A Year in This Life

It has been a year...

A year since we first set our eyes on this place we call home.

A year since we decided to leave our cozy house in the cul-de-sac and try our hands at something different.

A year since we began to dream a new dream.

A year that began with a small spark of hope that this place could possibly become our place.

Well, that spark turned into something much bigger-a burning flame.

Once that key was in our hands, we were off and running.  The restoration, remodeling and new construction began!

The bedroom floors were stripped of their carpet, exposing old hardwood floors, which we attempted to sand, but the several layers of paint already on them made the task nearly impossible.  We ended up painting them instead.  One of my very favorite parts of the upstairs bedrooms are the small metal plates that have been attached to the floor in random places, covering little holes in the pine.

The dining room floor was found under carpet and 50's tile and with a good sanding we were able to stain and poly these floors and keep them original.  The holes from the old stove are still in the floor, and add to the character.

When we first came to the house, the staircase had no handrail and the second floor had nothing to prevent kids from just falling over the edge.  The previous owners called this "Fishing with God."

We decided to modify an old shelving unit from Grandma Lois and use it not only as a barrier from falling to one's death, but also as a bookshelf for the kids.

The stairs themselves were steep and dark and covered in old carpet.  I stripped them down, painted and stained them, and added a few sweet words to read as you climb them.

The butler's pantry was screaming for attention.  Dated, peeling wallpaper covered the walls and I had just the thing to spruce it up-pennies!  For $30 in pennies I converted this room from a boring hallway to a conversation piece.  While the majority of the pennies are heads up, if you look closely you can find a random wheat-back penny thrown in there!

The kitchen and dining areas also needed some modifying.  Where there was once a small dining room, a bar as a divider and a small kitchen table, we have converted into a much bigger open space with one large dining table and an added kitchen island, which not only gives us much needed counter space, but also houses extra cabinetry and a dishwasher!

While we were working on all of these changes, there was also an addition to the house being built.  We tore off a small laundry/mud room that was attached to the kitchen and added a laundry room, master bedroom, master bathroom and the third closet of the house.  We opted for large open windows in the bedroom and it's my favorite spot in the house.  In the mornings, I can lie in bed and watch the sunrise and see the deer out in the field, and at night I can see the most beautiful sunsets and listen to the pheasants who live here and the bullfrogs in the neighbor's pond.

After debating over what to do regarding the old barn, Jason had secured the corners with cables to keep it standing through the winter.  But in March, we realized the cables weren't going to hold it forever and the back corner was gradually falling and starting to break.  Rather than wait for the entire structure to collapse in ruins, we regretfully opted to take down the barn.  Friends and family came out and with the help of a big SkyTrack machine, the men carefully disassembled the barn.  It was a very sad day for me.  The barn was one of the reasons I had wanted to buy this property in the first place, and taking it down meant losing a big part of the history here.  We were able to salvage quite a bit of wood, and also found a few treasures to keep and reuse in the future.

One of my favorite things in the new addition is our commode room.  Jason found the perfect pieces of wood from the barn, left them in their natural state, and put them up as an accent wall.  There's even a piece from an old Buick crate we found in the barn, and I made sure he didn't remove any of the old rusty nails from any of the wood.

In April, on a whim, I decided it would be a good idea to give the bathroom a face lift.  The plan was to remove the old linoleum and lay some fresh tile.  Well, under that linoleum was a sub-floor.  And under that was more linoleum.  And under that was another sub-floor.  And under that?  Under that was the original floor, stained red, and GLORIOUS.  We decided to return the tile we had purchased, and restore these original wood floors instead.  The project took a few days longer than we had planned, and quite a bit more labor, but it was totally worth it, in my opinion.

Over the years, I have randomly been a bit of a trash digger.  Jason always rolls his eyes in disbelief when I ask him to stop and pick up bar stools or random furniture someone has left at the side of the road.  Most recently, I had him pick up an old brown chair, with hideous pleather upholstery and dog-chewed arms and legs. He just shook his head and plopped it on the porch for me.  I think he was pleasantly surprised when he came home to find that I had sanded away the chewed wood, painted the frame, and recovered it in bird-printed fabric that Nash picked out.  Sometimes furniture just needs a little help, you know?

In between all of the projects, both inside and out, we have also gradually added some animals to our family.  We currently have one bunny, eight chickens, two ducks, two turkeys and a puppy.  I don't think our yard would be quite the same without looking out and seeing ducks in the kiddie pool, and chickens rolling in the flower beds, covering themselves in dirt, or coming home to turkeys on the porch, waiting to be fed.  They all have their own personalities and make us laugh everyday.

It sounds busy, doesn't it?  Projects, repairs, animals, kids.  Amid all of this, we haven't forgotten to live. We spend a huge amount of time outdoors.  The neighbor kids are always here, riding dirt bikes, catching frogs, chasing chickens, building bike ramps, climbing trees to reach the apples way up high, and hanging out by the campfire.  Friends and family stop over for quick visits and end up staying for hours.  There's something about this place that sucks you in.  It's peaceful and calming, and so full of life.

There are baby bunnies, and robins' nests, and raccoon families, and deer that run right through the yard, and groundhogs, and tadpoles we watched grow into frogs, and coyotes, and worms, and snakes, and turtles, and hawks that swoop down to fight the blue jays for their eggs.

We hike around our property, fly kites, run through the sprinkler, climb trees, build snowmen in blizzards, sit by the fire, and swing in monkey suits.

And when we're not doing all of that?  We just slow down and enjoy each other.

You've heard your kids say, "This is the best day EVER!",  right?  Well, Greyson has learned to drive Grandpa Ro's old tractor, and every time he helps Jason in the yard, he proclaims that THIS is the best day ever, trumping the last best day ever.  I've lost count of how many times he's had the best day ever since we have lived here, and that's not a bad thing.  For a boy who used to be hard to please, finding something he loves to do has been a great treasure and relief!

I have learned so much in this year.  I have Googled things I never dreamed I'd have to Google. Things like, "is my duck male or female" and "what to do with chickens when you want to take a vacation" and "how to repair plaster walls" and "how to care for peonies" and "predators of chickens" and "home decor from the early 1900's" and "uses for old barn wood" and "recognizing asbestos tile".   I now know how to blow insulation into an attic and that a chick takes 21 days to go from egg to fluffy little chirping cuteness.  I know that when mice live in your mailbox and you try to evict them, they don't take no for an answer, and that three coats of stain is always better than two.  I've learned that honeybees have no interest in humans unless they're threatened, and that it takes five days from when a soybean is planted to when you can see the first little green sprouts poking through the dirt.  I've watched a fawn stumble behind its mother, hours after birth, and I've learned that the sound peacocks make is very similar to the sound of a cat in distress.

We have lived in many places, and met so many people.  We have had extremely high points and unbelievable low points.  There have been births and deaths and triumphs and tragedies.  With all that we've learned, there is so much more we don't know.  But there is one thing that will always be true...

It's not where you live, it's how.