Okay, that was silly, but resistance was futile. Futile, I say! I will refrain from similar dorkiness in the future. At least sometimes.
Hokay. Soh.
I have really enjoyed trying to keep up with doing 30 posts in 30 days. I can’t believe I’m already almost two weeks into it. Now, I have to sum up the past week in tonight’s post. Kinda funny how this topic happened to fall right at the end of the calendar week. I like that. Lines up neatly in my brain next to my to-do list.
Framing the front gate.
Needless to say, The vast majority of the work is finished. All Levi and I have to do is nail up the pickets on the inside of the fence. We opted to do a shadow fence, and all the outer pickets are up! A huge thanks needs to go to our neighbor, Sam, who went beyond his own share in the fence, and helped with most of it. He was a wonderful blessing!
I am so proud of Levi and all the work he’s put in. The confidence we’ve gained from this cannot be over-stated. We are slowly, but surely, losing our fear of just digging in and doing a project without someone to tell us how. We’ve discovered that it really isn’t that hard to wing it, and that if you really care about what you’re doing, it will probably turn out just fine.
What it looks like now.
The only things inside that need to be replaced are the carpet and the paneling, which was used instead of drywall. This is simply because a couple of the windows were broken out by rocks, and therefore open to the weather. It wasn’t NEARLY as bad as I expected it to be, though. The roof has ZERO leaks in it. It all seems to have been very well-made, with a lot of thought put into it.
I’m going to keep things down to just the basic fixes for now, and do more if I think it needs it later. I’m going to start by either painting the floor inside, once the carpet’s up, or get a linoleum remnant to glue down.
I’m also looking for scraps of drywall to put up in place of the paneling, and will paint the inside walls the same yellow that colors the walls in my house. (Yay for leftover paint!) On the outside, I plan on getting some tar paper to cover the walls, and nail up leftover cedar planks as “siding.” I’ll probably paint it a pretty green or yellow, then gradually paint on shutters and stencil ivy or roses along the sides.
The broken windows? I haven’t fully decided. For now, I will probably nail up heavy-duty clear plastic, and decide later. I’ll either replace the door, or just remove it and leave it open. Of course, I will have to sew some curtains for it too.
It’s really a great little house, and I can’t wait to finish it, so the kids can get years of enjoyment out of it!
Peg & Lynn left for home this morning, all tuckered out. They’re going to take their time getting home, but will still have a solid day to rest before Lynn goes back to work. I’m going to miss having them around, but that can only be remedied in the Lord’s timing. And I trust Him to get it right. 🙂
Also accomplished this week:
- Light fixture in the bathroom repaired and rehung, thanks to Lynn.
- Homeschool curriculum organized.
- Eight pages of Dain’s scrapbook completed on Scrap Booking Night at my house.
- Budget and checkbook balancing.
- A field trip to the pool with the kids homeschool program.
- Some good, long talks with both my MIL and my sister.
- We made it to church ON TIME. Shocker.
The crowning joy of the week, though, is that Baby Schel laughed for the first time. It wasn’t much, but it was a genuine giggle! I’m so blessed to be a part of this precious girl’s life. Her Momma gave me permission to share this here with everyone. I had to call her at work to tell her about it, and we both cried over the fact that she missed it. I’m just so glad I could get it on video, so Jen could see it before the rest of you do.
The Faery Inn 