Where have y'all been?

More like where have we been???

Well... renovations on the farm took a unexpected 4-month hiatus while Caine was deployed to Italy this winter.  Although, after reviewing the blog, I am embarrassed to have not yet posted the "mostly finished" pictures.  We really haven't been living in an unfinished mess, I just never got the pics taken.  And now the house needs a good clean, so it'll have to wait some more.  In the meantime, I'll try to find and post some more "in progress" photos.

Caine came home in April (and then left again and came home and left... etc... etc...) and finally took 2 weeks of much deserved time off.  Time off! HA!  We were   B  U  S  Y!!

First Caine got me, I mean "us," Internet!! (Yes, one of the satellite companies finally offers a service that doesn't limit the upload/download data usage or charge extra for overusing.)  YAY! I mean priorities priorities, right?

Then, we organized the entire barn, burned the junk pile out back, Caine painted both sides of the barn roof, planted two new trees (a magnolia and a crimson king), planted a garden, replaced the outside mudroom door, moved my clothesline, helped me establish a flower garden, and made a new bonfire spot.  And that's only the work we did outside the house!!

A big shout out to  my dad for the tractor assist(sss) and new line, Caine's dad for the doors, Mark Duncan for getting rid of our metal junk, our neighbors, the Therriens for the garden fertilizer, and Dax for help with the old cloths line!

And the FaIReR Sex wins!!

I got my bathroom door.  Traditional six panel pine pocket door stained to match the kitchen cabinets.  Looks super and just in time for our first thanksgiving at the farm! (Thank you Caine!)  Check the bathroom renovation tab for more pics of the nearly finished bathroom.

Fall (already) at the Farm

Lots of excuses for not posting again sooner.  We've been crazy busy moving in, finishing projects, plus Caine's been away- And the biggest problem: NO Internet on the farm!!!  Yes, we are really that rural.

So whats been going on at the farm?

We officially moved in at the end of August, just before Irene.  In preparation for the move, we hired the hardwood floors installed and carpet was placed in the living room.  Caine finished the bathroom to including installation of the sinks and washer/dryer.  My mother and I spent 4 straight days priming and painting the upstairs.  Caine, Cliff and my dad installed the kitchen cabinets complete with plywood counters. (Fancy!)  After the move, Caine promptly left for a 2 week followed by a 5 week long trip and renovations slowed to a snail's pace.  But the quartz kitchen counter was installed and the new heating ducts were connected.  And I managed to clear enough space in the barn to use my elliptical.

Since Caine's been back he has installed all of the kitchen hardware which looks sharp.  I keep patting myself on the back for my selections ; ) We've purchased some interior doors and Caine has started staining.  I have demanded a bathroom door before he departs again next month (and if he values his life- or the best parts anyway- he's sure to comply!).  We've commissioned a dutch door in maple to match our kitchen cabinets for the mudroom to kitchen entry.

The old house is coming along and is starting to feel more like home everyday.  Check out our progress under the kitchen tab.  More pictures to come.

Today at the farm.

I decided it was time to clean our "new" refrigerator in anticipation of our move next week. (Yes! NeXt wEeK!)  We found this beauty on Craig's List and saved a bundle- kind of.  May I just say: Shame on the sellers for leaving all their nasty spills in the refrigerator.  And shame on my husband for not checking the refrigerator closely enough to note the broken door shelves!  AND shame on me for not asking if it was broken in the first place!!  But, its clean.

What else did I do?  I painted a sample of the girls' chosen wall color.  Meet "Caribbean Sea."  Sunglasses required.

New Floors

 When we selected flooring, we went with a little bit of everything: tile, hardwoods, and carpet.  Caine laid the porcelain tile from the mudroom door back and through the bathroom.  I decided on this so when the kids come racing in from outside, wet, muddy, and most likely already peeing- well the clean up will be easier.  Eventually the mud room will sport the same finish, but the concrete out there is currently unlevel and cracking, so it'll wait.

 The bamboo hardwood is in all the rooms except the downstairs bath and family room.  Caine intended to install this himself- but we ran out of time.  Mark Duncan did an excellent job.  As I understand it, installation is no easy feat with rooms that aren't square and a base floor that is far from level- but ours looks great!

Home Depot installed our carpet in the family room.  At first, I thought I had made the wrong choice- we should have just went with the hardwoods.  But the kids love, Love, LOVE it!  And lets be serious, the old man (Odin- not Caine) needs somewhere to scratch his butt!

New Blog * New Post

I finally had a couple of minutes to get this blog started.  The idea for the blog was conceived somewhere in the dream phase prior to buying the house, but we've been busy- really busy!

I am experimenting with a different layout (see tabs above).  Please check tabs regularly to follow renovation progress at The Farm.  Help us celebrate our successes and feel free to laugh at our fiascos!