Just a Little Sunday Project

One Sunday morning, about a month ago, we were enjoying our morning coffee and watching Fixer Upper, and we had no plans for the day.  When I have no plans for an entire day, I get twitchy. And that's where the trouble starts...

When we had moved in to this house, the living room had dark paneling.

We painted the paneling, as a temporary face lift, and planned to one day redo the room properly.  Then last summer, when we replaced the siding on the outside of the house, we also decided to replace the large window in our living room to one half the size.  I had plans of moving my piano to that wall and didn't want to block the window.  So while the outside of the house looked nice and neat, the inside was less than appealing.  We just weren't quite sure what to do with that wall with the paneling over plaster and a big void below the window.

I decided that I would remove the paneling from that wall and repair the plaster.  I had repaired all of the plaster in the dining room, and surely I could get this one wall back in good shape in no time, right?  Well, when I pulled off the paneling, the plaster was in worse condition than I had predicted.  Actually, it was just crumbling off the wall.

Amidst this unfortunate find, there was a little sweet spot.  On the back of one of the pieces of paneling I removed, was the name of one of the children who previously lived in this house.  I always love finding treasures like this, and I often have my kids write their name and date in secret places during our renovations for future generations to find.

Once I decided that the plaster was not salvageable, I rallied the troops, armed them with protective glasses, hammers and pry bars, and we went to work.

As we were taking down the plaster (and making a gigantic mess) I ever-so-sweetly asked Jason if he could cut a hole for me in the adjoining wall.  It was just a small wall, dividing the dining room from the living room, and I had envisioned some open shelving there ever since we moved in.  He agreed, and we removed one more piece of paneling, where we found remnants of some old wallpaper, which I'm sure was quite lovely at some point in the past.

And then we went to work making sure the measurements were square and level and Jason cut me a big ol' hole in the wall.  Perfect!

NOW what do I do?  I had a completely blank slate and no plan.

We decided that drywall was our best option, so while Jason went to pick up a few pieces, I cleaned up the biggest mess in the WORLD.  We finished the drywall by dinnertime and I planned to start taping and mudding the next day.

Except for one thing: I am a complete slacker.  The taping and mudding didn't happen, so by Wednesday, Jason took it upon himself to do it.  And he also started staining the trim and getting that installed!  Once the drywall was finished, I mustered up some motivation to paint.  I opted for a color a few shades darker than the rest of the room, and I love how it looks with the new wood trim.

After that, I started thinking that maybe I didn't want just open shelving in my new space.  I threw a couple of ideas at Jason and he made them happen.  And just like that, I had a wine rack, wine glass storage, AND some open shelves.

I absolutely love how it all turned out and mentioned to Jason that with just 10 or 12 more sheets of drywall we could finish the whole living room!  He glared at me and said it wasn't happening.  At least, not until it was warm enough to have proper ventilation to accommodate all of that dust!  Ok, ok, I guess I can wait for awhile.  He was a good sport throughout this little project, and I appreciate all of his hard work.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some wine to fill that wine rack!

Sunrise to Sunset

I'm not trying to jinx anything, but this has been a weird winter.  Aside from some frigid temperatures in December, our winter here in Michigan has felt like, well, SPRING.  The small amounts of snow we have received have been quickly replaced with warmer air and lots of rain.  The ground hasn't even gotten the chance to freeze, and my spring plants started peeking up out of the dirt in late January!  Four days ago, I ran outside in ice and snow and three layers of clothing, and then we were given a glorious weekend.  It has been in the 60's here the last two days and we have been spending as much time outside as possible.  There is plenty to do around here, as you know, and we took full advantage of it this weekend.

Saturday morning started with a beautiful sunrise.  I had a full day planned, and had to get my run in early or not at all.

The day was warming up quickly, even before 9am, and ice fishing on this lake was clearly not happening.

Later that morning, some of our family from Chicago stopped over.  We explored the property and rode dirt bikes and climbed ladders and held our ever-so-patient chickens.

photo credit: Michael Carlson

photo credit: Michael Carlson

photo credit: Michael Carlson

It was so great to have our family here, but like I've told you before, a quick stop-in just isn't enough.  This place is really hard to leave!

After that, we headed indoors for a bit to watch Greyson play basketball.

Then, it was off to the humane society.  We have visited before, and it's nice to go back every now and then to check out the new arrivals.  Plus, Aunt Jan works there and she has the keys to let us play with any available animals!

We didn't stay too long, though, because it was GLORIOUS outside.  Nearly 70 degrees in February?!  Unbelievable!  Grey took some practice with his BB gun, and Nash followed suit with his nerf gun.

And, of course, Owen got some extra snuggle time with the chickens!

At dinnertime, we fired up the grill and invited a little bit of family over for wine and a cookout.

And the fire that had been burning all day, turned into a campfire at night with a couple of ninjas to enjoy it.

photo credit: Jason Martin

Sunday morning greeted us with bright sunshine, so we decided to pick up a couple of our chicks we had ordered last month.  The kids all took turns holding the chirping box in the car and were very excited to get the little fluffballs home.

Introducing French Black Copper Marans, Dijon and Bordeaux,

and White Crested Black Polish, Pila.

