Workshop Project

Jason was raised with an array of two, three and four wheelers...I have never driven anything with less than four wheels and two doors. I suppose he thought that this doesn't seem fair so he found a great little scooter to restore. It's torturing me. I don't know why, because it's still too cold to drive but my inner eight year old is feeling VERY IMPATIENT.

Kitty T.V.

The window that looks out into our backyard is our cat's favorite hangout spot...because of all the birds. Jason recently picked up an Oklahoma bird field guide which stays on the dining room table near the window so we can look up all the birds that frequent the bird feeder that we liberated from the curb in front of someone's house last fall.

At one point I identified eight different bird species hanging out all at the same time: European Starlings, Common Grackles, Mourning Doves, Dark-Eyed Junkos, a Downy Woodpecker and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a House Finch, House Sparrows and Cardinals. There must have been over forty birds out there!

We just bought some suet for the woodpeckers and added a new type of seed mixture to keep everyone happy (including the cat).

Big Snow

We've had a REAL winter here in Oklahoma...during this last snow we all decided to take an evening walk to the park a few blocks from our house. Jesse and Tillie spotted this unusual work of art and got a real kick out of it.

New Years Eve

Jason's mom got him a smoker for Christmas this year so we decided to smoke ALOT of meat and ring in the new year with friends in the 'man cave' - which is what the workshop is called when Jason is having boy time with buddies.

The house has been de-Christmassed and things are beginning to get back to normal around here. We are all sorting through our gifts and starting to fit them into our lives.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Addition

Well, the corner chair that replaced the aging recliner did not make it. Although it was prettier than the barka-lounger, it was not up to Jason's relaxation standards...so I decided to buy him a new, comfortable AND pretty recliner for Christmas. He LOVES it. I picked it up on the 23rd and decided to give it to him early, since I had no place to hide it. He had the perfect place to kick back on Christmas day.

Hopefully we can find a new space for the old chair. I've been hauling that thing around for too long and spent too much time sanding and re-staining it to put it out on the curb.

Christmas

A blizzard put a wrench in Christmas Eve plans. Fortunately Jason's mom came into town the previous day...we hunkered down and made the best of it.



It hasn't snowed like this since I was a kid.

This may be the last year we put out cookies for Santa...until we have a new batch of young ones.

Christmas Workshop

(This is a small sampling of Christmas gifts we made this year)

I have always made my Christmas gifts. I always start late. By the time Christmas rolled around in years passed, my little apartment was a creative DISASTER and I'd be completely spent. Fortunately, I had a creative gift making partner, two little helpers and the perfect workshop this year. We had a great time.

Maybe we will start earlier next year...but probably not.

Our Awesome Antique Store Find

The day after Thanksgiving Jason and I set out for Kansas City to visit my cousin and his family. They took us on a tour of downtown KC, one of the places being an antique store...a FOUR STOREY (yes, that is how you spell it. Thanks Google.) antique store. Ten feet through the front door I spot an awesome little coffee table. Jason reminds me that we have thousands more square feet to explore. After two hours, we return to the coffee table - which is STILL awesome - and decide to buy it. YAY. Now we have a place for our coffee cups and feet!

Thanksgiving

Normally {meaning: every year except this one} my family has a potluck Thanksgiving at my Granny's house. This year, we offered to host the holiday at the Wellstead. So we did. Everyone was so happy with the arrangement that this may become the new tradition...and it will bring the two families together.

Jason and I were excited to put up the famous "kids table". So far, Jesse and Tillie are the only two that are old enough...but next year the kid crowd will be growing.

Jason shot WAY UP in Poppie's 'book' when he saw the workshop that Jason has put much love into...he even hung jelly jars from the underside of a shelf to store screws in. Poppie noticed.

Settling in

As of today we've been in our home for six months. We are all settling in nicely.

Halloween

When I was a kid, my favorite part of Halloween was helping make my costume. Jesse and Tillie weren't sure what to think when I let them know that we'd be continuing this tradition...they were accustomed to 'buying off the rack'. After it was all said and done, however, they were converted to the custom costume way.

kid's room

Although we painted Jesse and Tillie's room back in May, it has taken a while to get all the decorating wrapped up in their space. We put up 22 pieces of art and finally found a home for the colorful paper lanterns that were purchased for our wedding decorations (the rain kept us from using them that day).
With the help of Jason's mom, we set them up with an AWESOME bunk bed. So far, they are splitting time up between the bottom and top bunk very well. When the time comes for them to have their own room, the bunks split up into separate beds...although I have a feeling that we will end up buying another bunk bed to make sleep-overs easier.

The Evolution of a Space

I love how spaces fill up and grow into themselves...and how the light is a part of it.

