WHOA!

Some days, you're darned if you do and you're darned if you don't!!

SOME DONE, SOME NOT

Its been awhile, have been busy! Some traveling over Christmas and since. Bathroom completed and so happy with it. Vern did an outstanding job! Kitchen is not any different, as we've changed our mind and going to install matching cabinets above the counter, instead of painting the old ones. Haven't tackled the living room yet. Some priorties have changed as we rethink what should really be done first. Really want to focus on the yard and the farmland more. So we're busy "penciling" what priorities are!
Weather is becoming a real concern as the sunny days continue for the most part. Hopefully there will be enough irrigation water for what is planned for this year. More later!

PROJECTS CONTINUE!!

A couple of projects going on along with everyday life and farm work. Pictures are of the mess that tearing out lathe and plaster can make. It's all cleaned up now, plaster double bagged for a special section in the county dump. Now we're measuring all the fixtures, cabinet, light, etc., ready to sheet rock, figuring how high to put the bead board, final decision on paint color, plus turning the door to open into the back hall. It will start coming together soon. AND, the TV IN THE KITCHEN is working!!! Cable company came today and hooked up the TV in one of the upstairs guest rooms and programmed the TV in the kitchen. So nice. The HD box is in an upper cabinet as you can see. The reason: no room on my limited counter space. So, I had this brilliant idea. When the upper cabinets are completed (another project!), I think it will look very cool. The wall color will be a soft yellow, the bead board will remain white. The upper cabinets will be in the same yellow "family", but lighter. The varnished wood you see will be replaced with a frosted, ripple glass. The very top of the cabinets will all be open as is the one at this time. Painted inside, rope lighting, some greenery and our mom's old kitchen utensils, bread bowl that's over a hundred years old. The living room will also be a project starting in October. You can see from the picture that everything is mostly brown and white. Just a spot of color here and there and some items waiting to find their proper place in other parts of the house! The walls will be a toasted wheat (not definite, but close to that), the mantle will be black with a slightly darker shade of wheat above that. Rug will be gone replaced with laminate wood, probably spiced apple. Already posted the striped drapes. Entry will be tiled, new door. First though, we're replacing all the windows in the house before winter. At least, that's the plan. A man is coming out Monday to give estimates and we may qualify for discounts and remodel assistance! We're having fun doing most of the work ourselves, finding bargains and sales and getting creative to keep the cost low. Watch for updates from time to time!

The Beat Goes On

Close to installing sheet rock in the bathroom. Have chosen the paint colors...2 shades of a light green. The TV is mostly installed in the kitchen. Now, I just need to figure out how to set it up! I've read the directions and got the giggles! So, we'll see.

Yesterday I made a pistachio pie,,,it is so light and delicious. Vern really enjoyed it. We had guests last night and I served it for dessert, then we finished it up at lunch today.

I've also been rethinking kitchen color. We still are going to install bead board around the lower part of all the walls and behind the counter as a backsplash and it will all remain white. Have decided on a light yellow for the upper cabinets and a slightly darker yellow for the remaining walls. I think Vern will hurry and get that paint soon before I change my mind again!!! He loves a yellow and white kitchen, but was willing to go blue. He's pretty sweet that way!

You cannot believe the projects there are in this house! Started to make a list but it was too exhausting!! We are still having a great time bouncing back and forth between projects, forgetting our list when we go to Home Dep*ot, misplacing the spray paint can to finish a little project, losing a little bag of screws, laying a tool down and can't remember where, etc., etc., etc.!! Fortunately, we're both a little "nuts" and don't "bolt" from challenges!

Last evening, friends came for dinner and brought with them a wooden sign they are purchased at a chili cookoff in a neighboring community...it reads Down on the Farm. Really cute, so they bought it for us. A few minutes after they arrived, Vern drove up after spending 3 1/2 hours in the alfalfa fields, unplugging nozzles, moving pipe, fighting hot sun and mosquitos. He was wet and muddy and happy as can be, as usual! So we made him stand by the new sign and took his picture. He was a little embarrassed, but couldn't hide how happy he is to do the work he does.

