The Paint Looks Great!

I love the paint color i chose for the interior walls in the Crafty Cottage. It looks great and it still keeps the cottage bright but it has added a richness to the walls. I kept the ceiling and window trim white and together it looks great and really helps show off the ceiling. Tim and I painted the cottage yesterday morning and while the paint was drying we thought we were going to need another coat and ran into Newport to purchase another gallon. Once the paint completely dried it looked great so we will use the paint for touch up and to paint some of the furniture that is going into the cottage. Next up? The floors. We have decided on wood floors and so now we are researching what type will be the best for the cottage. The floors need to be durable and easy to clean up. So Wednesday we will be getting the floors and then we will start installing them. The Crafty Cottage is really coming along and I am getting very anxious to finish it up and move all of my craft supplies in the cottage and then get to work on items for the Holidays!

A New Church And Primer Too

Lisa and I visited the First United Methodist Church in Newport, TN. Our friends Larry and Linda attend there when they are here in the area and so they invited us to come so we did. The church is a beautiful red brick building with a tall steeple. It looks like a church that would be in this area. FUMC is over 150 years old and they still use their chapel for their early service. The Sanctuary is beautiful and it reminded of the Church that Tim and I were married in. It is a much bigger church than the one we visited in Parrottsville a couple of weeks ago and the choir is very good. We felt very welcomed by the Pastor and the congregation and this Wed. night I am planning on going to their choir practice. I think I may have found my new Church. After Church we had lunch with Larry and Linda and another couple from FUMC at Ruby Tuesday. We had a great time together and it is always a great way to start a Sunday. While Lisa and I were at Church Tim was busy putting on a primer coat on the interior walls of the Crafty Cottage and also painted the ceiling and window trim white. I am hoping with the new color on the wall that the white trim will look good. Today Tim and I will begin painting the interior walls with the new color paint, vanilla. The Fall colors are beginning to show more each day and our view is getting prettier by the minute. I was told that it is a little early for the leaves to be changing so I guess we are having an early fall. I wonder what that means for Winter? Check back tomorrow for the new paint color!

Storage Shed Shopping

With the Crafty Cottage getting closer to being finished we can start thinking about our next project which is a storage shed. We have been looking at storage sheds for a little while and thought we were close to a cecision until we passed some insulted storage sheds last week on our way to Pigeon Forge. We went to see what they were yesterday and they are pretty cool. The insulated sheds are made with fiberglass walls and a tin roof and they were really well built. Their pricing was closer to wood sheds so we have some decisions to make. One more thing that will aid in our decision, beisdes price, is to build it or have it built for us. Tim is a "do it yourself" person so we will more than likely build it ourselves. So we are still discussing the pros and cons to all. Time will tell so keep checking back to see what we do. Tim finished up the little bit of trim that we had left after we got more from Lowes today. I also picked out a different paint color for the wall. I chose the color vanilla as it will be a little darker than the white that is on the walls now. I think it will have just the contrast I am looking for and it will go nice with the ceiling and floor. We did some floor shopping too and we think we have found the flooring for the cottage. It is a darker shade than I thought I would like but it should go well with the paint and the ceiling. We are going to look at Home Depot to see what they have before I make my final decision on the floor. When we got back from shed shopping we checked out a couple of football games and I made up a hamburger stew using the left over stock that I froze from the pot raost I had a couple of weeks ago. It is my own creation and it was good. I made up a gravy with the leftover stock then added cooked ground beef, carrots and potatoes and let it cook on low for over an hour. It tasted good and Tim requested it again some time. So it was a productive day and although we still have some decisions to make we are keeping an open mind as to what to get. Check back and see!

The Trim Is Done

The trim is done on the interior walls of the Crafty Cottage and with each day we get a little closer to finishing it up. When we used the recycled bead board paneling we had one small problem, the interlocking flaps were not on all of the panels we used so there were some seams on the walls that needed to be covered. We chose thin strips of trim to cover the wall seams and a thicker wood trim for th ceiling, windows and corners of the cottage. The trim looks really good and I have to thank Tim again for all of his hard work. He is really making sure this cottage is going to be nice for me. Thanks Tim! So, with the trim up Tim started painting the walls while I went to the Laundermat, WooHoo! The eggshell color I chose is really more white then I wanted for the walls so it has become the primer for the walls and we will head back to Lowes today for another color of paint. I have had suggestions of pale yellow or a light green but I really want the light and not be tied down to a specific color for decorating so I am just going to go with a little darker tone of white like a vanilla. We are also going to go out and look at storage sheds today. We thought we had decided on the kind of shed we wanted but while we were driving to Pigeon Forge last Sunday we saw another Shed place so we are going to go check those sheds out. We are going to use the storage shed to house our washer and dryer and our freezer along with all of the things we have in storage in Jacksonville. So hopefully next month we will be going to Jacksonville and cleaning out our storage unit and bringing back our stuff to the farm. Of course today is also College Football Saturday so we will be watching football today too! The Florida Gators, NIU Huskies and Oregon Ducks all have byes this week and the South Carolina Gamecocks and Missouri Tigers are playing eachother tonight so I know at least one of my three teams playing will have a win! Go NAU Lumberjacks, Gamecocks and Tigers!

