Floors!

In the spirit of catching up on the floors:
The old carpet came out of the living room, as did a layer of particle board sub-floor.
A layer of plywood went down for a better base.
White oak flooring went down in the living room.

Living room floor after sanding and finishing.

Playroom floor in "character" Hickory, sanded and finished.

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few shots of the finished kitchen. We still need some decorative glass in the doors.

Just for fun.... open all the doors and drawers!

...times 38

Mick is working like a mad-man on 38 cabinet doors. Each one is made up of five pieces (four for the few that will get glass inserts). It seems to be a long and tedious process, but they look great!

Someday soon I'll get some doors in process pictures posted.

Baseboards

The baseboard and toe kick area is walnut. The part over the stairs shows it best, because there isn't a "toe kick" indent.

This pile of sticks is destined to be 38(!) cabinet doors. Stay tuned!

Photo/adoption scam

Another story about my friend Jenni. This is the reason I changed my blog to private.

A Massachusetts mother was horrified when she found her 7-month-old child’s photo on popular promotions site, Craigslist, advertising his own adoption.
MyFOXBoston reports that a stranger alerted Jenni Brennan of Abington, Mass. to the photo, which involved her 7-month-old son, Jake, in an online adoption scam. The ad read: “A CUTE BABY BOY FOR ADOPTION HE IS VERY HEALTHY AND READY FOR ADOPTION FOR MORE YOU COME BACK TO US.”

Brennan responded to the ad, receiving an email describing her son as Canadian but currently living in an African orphanage.

She said the photo was from her family’s blog.
“I know he wasn’t being physically harmed and no one was going to come to our door and try to take him, but I felt like his likeness was being violated," she told MyFOXBoston.
She alerted the FBI and attorney general’s office to the scam. Yahoo! has also removed the scammer’s email addresses.

video link

I've made my blog private, I know the Mom in this story.

Jenni's story

Crown moulding!

Prepping...

Installing...

Admiring!

Crock Pot Roast Beef Shred

Go figure, I have this great kitchen now, and I made something in the crock pot. In July.
This turned out SO GOOD, and fall-apart tender.

Crock Pot Roast Beef Shred

3-4 pound beef roast (mine was frozen)
1/2 c water
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix
1/2 large onion, rough chopped
1/4 c minced garlic (I buy the big jars)
1/4 c BBQ sauce

Add frozen roast and all ingredients to crock pot. Cook on low all day. Mine was completely falling apart and juicy after about 10 hours of cooking time.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

Notes: Fresh mushrooms would have been good in this.

If I only had a name...

This little pup came home with us Friday night. She needs a name!

Answer: Because he can...

Question:

Why put a little sliver of walnut into the dovetail joint of this drawer?

Here's a bigger view of the kitchen, with the top drawers installed and pulled out. Please excuse the clutter! It also looks a bit like a grocery store, since everything is exposed.

The shelf in the foreground (Cheerios, Club Crackers) is often wasted space in a typical kitchen. Instead, we put in a cabinet that's about the depth of a cereal box. It's at Elizabeth's level, and holds stuff that typically goes straight to the table.

Speaking of Elizabeth, she really likes to help in the kitchen!

Drawers, drawers, drawers

I've done a lot of typing today, so I'm going to let the pictures tell the story.

These shots show the "top drawers". Mick is constructing them in batches that are the same height.

A busy weekend...

Last weekend was Mom's 80th birthday. We had a lot of activities!

First, we stopped to see the pups on the way to Frederic. We still haven't picked ours, but that could happen next weekend. She might even come home then.

Elizabeth got to go out in the boat with Poppa on Saturday morning. It was pretty windy, so we didn't stay out long. I forgot to bring the camera in the boat, but we did have fun. Elizabeth wasn't scared of the boat ride.

She helped pull in this crappie.

Mom invited some relatives over for coffee on Saturday afternoon. It was really nice to see everyone.

Saturday evening Mick walked up to the fields. He found a few woodticks, but no bear! These birds were very hungry. Mama-bird was kind enough to let me snap a photo while she was out getting food.

Finally, Elizabeth and Grandma on the front step.

A tree stood in our yard

There used to be two big maple trees in our front yard.

In 2005, we cut them down and hauled them to Frederic.

My Dad used his portable bandsaw to make lumber.

Now they've come full circle, and Mick is planing the lumber to make drawers for our kitchen.

He's also produced a lot of sawdust.

The trash guys must really wonder about us. In the front, you can see our second attempt at a replacement tree.

Happy 80th Mom!

Happy 80th Birthday Mom! Also greetings to my Dad! This amazing couple will also be celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary this summer. They set the standards high for us amateurs.

This photo was taken last summer, when Elizabeth got to go fishing for the first time.

Another project

Two cuties....

The puppy pile at three weeks old.
Waking up for supper!Room for one more???

The ten pups are currently three weeks old. We'll be picking a female out of this group. They are very light-colored yellow labs, almost white.