I found my long-lost blog...now what should I do with it?

A Clerihew for Tim...

Home remodeler Tim
Is looking rather grim.
As this project takes longer than expected,
He gets increasingly frustrated and dejected.

(you can revisit this old post for a history of the clerihew...tell Sir Humphrey I said hi...)

Kitchen Demolition

The kitchen was next for the wrecking ball. Actually sledge hammers, hammers and crowbars. We've tried to save as much of the trim as possible to re-use later. There's nothing too fancy about the trim as it was put in sometime during the 50’s, but it’s in good shape and should clean up nicely. The original owners wallpapered right over the plank walls. Sometime in the 50’s drywall was put up and painted. They didn't tape and mud the corner joints; instead, they put up simple crown molding. We will be leaving what drywall we can, since it is in pretty good shape. Most of the seams have small cracks so we will tape and mud them. The wiring was also updated at this time. All the wiring is flexible armored cable, and will all be replaced.

We were glad to have help with the major demo from out friends Jim and Terri from State College (pictures are currently MIA. We had computer crash shortly after this and all of our pictures from this time period are on a CD floating around our house. Once we find it we’ll update with the pictures). Terri was a great help pulling all the little nails in the floor that was used to hold the underlayment that Jim and I tore up. The only major thing that we did not move was the coal stove. The previous tenant had the coal stove functioning as a hot water heater (?!?). The coal stove would eventually be moved out, but at this point we had no idea how to move it – it’s a monster.

With the demo completed, framing of the new walls began. Before we got too far with the framing we submitted the layout for the kitchen to the landlords for approval. This layout also included our plan for the back room. The back room runs the width of the house, and is about 7 feet deep with low (7’) ceilings. It consisted of 3 small rooms and the floor had a pretty decent slope to it, one that you would expect to find on a porch to let the water run off. Our plan was to tear all of the interior walls out of the backroom, put in a ¾ bathroom, large pantry/laundry/dog area and a small office/computer room. There were 2 doors going from the kitchen to the back room. One door went to one small room and the other door went to another small room. The new floor plan eliminated one of the doors, which allowed us to create a larger floor plan for the kitchen. To our delight the layout came back approved. JJ was thrilled to have planned for an island with an overhang at bar-stool height, so that the whole family can eat together in the kitchen – 9 years of lugging dinner to a separate dining room is long enough. Things really shifted into high gear now. We began to get quotes for the kitchen cabinets, counter tops and flooring.

More Gratefulness

More things I'm thankful for:

• a working computer
• grapefruit (gosh, I do love grapefruit)
• great homeschool textbooks that do the hardest part of the work for me
• my husband!
• space heaters and slippers and other warm things (it's really cold and bleak today!)

Gratefulness

I've resolved this year to be more thankful for the little things in my life that I take for granted. Today I am very thankful for:

• Long, hot showers with pleasant-smelling soap and shampoo
• Old photographs
• Kids who sleep late
• Hot, sweet, strong black tea
• My chiropractor
• A January full of birthdays to keep the winter doldrums at bay
• Maternity clothes
• Elbows (this one is weird, but can you imagine how difficult everything would be if you didn't have elbows?)

Thank you, Lord...Amen.

Tim's Bathroom Update

No, not THAT kind of bathroom update. Ewwww. This is a family blog. No, Tim has been kind enough to type up a report of all the work he's done at the farmhouse over the last 9 months, and I'm just now getting around to posting it for him. The bathroom was finished to this point by late summer; he's been working on the kitchen and back porch (3/4 bath, laundry, pantry) since fall, so watch for future updates!

Remodel efforts started in earnest early in the spring. Top propriety was to get a functioning bathroom. There is a usable outhouse on the property, but the girls could really not come up for the day and help me. From what we have been able to find out so far, the house was built pre-1900’s. It is a post and beam construction house with outside plank walls. There are 2” thick planks that run on the outside of the house from top to bottom and 1” thick planks on the inside from floor to ceiling; no studs. The only insulation was newspaper between the planks. The plan is to leave the planks and build 2X6 framed walls on the inside of all the exterior walls. This will allow space for new wiring, plumbing and insulation. We will also be installing new windows and doors.