They are the sweetest little things and we are enjoying the sounds of tiny peeps in our house again!

Of course, there was still much to do outside, so the boys unloaded and stacked some wood,

the girls had a front yard picnic,

photo credit: Jason Martin

and then Jason and Grey took turns working on some barnwood projects.

The chickens wanted to know WHY I was all up in their business with my camera,

and Owen and Winston spent some quality time together.

I can't remember the last time I saw feet in flip flops in mid-February in Michigan, but I am not complaining. If Spring wants to stick around and keep Winter from reappearing, that will be just fine with me.

Oh, and that Saturday morning sunrise I mentioned?  Well, tonight's sunset totally kicked its butt.

A New Year

Here we are, in the first weeks of 2017.  While I'd like to say good riddance to 2016, I don't think that would be appropriate. I could give you a list of all of the things that weren't good in 2016, but my list of all the things that were good is much longer. When we bought this place in the fall of 2015, we had dreams and hopes and plans.  Those first few months were filled with necessities-cleaning and painting and adding the addition.  The corn was over our heads by the time we moved in, and most of the flowers and plants were in their wind-down stages.  And really, we didn't have time to fully enjoy the property.

Then winter came.  And with it, came new concerns.  Every day the old barn seemed to sag a little more and we knew that its days were numbered.  Inside, we had made cosmetic changes, but we weren't really prepared to feel actual wind blowing through our house.  It seemed we were constantly having the old propane gas pig filled to keep us warm.  Old houses are so charming, aren't they?

In January, we added our first real pet to the family, much to the delight of the kids.  Smokey, a gray lionhead bunny, came to live with us.

Finally, in late winter, the addition was completed and I had a great new bedroom with tons of sunlight and full view of our yard and property.

Winter slowly drifted away and the days lost their chill.  Before the bean crop was planted, the kids scavenged in the field for any rocks they could carry. We had a lot of landscaping projects planned, and what's better than free rocks?

In April, we got the idea (I mean I got the idea) that ripping the main bathroom apart one week before Emerson's birthday party was a good idea.  Jason just loves my free spirit home reno projects!

And since there was a party coming, I decided I should also give our narrow little staircase a little facelift.

And then the daffodils started to bloom, and it was official.  The cold was behind us and warm weather was on its way.  This is when the real fun began.

We have learned so much in this year on our small, growing farm...

We have learned how to successfully raise tiny, fluffy chicks and how it feels to literally have them eat out of our hands.

We have learned when and how farmers plant giant fields of beans,

and how to plant our own garden.

We have learned what fresh, newborn mice look like, and that if you don't get the mail everyday, it will become bedding.

We have learned what sugar snap peas straight from the garden taste like.

We have learned the difference in quacks between a male and female duck.

We have learned that sleepy 8 week old puppies don't actually end up sleeping forever.

We have learned that turkeys grow really quickly and if you aren't planning to eat them, they're better off living elsewhere.

We have learned that you should never go check on the garden without a basket or wagon.

We have learned what tiny box elder bugs look like.

We have learned that tiny mews coming from an overgrown ditch can turn into sweet, tree-climbing, snuggly pet cats.

We have learned that eggs come in all shapes, sizes and colors and that collecting them never feels like a chore.

We have learned that even when the beans grow tall, there are still ways to walk among them and explore.

We have learned that some chickens have furry feet.

We have learned that making pickles is just as fun as eating them.

We have learned that tragedies can happen so quickly and that we can't always save our beloved animals, but sometimes, we have luck (and a bathtub for healing) on our side.

Personally, I have learned that, yes, indeed, I am deathly afraid of heights, even only a few feet off the ground.

When we decided to give up subdivision living and try our hand at a different kind of life, I don't think we actually knew what we were undertaking.  It is hard and not always fun and sometimes, it's downright awful (ask Jason about crawling around in the musty, 130 year old crawl space filled with mummified spiders), but we are doing it, and we are learning as we go.  I have constant questions about gardening and insulation and chickens and ducks.  In a day and age where you can have anything at your fingertips in the blink of an eye, we're going old school.  We want to grow what we eat, and know that it's good for us.  We are willing to put in the effort every spring to ensure we have food throughout the summer, fall and winter.  We want to add to our flock of chickens and hopefully experience our own chicks hatching.  We want to know more about bee-keeping and making our own soap and detergent.  We want to grow berries and fruit for pies.  There are some things you can't learn in school, and it's our job as parents to introduce our children to everything possible.

 It might be the dead of winter here in Michigan, but farm life doesn't stop because of weather.  Egg production has slowed, but the girls left two for me this morning.

The changes and reno will continue around here, but look how far we've come in a year.  We went from zero animals to having a bunny, a cat, a dog, nine hens, a rooster and a duck.  Oh, and there might be a turtle also living in my house.  The property has also changed and we are planning a much larger garden this year, with lots of new vegetables.  And the house?  The house is coming along, slowly but surely, as we find the time and resources to complete projects.

Right now, the field is barren, but we still enjoy bundling up to walk the perimeter,

and the chickens are a little freaked out to put their feet in the snow,

but we are looking forward to the future when we can once again get our hands dirty and explore in the sunshine of summer.