Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Henry David Thoreau

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Fireplace, Shingles and Soffits....oh My!




Today was a busy day 
at the ranch.

the guts of the fireplace
arrived in this
flashy truck.




Here it is in it's new home.





A big truck load of shingles 
also arrived 
and 
now there are piles of shingles
all over the roof
just waiting for
Emanuel and his trusty assistant
to put them in place.







Here is the groovy truck and 
the groovy thingy 
that gets the shingles from the truck
to the roof
with ease.

Ease is what's it's all about these days.

Easy does it.






Notice anything different here?


The men have installed the facia board
around 2/3 of the house and
have gotten the support boards in
so they can put up the soffits
tommorrow.

Hope that happens because
Brian is coming out to paint them.

They need to be in place before he can paint them.

Tommorrow
they may, just may get 
the rest of the supports up for the back porch
and start laying the floor .
Not the real floor,
but the base floor,
the floor that holds up the 
composite flooring we will be using.

 Maybe even the stairway into the basement.

I am giddy with excitement!


Don't the facia boards look nice?



All is well.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Where' the dirt???



While we were gone
I read a book on compost.

I already know how to compost.

Compost.




This is the soil in my future yard.


Sad, isn't it?

This soil needs compost.

That's where you take bad dirt
and add magical things. 
And the bad soil
magically produces things like this.









and this.




and this.






this is the bad soil.
Bad Bad Soil.


Please pray for this soil.




Amen.

So Busy




Here are the bones.

The bones of the fireplace.

We found a picture of this in one of the stone brochures.

It will be very different
from any we have had before.

It has good bones.
It's all about the bones.








Didn't I tell you 
that the men were busy
while we were gone?


Here's another thing 
we saw when we got home
last night.


Arches.
Lovely arches.

I had forgotten what they 
were supposed to look like.

I really like the way 
they look
and bring down the high ceilings.

I didn't realize how excited I would be
about arches.

It's the details, people.
It's all about the details.



There's even one more that
you can't see in this shot.

It's lovely too.

Good bones here too.
It's all about the bones and the
details.





Tuesday, July 28, 2009

While we were away...



Welcome Back!

Hope you had a restful weekend
and were able to check some things off of your
to-do list.

That's the measure of a good weekend you know!

We had a very good weekend.

Great Food. Check.
Great Weather. Check.
Great Boating. Check.
Great Family Fun at the Lake. Check.
I got so relaxed, I forgot to take any pictures.
See Lisa or Kimberly for photos.


It was fun, but it was good to get back
to this.






While we were gone,
the men got a lot of things 
checked off of the to-do list.

Just look.



Just as we were leaving there were decisions,
decisions,
and more decisions.


Should we put the fake dormer here
or there?
Preston and crew patiently wait
while we look at both options.





Could you move it over just a wee bit?

There.

That's better.
Let's look at it .

That looks good, don't you think?




When we got back today,
here is what we saw.




Not only is the dormer finished,

but the entire roof is covered.

Guess what that means?
No more July rain leaking in!!

Woo hoo!

Things are coming together !


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

waiting.





Hello little e-space window.
I can't wait to sit here and look out.


I guess you have figured out by now
that I do a lot of dreaming out here.

My husband thinks I am sleeping
but in reality,
I am visualizing
how I want to place 
the furniture.
And what color
I want each room to be.

When he sees me
sitting with my eyes closed
he assumes that
I have nothing to do
and that it would
be a good time
to ask me
where I want the light switches
in each room.

He is so very wrong.
But, he is stressing right now.
He is stressing about the wiring.
He is stressing 
about the fireplace
(aka we need to draw up the picture with exact sizes
so that the builder can build it.)
He is stressing about the roof.
It's still not done.
He is stressing about the soffits and eaves.
They are still not done.
And they have to be done before the roof can get finished.

He stressing because yesterday
the builder casually mentioned pulling
off some of the guys to go work on some roofs elsewhere.
And laying off some of the rest of them.

He is stressing because
he can't find the boat battery
and we are going to the lake this weekend.

arggh!
This is an emergency!

We really need to go to the lake
this weekend.
My husband needs to walk away from the house 
for a little while
and cruise up the lake
very fast.


So, until those builders
get busy and finish something,
I am going to sit and gaze out of my little window
and think about color.

Fireweed.
Basket Beige.
Macadamia.
Breezy.

 
Hello window.




Friday, July 17, 2009

My Favorite Room

I'll bet you've been wondering

what is going on

out at the house.

I am so happy to report that

we are still building a house.

Rains may come,

winds may blow,

and tropical heat may 

permeate 

the O-Zone.