Trim + Paint = The Week End

We went into Newport and to Lowes and purchased the trim and paint we need to finish the walls in the Crafty Cottage. I decided to paint the walls Egg Shell. That way they will still be light but won't be white. The tongue and groove ceiling looks so good that I wanted a color that would make the ceiling show more. I learned a few things while I was at Lowes yesterday. The first thing is that I have a love/hate relationship with Lowes. Some days it is great in there and others not so much. Here is my love part of the relationship, they do have plenty of employees available to help you. We were asked several times if we needed help and they seem to carry a very good inventory. We have managed to find everything we need when we shop. My hate relationship is their customer service. Now, being in retail for over 30 years I do know a few things about customer service and I also know that good customer service is not that hard to do. Customer service on the salefloor is great but at the check out there is a lot of room for improvement. Okay, enough about my love/hate relationship with Lowes. The second thing I learned is about wood and the different qualities there is for wood. Since we have used recycled wood in the Crafty Cottage we purchased similar quality of wood to match up with what we have been using. We needed a 1x4 to trim the windows and the price differences for that one piece of wood ranges from $1.67 to $12.97; that is quite a difference. Did you know that a 1x4 actually measures out to be a 3/4"x3 1/2"? A 2x4 is actually a 1 /1/2" x 3 1/2" inches. Before I knew this I thought a 2x4 was 2 inches by 4 inches. See, I did learn some things! We purchased our trim and paint which means that for the next couple of days we will be busy working on finishing up the interior walls of the cottage. Thanks for hearing my rant on customer service. Maybe I am too picky...NAH! I have posted some picures to show how the Fall colors are beginning to happen here at the farm. I love this time of year and I am really excited about getting to see the colors change. It is so pretty! Okay, I have to get to work on the cottage. Check back tomorrow for more pictures!

The Walls Are Up

Tim and I finished putting up the rest of the bead board paneling in the Crafty Cottage. We had finished the main area of the cottage on Monday and yesterday we finished the area of the cottage under the loft. It was a little easier working in that area and now that all the paneling is up I have decided to paint the walls. Thanks to all for giving me your opinions. The consenses was to paint! Now to figure out a good color that will keep the walls light and bright but not white. We are headed to Lowes again today for more supplies. We made a list of items we need to complete the walls like trim and paint and we are going to look at flooring too. Now that the walls are up I can really start visualizing the craftroom and where I am going to place all of the furniture I have so far. I had purchased a table from IKEA when we were in California that I will use for my desk and I we are going to purchase a work bench I saw at Home Depot. I am recycling some shelving units that George and Lisa have graciously given me from the cabin. Tim and I will have to clean and refinish them but they will be a great addition to the Crafty Cottage. So, by tomorrow the trim should be up and I will be ready to paint the walls over the week end. Tim and I did take a few minutes to go down to the area at the farm where he found the huge acorns. Lisa looked up what kind of tree these acorns are from and it was called a Burr Oak. All I know is that they will make a great addition to the fall acorn candle I am making Lisa and will probably add to mine. Check back tomorrow and see what color paint we chose for the interior walls of the Crafty Cottage.

More Visitors At The Farm

We had our second visitors at the farm, Larry and Linda VanderWilt came for a visit yesterday. Larry and Linda have a second home not too far from Parrottsville and are up here now so they came over for a visit. We are long time friends from Orange Park and we had a great time together hanging out at the farm. Lisa is also friends with them so she joined us too. I made lunch for everyone and after doing a tour of the Crafty Cottage, Lisa's new house and the farm we all sat down to lunch and dessert. Linda made me a beautiful Fall sign for us to hang on the RV and it looks great. Thanks Linda, I love it. While Tim and Larry were out exploring the farm Tim found me some more acorns but not acorns I have seen before so I will have to redo my Acorn Candle and put some of the ones he found in it; they are huge. Larry found something that I have never seen before but will now know what it is if I ever come across one again. He found Owl throwup aka owl puke. It looks like a paper ball and inside there is hair and sometimes little bones from what the owl is eating. Larry said, looking at the ball of owl puke, that the owl was a big one. So, we spent a great afternoon with friends, had good food, good conversations, gifts and I even learned something new. Not a bad day! Thanks Larry, Linda and Lisa for making it a great day and please come by anytime!

The Art Of Using Recycled Wood Panels

Okay, maybe it is not "art" but science would sound silly however there is something we used while piecing our bead board panels together to place on the walls of the Crafty Cottage. We have been very fortunate to have been given leftovers from George and Lisa's house and we have used every piece of the recycled pieces. It has not been too tough to work with the leftovers until now. I am not complaining because I really appeciate all that we have been given to work with. Anyway, if we had purchased the paneling we would be able to just put up the paneling and cut the holes for the outlets and be done. The paneling we are working with has outlet holes alreay cut (not in the right place) or has cutouts for other things, i.e. windows. We did manage to find enough long panels to work but the tongue and groove element goes out the window when they get cut off for placement. The good thing is Tim and I worked together well finding the pieces that would work or not work without any problems. We manage to get the tall walls done in the cottage and although it may not look pretty (with some small gaps) they are liveable and nothing a little trim won't fix. We still have the loft area to finish but that will be easier because the walls are shorter which gives us more options with the panels we have left. Tim then hung the ceiling fan in the cabin and it looks really good. Thanks Tim, I know the climbing up and down the ladder was not fun but the results look great. With having the walls up, the ceiling done and the ceiling fan hung I have decided that the walls and the ceiling are too close in color and so I am thinking about painting the walls so that it helps keep the cottage bright. Lighting is huge to me because of the paper crafting that I do. I need a lot of good light so I want the interior of the cottage to be light. The tongue and groove ceiling is perfect but I think the walls are a little dark. What to you think? Check out the pictures I post and tell me if I should leave the bead board paneling as it is or paint it. Leave a comment, email me, message me, text me or leave a comment on Facebook or Twitter. I am open to all opinions. Thank you to all who left me notes and comments about the flooring for the cottage. The consenses is wood laminate flooring that is durable, groove free and not using the cheapest grade of laminate. Today we will not be working on the cottage because we will busy entertaining our second visitors to the farm. Check back tomorrow and see who came for a visit. All I will say is that I have mentioned them in my Travels With Ruth blog and we have been friends for a long time.

