, the mirror, the new faucet and hardware and a shiny bright light fixture.

Dan the Man--Voila!!! He makes it look sooo easy!!

Here: the red shower curtain and towels on the snazzy hooks.

A nice new Kohler toilet--the little things mean a lot!

We're done and we LOVE it!!

See the Hawaiian leis on the hooks reflected in the mirrors?

Those are in honor of Dan's quality workmanship.

He really should have his own show on HGTV.

Thanks, Dan. You're the BEST!!

Be watching...new project coming soon>>>>

Necessary Shelter

Yesterday, the gazebo went up in the backyard. We hired Matt to do the assembly as we found the directions both unintelligible and intimidating. Matt wasn't put off. He showed up for work bright and early with his tools and a can-do attitude. The directions said it would require the help of 8-10 men to assemble and lift the 600 lb steel roof. We couldn't find that many available men, so the five we found lifted it on their own! Impressive, to say the least. I would have photographed them in their Atlas poses, but I was busy putting each column in place as they held the roof up. I'm a little proud of myself today!

They make it look easy, don't they! Actually they've already done the muscle work. See the columns are in place and they are simply stabilizing as Matt reinforces the columns.

Welcome to our new outdoor room. In Virginia, unlike Maui, you get real weather, at least two weathers every day. Usually it's blistering sun in the morning and drenching rain in the afternoon. Now we are ready for whatever the atmosphere delivers.

This morning we woke up to a rain-covered patio, but our chairs were dry and comfy and we had our morning coffee right out here, listening to the birds chirp and the flowers bloom. Pretty cozy, huh? We are all about comfort in this house. Can't get too much of that stuff these days.

Thanks to Matt and Drew and Ron and Brent. We appreciate your help so much.

Water Damage? Call in the Experts!

When I went to bed last night, the hallway carpet was gushing with water. A quick inspection turned up a busted water heater--UP IN THE ATTIC! Must be an East Coast thing, but really, not the smartest, people! So Joe turned off what he could and we went to bed. Mind you, we haven't even been in this house for a week.

This is Tina and Kisa. They were sent out this morning by the insurance company to clean up the mess. These girls are amazing. A collapsed ceiling, soaking insulation, saturated walls and flooded carpet. These girls know what they are doing and are great in an emergency.

Check out that big gaping hole in the ceiling.

Check out the pile of stuff on the floor.

Up through the gaping hole, way up high in the attic, over 4 bedrooms, there stands the rebel machine. Well, actually the new replacement machine, with a 10 year warranty. We're keeping our fingers crossed. In the meantime, Tina and Kisa are cleaning it all up and we live with the sound of high wattage fans. I hear rumors we will get new carpet, new bathroom flooring, and a new paint job.

Welcome to our new home!

We're Doing THIS Instead of Being in France

Filling empty cupboards

Emptying bags and bags of stuff--thank you Lord for Target, Ross and TJ Maxx. What to do with all those non-earth-friendly plastic bags?

Patching, sanding, scraping, painting, repairing, wiping, sweeping, scrubbing, flushing, washing, lifting, loading, tossing,

Boxes, boxes, everywhere boxes--all whining to be emptied. Hush! You've been full for 3 months, another day won't hurt!