Taping and mudding......so messy.

So, taping and mudding is not so easy. While Richard was off at work in Michigan I went and got the supplies and started to get at it. I have watched our sheetrock finishers do this a 100 times for sure. Surely I could do it too. Well, I found out that I definitely can do it, BUT it is not as easy as it looked. I got some done and when Richard got home he said I had done a very good job.....but let me tell you...IT WAS TOUGH to get it right. Richard did most of the taping from that point on and I assisted some here and there. I did a bunch in the bathroom and then went back to assisting now and then. He finally finished all the taping as of today and everything has a good coat of mud. Now for sanding, more mud, and sanding some more. Sanding will be something new for me to try. Once again, I've seen it done a lot, but this will be my first time to do it myself. Till I update you again...Love thy Earth!

FINALLY.....we have sheetrock!!!

Sorry its been awhile since I posted...but alas, I am at it again. We are working on our sheetrock. These pics were made early in the process. These are all made upstairs. As of right now the upstairs is finished with the exception of the width of one board of sheetrock on each side of the peak of the ceiling. All walls and lower parts of the slanted ceiling are done. I love it!!!

In the pic of me I'm scoring/cutting the sheetrock to fit. The other pic is my husband Richard putting in screws. Actually it only took us a few days to do the upstairs. Looking forward to moving downstairs to work because it will be so much easier...NO CEILINGS TO DO!!! We have open beams down there so that means no over head heaving of this stuff....its heavy. I should have more to write and more pictures in the next week of the downstairs getting board put up. Till then....Love thy earth and all that's in it!!!

A Little More Done!!

I definitely have to get up to the ceiling and do some touching up...but hey, you get the idea!!!

It's getting there. We got the ceiling painted like I wanted...kind of white washed. I wanted the knots and grain to show through a bit. I love it. Also have the insulation in. Couldn't afford the green kind made from recycled denim like I wanted but sometimes you have to settle and make choices. Such as do I want denim insulation or do I want to finish this house enough to get to move in? I need to move so that answers that question. You can't always get what you want.... ya get what ya need. We also have the rough in wiring done and the well pump set. So next is the rough in plumbing and sheetrock after that. Stay tuned and I'll update again as soon as something new happens.
Until next time...Love thy Earth!!

Kitchen cabinets

I have decided instead of regular kitchen cabinets we will be doing lots of old kitchen pieces and some homemade cabinetry and shelves. Today I picked this up. Actually I bought two cabinets but only have a picture of this one. I bought two cabinets for $250 and the guy threw in an antique metal bread box I liked for free. I love this piece and have lots of good plans for it!!!

We have upstairs stud walls....YEAH!

This is looking toward the front of the house. I'm standing in the backside of the house bedroom looking through the bedroom doors. The front bedroom will be the grandchildrens room when they come to visit.
This is looking from the front to back across the foyer area into the back bedroom, which is mine and Richards room. If you really strain your eyes to see, there is a walk-in closet in the left front corner of the room. The door to it is on the far wall of the closet, straight across from the window.
Its getting there! I get more and more excited every time something new gets done. Next is insulation, wiring, and then plumbing.
Till I post again....Love thy Earth!!!

My strange decorating!!!

So, I thought I would post pictures of some of the things we have been collecting for our little house. This is our kitchen sink. I am THRILLED with it. This was the second one we bought. First we found one in a town near us that was a bit newer. The back splash was just a few inches tall and it only had a left side drain board, but I thought it would do. THEN, Richard found this one on Craigslist out towards Nashville (all others we found like this had been far away or way to expensive for us) where he was going in just a few days to work. He called the guy and made arrangements and was able to get it while he was out there working (which means gas was on company tab and saved us money). Now your asking, so what did you do with the first one you bought? Well, we still have it and at first decided we would put it in the laundry room for washing all my wool hand washables, but changed my mind. I needed the room for something else in there. Now I know this will sound strange to many folks, but I'm seriously considering using it in the bathroom...yes, I know it has a drain board. I personally think it would be unique and interesting and that I might like it. After all, it is our home and as long as we are pleased, that is what really matters....soooo....let the strange decorating begin...lol.
This is our $60 stove we found on Craigslist just 50 minutes down the road from us. We love it and its just beautiful. This will be the 3rd stove like this I have had the pleasure of using. I so love these old stoves because of the extra width. I like to do canning from the garden and with a regular stove if you have two canners going at the same time its hard for them to fit on a regular size stove....no canners bumping on this stove. Plus you get the extra drawers on the side and bottom. I keep pots in the bottom and lids in the left drawer. There is an avocado green one similar to this one in the house that I am renting now. I'm so glad I found a beautiful white one for our house.