A Family Day

We enjoyed our day with our daughter Carrie and her boyfriend Daniel. They are our first visitors at the farm and so we had a great time showing them the farm. Carrie and Daniel were in the area for Daniel's family reunion and were able to spend the afternoon with us. We have not seen Carrie since last March so it was good to be together again. Tim and I drove over to Pigeon Forge, TN (about 45 miles away) to pick up Carrie and Daniel. His family rented a huge 10 bedroom cabin that they showed us when we picked them up. The cabin was beautiful and each bedroom had a theme (Elvis room, Chevy room, Ford room, Harley Davidson room, etc) and were decorated to match the name. The cabin had three levels and the main area reminded me a little of the lobby at Wilderness Lodge at Disney World. It was incredible and big enough to host several family members together during the reunion. We also met several members of Daniel's family. After lunch in Pigeon Forge we took Carrie and Daniel back to the farm where we spent the rest of the afternoon. Lisa joined us and we took them for a tour of the farm. When they got out of the car the first thing they saw was our view and they both agreed that it was a view they would never tire of. We took them along the perimeter of the farm and down in the orchard they picked a couple of pears. We then showed them Lisa and George's house and of course, the Crafty Cottage. Carrie really liked the cottage and loved the idea of the loft being a bed. The Crafty Cottage will also be a guest room. We then watched some football, played one of our favorite games Rummikub and then had a BBQ down on Lisa's deck and front porch of the house. George has put in a huge grill so Tim grilled hamburgers, smoked sausages and hotdogs as we enjoyed the view and the cooler afternoon weather on the deck. Of course I took some pictures that I will post. After dinner Tim and I took Carrie and Daniel back to Pigeon Forge so they could spend their last evening at the family reunion. It was a nice day and we enjoyed spending time with Carrie and Daniel; Thank you for coming! While Tim and I were driving to Pigeon Forge we saw so many places and things we want to visit. So I made a list of the things we saw that we will be checking out once we get all set up at the farm. We still have to finish the Crafty Cottage and build a storage shed but I am pretty sure we can find some time to also visit a few places.

One Panel Is Up

We started the day shifting our wood pile around to get to our bead board panels.  We knew it was the last of the wood we were going to need so when we first stacked our recycled wood we purposely placed the panels on the bottom.  Our pile of wood is beginning to disappear which means we are getting to the end of the Crafty Cottage building project.  There is still a lot more to go but it is getting exciting to see it get closer to being finished.  After rearranging the wood we put up the first  panel.  Now we discovered two things, 1) every panel will need to be pieced due to it being recycled and 2) the panels have watermarks and stains so we may be adding paint or a stain to them. Once all of the panels are put up we will have to see how it looks and then I will decide if I like the "character" of the wood or if it needs paint.  I am trying to keep it as light as I can inside the cottage so that may be a deciding factor too!  I am so glad Tim has so much knowledge with this project because I have zero and have been learning every step of the way.  Thanks Again Tim for all the hard work you have put into the Crafty Cottage.  We won't be working on the cottage today because we are going to Pigeon Forge to pick up our first visitors at the farm; my daughter Carrie and her boyfriend Daniel.  Check back tomorrow and see what we did!

The Cottage Is Insulated

Tim and I got busy first thing yesterday morning and got the cottage insulated in about an hour. We wanted to get it done early before it got too warm because I was wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt, hat, gloves, and a face mask. Since we had already filled all of the little sections on the walls all we had to do is cut the insulation, all the same length and place it on the wall. Today we are going to do the prep work on getting the walls up. We are using recycled bead board for the walls and so we have to do some fitting and cutting for outlets. I am hoping in a couple of days that we will finish the walls and then go floor shopping. I know I want wood floors but we still need to look at all of our options and figure out what would be the best kind of flooring to put down. If you have any suggestions let me know by either commenting on this blog, email me, facebook me or text me. I am open to all suggestions right now. Today is also College Football day and it looks like we will be able to watch 4 of my 6 teams play today on TV. Since it is College football day it also means we will probably only work about half a day on the cottage so we can catch the afternoon games. Go Lumberjacks, Huskies, Gators, Ducks, Gamecocks and Tigers!

Good News! The Cottage Work Is On Again!

