Snowy logs

It's winter all right!   We trekked up to The Log House to show off Its Royal Loggyness to my sister and an old friend and I snapped a few pics to atone for my blogging laziness.

The view into the snowy woods behind the house, as seen from the master bathroom.

Isn't the sight of a stone-faced chimney enough to make you weep?   No?  It's just me, then.

Bob and Old Friend Rob

My sister EllieBellyJellyBean lives in far-off P.A., and hadn't seen the interior of the house in a while.  She was pleasantly surprised.  It's hard to imagine what it'll look like when all you have to go on is: "... and over here will be the kitchen, and imagine that there's a wall here...." etc.

The Girl pretends to sweep the floor as she dances with a broom and kicks up dust.

We priced front doors the other day and when I recover from my heart attack and we decide which organ to sell to pay for it, I'll have that progress to show you.  Plus, after the turn of the new year, The Hubs will start in earnest on some kitchen work.   Stay tuned for a fabulous 2014-in-Logs!

Making memories

This afternoon, as we holed up during the ice storm, we decorated the Christmas tree that has been waiting in the cold on our front porch since we hauled it out of the woods on Wednesday.

Some decorations are new, some are old, some...  ended up in the trash this year.  Seriously, why were we keeping those things?

One of the old ones that I have kept is this little stocking ornament:

It was a gift from my piano teacher when I was about 10 or 11 years old.  I love the continuity that hanging it -and a select few other oldies- on the tree each year provides.

Hopefully the bairns will cherish some of the memories we made today as well.

Joyous Advent and a very Merry Christmas, everyone.  

Will not miss

One thing we will NOT miss once we move out to The Lake?     This:

Handing out Halloween candy to 600 trick-or-treaters.   600.   In our small town.  It. is. insane.

So, we did what every crabby pants would do:   stuck our children out there for the first shift. Rule Boy was diligent in enforcing the "Take ONE piece, please" and Surly Girl grudgingly muttered "Happy Halloween" as if kids were taking her own personal candy.   And yet?  Didn't deter the floods.  The Husband gave out about 300 pieces of candy just between 6-7pm.  We ran out and turned the light off at 7pm...  but there were still trick-or-treaters out there, so we could have given out even more!  

On the other hand, we'll get NO trick-or-treaters out at The Log House, since it is delightfully tucked in the woods.  I suspect I'll feel cranky about that too.  *sigh*

Hope your Halloween was not too hot and not too cold... not too soft and not too hard... just too much fun! How many ghoulies and ghosties descended on you last night?

Prepare for flute and lyre

Commence rejoicing.

(Note:  My apologies --  I have known about this for three days, but have been unable to share, as the nonchalant Husband dropped by The Log House to show me on our way out of town to see a Buffalo Bills game, and I had neither camera nor phone with me at the time to grab a photo to squeal over all weekend.  The heartless man.) 

So, without further ado:

TA-DAAAAA!    We have a kitchen!  well, *ish.*   Those are lower AND upper cabinets, baby, along with a fine counter top.   So, for a tour:   the blank spot on the end is where the dishwasher will go, with the sink directly to the right of that; the blank spot on the right is where the stove will go, with the microwave directly above that.  I am standing in the spot where the fridge will go to take the second picture.

I am so excited I can't stand it!!  So, a back splash of some sort, kick plate (is that right?), a wee bit o' plumbing and wiring, and the appliances go in....   oh, and a floor.  I needs me a floor now!

It is starting to look like a real home now, eh?  Not just a log picnic pavilion?


Oh, and:  Go Bills!

Beauty

.  

In a place known for its radiant displays of fall color, this season has been exceptional.  I am driving like the old codger I am at heart these days --  gawking at the scenery everywhere I go.   If you get a chance to take an extended leaf-peeping drive through our neck of the woods this week, you'll not regret it!

Trust me.

It's only been a week since the last post (in which I surmised that the kitchen cabinets would be installed within the week)....     you're feeling very sleepy....    a weeeeeeeek.   Not three weeks!   A weeeeeek.

I am trying to spread the delusion.  Work with me here.


Anyway, this odd space-time warp finally ended and - lo and behold - what do we have?  

Installed lower kitchen cabinets!!!  Aren't they lovely?    The only answer here is:  "yes."

Once the countertop is installed, then the upper cabinets will be installed... and then... and THEN....   well, maybe a floor?

The upper cabinets are still in a jumble:

But soon, we will rejoice with flute and lyre.  

Forgive me; my African friend Emma is practicing Hebrew at the table and it feels very Biblical in here.



But back to The House:

So, I dashed into The Log House to lay mine eyes on the kitchen (and was pretty squealy), when I turned to tell Emma something about the layout of the kitchen and dining room and was pleasantly (and very squealy) surprised to see THIS:

The Hubs added the bead-board wainscoting to the dining room walls without telling me!  Totally exciting!
The chair rail is being stained, but that oughta go in soon, too.

Well, soon is a relative term in Log World.

Warning: SQUEEEEE ahead

Although I know it is different in many parts of the country, around here the new school year starts after Labor Day, which means that yesterday was our First Day of School, both for the children and for myself.  After a thrilling and exhausting day, I drove up to The Lake to nab the kiddos so The Hubs could work a little longer, and witnessed this:

The sweetness!  Oh!  The SWEETNESS!