The plants LOVE their new home.

The Last Room...for now

It was a rainy Sunday and I had HAD IT with our dreary little bathroom. The faux tile wainscot and the yucky tan, high-gloss walls made me want to get out of there as quickly as possible. A bathroom should be a sanctuary...so that is what I made it. A TEEEENY-TINY sanctuary.

While Jason had some boy time at a friend's house, I painted and found a home for the artwork that had been waiting patiently in the workshop for months.

This change even makes the mustard yellow linoleum floor look decent.

Our Creative Space

We have a space, apart from the house, that was the deciding factor for us purchasing this property. The moment we saw the backyard workshop during the walk-through with our realtor, we both immediately looked at each other and said "This is it!" Unfortunately, this was the last space to get situated.

Now that it is situated, we are having GREAT FUN in this space: fixing cars, doing craft projects, BBQ-ing, tinkering and anything else that can be done in a giant workshop.

Spaces We Pass Through

When renovating an entire house, it's the spaces we pass through that get put on the back burner. Our hallway is a perfect example. This was the last space that had (for over a month) paper still covering the floor, which was like walking on a medium grit sandpaper. We left for a weekend trip to California to go to my sister's wedding and I wanted to have it done before I left because I DID NOT WANT TO RETURN TO AN UNFINISHED SPACE.

It's a good thing I completed it because I got tonsillitis on our vacation and now I'm holed up in bed, but I can peek out the bedroom door and see our lovely hallway and that makes me feel a little bit better.

Now Milo has a new favorite resting spot.

A Bit of History

To begin with: as of today, we have been in this home for one month! With all the progress we've made, it seems like much longer.

When Jason and I began our home search, it was very important to us that we be the perfect people for whatever home we end up buying...that the owners would be excited about passing the torch to us. It did end up happening this way for us, although the passing of the torch was bitter-sweet. Tracy, the seller and grandaughter of the previous owners, gave us this picture and a letter detailing some of the history of this house and the people who lived within it:

Jason and I knew that this house was very loved and had alot of love within it and we are honoring this spirit when we go through our renovations...like keeping the original wallpaper in the bedroom closets to remind us of the history here and planting around the existing plants in the garden beds. I sent the blog link to Tracy so she can continue to be a part of this home's evolution.

This morning we received an e-mail from another grandaughter, Diane, who spent much time in this house as well...here is some of her letter:

Hearing your words, reading your blog... gives me such pleasure and joy. The love, time, and energy you've put into making the house your home -- it is wonderful that you have shared it and included us in it. We are so happy to know that the house is alive with joy, laughter, love, children... my grandparents would be extremely happy to know that such warm, loving, special people get to enjoy a home in which they found those things -- and more.

Thank you for allowing us to share a part of your family's history. Of our family's history. You have done amazing things with the house -- things we thought of doing to "keep it in the family". But I think it is just where it belongs. God bless your family. Your home. Your future. I know you will find such joy and gifts in that house. In your marriage. Your lives. Take care of one another -- my grandpa would slip his arms around my grandma's waist as she did the dishes, standing at the sink looking out at the garden. And he would whisper to her. "I love you." And she knew this to be true. With her whole heart.

Blessings to you, again. And for the disjointed nature of this note, and the changes in subject mid-sentence, I apologize. As my son tells me, "I must have seen something shiny." Perhaps it was my tears. Of joy. Knowing that you love the home as much as did / DO, we.

Our neighbor, Dock, and I are battling over which one of us is the 'luckiest person in Oklahoma'. I think I am but he's got 55 years more than me so I'll let him keep the title.

Little Victories

Now we are down to the nitpicky stuff that is hard to find spaces for. Our kitchen's storage is strange but there was a 5 ft. wide empty space to the right of the stove and underneath some really high overhead cabinets that had great potential. I found the table at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $10 that fit the space PERFECTLY and there was just enough room overhead for pot and pan storage.
Jason bought a closet rod, some metal rings and "S" hooks and VOILA! Efficiency is AWESOME.

Our Nighttime Visitor

Jason, the kids and I enjoy spending some time outside after dark...our budding garden is a whole different world when the sun goes down. Last night I saw a camel cricket eating one of the many tiny mushrooms that pop up in the plot and we are getting a sense of the territories of each of the toads...now there are four. Their names are: Black Jack, Jackson Robot, Jim Jimminy and Ramona Mona. This frog (Jim Jimminy) spends his evenings near the garden in front of the grate that goes underneath the house. It seems to be working for him...he's getting plump.

Click here to see a gallery of frogs native to Oklahoma.