This is my $30 bathtub!!!! What a deal, eh? Yes, right now it is sitting in our carport piled full of moving boxes, but it won't be long till it will be making its way to the house. I sure dread moving it.....it is sooooooooooo HEAVY!!!!

Sunday will be a fun day. We will be working in the upstairs of our house building two walls on each side of the staircase to make two bedrooms and building the walls for closets. I'm very excited to see the stud walls for this getting done because it gives you a much better idea of how your rooms will look.
Well, that's about all I have to report to you for now.....till the next post, Love thy Earth!!!!

Steps

Well we haven't gotten much done lately, but about to do a whole bunch more this weekend. Richard did get the steps built and the post set for the handrails. I'm getting so anxious....I WANT TO MOVE IN!!!!!!

Can you say.....TIN ROOF!!!

As you can see we got our tin roof on. Our son-in-law Daniel helped Richard with this. What a life saver he was. He's a very hard working young man and also one that seems to love to learn new construction stuff. I guess maybe I should have had at least 1 baby boy after all for Richard to have taught his trade to....lol, too late now. At least he has a wonderful son-in-law. I just love the pretty silver shine of the roof now.


Here you can see the tin that Richard and I put on the porch roof together just yesterday. We also painted all the rafters under the tin before we put it on. Doing that first made it much easier because then you didn't have to worry about getting it on the tin. I said we, but Richard painted the rafters and I painted the porch post. Helping him with the tin was hard but fun. He was on the porch roof and I was carrying it from the truck and handing it up to him. When you hold it up to hand it up to the roof you better pray the wind don't blow. LOL, its like a big sail and throws you off balance.
Till the next post...Love thy Earth!

Almost closed in!!

Doors and Windows!!!!!!!!
Well I do still need a kitchen window...but hey, its still very exciting!!

House pics

So this is looking in the house from the front left window. The forefront is the living area. Where the chair is sitting is dining area and straight back from there is the kitchen. Directly behind the steps is the bathroom and in the very back left corner is a wash and mud room off of the kitchen. Its also holds a pantry and a extra closet that will probably be for linens.
This one is made from out on the road in front of our place. As you can see we only have maybe a half acre out of 5 acres that is cleared so far. Lots more clearing to do. Slow but sure.
Just a shot from the right side of house!
Till the next post.....Love thy Earth!

My homestead house in progress!

Yeah...I finally got to add a pic. This is what we have so far. I'll be posting some more pics later, but right now I have to go do some errands with my elderly mother. Hope ya'll like my picture!!!

A great find!

I don't have a house yet, BUT I have a bathtub and toilet. I found and bought a cast iron bathtub off of Craigslist for $30 and got the antique toilet thrown in for FREE!
In response to a couple of comments..... About the trees, well I have five acres of about 7 yr. growth of pine forest...so its a LOT of trees.
Yes, I agree, I DEFINITELY need pictures. I'm working on that, but it takes money to buy a camera. Hang in there....I'll get it pretty soon I hope.
Till next time.....Love thy Earth!

Bulldozer man

So, its $70.00 an hour to have a man on a bulldozer come out and push up a bunch of pine tree stumps. UGH...that's a lot of money. He's saying it will at least take a really good day...so I'm thinking like 10 hrs. We are going to try and build this little tiny house on the cheap, cash as we go. I think I'm going to keep a kind of loose type record here of the cost as we go. We have a set sum of money and once we are at the end of it...that is it. My hubby is sure he can get it "livable" finished. Not finished. Livable. I may be halfway camping in this thing. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck. Hopefully I will have a camera soon to help document this adventure.
Till the next time I write....Love thy Earth.

My first Homestead post!

We bought land! Yes, finally we found something we like. Its 5 acres in size. Its covered in small pine trees with briar thickets galore underneath the trees. My favorite thing about it is that it is flat. This was one of those things I was being picky about...I wanted flat, comfortable to walk on and easy to build on land...and I found some!

We have been out to the land several days now clearing pine trees and mowing down briars. We are leaving stumps about 1 1/2 foot tall so we can get a dozer to push them up eventually. So far I would guesstimate that we have about 3/4 of an acre cleared. We have a wet weather creek that runs down the middle of the property front to back, so we have decided to clear the whole right hand side of the property over to the water (eventually we want it all cleared to use for pasture). We have enough cleared that we should be starting our little house in the next few weeks. We are having to work around the fact that dear hubby goes out of town a lot to work. He's going to be gone all this week.

Well this is my first post and hopefully there is many more to come. I'm looking to get myself a decent digital camera so I can start posting pictures soon. I would love to document all the building of our little homestead and share it with whomever decides to read this.

Till my next post.... Love thy Earth!