Okay, that's not the best part.  This is what really got my attention:

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?!!!    That beautiful, precious, lovely truck was delivering [most of] our KITCHEN CABINETS!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I admit it:  I did squeal an inordinate amount upon bursting into The House and witnessing this momentous event.  I may have even startled the guys delivering the cabinets ... just a tad.

Installation will likely be next week and the countertops after that, but just this was enough to send me into raptures of delight for the rest of the evening.

*sigh*    Kitchen cabinets.   I am a happy girl.

Log ends = flyways

Here's a finished view of one of the corners of The House after The Hubs finished trimming the log ends... er flyaways flyways.*   You learn something new every day.

[*editor's note:  If you scroll down to the comment section below, you'll see that an "anonymous" commenter  *cough*thehubs*cough* corrected me.  Apparently, I misheard the first time.  Eh.  Whaddyagonnado?]

(I know the before and after shots are of different corners of The House, but they all looked pretty similar.)

Before                                                                After

Now those little flyaways  flyways are all nice and neat and tucked in under the overhang of the roof.

Log ends

Maybe that's what we should call our house:  Log Ends.   You know... like "Bag End" in The Hobbit?    I like the idea of a house with a name.  But, since The Hubs and I could barely agree on names for our children, I doubt we could agree on a house name.  Still....

Anyway, what is this about log ends you ask?   Well, if you've noticed in all the many photos I've posted that show the exterior of The House, we never trimmed the ends of the walls.

Until today.

Buh-bye log ends!

Boy oh boy did The Hubs smell like chainsaw exhaust when he got home!   But you know what that smells like to me?    That's right, baby:

PROGRESSSS!

Ta-Da!

So, I couldn't wait until the scaffolding is down to show you the completed facing on the chimney exterior.  Betcha could have called that one, eh?    Whatevs.

BeCAUSE:  

TA-DA!!!!

We have a completed chimney facing!!  (on the outside, at least...)

So totally awesome, right?    The only correct answer here is an emphatic 'yes.'    Proceed.

Our Day In Logs

The facing of the chimney exterior is ALMOST done --  all but a little corner, so I'm holding off on my TA-DA!  pictures until the whole shebang is done, and the scaffolding down.  

In the meantime, the rain today nixed The Hubs' work plans, so I bundled us all off to The Lake to get wee bits done on The Log House.

What makes me nearly as happy as progress on The House?  Children reading. 

We put on some outlet and switch covers in the downstairs bathroom:

Before

During

After.

Then Bob hooked up the sink in the upstairs bathroom:

We made a written list of the rest of the outlet/switch covers we need and I made a mental note of the remaining tasks that need to be done before we can move in (installation of kitchen cabinets & countertops, flooring over the entire first floor, exterior and interior doors, railing on the balcony, caulking in the bathrooms, wainscoting in the dining room, building that half wall between the dining and living rooms....  oh me oh my!)

But today, I'm grateful for the little things that were accomplished that bring us that small amount closer to done.

And that Bob didn't die while doing this:

Chimney facing

So, I was wrong.

What?  It's happened on occasion. In this case, I predicted that it would be a goodly while before more facing appeared on the chimney.  Wrong.  There has been a whole lotta stone facing going on!

July 24, 2013  

The Hubs and Doug-the-mason catch a break and get unseasonably cool weather

July 25, 2013

Look how fast they're making progress!

Just a cool/weird angle 

Squeeeeeeeee!!

Since the exterior facing will be finished any day now, I am turning my attention to the interior facing.  Originally, since Bob and I had different preferences for the style of stone facing, we'd agreed that the interior and exterior facing would be different:  he would choose the exterior and I the interior.   I like the flat look better, but now I don't know.  Not that the interior will be faced any time soon.  We're talking next year at the earliest. 

Still....  a girl can plan...  

Friends and greens

We've had (and will continue to have) an exceptionally friend- and family-visit-filled summer.  High school friends, college friends, moved-away friends, and Marine Corps friends have all come to Casa de Log... and the summer's only half done!

Our token Vegetarian friend, Joaaaaannnnne (a former Marine Corps co-worker of The Hubs) got to experience a little bit of veggie-eating heaven last week when we raided my father's garden.

Yep, she's coming along nicely, eh?   The garden, I mean.  Not Joanne.   Although she's great too.

Joanne cuts the squash.  Or zucchini.  Same diff.

Pop loads Dave (also an old Marine buddy) up with veggies.

Dave and Joanne try to identify the herbs by smell.

It's been a few years since we've seen them.  Our Boy and their Girl were babies together.  *sniff*   Now they're giants.  I'm trying to cope.

But I digress.

Here's a shot of the bounty we swiped from Pop's garden and proceeded to devour:

Yes, the eagle-eyed among you are correct:  our salad included nasturtium.  Nasturtiums?   Nasturtii?  What's the plural here?

Anyway, our salad included these tasty flowers.  And also sugar snap peas, green onions, red onions, chives, at least three types of lettuce, kale, cress, two types of basil, and whatever else my father could pile in our bags.  We also grilled the squash and zuccs for some added yumminess.  It was a very green meal.

And the next day was an all-cheese dinner.  Because, why not?

Friends are great.