The bathroom was in pretty rough shape. It appeared that the outhouse got more use than the bathroom. The cast iron bathtub was hauled out to the side porch (still sitting there – anyone want a cast iron bathtub?!?) and the toilet came out in pieces. We submitted a new layout to the landlords, which they approved. It was roughly the same layout except we rotated the tub 180 degrees and added a large closet. The bathroom is roughly 8X10. We started with the rough framing, then installed the tub. Next was the new window. My brother Matt was gracious enough to take a break from his new home construction to help me install the window. Nephew Camden came along to make sure he fully understood what we were doing. The windows are new construction windows, which are a little bigger than the existing window. We had to cut the planks to increase the rough window opening. We then framed in the rough window opening using 2X10’s. Once that was completed the window fit right into place. Because we are building the walls out we are going to have very deep window sills.

The next order of business was the rough wiring and plumbing. Once the rough-ins were completed, we put in the insulation and then up went the drywall. Next I mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded. Once the mudding and sanding were done we tackled tiling the tub surround. This is the first time that I have tiled and JJ and I were both pleased with the end result. JJ’s dad helped out with this, as well as a lot of other things along the way. We then painted the walls and installed the flooring. Once the flooring was down we could put the toilet and vanity in…and Voila! FUNCTIONING BATHROOM. We completed the electrical as well as the hook ups to the tub/shower. We also put some of the trim up but we then stopped there to move onto the kitchen.

maybe...someday?

I desperately need to update this poor, sad, lonely blog. I am making it my New Year's Resolution. Someone please hold me to it!

Goofy Glasses!

The girls and I spent a rainy Sunday afternoon working on this silly craft:

Our Dream Come True

It's official and I can finally share our big news! We're going to be moving. It's been a long time in the works, but suffice it to say that we will be renting and remodeling a farmhouse on the Loyalsock Creek, 12 miles north of civilization. The house sits on a cleared lot about 400 yards away from the creek, and is surrounded by timberland. You can't see a neighbor from anywhere in or around the house -- a far cry from our tiny city property with streets and alleys on three sides! The hiking and fishing opportunities here are endless. The landlords are fine with us using the outbuildings, having animals (chickens are definitely in the plan) and planting a big garden, and we're looking forward to the significant lifestyle change that this move will bring.

The house needs a vast amount of work -- right now it has no heat, no insulation, no bathroom and no kitchen to speak of. It's going to be an ongoing long-long-long-term project, but we're hoping it will be habitable by summer so that we can move in and put our house on the market. It's going to be interesting to be renters again, but it will be worth it in so many ways. There's something pretty to look at from every window in the house. I can't wait for our friends and family to see it firsthand. We are so blessed!

The Year of the Rat begins today, February 7th, 2008. May it be prosperous and joyful for you and your family!

More Cards - Mojo Madness 22

Here are some cards that are very roughly based on Julee's Mojo Madness 22 sketch (of course I'm a week behind!). I've really enjoyed using the complimentary designer papers this way. Fun stuff!

Weekend Sketch Challenge

This may be just what I needed to get inspired to blog more. I've started using the sketch challenges from SplitCoast and its contributors to inspire my stamping. I completed Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge yesterday and like it enough to post and share.

All stamps are from the One of a Kind set. Base is Ruby Red; also includes So Saffron, More Mustard, Ballet Blue and DP is Passionnant by Francis Meyer (I love this!). Background on the So Saffron is the trio of flowers stamped in More Mustard. I stamped the medallion in Encore Metallic Green and embossed it with Enchanted Gold. Medallions are raised with dimensionals. The 1/2" blue center medallion is also stamped in metallic green, with brushed metal red brads in the center. The tag is the sentiment from One of a Kind, clipped on to 1/4" rust organdy ribbon with a brass swirl clip from Hodgepodge Hardware.

The original sketch called for three embellishments down the left side but I kept trying different things and nothing suited -- they just detracted from the medallions. So I decided to skip them. Overall, I'm very pleased! I struggled with the tag; I don't have any good punches and I haven't historically been happy with my tag efforts. But it works for this card. The stamping on the saffron side busied it up a little, but it was too blah without anything. And the medallions have an awesome holographic sheen. I enjoyed playing around with this sketch!

