Another Wednesday in May

Tonight we painted the dining room a color! And it looks fantastic, too! We love the color and it definitely makes you want to continue spreading the joy and color through-out the rest of the place. Tomorrow we will tackle the kitchen. I got Tom to go along with my scheme to paint the end caps of the cabinets instead of trying to stain them to match the fronts. It will look good, promise.

We'll deal with the electrical issues on Friday, plus pick up the oak board fencing, 16 footers! Sounds like fun, right? It will be.

Work, working, working...

Painting almost every night - but no color yet applied! Just my favorite primer, KILZ. The interior basement door has a first coat of the final on, it almost feels like slow-motion because everything else gets in the way, like eating and working a day job.

Picking up the fence boards on Friday. Also the microwave/range hood combo. Still dealing with the electrical issues but all will be resolved or it will kill us, right?

Fence Posts!

One Hundred, Forty fence posts. Seven foot, quarter rounds. These babies aren't going to put themselves in the ground, so the real work begins now. The tractor will be the heavy lifter, drill baby drill.

Let There Be Light!

Rainy cloudy Sunday, Tom installed the two porch lights. Florescent bulbs, and a rebate, too!

Time Flies!

We've been working on projects that almost seem like they don't matter, you can't see too much progress, but we are making it. Tom installed the new washer, the new dryer, and the new dishwasher! We moved the stove in, that will be leveled tomorrow in its permanent place. The refrigerator is still in the dining room, but its making ice and everything!

Tom also demolished most of the walls in the basement, really opening up that area, and taking down the wall studs, too. I sanded the walls tonight, prepping for paint this weekend, and measured all the windows for mini-blinds, or whatever treatment they might get. None of the main level windows, except for the bathroom, ever had curtains or any window treatment. Country living, right?

We have to pick colors for the living room, dining room and kitchen. Can't tackle the 'blue popcorn' room just yet. I also primed the newly installed interior basement door. It looks great and is ready to have its final paint applied. After that we need to seriously get some furniture over there! The 'cowboy' bed is there, set up and looking very civilized in the small room upstairs.

Another Appliance has Arrived!!

The new stove came in!! Tom wrapped the old stove in cardboard so we could move it out of the house and onto the driveway without getting grease on our clothes. YUCK! I scraped the wall and cabinets with a putty knife, then scrubbed with Simple Green and Mr. Clean, melting the grease. The floor had broken glass stuck in the grease, hard to wet-vac up. Who knew I would get so emotional about appliances!, but I am. Tom did a fantastic job picking out these items, everything I wanted and none of the fluff.

Another day, another adventure...

We pulled the old broken stove out from the wall last night - If you think replacing the toilet was rough, you should see this stove! Gag-ola! YUCK! And behind it and underneath where it was is filthy, dirty, greasy, with broken glass and Corona bottle caps. The cabinets that butt up against it will have to be scraped with a putty knife before they can be cleaned. I think I'll start with Tilex, then move on to Simple Green. This combination seems to be pretty good with grease and mold removal. Originally Tom thought I was going to clean that stove and then use it. Yeah, that's going to happen! Now that he sees what is inside and outside, he agrees and our new stove will be delivered today.

Also today, the 'Honey Dipper' is coming to service our septic tank. With sixteen people living in a 3 bedroom house, the septic tank has not been treated very well. Over-whelmed would be a better description of its life at the farm. Hoping to get a full report about what is really going on with that thing. He claims its only a 'holding tank' and needs to be pumped out regularly. We are not convinced, since there is evidence of digging around the apron of the site. We have installed all those water-saver appliances and toilet. It's just the two of us living there, that should make a difference, too.

The new stove is ready for pick-up, we will do that tomorrow. Hope they put it in the truck for us, that would be very helpful. My mother-in-law is stunned that we got new appliances, "didn't you like the ones that came with the house?" She doesn't understand that the house had none, except for the stove, which I wouldn't give to anybody, and the refrigerator that was in the illegal, demolished 'in-law suite' that will be turned back into the power company for their rebates.

May Weekend - Lots of Milestones

The boys were moved late in the day Saturday to White Fences Farm. KC was literally frozen in place when we got there - he was afraid of all the heads looking at him and was unsure about the situation. Skip was a little better and eventually walked in with KC following.

We stopped over in the morning and both were out in a small paddock. They were glad to see us, we gave them treats. We stayed only about 10 minutes, had to be at the farm to meet the scheduled appliance delivery!!

Sears really came through for us, as did the Obama money AND the rebate from Allegheny Power. We got a $1100 fridge for $504. A beautiful, energy-efficient front-load water-saver washer, and a 'smart' dryer. Both are big enough to handle horse blankets! The Kitchen Aid dishwasher is to die for! The delivery men also took the burned-out water heater from the garage. The power company will recycle the old fridge from the garage, giving us $80. It had to be clean, so we took care of that with Tilex and a hose.

Tom hung the new interior basement door. It is beautiful, needs to be primed and painted. He also installed the new dead-bolt on the exterior basement door. We installed a new toilet on the first floor. I wasn't even going to wash that toilet, and I certainly wasn't going to use it. The one upstairs needs replacing, too. I washed kitchen cabinets, the bathroom cabinet, walls, floors, window sills.

We stopped by White Fences Farm on the way home and they were in their stalls, very relaxed and glad to see us. We shared an apple and I petted my little kitty! She's too young to take home now; she has a good mom and three litter mates. They live in a cardboard box in the tack room. Skip was not stall-walking and KC was lording it over the gelding next door that he got an apple! They both seem very happy at White Fences Farm.