So after only two days of stopage on the cottage we got some good news from the County electric inspector and we were given the okay to continue the interior. Thanks Mike! Actually I took two days off from working on the cottage but Tim continued working on the electrical items in the cottage making sure they are all up to code. Wednesday he secured all the wiring to code and yesterday he spent all day working on installing all of the outlets, making sure they are all connected correctly, and that they meet code standards. He also began installing the ceiling fan. The slope of the ceiling is requiring a longer hanging rod for the ceiling fan so I will pick one up when I go into Morristown today. Thank you Tim for all the extra work you did so that we can continue to work on the interior of the cottge. I did buy the insulation yesterday so Tim and I will get that up before I leave this morning. After the insulation is up then comes the walls. It is getting very exciting that we are coming closer to finishing up the Crafty Cottage. I still need to decide on what kind of floor I want. The easiest would be linoleum or tile but I really would like a wood floor. Any suggestions??? So now that we can continue with the cottage we will be very busy for the next few days except this coming Sunday. Carrie, our oldst daughter, is coming up to Pigeon Forge for the week end to attend her boyfriend's family reunion and we will be seeing her on Sunday! We have not seen her since last March so we are very excited about being with her. Love you Carrie! We did have a scary thing happen to our other daughter and our granddaughter, Jenny and Rory, on Wednesday. Jenny and Rory were in their livingroom Wed afternoon when all of a sudden the ceiling fan fell from the ceiling and just missed them both by inches. We are so blessed that nothing happened to them and we are very thankful for their guardian angels that were watching over them. Jenny called me very upset just after it happened and I was able to calm her down and made sure they were both truly okay. God is good! Check back tomorrow for progress on the Crafty Cottage and my trip to Morristown, I hear there is a Hobby Lobby there, Woo Hoo!!!

My First Autumn Decoration

I have made my first Autumn decoration, it is an Acorn Candlestick, and it turned out so well that I thought I would share it with you. This decorative candle cost me $2.00 to make plus hot glue and collecting some acorns.  I had purchased the vase and  candlestick from Dollar Tree a year ago for a different craft idea.  I found them last week when I was cleaning out a cabinet.  I had seen several things on Pinterest in using these items and so I combined a couple of the ideas into my creation.  I got the idea of using acorns when I was walking up from the cottage and noticed all the acorns laying all over the ground.  I started collecting the "perfect" acorns (the ones that had their caps on them) but there was not a lot of perfect ones.  I did notice several caps and capless acorns and decided that I could glue the caps on the acorns and make them "perfect".  After collecting the acorns I knew there would be some kind of bugs in them so I used Google to look up on how to prepare acorns for crafting.  There were several sites with several different instructions and I finally found one that would work best for me; a craft magazine site.  So, with my supplies ready to go I got started on my Acorn Candlestick Holder.  I will post the instructions below but before I do that let me give you some tips for the project.  First of all, collect all different sized acorns and different colors (greens to dark browns) and make sure to collect several different sized caps too.  The acorns will have to be cleaned before using and you cannot collect enough.  So, with that said, onto the instructions.

Supplies needed:  acorns, glass vase, glass candlestick holder, an oven, tin foil, cookie pan, hot glue gun and glue sticks, Pledge wipes and paper towels.

Instructions:

Collect acorns, line a cookie pan with foil and place the acorns on the lined tray.

Bake the acorns at 175 degrees for twenty minutes in the oven.

Let the acorns cool then separate the "perfect" acorns, caps and capless acorns

With the hot glue gun begin to glue the caps to matching acorns.

With a pledge wipe clean the acorn then polish it with a paper towel.  This brings out the acorn's colors and puts a protective coat on the polished acorn.

Place the candlestick holder into the vase then begin to place the acorns in the vase.  The vase will be easy to fill in the beginning with the acorns but as you get closer to the top it gets a little more difficult.  This is where the smaller acorns help.

Once the vase is full add a tea lite candle and the project is done.

I loved the candlestick so much that I am going to make a few more.  This project is not limited to acorns; dried beans, un popped corn kernels, small pine cones and candy would also work.  

And Then We Came To A Halt!

We started out using up the rest of the insulation on the Crafty Cottage that we had on hand and were heading to Lowes to get what we needed to finish. Then we came to a halt on the cottage. We were informed we probably should not do anymore until the final electric inspection is completed which pretty much means no more work on the cottage.  Since we do not know when that will happen we felt like the winds just blew out our sails.  Since we could no longer work on the cottage we did not go to Lowes and instead  went to Walmart to get a couple of things to work on some smaller projects.  So, until we get the A OK on the cottage we are at a halt.  So now what do we do?  Well the truck needs some work so Tim and I will be doing a few things on it.  Okay, mostly Tim but I do have one thing I have to do on it.  Check back and see what it is.  We also did get a cable we are hoping that will work to hook up my broken laptop to our TV so I can hopefully use it.  We are hoping just my screen is broken.  So many questions and no answers yet; check back and see what the results are!