Wildscaping

Jason and I are avid NPR listeners because you never know what you are going to learn. A few weeks ago, we were introduced to the concept of "wildscaping", which is a term sometimes used to describe the process of making a garden attractive to wildlife - by offering water, shelter and native plants to eat - which is vital in urban areas where native species of bugs, amphibians, birds and mammals are in serious decline (click here to listen to the program). After days of searching I found a book tailor-made for Oklahoma: Landscaping for Wildlife: A guide to the Southern Great Plains. If you live in the OKC metro, you can pop into the Wildlife Department headquarters just south of the Capitol and pick it up for $15.00 or you can click on the book title which will take you to a page where you can purchase the book.

We already have at least three toads and a family of caramel colored birds that I've never seen before, as well as robins, cardinals, blue-jays and mourning doves that frequent our lot...and some other birds we can't identify. I've been researching urban frog habitats to keep the frogs happy through the winter and reproduce in the spring. We'll see!

Finding a Niche

Through this moving process, I've discovered that Jason and I have very different packing techniques. He packs quickly and sorts out the mess later and I sort through the mess before packing so the unpacking part is less stressful. I've not decided which is better but I can say that creating niches has been slower going since everything is in different boxes.

This is a photo of the shelf by the front door...for mail, change and keys to reside. I've never had a space like this before and I find that I lose stuff less. We used to have a catch-all box that was like Christmas every time we cleaned it out: "So THAT'S where that's been hiding!" was a common statement.

We still have a lot of niche creating left...but this is my favorite part.

A New Order

We put the crown molding up in the living room at last. Everything (save for one box of randomness) has its place in the kitchen. All the books are unpacked and are finding their nooks. Most of the clothes are either bagged up to donate or resting in their proper places. The workshop is beginning to reveal itself now that the boxes are thinning out.

So, while Jason and I were tending to all these things, Jesse and Tillie thought they would do some decorating of there own...by covering no less than fifty feet of sidewalk, from the workshop door in the back yard and up to the front of the house. We took them out for ice cream for a job well done.

Saturday bounty

It's Saturday...that means it's time to head out to the Cleveland County Farmer's Market! I took Tillie, a tote and $40. In the past I paid more attention to the vegetable assortment, but plants grabbed my eye more than anything this time. We picked up 3 hyssops, a basil plant, a drought tolerant fern, 4 tomato plants, some sort of hot pepper plant and a Japanese maple sapling. It's been four days and nothing has died in the garden yet which, for me, is a minor miracle...so I will keep adding to it as time, money and weather permits.

Click here for a list of Farmer's Markets around Oklahoma...and which ones are Okie grown.

The baby-new garden

I've never planted a garden before...I'm excited and nervous and neurotic about it. I find myself going outside every half hour or so to make sure that everything is still alive. Until I met Jason I had a certifiably black thumb. Now, after living with happy living plants for a while, I'm going to give a try at not killing some plants for a change. Thankfully Jason can help me.

It seems like I am approaching it more like an artist than a gardener and I have a feeling that I will be learning ALOT about how laughable this first attempt will be when I look back on it but it was relaxing and creative and I needed that.

Our first drop-in guest...literally

One of the tasks that Jason has been working on is thoroughly washing all the windows...he must have washed them so well that this bird didn't notice any obstruction. He (the bird) hit the bathroom window while I was in brushing my teeth. When I made it out, I swear I could see stars swirling over this poor bird's head...which made it easy prey for the gang of prowling cats in the neighborhood. So, he hung out with me until his senses returned...then flew away.

Click here to go to the Oklahoma bird field guide to see pictures and hear calls of birds in various parts of Oklahoma (and the country).

New life to old stuff

Eating as a family is very important to us but that old "re-gifted" dining room table had to go. We found a 1950's chrome and laminate kitchen table at the Habitat for Humanity's ReStore that screamed for me to buy it for $10. I repainted it with chrome spray paint and we found a 4x8 piece of beautifully veneered wood and put the two together to give that old table a whole new life for a total of $55.
The aging barka-lounger didn't make the move either, so I put our new orbital sander to use to sand and then re-stain this mid-century modern chair that I rescued from a dumpster quite a few years back. I stored it in my garage because I had nowhere to put it but I knew a gem when I saw it...even though it was (cosmetically) in dismal condition. When I moved in with Jason, our dog Jasper used it as his favorite teething toy.
With a few dollars in Rit dye, I dyed the cushions from a faded wheat color to a subtle chartreuse. Total cost $10.
I don't know if this chair will make it either...he misses the comfort of a cushy recliner.

Before and After

Our living room

before (midpoint, really):

after:

before:


after:


In between space:

before:

after:
(we still have crown molding to install)

Our dining room
before:

after:

before:

after:

We still have the bathroom, kitchen, loft, den, hallway and workshop to do but t's good to have something (almost) done.