laeroport

Back to work

After a very long stall, we are finally seeing some progress on the guest house at my brother's ranch, a process we began in October 2007!  You can see that original post here and see all the guest house photos in this flickr set.

My brother is a plumber, and he has been laid off for the past two weeks - time he has used to his advantage.

Here is the exterior at present.

 

The siding and brickwork has been ripped off.  The windows are in.  Where that door is now used to be a two-car overhead garage door, and a matching one was on the opposite wall.  We have decided we need one more window on the side - about where those lines are drawn - to increase the light and ventilation.  There is flashing around the bottom and he's about ready to order and install the siding.

Inside, he has installed the plumbing, floor joists and sub-floor.  The view below is where the two bedrooms will go.  From the window back will be a 10x10 bedroom with my grandparents' double bed.  On the close side of the window will be a tiny, narrow bedroom with build-in bunk beds and no door - but an opening where the level is placed on the floor.  This picture was taken on Sunday.  I suspect he will have the bedroom walls roughed in by now.

Here are the walls for the bathroom, utility room and hallway.  We are re-using the bathroom vanity from my grandparents' house as well as all the kitchen cabinets.  The utility room will have a hot water heater, furnace and stacked washer/drier.

The kitchen sink (cobalt blue) will go under the window, next to the fridge.  The cabinets are laid out in a U shape with the stove against the hall/bathroom wall and the counter top/bar extending to that pipe in the middle of the room (the dishwasher).

 

The original cabinets are a blond wood, but we are going to hit them with a coat of Kilz and make them off white.  The counter top will be blue formica, because that's what Grandma had.  We'll have wood floors, probably bamboo, throughout the guest house scattered with throw rugs.

It is really exciting to see all this come together.  We have a work day planned in October (because none of us have a free weekend between now and then) when we are going to paint the cabinets and hopefully put down flooring, finish up the wiring and hang sheetrock.

I'm just looking forward to the day when I can sit back on the patio that my brother is going to pour in front of that door up top and admire the view.

Gracias, Danke, Merci, Thank you

Thank you all for your sweet birthday wishes.  I guess I don't look old, just fat, because someone asked me at the Girl Scout leader's meeting that I went to Monday night, "so how far along are you?"  Um, two enchiladas and a bowl of minestrone, I guess.

My oldest and dearest friend and I are going to a nearby spa/resort on Friday night to celebrate our 40th birthdays - she hit her milestone a few weeks ago.  I am looking forward to being pampered, but mostly I'm looking forward to spending time with Jamie.

So, changing subject with no segue, last weekend was busy, as usual.  Saturday was particularly stressful with all the things on our calendar. 

Ballet, tumbling, race to to the store, race home and make (from scratch) BBQ meatballs and bake a cake, race to a birthday party*, run home to pick up meatballs and cake, and then drive 20 minutes to a Christmas party. 

Yes, a Christmas party.  My paternal grandma was from a big, close-knit family.  We have always had a family Christmas party with her siblings and their kids (my dad's cousins) and now their kids and their kids.  So we end up with 4 generations in one room, which is pretty fun.  And unless there is a wedding or funeral, the Christmas party is the only time we can all get together.  There are so many of us that we have to rent a hall to have the party, and the place we've used the past few years is no longer available.  November 3rd was the latest date we could get for the new place we found.  And it worked out fine.  It was good to see everyone.  Dixie brought her seven layer dip, all was right with the world.

Sunday, more family time - another guest house work day.  We took three trailer loads of cabinetry and furniture to the barn.  There is a LOT of junk out there that has been there for 40 years. And the dog caught the pack rat.  Yum.

My parents have another truck load of stuff to take to my cousin's today.  Since Sunday my brother has ripped all the sheet rock off the walls you see behind him in that last picture.  And now he's ready to rip more off the ceiling.  So progress. :)

There's nothing like an autumn day on the farm.  And the weather - perfect.  I hope you're enjoying the season, whatever that may be.

Cheers! ~L

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* A dog-themed birthday party - the six year old birthday girl asked for donations to the Humane Society - so she got a bag each of dog and cat food, and Aidin and I braided some dog toys out of heavy knit fabric scraps.

The big recycling project

My grandparents lived on a 80+ acre ranch about 10 miles north of where I grew up.  When my grandpa passed away seven years ago, my brother gutted the two bedroom farmhouse, built an addition, and turned it into a three bedroom, three car garage, open floor-plan, modern home.  It is beautiful.  And so is the farm.

My grandparents farm was a very special place to our whole extended family.  Many fourth of July celebrations were held there when I was growing up - and more than once someone accidentally set the pasture on fire, but it was quickly doused, so no harm done.  Aunts and uncles and cousins would come up and go fishing at the pond.  I went for a midnight picnic on the pontoon boat after my junior prom.  My cousin got married in the yard with the cows mooing in the background.  Our family went to the farm every Sunday when I was a kid for a big Sunday dinner with my grandparents.  My grandma usually made roast and noodles or fried chicken.  We never tired of either.

We all wanted to continue to enjoy the farm, the space, the fresh air, the beautiful vistas, but we didn't want to infringe on my brother and his family.  So I got the idea to turn this free-standing garage/workshop into a guest house.

So when we gutted the house we saved all kinds of things for the guest house - furniture, lamps, switch plates, pictures, pots and pans, linens, cabinets, the bathtub and even the cobalt blue kitchen sink.  This weekend, we finally began the guest house process.  We went through all the stuff in storage and decided what to keep and what needed to be recycled/donated/taken to the dump.  It was a daunting task.  The pack rats had been in there.  It wasn't a pretty sight.

But within a few hours, much progress had been made.  My cousin loaded up as much stuff as would fit in the back of her car to take home and store in her basement.  Luckily, the pack rats didn't get into the sheets and towels, so she'll wash those and stick them in a rubbermaid until time to make the beds.  The sheets at my grandma's were those wonderful old soft things that you can only find on a lucky day at a thrift store.  We've got two boxes of them.

And to top it all off, a Sunday dinner of roast and noodles was prepared by my sister-in-law and was enjoyed by all.

Many more weekends will be spent here over the coming months, and much hard work lies ahead of us, but I am so excited that this is finally coming together and that my children will have a chance to experience and enjoy the place that I love.  Now if we can just get a horse.

Happy Tuesday, friends.