A New Recipe And Electricity

I tried a brand new recipe, to us, and at first I was a little worried about it.  The ingredients all sounded good but not what we would usually eat.  I made Turkey Vegetable Chili Mac.  The reason I said I was worried is because Tim and I are not real fans of ground turkey but we are changing our ways due to this recipe.  We are also not huge fans of tomatoes but once again it worked.  The meal was prepared in a slow cooker, I love slow cooker meals, which makes cooking so much easier.  The ingredients are easy to work with and in 5 hours we had a really good meal.  I will post the recipe at the end of the blog.  Of course I could not just follow it completely and did some changes to it.
Yesterday Tim worked on the electricity in the cottage and I helped Lisa clean up some appliances.  When Lisa and George bought their house it was owned by someone else about an hour from Parrottsville.  George saw a Craigslist ad that someone was selling their cabin and everything in it for a very low price.  George didn't think it would be much but he looked at it anyway and since he  liked what he saw he bought it, hired a team to help him take it apart and move it to his property.  He has since been rebuilding it but making it better.  Along with the purchase was a year old refrigerator and stove.  Now they were in pretty rough condition for being a year old mostly due to filth.  It is kind of scary to think how some people live  but Lisa and I spent a few hours working on them and now they are spotless and will look nice in the house.  I wish we would of taken a before and after picture but since we did not just imagine the appliances looking like night and then when we were done they turned into day!
Today we begin to insulate the cottage walls.  I will be fully covered so I will not have another reaction to the insulation.  The Crafty Cottage is moving along really well and we are hoping that I will be able to move all my supplies in it in the next couple of weeks!


Here is the recipe for Turkey Vegetable Chili Mac
 (courtesy of Crock Pot Slow Cooker Recipes)
Ingredients
3/4 pound ground turkey breast ( I used 1 pound Italian seasoned ground turkey)
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used the low sodium black beans)
1 14 oz can of Mexican-style diced tomatoes ( I used Italian seasoned ones)
1 14oz can oz diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn (I used one small bag of frozen corn)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used 1/2 cup of dried minced onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Mexican seasoning ( I used 1 teaspoon of taco seasoning)
1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni ( I used 1 cup with a 1/2 cup of V8 juice added)
Instructions
1. Brown the ground turkey, drain if needed
2. Put cooked meat in slow cooker then add beans, tomatoes, corn, onions, garlic and seasoning.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours (I cooked it for 4 hours)
4. Stir in macaroni (and V8 if adding a cup of macaroni) ,cover and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Stir, cover and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes ( I did 30 minutes)

Serve with grated cheese and sour cream.

Church and Rolling Poly

Lisa and I attended Parrottsville United Methcodist Church yesterday. We had been invited by a member of the church, Pat, whom we met at the Parrottsville Laundry Mat last week. Since I am a United Methodist and Lisa was we decided to go check out Sunday's Church service. It is a small church but very friendly. We were greeted by Pat when we came in and a couple of other ladies came to welcom us too. Now being a United Methodist I know the rules of the pews. United Methodists like to sit in the same pew every Sunday and it almost becomes a territorial. This is not exclusive to just Methodists; Baptist, Presbyterians, etc are the same. So one of the hardest things when attending a new church is to know where you can sit. You would think that sitting in one of the back pews would be safe but another known fact about Methodists is that the back pews are the most popular pews. So do you sit in the front pew? Those are usually empty but a little intimadating to someone new. So, where did we decide to sit. We chose the second from the back pew on the left side. It was a good choice! During the meet and greet portion of the service several members, including the Pastor, made their way over to greet us. There was a small choir (about 8 members) but there sounded pretty good. It was a nice service and I will probably return after checking out a couple of other churches in the area. After Church, I painted the ceiling in the Crafty Cottage with Polyurethane. Now, I said yesterday I am not a painter and I have never worked with Polyurethane but how hard could it be? Well, let me just say if there was a Three Stooges episode dealing with poly I would of been the 4th stooge. Tim came over to get me started and I did not hear him say he had opened the poly can for me; I was getting my Zune, yes I still have a Zune, ready to listen to while I painted. So after he walked out I reached for the can to shake it and spilled some poly on the floor and all over my hands. Since poly is not washable I had to go get some paint thinner to get it off my hands before I went any further. Tim had also suggested I put gloves on which I was going to do after I poured the poly into the paint tray. I got all cleaned up and got back to business. As I started rolling the poly on the gable then moved to the ceiling I thought how easy this was until I started to get dripped on. I then rolled the ceiling again to stop the drips and then moved on. I thought everything was going well and I was even getting better at controlling the dripping when I realized how fast poly absorbs. What should have been enough poly in the paint tray to do half of the ceiling (by comparison with paint) ended up being enough for a little over a third of the ceiling. I continued on and I did use the entire can of polyurethane to finish the ceiling; I just had enough. The ceiling looks great and it still shows the natural color of the wood which is what I wanted to keep the cottage light. I watched Da Bears play yesterday and I hated the first half. Nothing was working for the Bears until the very end of the first half when they finally got a break with penalties. Then the second half started and it just got better. Now the San Francisco 49ers is one of the other teams I follow but when one of my teams I follow play Da Bears my loyalies stay with Da Bears. Well, last night's 4th Quarter was great and Da Bears won! Way to go Bears!

Football Saturday And?

The day started early with a trip to town and another visit to Lowes. Tim and I had to get trim and the poly for the ceiling and Lisa had to get the paint for the house. I said yesterday that we had chose a color but in reality we chose three, got samples and then tested them in the house. After seeing the colors on the wall it was easy to chose the right color so then she bought five gallons. When we got back from town we had a quiet afternoon watching Missouri win then after that game, and waiting for the South Carolina game to come on, we did some work on the cottage and the house. Tim ended up helping Lisa paint the interior of the house while I went and made dinner. The rest of the night was watching football. I am happy to say that all five of my teams won but two of the games were nail biters. South Carolina won but it was down to the last minute before it happened and Florida had to go into triple overtime to win. NIU, NAU and Oregon won easily. Today I get to poly the ceiling while Tim works on a new project! Then we will watch the Bears and 49ers game tonight! GO BEARS!