Goodbye, Cooper

Cooper left us last Monday, January 21, and made his way to the Rainbow Bridge. We'll miss you, buddy.

Cooper joined our family rather unexpectedly last March -- I was at the SPCA "just visiting the kitties" with Juliana when I noticed this little grey-muzzled guy in his own x-pen in the main lobby. He looked AWFUL. He was dirty, matted and so weak that he could barely lift his head when I walked up to him. I talked to the staff a little bit about him -- he was a stray, brought in from the edge of the county; no one had any idea how long he'd been wandering or what his issues were, and no one seemed particularly concerned about him. He was headed out (and not via the front door) if he wasn't adopted in the next day or so -- no one was holding out much hope for finding a home for this tired and sick senior citizen. I brought Tim and Tigger (our alpha female) back to meet him that evening and took him home for good the next day.

Cooper was in such deplorable physical condition that we honestly expected to have him for a few short weeks. The vet couldn't pin down an age but suspected the 9-10 year range given the condition of his teeth. Coop could barely stand due to the complete lack of muscle tone in his back legs. He wouldn't chew dry food, so we started him on kibble soaked in broth, with added thyroid meds and a needed supplement for his liver function. He would hobble across the floor until his feet slid out from under him, and then he would just give up and rest wherever he fell. After a few weeks we discovered that he wasn't just ignoring us -- he was actually completely deaf. Over time we developed a rather simplistic system of signals...stomp on the floor to get his attention, then a big wave this way if you want him to come toward you, or a big wave that way if you're trying to shoo him out the door. Easy but effective, as long as you weren't hoping for speed.

He got along fine with the other dogs, never even glanced at the cats, and was an absolute doll with the kids. He was a quiet little presence in the house -- not so much like a dog as just a small, tired soul in a furry package. There were a number of times that we thought we'd lost him -- he slept so soundly, presumably because he couldn't hear, that you had to touch him to wake him up. A few times he took a little longer to come out of his naps and we really thought he'd passed away.

After a few months he seemed to perk up a little -- his tail would wag for a few seconds, and he would almost seem to get up to a trot when making his way from the back room (where the dogs are kenneled) to the backyard. He managed to get up and down the back steps, albeit slowly and with a few wobbles. But for a few months, he seemed to be turning a corner.

Unfortunately, this winter proved too much for his already weakened system. He started to fail rapidly around Christmas and by last week he had stopped eating. His eyes were cloudy and he seemed to be having difficulty focusing. He would still tolerate being petted, but how much of that was just being too weak to protest...? I'll never know. We took him to see Dr. Dave last Monday and made the difficult decision to let him go. God bless our wonderful vet for his perfect mix of compassion and professionalism...he is the very best. I hope to pick up Cooper's ashes sometime this week. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with them -- I would like to take him with us when we move out to the country this summer. He would have liked it there.

He was a charming boy who was with us for too short a time, but he brought us a lot of joy. I will miss him always. Blessed be, dear Cooper, now and everafter...and thank you for being a part of our lives.

Baby Steps

I'm taking baby steps toward feeding my family better! I've been baking my own bread -- my goal is that my children will one day have no memory of storebought bread. A bajillion thanks to Farmgirl for being so inspiring, and especially for recommending Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads -- it's been a lifesaver. The Buttermilk White bread is outstanding and is our new sandwich bread of choice. And the only loaf I've made so far that didn't turn out was a recipe from the back of the flour bag -- all of Mr. Clayton's recipes have been successful. I'll take a few photos of upcoming loaves and post them here when I can.

I also want to thank Amanda for recommending www.doortodoororganics.com. We received our first shipment of produce yesterday and it's wonderful. Reasonably priced, fresh and yummy, and 100% organic (now if only it didn't have to be shipped...! ...carbon emissions and fuel consumption will be the death of my conscience). It's really going to help me feed fresh, nutritious things to my family in the dead of winter, when everything at the grocery store seems too expensive and too "plastic." I hate conventionally-grown, genetically-modified, blemish-free, perfectly-sized, perfectly-shaped, waxed and shined and polished fruits and veggies. Ick.