But the work goes on.

Little steps of progress

like

Rafters and sheathing

on the roof.

Tyvek around the outside walls.

Windows ordered.

Doors ordered.

Stone located.


But the most exciting thing that has happened this week

 just happened today.




They started building this.



Can you guess what it is???


Yes, my friends.




It is the back porch.
The covered back porch.

I dream of sitting out there
watching the sun go down
and listening to the birds
going down for the night.


For some reason 
that I can't explain,
they are doing the roof first,
then the walls and floor.

Does that seem backward to
anybody else out there?








But what do I know?



I know it's wonderful.

It's huge.

Huge, I tell ya.



In just a few days,
we'll be able to sit out there together
and sip a cold lemonade.


Can't wait!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Madness!


Who is this man
and what is he doing exactly?






He is the husband of this sweet young thing.
And the father of this innocent child.






What is he doing you ask?

He is not washing his hands.
He is preparing to build his own

backyard bomb.



Here are his tools.



A simple black trash bag.




A torch thingy.





All gauges and dials aligned and ready!

A fuse.





KIDS.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!


First, the mad scientist duct tapes the trash bag to the pole.

Sweet young thing assists in this madness.
Innocent child is ready to drive the getaway cart
quickly away.




 More duct tape,please!




The trash bag fills with some acetalyne gas, 

the fuse gets lit

and these three
hightail it outta there.

Boom.


(I'm not sure about the gas,) 

I am befuddled by the whole thing.
This must surely be a guy thing.

I mean, 
who does this????






This one, that's who.






Run .

Run for your life!




Boom.



Seriously.



If that is not enough silliness,

take a look at this.









J.D.


The dog who sleeps all year
so he can do this all night.





Most dogs cower and cry when the fireworks start.
Not this one.

He is a freak of nature.

Not unlike...

well, never mind.






Speaking of nature,


God put on a pre-show show

that I could not
get enough of.





Ooooooooooh.








Ahhhhhh.





Oooooooooh.



Nighty night!

back to work, but first a little water.





Yes, yes, I know-

it's been too long.

I hang my head in shame.

The men have been working away

and I have been galavanting

again.


Most of you can scroll down through these first two
pictures.

You have already seen this.
I have taken a ba-jillion
pictures of this pit.

But, my expat daughter
swears that she has seen
no pictures of the water.

I think she is just hot
and wants to bask in
the cool loveliness
once again.

Here it is.
 Once in the sun,
and once in a muggy summer shower
taken minutes apart.





Notice how lush and green
everything is?

It's like that all across Kansas.
We have had a very wet spring and summer.

It seems a little dry now,
but everywhere you go
the world is green, green, green.
I love it!

There you have it, Kellie.
Water.

Dad is going to dig out the end of the pit that curls around toward us,
and the water will run right along the back yard.


Now back to work on the house!

Here is a view of the back.
It wont look like this really
because some of the windows are
covered up.

They will cut that out later.
Don't ask me why they do it this way.
I have no idea.
I even hesitate to show it to you this way,
because it is so deceiving.

I hate to be deceitful that way.

 At least you can see
that the roof is going on.








Here is where the guys take their breaks in the shade
of the front yard.





Here is what you will see coming up the driveway.





Here is what you will see as you get right up close.








Again, the front.

There is a dormer that sits on the roof, between those two peaks

but it hasn't been born yet,

Also, you have to imagine
stone, stucco,  paint and pillars.

All in good time, 
my dears!



Wednesday, July 1, 2009

twirler


I think it would be an understatement 
to say that
Olivia 
enjoyed the wedding.









But let there be no doubt.
She enjoyed the reception more.







Get that kid out of my way!
I need room to dance!





Dance.



Don't you love my dress?
Don't you love how it twirls around?






I feel so carefree
and twirly.






Shall we dance???





I know that technically speaking,
these are pretty bad pictures,

but they make me smile
over and over.
Olivia and Garrett and Malea
danced the night away.

Olivia left in tears after
her parents drug her off the dance
floor so that they could get on the road for home.

Garrett continued to dance with the adults
They danced in a circle around him
as he showed off his
Michael Jackson moves.
Priceless.

I love the wedding dance.
And I loved watching Olivia dance and twirl the night away.
There's just something about a pretty girl in a twirly white dress.
And a wedding dance.



"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Me

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Welcome to my happy place. A place where I can share ideas, projects, and dreams. I am a nester, a crafter, a creator and a dreamer I hope you will find inspiration and encouragement for the journey you are on. I am a Jesus follower, wife, mother and nana. Blessed beyond measure, just trying to live my life gracefully and make a difference in my small world. Join me!