The Gables Are Looking Good!

As I write this post I am doing it on my old laptop, which is Tim's. I had purchased a new one three years ago and have been using that one to write my blogs until yesturday. I went to turn on my computer yesturday afternoon and the screen decided it was done functioning. So I guess Tim and I will eventually look for a new laptop but until then I am will be using Tim's; thanks dear! The gables on the Crafty Cottage are looking really good. Tim worked on them by himself yesturday since I was in town most of the day. We decided to do the gables with the same tongue and groove wood that we did the ceiling with. I am glad Tim was so insistent because it does look better than using the bead board paneling I was thinking we would use. All that is left to do with the gables is to get some trim and to polyurethane the ceiling and gables. Then we move onto the electrical and walls. Thank you Tim for getting the Gables done; they look great!Lisa and I went into both Parrottsville and Newport to run errands and grocery shop. We had no intention on being gone so long but our Lowes trip took way longer than we thought. I was helping Lisa pick out paint for their house. Lisa and I have the honor of painting the interior of the house. This adventure could turn into a Lucy and Ethyl episode. Don't worry, there will be pictures! Check back and see how we do!

Mother Nature Dictated The Day!

We knew that the weather for Thursday was suppose to be rainy and since the all the wood we are using to finish the interior of the cabin is outside and covered we did not want it to get wet while we were working so we decided to take the day off from the cabin.  However, Mother Nature decided to play a little game with us.  It looked like the rain was going to hold off so Tim headed down to the cabin but then it began to rain hard so Tim came back to the RV. The rain quit and he decided to finish up mowing the grass, there is quite a bit to mow and just as he was finishing it started to rain again.  So Tim came in.  The rains quit and he went out to weed whack and guess what?  It started to rain again.  This time he decided to finish in the rain and once he was done and came in it quit raining.  The sun even came out and we figured it was Mother Nature saying, "yeah I am winning this game!"  I decided to take advantage of the weather and cleaned out cabinets and then washed all of the woodwork in the RV.  It needed a good cleaning anyway.  Once we were both inside the sun stayed out and the rain was done until Tim decided to change the oil in the truck; it began to rain!  Now the rains we were having all day were really nothing once the storm we were expecting did roll in.  It came in quickly and with force.  The winds blew, it rained hard and the thunder and lightning were intense.  Mother Nature had decided we were done for the day and we agreed! The storm front that came through is suppose to bring cooler weather and a chance for it to be in the 70's for the next couple of days.  Does this mean fall is coming to Eastern Tennessee?  I guess we will have to wait for Mother Nature to decide! 

Friendly Folks and Something New!

Yesterday Lisa and I went to the Laundry Mat do wash our clothes.  I have to say for a small town that only has a gas station, a pizza parlor and a Dollar General Parrottsville also has a very nice Laundry Mat.  It is big, clean and never crowded.  It also has very friendly people who use it.  While I was loading my washer a local that happen to be next to me mentioned to me that she thought the washers were new.  I said they were new to me because I just moved here.  She started a conversation and then invited my to her Church, Parrottsville United Methodist Church, this coming Sunday.  I have been looking for a church and since I am United Methodist I took it as a sign and will be checking out the church.  As I was getting my clothes out of the dryer another woman who was finishing up folding her clothes offered her table to me because she had just wiped it off so it was nice and clean.  So far, since I have been here, I have been fortunate to meet some very friendly folks.  It is nice!
Tim and I have bought a lawn mower.  We have not had to worry about cutting grass or yard work for over four years.  Tim cut the grass yesterday for the first time in four years and he did not mind it a bit.  We purchased a nice mower from a new friend here that had let us know his uncle wanted to sell this mower to get a bigger one.  It works great and was a good deal for the money.  I think I will let Tim have the pleasure of mowing!
Today is 9/11 and it is hard to believe that is has been 13 years since that tragic day.  I read an article today that said some younger students have no idea what 9/11 is.  I found that a little surprising because it is still being talked about today.  So I would like to just offer my prayers to all the victims and heroes from 9/11.  You nay be gone but you are not forgotten.  Remembering 9/11.

The Ceiling Is Up

Tim and I have never worked with tongue and groove boards so we were not sure how it was going to go yesterday.  Well, it went well and we were able to finish the ceiling.  We worked together and while I was up in the loft most of the day Tim was going up and down the ladder putting the boards in place and nailing them up.  I did the same but I did it from the loft the whole time.  I think the ceiling looks fabulous and we are both very happy with the results.  It was very easy to work with and since it was we decided to do the gable ends of the cabin with tongue and grove also.  The neat thing about this cabin so far is that all the materials being used, except the door, is all recycled from a house that was taken apart, moved and was rebuilt on the farm.  We feel very fortunate to have these materials to work with.  Check out the pictures and let me know what you think! 

And The Winner Is???