It's just baby steps, but it's helping.

Christmas Photos

Here's my beautiful girls in their 2007 Christmas photo. The photographer really captured them! Rina looks like such a big girl, and Juli is just her perfectly charming and sparkly self. I love this photo!

Will I Ever Blog Again?

Somehow six weeks have gone by without a single thing to say. How does this happen? Could living life actually be more important than commenting on it? Hard to imagine.

On another note, today is Bailey Belle's 11th birthday. She stole a pound of butter out of a grocery bag and ate it all on Thursday, and spent most of Friday under the couch, puking up greasy slime onto the carpet. I'm relieved to see that her senior status is not slowing her down at all.

Skating

I'm not sure there could be anything cuter than Rina on roller skates. We went to our friend Drew's 11th birthday party on Sunday at the skating rink and the girls had a really great time. Juliana chickened out of the skating end of things early on -- but she learned how to shoot pool, burned some quarters in the pinball machine and ate plenty of pizza. But Rina...oh my! Turns out she's a talented and fearless little skater. (It helps that she bounces.) We're going to go back again soon and let her really show her stuff.

A Washout at the Zoo

We spent yesterday at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Forecast called for showers, but as Tim's on vacation this week and the zoo is closing early Friday, Saturday and Sunday for their annual Boo at the Zoo event, we knew this was our only day to fit it in.

It turned out that "showers" didn't mean short bursts of rain with breaks of sun in between, as one might guess. "Showers" meant steady, misty drizzle from gloomy grey skies, driven by a cold wind. It turned out for the good in that the zoo was almost completely empty -- there were a few school groups in the morning, but by lunchtime the place was pretty much abandoned. The animals were more active than we've ever seen them (of course we usually go in the heat of the summer, so whether it was temperature- or rain-induced activity, I couldn't say). We spent a good deal of time in the indoor exhibiis, seeing more here than we ever have before. The volunteers were very eager to share! We were able to speak with volunteers and zookeepers about a number of species -- the naked mole rats were particularly amusing, but we also got to see the spotted spiny lobster being fed, learn about leafcutter ants, see a capybara skull up close and learn more than we ever cared to know about elephant dung. And it was interesting to see the keeper giving the red-tailed ratsnake a shower! He appeared to be really enjoying the bath.

We also hit the giant panda jackpot. We happened to be passing through the new Asia Trail exhibit at snack time, so baby Tai Shan was enjoying a plastic milk crate dripping with honey, Mei Xiang was entertaining herself quietly near the glass observation wall in the community room, and Tian Tian was playing with a ball filled with some kind of cookie treats -- as he rolled it across the floor, the snacks fell out and he scarfed them up. Ordinarily we're lucky to see one member of the giant panda family at a distance, but we saw them all up very close yesterday. It was a great experience. Our girls have a special fondness for these beautiful ambassadors from China, and we love any encounter we have with them. Yesterday was extra-special panda time.

Of course a good deal of our time was spent in Mommy's favorite places -- the Think Tank and The Great Ape House. The O-Line was not in use so we didn't see anyone making their way from one building to the other, but we did get some interesting one-on-one time with the orangs (or the "rango-tangos," as Rina calls them). Kiko, Bonnie and Batang were in the Think Tank when we visited. Batang was very pouty; she kept rolling away from the girls, tossing hay around and flopping down on her side as if she couldn't get comfortable. Bonnie and Kiko were more interactive -- the girls played peek-a-boo with them and they seemed engaged for quite a few minutes. When we got to the Great Ape House, we had a nice visit with Lucy and also saw Kyle. I am so enamored of these amazing creatures, with their expressive faces, distinct personalities and beautiful coloring, and I would spend my entire time at the zoo observing them if my family would let me.

My photos are dismal -- it was just so gloomy! Nothing photographs well through glass, and there was simply not enough light outside to capture the beauty and wildness of the creatures we encountered. I've uploaded a few pics that turned out so-so; I guess another trip will be needed in the near future to try to get some better shots.

