Joyful Accomplishment at the Homestead

"There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something."-- Henry Ford

There's definitely joy in the Reinke house tonight. We're pretty happy with what we accomplished over the weekend at our new house. Dennis stripped the walls and ceiling down to the lathe in the kitchen. . .

I stripped off the baseboard and pulled up all the random nails in the floor along the walls. . .

Our friends Steve and Deb sacrificed their Saturday morning to load up their truck with the trash from our demolition and make two trips to the dump. That is true friendship. 

Tomorrow Garth the flooring guy will begin refinishing all our hardwood floors. Even the kitchen. He says they're "classic fir floors" and they're going to look great when he's done. This was music to my ears.

During my work breaks, I did manage to get some photographs of flora and fauna around our homestead. We have two lilac bushes in the front yard that are budding. . .

This deer politely posed for me. . .

There were several bluebirds building nests around our house. They were very hard to photograph, but I did get a picture of this one (look close, he's at the top of the photo near the fence) . . .

This elk was grazing across the street, in our neighbor's yard. . .

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

Nancy

Work on the New Homestead is Underway!

This is going to be short and sweet, because I'm old and tired. We spent most of the day working on our new homestead and let me tell you, I just ain't as young as I used to be. But you probably already figured that out.


Roger, our kitchen cabinet guy, pulled out the old cabinets and sink on Tuesday. After stacking the best of the cabinetry, this is what's left . . .

Behind the cabinets we found lathe and plaster. The plaster crumbled at the touch, so we'll be tearing out and replacing walls. This is not a surprise and taking the walls down to the studs will make it easier for the electrician to do his work. Dennis pulled up four layers of linoleum in the kitchen. Those are hardwood floors under the black adhesive. We're told our floor guy may be able to salvage the floor. We'll see. . .

While Dennis worked on the kitchen, I pulled up the carpet and pad in the living/dining room. Under this. . .

is this. . .

The wood is in pretty good shape. There are a couple of places that need repair, such as the spot you see in the foreground. The rest just needs refinishing. We meet with our floor guy Saturday morning. Can't wait!

Roger found a Kellogg's coupon behind the cabinets he removed. And Dennis found a marble behind a baseboard. . .

The expiration date on the coupon is December 31, 1955. Could this have been the period they installed the cabinets we just removed? Kind of makes me wonder what the kitchen looked like in 1926, when the house was built. 

Oh, by the way, I've decided since we can't decide if the house is a cabin or a cottage, I'm calling it a cab-age. (Ok, well, maybe I'm the only one who finds that funny.)

See you in a few days with more news on the homestead project.

Nancy

Our New Homestead

I have just dropped into the very place I have been seeking, but in everything it exceeds all my dreams -- Isabella Bird 

In my last post I mentioned that Dennis and I had purchased a home, and I promised photos and more information. Most of the images I'm posting were taken today, including the above photo of a primitive cupboard we found in the barn. You can bet this will show up in the house somewhere, after we get the piece cleaned up.

Allow me to introduce you to our new homestead. . .

(Don't be fooled by this photo, taken in January. There is no snow on the ground today. We're enjoying 60 degree weather under sunny skies.)


Dennis and I have debated whether this little house is a cottage or a cabin.  Webster defines cottage as "a usually small frame one-family house", and cabin as "a small one-story dwelling usually of simple construction". Hmmm, is it just me, or are these two definitions  remarkably similar? 


At any rate, the house, built in 1926, sits on 1/2 acre with nice mountain views. . .

and a 150 year-old log barn. . .

The barn came with all the trappings you see in the photo, adding to its charm.


The first thing we're going to tackle in the cottage/cabin is the kitchen. . .

Believe me, these before photos make the kitchen look a lot better than it actually is. In a few weeks I hope to be able to post after photos, with new cabinets, sink, faucet, countertops, paint, light fixtures. . .the works.


We'll be pulling up the carpet and vinyl, and refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the house. . .

Dining/Living Room. . .

Well, I've run out of patience with the slowww upload of photos tonight, so that's all I'm posting for now. 


Counting it all joy in our continuing mountain adventure. . .

Nancy