So I have had two polls to name the cabin and after each of the poles The Craft Shack won.  However, the cabin, to me, is so nice looking that I just can't call it a shack so I have decided to call it The Crafty Cottage.  It just seems to go better with the exterior of the cottage.  So The Crafty Cottage it is but I do want to thank everyone who suggested names and/or voted.  My next poll will be something involving the decorating of the cottage so check back and see. 
Yesterday we got the ceiling completely covered with insulation.  Tim did a wonderful job and got stuck towards the end of installing the insulation of doing it by himself.  I had an allergic reaction to something in the cabin, I am pretty sure it was the insulation, so I just helped out with what I could while my arms just burned away.  Today we begin cutting the wood for the ceiling.  Tim knows what to do so I will once again be his assistant as we put up the ceiling.  The good thing is that the weather is cooperating.  It is a little cooler then it has been and the humidity has gone down.  There is not suppose to be any rain for the next couple of days which is good because we have wood to cut.  Check back on our progress and more pictures!

The Cabin Interior Begins

We finally got to start on the inside of the cabin.  We are working from the top to the bottom.  The inside of the cabin has nothing.  We have to insulate it, put up a ceiling, put up some walls, run electricity and put down some flooring.  Then I get to decorate it to make it my ultimate craft room.  It is also going to double as a guest room too!  So with the plans laid out Tim and I got started inside the cabin by cleaning up.  We got rid of any tools, paint, etc that we were not going to need and took back the two extension ladders we were using.  We then measured how much insulation we were going to need.  We only bought one bag of insulation so we cut up the pieces, placed them in the ceiling rafters and stapled them into place.  We then realized that was all we could do (which just happen to coincide with the NFL Football games about to begin) and cleaned up the cabin.  We had lunch then ran into town and bought more insulation and a ceiling fan.  We are going to need a ceiling fan to help light and cool the cabin.  We then spent the rest of the day watching football.  My Bears lost and the Jaguars lost.  The 49ers and the Broncos won so I had a 50/50 day in Football/
Today we are going to finish insulating  the ceiling and hopefully begin to put up the wood ceiling.  We have never done this before so we are hoping it will be not be too difficult.  Check back tomorrow and see how we did!

What To Do With Leftover Pork Stock?

Lisa made a really great pork tenderloin dinner in the crock pot (I love crock pot meals) and while cleaning up the leftovers there was so much really good stock left over that it seemed a shame to just throw it out.  I think living on the farm has made me a little more resourceful in using what we have.  Anyway, I saved the pork stock along with the left over potatoes, carrots and onions to make pork soup.  I Googled pork soup and the closet thing I could find was pork chop soup.  I guess pork stock is not a common use for making things.  I mean chicken and beef broth are used in a lot of recipes.  So, I bought some pork gravy mixes and put that into the stock for flavor and thickening then added the potatoes, carrots, onions, leftover green beans and a can of Veg-all.  I put it all into the crockpot, added egg noodles and let it cook on low for 8 hours.  It was actually rather tasty but it did need more salt.  I dumped a bunch of different spices in but it still needed more salt.  One thing I would change if I ever make Vegetable Pork soup again is to add the egg noodles towards the end.  The noodles were cooked way too long and were just mush.  We did have leftover pork lion that I should of saved for the soup but instead I mixed it with BBQ sauce and made pull pork sandwiches.  So, from Lisa's pork loin dinner we managed to get four plus dinners out of it: 1) the pork loin dinner, 2) pulled pork sandwiches, 3) Vegetable pork soup, and 4,5 & 6 Vegetable pork soup.  I would say that was being resourceful with the leftovers. 
Along with the soup, we watched a lot of College Football.  All five of my teams won yesterday!!!  Way to go Lumberjacks, Huskies, Gators, Gamecocks and Ducks!  I had to post a picture of my little Gator girl, Rory.  Rory is our granddaughter.  She is 16 weeks old now and we just love her so much. I know part of the reason Florida did so well yesterday is because she was rooting for them. 
Today we will begin working on the cabin's interior.  The exterior looks great and turned out better then we thought.  Today is also Week 1 of NFL Football.  GO BEARS!  Check back tomorrow to see the progress we made in the cabin. Also, if you want my recipe for Veg. Pork soup let me know!

The Exterior Of The Cabin Is Done!

Wow, all I can say is having the correct equipment to do a job is a great thing.  After 5 days of working on the exterior of the cabin it is complete.  For four days we were using an extension ladder that we had to prop up one side to level it.  Staying level has been a challenge this whole week.  We were propping up one end of the extension ladder with 2x6s.  Yesterday, BJ brought us an adjustable extension ladder that levels itself out.  What a difference it made while putting on the soffits.  What took us hours before took us about an hour yesterday to finish.  If we had this ladder three days ago we would of been done that much earlier.  So, the soffits are up, everything on the outside of the cabin is painted and we are ready to start on the inside of the cabin.  BJ lent us his nail gun a couple of days ago and that also made a huge difference with putting up the trim. I have to say that the cabin really looks nice and I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Tim who has been working his rear end off in getting the exterior done.  Thank you Tim, I love you! 
Just a reminder, there is only a couple more days left of "Name the Cabin" poll so vote today!  It is suppose to be a rainy day so we are going to take today off, let our sore bodies have a break and watch College Football.  Tim really enjoys College Football so much more than Pro Football and there are some good games on today.  If you follow my Travels With Ruth blog I have my college teams that I follow listed and I am still writing a few posts a week.  So check out my picks and see how they compare with yours.  I am going to announce my NFL teams today on the blog.
GO BEARS!

Cabin Update!