Unfortunately, weekday traffic coming out of DC was even more dismal than the weather and my photos. It took us five and a half hours to get home (it ordinarily takes just under four). We were all done in by the time we pulled up to our house late last night! But the zoo itself was a great experience and we can't wait until we can visit again.

A Beaverful...uh, BEAUTIFUL...weekend

Read this very cowful...I mean, CAREFULLY. Trailnames used exclusively to protect the innocent and the guilty.

Stonefly and I spent a lovely weekend in State College, PA and its surrounding areas, hunting for boxes and giggling like idiots. Most of the boxes and many of the giggles were thanks in part to the contributions of our dear, debauched friends trueindigo and RGBisMe. Much more laughter was due to the adult (very, very adult) members of the jbzfarm team, one of whom should change his trail name to BRITA if he's going to need to have his filters replaced so often. :)

Friday it rained. It did not "blow over," they were not "passing showers," and I did not "have fun." I have very little more to say about Friday. I'm still shivering.

Ok, so there were some short breaks in between downpours. And we got to see some lovely places (when we weren't shielding our eyes from offensive rotting gutpiles left right on the trail by inconsiderate hunters).

Stonefly hates snakes, and welcomes any opportunity to poke a large stick into a suspicious snakey-looking hole.

We stayed Friday night in State College, and met trueindigo, RGBisMe, PAPaddler, HunterJumper and DaBraLady on Friday evening in Millheim for dinner at the Millheim Hotel, which is apparently renowned for it bathtub salad bar and balcony parties and puddin'. Dinner was good, drinks were yummy and the company was raucous. Couldn't ask for more.

Saturday took us to the campus of PSU. After a brief stop for nourishment of the tea-and-chocolate-roll kind at Panera, we began our marathon boxing adventure. Our heartfelt thanks to the CLPE for a spectacular expedition, complete with shuttle service. Stonefly had us anally...um, AMAZINGLY...well-organized, so things went quickly and smoothly, albeit with a lot of paper shuffling (I'm thinking a PDA for Christmas so he can just upload his clues and look like an even bigger nerd). HunterJumper's maps looked kind of pathetic next to Stonefly's "atlas."

"A says ah-ah-ah... B says buh-buh-buh..."

Stonefly: "Uh, FOLKS? We've been sitting here for 6.3 seconds. We're on a tight schedule here. Places to see, boxes to find. Let's move it along."

Stonefly: "Once again, people...less standing, more walking. Less talking, more boxing. HUP two three four. This is not on my schedule. Move it. Let's GO."

PA Paddler, "sportin' wood." Bittersweet wood at that. Ew.

Pirates! Ok, just one pirate. But he commands a tight ship. And his stamps are beautifully carved for one without opposable thumbs.

Yes, that is really an escaped cow standing in front of the Bryce Jordan Center. Yes, we chased it from Medlar Field all the way up and around Beaver Stadium and onto the BJC lawn (and yes, HunterJumper's ankle swelled up like a softball after that). Yes, it really did knock RGBisMe down. And no, I don't know what finally happened to the cow. But it was fun while it lasted. And the Cow Tails were delicious.

Whoa...back off, lady! I'm a happily married man.

Which way is north?

Local legend holds that if a virgin ever walks by this obelisk, it will fall to the ground. In a heap of giggling, adolescent silliness.

A few disclaimers:

• I have never hung around a laser vision correction center. I am not that kind of girl.
• I didn't know what the green shirts meant. Honest.
• I have been fervently trying to recreate the Otto's red wine slushie since Saturday. Two days and four bottles later, I have determined that swishing copious amounts of cold Nittany Mountain Red wine around in your mouth is not the same. But it's been fun trying.
• I have never taken part in the molestation of anyone's shadow. But I'm ashamed to say I've laughed really, really hard while watching it happen.
• Kitty porn. Need I say more?
  

All in all, a fabulous weekend that makes me long for the days when my kids are grown and my time is my own again. It was so nice hanging out with grown-ups -- even when they act like naughty teenagers! Thanks for a great time, everyone. Can't wait till the spring event. Wonder what kind of guaranteed spontaneous event we can expect next time?

Flowers!

Nana and Pop-Pop sent us flowers for Rina's special day. Aren't they pretty? I love the fairy!