Been away for awhile

It's been months and months since i've updated this blog, and it seems like a good time to start keeping up with it again.

Updates:

The house is DONE
Pictures to follow once I remember how to upload them...I seem to remember it being fairly simple.

The house is FOR SALE!!

That means once the sale comes along, we head back home to the dearly beloved and deeply missed pacific northwest!!

Overall thoughts...

I'm still really scrambled as far as attention span goes! I'm not reading much, but I am knitting again (learning cables right now with a sock to start...will post a photo). Also I've been keeping up with the Teaviews.com website which has turned out to be a wonderful learning experience and great fun, too. And the bookstore is keeping me very occupied. So, all things considered, if I don't really start reading again till we've sold and that part of my brain can feel rested and ready to engage again...that's not so bad. And curiously, I'm writing a good deal again.

The weather has been worse than abysmal, and coupled with the sense of unknowing that comes with waiting for someone to come along and buy your house, it's been a little crazy making. It's completely amazing to me what a difference the sun being out makes. My entire psychological perspective alters about 180 degrees! I believe the reports are that for the month of June - Waldo County saw 7 days total without rain. And those days were not necessarily sunny. Whoa. Today, rain. Last night the sound of it drumming, again, on the roof had me in tears for about 5 minutes. Then I realized that I was crying over rain and wanting to go home to the Pacific Northwest, and felt a little bit (and only a little bit) amused! I suppose you have to laugh, too. This morning, I inexplicably woke up in a great mood. Despite the RAIN!!

Eating from the garden! That's a plus. A big plus. It's a nice year for lettuce, slugs, mustard, slugs, beans, and slugs. And amazingly, the tomatoes look good!!!

:-) All for now.

new tea company for us to check out!!

http://www.oceanoftea.com/products/Dragonwell.html

sometimes, you like to throw mud on the walls

shawn got all the mudding done (the first coat that is) in the living room today. It looks good so far. The neat thing is that we have finally really gotten the mudding technique down. It's pretty awesome. The mudroom and front hall way are the first areas that we really seemed to get it down to the point that it looks really professional, as in no lumps or scratches or anything. It looks awesome, we're both impressed. This whole housebuilding experience has been pretty incredible. It really does give you the feeling that you can do pretty much anything, if you work slowly, patiently, well, and using your best knowledge - and if you don't try and get too ridiculous about things! (I mean, we couldn't build a castle with a mortar foundation and turrets all around it!) Anyway, it was a good day. Now it's time to build the fire and make some risotto for dinner! Thanks for reading!

here's the mudroom ceiling in. This is the coolest room in the house as it's on the north side, and it's much warmer with the ceiling in. no reason to heat the "attic" space in this room! We really like the way the wood ceiling looks against the white paint. Really pretty!

hi there! we couldn't get a great shot since the middle ceiling light is still a dangling temporary till we make it down to get an overhead light for the kitchen, but at least a nice one is over the sink. (Even though the sink itself isn't there yet!!!) The panelling of the ceiling is done in the kitchen! It came out beautifully, there are a few spots to sand just slightly, and a few of the nails we need to sink individually with a tiny hand sinker, but that's it. Amazingly, the panelling worked out to exactly the end of the kitchen, didn't even need to rip it down with the table saw we don't yet have! Great!
We also got most of the mudroom done, and it looks way better. Winter is loosening her grip here, truly! Yesterday on our walk we saw a big flock of robins in the trees, starting to scope out the still white fields. (It was near 40 yesterday). Last night was cold, around 5, and tonight will be eight, but it will be warm all next week, with a couple of days in the forties (the upper forties!!) and the lowest low of the week is 19 (which as I have mentioned, feels subtropical to us now!). The best news is this! We let the fire go out around midnight yesterday. It was 73 when we went to bed. This morning, the sun was shining (has been all day) and though it only reached about 19 (when we took our walk today it was 12! Good thing for hat and muffler, those things WORK!) we are only just starting a fire NOW, at 4:45 PM, and it's 68 degrees inside! We are really loving this insulation! It's amazing!

Penny helping. She watches transfixed!

We made it to around the ceiling fixtures last night before calling it quits for dinner! Shawn hung the lamp over where the sink will be someday. :-) I'm laughing as I write this because it's really funny how used we are to the bare essentials. Housebuilding is REALLY fun! I can't believe I'm writing this and truly feeling this after our depressing December when we first moved in and felt totally overwhelmed, but I love doing this! I was musing yesterday, it being Valentine's Day and all, that painting and hanging a ceiling with my sweetie was one of the best ways I've ever spent a V-Day! :-) And that's enough sap from me. Ugh, I can't stand it! :-) Seriously, though, the ceiling is looking beautiful! Finishing work is fun!