We got a couple of things accomplished on the cabin today.  We were suppose to work on getting all of the soffits measured, cut, painted and put up but that did not happen for one really good reason; we did not have the extension ladder to use.  The contractor working on George and Lisa's house had another job that had to be completed so he was not able to bring the ladder to us today.  So, I painted the front soffit that we put up on Wednesday while Tim worked on getting the wood ready for the soffits.  I don't think I mentioned it before but the cabin has been built with all recycled building material.  George had left over scrapes from building his house that he used in creating the walls, floor and roof for the cabin and we have been using scrapes of wood left over from the house and moving materials.  The paint is also recycled from other projects that George had been working on.  So, we have been saving a lot of money with the construction of the cabin which will allow me to decorate cabin just the way I want it.  The cabin will also double as a guest room with the addition of a sleeper sofa in the future.
I did work most of the afternoon on Door Prizes for my sister's SAS (Stack and Stamp event) that is coming up in a couple of weeks.  I try to help out my sister anyway I can so I made some of the door prizes for the event.  I will post a picture of the sets I made today.
So, with an easy day yesterday working on the cabin we will hit it hard today and hopefully complete all the soffits so we can move inside the cabin and get it completed.  Check back tomorrow to see what we got accomplished.

The Cabin - Day Three

We have completed day three on the cabin and finally it is completely painted and all of the trim is up.  We are working on the soffits now and after coming up with a way of leveling an extension ladder on uneven ground, not very safe, today we will have the use of an extension ladder that has moveable legs that can be adjusted to level the ladder.  I am very happy about this because it means Tim will be a lot safer working on the ladder.  The past couple of days were nerve racking when we were dealing with the uneven ground and the "rigged" ladder.  We did get the soffits done on the front of the cabin.  Today I realized that the cabin's paint scheme is similar to the cottage at Lake Geneva that we use to live in during the summer when I was little.  It is also the same color as my Grandma Colley's house was at Lake Geneva when I was growing up.  It's cute and I love it.  I took a couple more pictures of our view since there was such a big change.  We woke up to low clouds so that the mountains could not be seen at all.  By the afternoon the clouds were gone and the evening views were beautiful again.  Today's goal is to get the rest of the soffits up and painted and with the use of the leveling extension ladder we should be able to complete it!  Check back tomorrow and see if we did!

The Trim Is Almost Done

We have two more pieces of trim to put up and the trim on the cabin will be completed.  Then we only have the eaves to deal with on the outside of the cabin.  Once that is complete we begin on the inside of the cabin.  We still have a long way to go but at least the outside is looking good.  It was hot yesterday so at lunch time we took a break and ran into town to get a few more supplies for the cabin and go grocery shopping.  When we got back Tim and I did a couple more things on the cabin then quit for dinner.  The trim is making a huge difference on the cabin and it is really looking nice!  We are learning to work around the unlevel ground and with some extra help with building scraps we are making things work.  Check back tomorrow and see what we get done!
I do have to address one little issue that my mother in law has brought to my attention.  I was told that if you skip putting blogspot.com at the end of my blog and just put .com then you will be directed to a not so nice site.  It is a porno site.  So please make sure when you are entering my website you add the blogspot.com.  Sorry if any of you found the incorrect site and thanks Mom C for letting me know!  Now it is time to start work for the day!

The Cabin Is Painted

Tim and I spent most of the day working on the cabin.  We wanted to get it all painted yesterday so we could work on the trim today.  It was a success and the cabin looks good with its new colors.  I wanted a "cottage" look so we painted the exterior walls white and the trim a hunter green/forest green. The roof was already hunter green or forest green so we matched the color and it looks so nice together.  We did learn a few things while working on the cabin and over came some "challenges" during the painting.  The cabin only has one side that sits on level ground.  The three other sides rest on supports so painting the other three sides was a challenge especially since we did not have scaffolds.  Working with a roller was great and Tim was able to paint everything.  There are grooves in the exterior walls that had to brushed on, my job, but I could only get so far without a ladder.  We figured it out but I will not share how.  The important thing is that we got the painting done and  I love the way it looks.  Thanks Tim for "everything" you had to do to gets the grooves painted.
Now that the "Name the Cabin" poll is over the Craft Shack won with Studio Ruth coming in second. During the contest I was given so many cute names that I am going to run another poll, for a week, and see what name wins.  Thanks to my friends, you know who you are, for the suggestions, now let's see what the results will be!  Please vote below!
Today we will begin the trim work on the cabin so check back tomorrow for more pictures!

Yet Another Project For Tim

We have been in Eastern Tennessee now for a week and it is still hard to believe that this is our home for a while.  Every time I look out my window and see the beautiful view I am in awe.  I don't think I will ever get tired of the view.  Yesterday I talked about Phase one of the cabin that is going to become my craft room.  We got a lot done on it and we also went and bought supplies to get started on phase two; the exterior.  You would think that the cabin is a big enough project for us to be working on and it is but Tim felt he needed another project and over the week end we purchased a used golf cart that he is going to fix up so we can use it to get around on the farm with it.  There are 25 acres here on the farm so a cart will be nice to have to get around and to go check the mail in.  It will be quite a while before we get a chance to use the golf cart but that is okay.  We got a really good deal on it but that is because there is so much to do on it to get it running.  The nice thing is Tim knows how to fix it up and I know when he is done it will be great.  Now all I have to do is try to keep him focused on the cabin for a while first.  Look for pictures of our progress on the cabin tomorrow.