More landscaping and chickens

I've decided that this weather can stay for at least a few months, then we can go straight into fall and back into this afterward. Beautiful!

This is what the house currently looks like. Some dog-walking neighbors have complimented how it looks, which makes us feel pretty good. (=

The side flower bed is filling out now and the Creeping Jenny is finally creeping. 

Our lovely front porch. I feel a bit like a senior citizen at times - we love to sit on the porch at night and people watch! Note the giant mosquito-repelling citronella plant and the pallet table we crafted together. Cool stuff. 

And these are the ladies. Last night we extended their run so its now as long as the garage. Spoiled. You probably don't care to know too much about them, but you can suffer through it (or scroll down). The gray, timid one in the back is Fifa, a Blue Orpington. The one to the right of her is Turkey and she is a Welsummer. Her colors are beautiful. Fun fact: The original Kellogg's rooster was a Welsummer! The one close to the wall is Cheeky or Cheeks or Cheekers - whatever I feel like at the moment. She's the Easter Egger that gives us blue eggs. Easter Eggers have little feathers sticking out of their cheeks which make them look very puffy - hence the name(s). The one closest to you is Red, and she's just a red sex-link - very friendly though! The last black and white one is Tiny. She came from my cousin in New York and I'm pretty sure she is a Plymouth Rock. Red will eat out of my hand and I'm getting Turkey there too. Cheek(y/ers/s) is starting to come closer, but really just wants to check out any buttons I may have on my clothing or nail polish on my fingers.

Check out the eggs! So fun! Those are light blue but it's a little hard to tell in that lighting. The little ones are Turkey's. I'm hoping they get a bit bigger since she just started laying. That odd pinkish one could be Fifa's. I haven't confirmed that yet. That would be her first! The others are Red's.

Let's not wait so long next time ...

It's been a long time - I know! This post will kind of catch you up from the move-in until now and more current pictures will follow.

Hubby, Cooper, and I are settled into our home and loving it! I'll be honest - sometimes I sing really loudly or yell just because I can. I love that I can do cool things like that now that we have our own home and I don't feel like I need to be considerate of very close neighbors. (=

Since moving in, we've accomplished quite a few more things. 

We bought some arborvitaes at a fire company mud sale and planted them at the very back of our yard to give us some privacy from the parking lot. Grow big and strong, little ones!

Barry and our friend, Jonny, put in a path to the garage (to avoid muddy mornings), hand-dug our first garden, and hung up my wash line! I know - the garden looks more like a burial plot - but it sufficed. This year we had snap peas, carrots, onions, and raspberries. I'd like to try some new things next year, but decided to start off small and easy.

 I begged Barry to plant some forsythia. Good thing he didn't.

Since there was no landscaping around the house, Barry dug a flower bed out front and one along the side. Looks pretty nice, but I might be biased. 

Before ...

… and after!

We also repainted the garage. No more peeling/chipping paint!

And to end this post - CHICKENS! My oh-so-talented husband whipped up this deluxe coop for me. I'm not sure what my draw to chickens is, but I've always thought about having a few. We bought a few, traded a few, and even lost one, and currently have 5. Three of them are laying right now. One even gives us blue eggs! They definitely have personalities and totally remind me of mini dinosaurs when they run.

That'll be all for now. I'll try to keep this more current from here on out!

Long Overdue!

Sorry for the delay! Yes, we moved the first weekend in February. Barry and I had off that Friday and had the help of our friend, Jonny. Saturday we had Jonny, my siblings, brother-in-law, and parents to help us move on Saturday.

We picked up our washer and dryer on Saturday from one of my coworkers. Big thanks to her!

It felt like sleeping in a hotel on a new-ish bed, new sheets, new room .. It was a little strange waking up the next morning in a new place.

Cooper came to live with us - finally. We love having him! He is definitely a "Velcro" dog and wants to be wherever we are.

We still have to put up the trim, but we'll probably wait until its warmer since we have to paint it. I don't mind at all that it's not up yet.