I took a picture of what an 80 year old house looks like "behind the scenes"! Vern is going to tear out the remaining lathe and plaster, then insulate and install the sheet rock. Then we can paint, put down the new baseboard and install all the remaining items...toilet, sink, cabinet, faucets, light, medicine cabinet. He also wants to take out the window over the tub and enclose that in with a small, long window at the top that opens...sort of like in a modern house!! Not right away, though...too much else that has priorities.

Earlier this week, we went fishing with friends, or I should say the guys fished out on the lake in our friend's boat, and we girls drank coffee, talked, picked blueberries, read books and talked some more! I also bought some pink hair color that washes out and made tiny little strips of pink color in my hair that Vern really liked!! Today, I walked into a salon at Fred Meyer and asked them to cut the back length of my hair. Very spontaneous and am so glad I did it. Yesterday, I stopped by a yard sale a couple of miles from here and bought a pink flamingo! She is ceramic, very graceful in a beautiful green dish,,,see picture above. Also bought a b & w picture of a little girl bathing and it says "clean living keeps you young". Will hang it in our "new" bathroom.

So, enough of a "reality" post of our daily life. Should be some great pictures coming up soon, but these will have to do for now.

POTPOURRI

Busy, busy recently! Vern tore up the old bathroom floor and back hallway. It was quite a job! Part of the sub floor had to be replaced. There was OLD vinyl glued down under the particle board, then he started replacing what was needed, ending with a top layer that had to be screwed into the particle board every 4 inches! This project took 3 days. The new vinyl was layed yesterday. Now, it's new sheetrock, texture and paint, install new fixtures and baseboard. He's also moved the equipment out of one of the back fields to get the heifers into another pasture, irrigating the third alfalfa crop, he and his brother loading up the ATV off to be repaired (it's back & running!). I feel rather helpless during all of this activity, so I lend encouragement, take pictures, cook really good meals, keep the rest of the house as neat as possible and share lots of hugs. I also have worked hard on one of the upstairs guest rooms and it's really shaping up. I occasionally go outside with my camera and "talk" to the girls (heifers),,,they get very curious and stand and listen and another 2 or 3 wander over to join the group! My cousin also made a beautiful flower arrangement for our entry. There is a *Michaels here and I had fun shopping a great sale for those flowers. We're still having fun amidst all these projects. The list is still long! Enjoying the flowers, sunrises, a recent movie and today, we are GONE FISHIN'!!! Vern thinks he might have fished once years ago, so our friends are driving us to a lake today and the guys are gonna' fish and us girls are gonna' sit on the deck and talk!! A nice break and tomorrow we'll be back at it!

HAPPY FARMER!

My husband is so happy as he is cutting and baling his own grass hay and wheat hay this year! He's worked so hard moving sprinkler pipes, some of them are hand moves...hoping that changes this next year. Had already contracted for the alfalfa hay to be cut and baled. Everything was pre-sold so that made him happy too! Irrigating the third cutting will start fairly soon. Pictures are of Vern standing in the alfalfa hay, showing how good this second crop is, for the most part. Also of a couple of sandhill cranes out in the wheat hay this evening. Took pictures too of other alfalfa hay fields, most of it cut now, waiting to be raked. The grass hay has been hauled away, the wheat hay will be within the next two days. Will spend a few days working on the house and yard before the irrigating starts again!

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY? HA!

Picture it, down on the farm! Mid-morning, still in my pink nightie, cooked the potatoes and eggs while talking on the phone to a dear friend, then, making the potato salad for lunch tomorrow as friends coming in from out of town. Listening to country radio, the song Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star is playing, I smell like onions! Door opens and hubby walks in, smelling faintly of diesel as he's been baling hay. I order him to put his shoes down, grab him and we dance and twirl around the kitchen! We're both pushing 70, so if you are young and happen to read this, don't ever let the surprises and fun go by the wayside!

He's back to baling, I'm going to get ready as we leave in an hour to take someone out to lunch, then back for a couple of hours, then off to the Fair! Destruction Derby tonight! Looking forward to friend's visit tomorrow, then off to the ballgame tomorrow night! And to cap it off, the Pro-Rodeo Saturday night!

Still no TV hookup in kitchen...just a couple of twists and turns! ;D

The picture is the "new" swather working away in the wheat field a couple of days ago.

Happy Days!