Hello... I've missed you.

I would love to post more but my love took my camera up to work, and I've been sick with a cold this week, so we have not moved from the house. No projects have been done, and although we did escape last Sunday to drive to the Lake for my love to see the leaves changing, we forgot the camera.

I have been spending a ton of time planning, drawing, redrawing, erasing, starting over, changing and staring off into space over a big kitchen update. The kitchen that came with this house has 1 usable lower cabinet and 2 upper cabinets.

It has the cheapest range you can find, and the cheapest fridge.

This has lead to many problems for me, someone who enjoys cooking several times a day. The oven has no window in it, no light and no real temperature control. It seems to take over 30 minutes to warm up and when it is finally warm enough it burns everything but leaves the middles raw. It's like it turns on and never figures out how to turn off. What is really fun is when you put on a tea kettle, which since it's been getting down into the 40's and we've been battling colds, has been frequently. So I get the kettle whistling and move it from the back burner up to the front. When I do this the whole top of the stove pops up from the expansion of the metal due to the heat. It is crazy! I've never seen a stove with so much movement, it's like one of those metal popper toys. Only it's much much bigger.

The fridge... this was a vacation home, and the fridge is the size of one. I think I am taller then the fridge. I'm very short. The fridge has wire racks. I hate wire racks. Already the door storage area has fallen off three or four times. The storage drawers are not in their tracks either. There is not enough room in it for a weeks worth of food, which means I go to the store more often. I hate going to the store. I'd rather be cleaning my toilet then going to the store. Really. I hate it that much.

So the immediate plans are to redo the kitchen. I really was not wanting to use IKEA cabinets again. I've done two kitchens with these cabinets and have not gotten to use the kitchen more then a few months. Would that jinx this kitchen too? Actually since we just put in an Ikea kitchen less then six months ago, we are really not in a hurry to do it again, but for the money you just can't get as good as cabinets and let's face it. I am in love with Ikea base cabinets with the huge big drawers. I love drawers in the lower cabinets.

So I'm doing the dreaming and planning and my love does the veto's and tries to talk me into spending more then I want to. He is so picky. You can
and you will see what kinds of things I will be thinking about.

I hope to get my camera back today and my energy level is slowing coming back. I'll see you all next week with pictures of the finished bedrooms upstairs.

The most amazing sunsets

Our seasons are really starting to change here, we had our first frost already and I have been watching the trees across the canal change color daily. We have also had the most amazing sunsets. They really do take your breathe away, and I feel honored to be able to watch them every night.





The changing of the temperatures have brought a new sense of scrambling here. We had to hurry and install a dog door in the kitchen door so that we could close it to the unheated mudroom. The heating system here needs ducts opened, sealed up and figured out which ones work and which ones don't. We haven't even begun to think about which windows need caulked or where insulation needs to be tucked in. I am hoping that we have at least four more weeks before it snows.

The biggest change for us is going to be getting used to colder temperatures. My kids have forgotten South Dakota, and wool socks, sweat shirts and pants. Instead the walk around in true Texas fashion in their shorts and a blanket thrown over their shoulders. It seems every morning the last few days I have had to remind them to go put on more clothes. Along with clothes the thermostat will be changing here. Gas is quite a bit more to be delivered to a rural location and I have heard that it's not unusual to have over $400 a month in gas bills. Since we are not sure where we will land we have been keeping the heat as low as we can. That is not very low for northerners (63 during the day, 60 at night) but when your used to 70-67 it is a good change. We hope to work our way lower throughout the winter. I know our friends in Texas are shivering just thinking about it.

Walking the town

Our car had a problem last week and it was not drivable. That meant we had a week with no car. That was a huge problem in our last house, but here it was really not that big of deal, once I got over the shock of it. The thought of being stuck in the house for a week made us get creative.

First we moved here to get active, second it is not hot here. We walked the mile to the library to return books, and on the way took pictures of our town to share.

The canal at the end of the block.


We were not thinking about the hike back up the hill afterwards though and we ended up sharing backpack duty. We must have had 25 pounds of books in it.

We can see the ski hill the closer we get to the library.

The next day we were running very low on food so when my love got home from work we grabbed the wagon and headed to the grocery store. It is a half a mile up the hill which meant an empty wagon up the hill, a full one down. It was quite an easy walk and we all felt better after getting out and walking so much.

Some of the lots in town are empty and filled with boulders. We have one just like this in the basement.


We repeated that process several times, to the flea market, the feed store, Walmart (which was over a mile away), and finally we got the car back. Hurrah!

Mine tour

We took a mine tour last weekend,
It was really neat to see into the mining lives of the local copper miner especially since the houses on our block are mining houses.



We started in the Shaft Hoist House. This giant wheel is what pulled not only the copper ore to the surface but also the miners themselves. It was quite impressive that there were 96 levels to this mine and I can not imagine riding a wooden sled down all those levels pulled up and down by a guy operating this.


Hardhats, they are all the rage.


We then moved outside to the cog tram and rode it down the hill to the entrance that was opened up in the 1970's. The tram ride was fun but slow.




In the mine. My love was quite relieved to see that you could see the some outside light.




An ore cart. It never occurred to me it would be so hard to take pictures underground. The flash liked to bounce of the closest object but not light the further objects. Lesson learned.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama

House Tour

On the main floor

The Kitchen
Our kitchen is so tiny. The fridge is tiny. This was a vacation home, not a home with 3 growing kids. I see a new kitchen in our future but for now we are going to have to make it work.


The Laundry Room
I had to laugh when I uploaded this picture because my laundry room has not looked like this since the day we took ownership of the house. Mine is always full of dirty laundry, LOTS of dirty laundry. The number one thing that bugs me about this room is that the kitchen is tiny and there is no storage, this room being in the kitchen would be the best place to store all those appliances you don't use often. BUT there are NO shelves! So shelves are on the TO DO list.

Upstairs

Library
This rooms paint is not the green color that appears, my daughter calls it baby poop color, and really it is. I have not even thought of painting yet since we need to get the bedroom walls finished so everyone can move into their own rooms. This will be where the second TV will be kept with the gaming systems, and most of our books.


The New Studio is right off the Library. It was a second mini kitchen (the same size as the main kitchen) but we already donated the little stove,extra fridge,and the table. We will use it for an art and sewing studio when we finally get unpacked. The sink will be perfect for this!

Or for keeping kittens occupied.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we spent trying to get out of the house and into the reason we moved here.

We headed up the coast that we have not gone yet, and we were not disappointed!

Yah! Wood Floors!

Eureka! Look at those wide plank wood floors! They are going to be so cool, but they are also going to be so much work! Look at the plywood they put over the whole floor.



There was a wall here when we moved in. This one in fact:



It also was not original to the house and WAS the entrance to the front bedroom which my daughter sleeps in. Since we are closing back up the wall between her room and her older brother we needed to open this back up and make it her entrance. This weekend we got the drywall back up and now I just need to do some taping magic on it, then we will have a bedroom for each kid. They are excited!

Sunday List

My list: What I will get done today
Make Banana Bread
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins: Diamond Mine
Help my Love frame the wall between our oldest son and our daughter's room
Go on a tour of the Mine