It's nice to be able to come home and sit down after two months of work! We still have some small projects to do like wallpapering the bathroom and putting up bead board in the laundry room, but it seems so minor compared to what we've done so far. I think we'll be able to handle it. Please excuse any mess you see in the pictures. They were taken when we first moved in.(=

Andrew putting up our dining room chandelier.

Future spot of white bead board on the walls to cover the green ... Can you picture it?

We are using the second bedroom as Cooper's room and a place for clothing until we get our bedroom closet in order.

The living room - I love the wall color!

The kitchen (after making cookies for the first time in it!)

And our lovely house the night we moved in. Picture perfect. (=

Maybe I'll put some updated pictures up this weekend. No promises though!

Little things

Here are a few new things since last time:

This is the fan in our bedroom. I love that the glass is wavy which makes the light look beautiful on the ceiling!

Andrew installed our nest (thanks, Mom and Dad). Hopefully this will cut down on our heating bill, since we have lovely oil heat.

This is what our kitchen hardware looks like. It's from www.Ebuilderdirect.com 

The second bedroom's floor after a good clean, courtesy of Pinterest.

Our kitchen sink and faucet, which is now fully functional!

A utensil divider that Barry made. Forget plastic.

Last night he also installed the backsplash in the kitchen. It looks great!

Counter Top Day!

Barry built the counter tops this week and we installed them today. He also put in the sink and faucet. It took me forever to pick out a faucet so I'm hoping it's a good one! The counter top is Wilsonart Bella Capri, and the sink is a Thermocast sink.

Kelly and Darren stopped by tonight and helped paint the second bedroom and did some work on the hardwood. The color of the second bedroom is Bare Skin by Easy Care (True Value brand). It's an antique white/cream-ish color.

I just have to say that I love my husband and I love watching him figure all of the structural/mechanical things that I am lost about. I am so proud of him for all of the hard work he has put into our home. I can't wait for him to be able to come home from work, sit down, and relax!

I'm so glad I had a day off work to be productive! Yesterday started off with a vet visit for Cooper. It wasn't exactly fun, but he was a good sport!

Barry took a half day of work and came to help me with the painting. He worked on getting final coats of ceiling paint on while I did the second coat of Pewter Mug in the living room.

My mom came yesterday afternoon to join the painting crew, and we were able to knock out both coats in our bedroom. We used Pecan Sandie, the same color as the kitchen. 

Cooper was not happy to be blocked out of the bedroom while we painted and he whined to let us know it!

After my mom left, Barry and I got the first coat on the dining room. The color is Claire de Lune.

Barry also started the carpet removal. THE HARDWOOD IS BEAUTIFUL! There is a little discoloration in some places, but we're going to keep it the way it is. After a good clean I think they'll really look fantastic. I can't wait to see the rest!

Aaaand here's a picture of my boys, just because it's adorable. (=

Our goal of bring in by the end of the month is looking very possible right now! I feel like we got a lot accomplished in the past few days. 

On Thursday night, my parents came over and primed the living room ceiling and walls and I finished up paint in the kitchen. 

On Friday, Barry and one of his coworkers installed our kitchen cabinets! Our friend, Jonny, spent all day there as well, helping with the installation, priming our bedroom and putting first coats of paint on the bedroom and living room ceilings. 

On Saturday, my mom came over and we primed the dining room and put second coats of ceiling paint on the bedroom and living room. I painted the living room - love how it turned out! Barry spent the day working on the kitchen, putting on doors and putting in shelving. He also put up our kitchen sink light and one of the living room lights. 

 

  

Behr Pewter Mug

 If you ever need lighting, check out www.qualitydiscountlighting.com .. I was a little skeptical at first because their prices were so low, but I love the lights we got and they came quickly. I think i put in a plug for them before, but I really like the lights, now that they're up.

 

Let me just say how excited I am about my kitchen! It is incredible. I'm going to wait until the counter tops are installed and everything is ready before I show you the finished project. I'll give this little teaser though .. ( ;

 

I was going to do this update last night, but my arms were killing me! It must have been all of that ceiling painting yesterday. Pathetic, I know, but once you use muscles you haven't used in a while, it's so painful!