LET there be LIGHT… and there WAS light ..

yeah!

we finally picked some lights

now.. I am not..well

totally certain that THESE

will be

my FOREVER lights

they aren't remotely what I wanted

but..

they do match the look

till I can find

MY look..

they do FUNCTION

which, let's face it

is SO important

and they are LED lights :)

which helps with the HORRIFICLY

(is that a word?)

HORRIBLE

Energy Bills we have..

all that with task lighting..

pretty snazzy don't you think?

Coffee is a beautiful thing

several years ago,

I came across this fun piece of furniture at a 

Garage sale

It was its function, size 

and the fact that it's REAL wood

rather than it's actual appearance

that attracted me..

I have never loved how it looked..

(but I confess it looks great in this picture)

so I decided to bring it up to the farm

and paint it..

see... I think coffee is beautiful 

and I want a coffee station!

I cook for a crowd..

Even if it's my OWN clan (we are 6)

but especially when we have guests...

and one thing that drives me bonkers

are the coffee drinkers..

see I AM ONE OF THEM, but...

people always want coffee JUST in the midst of the 

HOT time in the kitchen..

when things are hopping

happening

and have the potential to be ...

ruined..

I find it stress full

when they 

(yes that might be Machine Man I am speaking of...)

waltz in to get a cup of coffee

and then go to the fridge searching

desperately for cream...

yes.. it ..

annoys

so...

my plan?

coffee station! 

here is the new color!  

Princess painted it with 

Emperors Silk

an Annie Sloan red !

I got it at Tattered Tiques 

but you can look for a location near you!

Princess is getting the hang of this..

I love teaching a student that is SO eager to work

and to LEARN!

She did a great job! 

and now my coffee pals

(self included)

can grab a cup of joe

and not bother the Chef..

or the assistant chef..

yup..

BLISS all around!!

everything "coffee" is on the counter!

Ready for some peace

as my guest sit in my Groovy chair

and chat it up whilst I cook!

LOVE IT!!

things coming together!

empty out the fridge... 

because we are
MOVING

the kitchen

and dismantling the mock kitchen

completely! 

Yea for My HELPER Ina!

isn't my niece adorable?

We are watching

"Uncle" Machine Man

take off doors and prepare to move it...

We can't get the NEW fridge

into the kitchen

through the OLD door ways

unless we dismantle it a bit... 

looks like I will get a chance to scrub it up

and it's gonna be good to fill with YUMMY food 

here's Uncle Buck

helping Machine Man with those doors

we are SO blessed to have my brother and his beautiful family UP

for the weekend!

after this is done..

it's PLAY time!!

nothing but fun planned for us!

Pantry - Mini Make over...

Ant's in my Pants

I can't believe how HARD it is to do 

NOT much

while some guy is working hard 

putting flooring in MY house..

ugh...

that and the big VACATION week

was upon me..

What's a girl to do but ponder the 

MANY little projects she's managing...

When it occurred to me...

Machine Man is coming EARLY this week

and

HE and my brother are going to be MOVING 

my refrigerator into the kitchen..

and all that storage in the 

MOCK Kitchen

will be awkward...

which means

TIME TO CLEAN THE PANTRY

here they've emptied it out of a LOT of the 

odds and ends...

A whole other weird cabinet

is here no longer

Thanks to C.S. and a furniture dolly 

We discovered there was no way to remove 

THIS

cabinet from the room...

we tried it every which way...

no go..

so..

I was all ready to paint the cabinet a solid white

and make ready use of it

when Princess lamented how much she liked the ivy...

how pretty it looked

how it would be SUCH a shame to loose it under layers of paint..

(ugh.. REALLY?????)

ok ok, it's her Farm house too..

so ok, we did a light coating of Annie Sloan's Pure White

and deep regular white everywhere else...

(must conserve where possible...)

we painted the trim inside with the Annie Sloan Paris Grey 

Shelves white..

so annoyed now that we didn't remove the shelves first..

but...it's really a "mini" makeover"

it will eventually see a total transformation..

so I guess it's ok.. 

We painted the walls and each shelf..

some got on the metal things..

but I really didn't care..

it's an awkward space

and Princess is doing a great job helping me..

we both had a few oopsies

because of HOW awkward it is in here! 

I LOVE that we have a peg board..

I used a reject color from the store

and frankly I don't like it..

it's a "will get to it later" project..

What I do like

is that it is CLEAN and painted

and ready to hang stuff on

Time to move stuff in! 

I found  this old lace curtain 

from another part of the house.

It was filthy

so we washed it in the Tub

(black!)

and hung it out to dry

doesn't it look beautiful in here?

love the whole "FREE" thing too 

*smiling* 

I had C.S. dismantle the shelving in the 

MOCK Kitchen

and reset up only this portion of it..

again it's a BIT not right for the spot..

but FOR NOW

till we do a major overhaul on this room

it will do..

and do nicely..

we need to LIVE here

and be able to relax more when we are here..

this is going so well

it is fast becoming a 

"some day" room 

Toaster oven

and Microwave FIT

and are plugged in!

Woo hoo! 

Can't even imagine

canned goods

packaged goods

NEAR the stove

refrigerator

and sink?

all so very NEAR one another?

Pinch me!

umm honey.. let me show you

yah..

so he's not actually even unpacked at this point

and the Blessings are over by the General

admiring it

debating about whether or not to put a star on the front of it..

and I can't WAIT another minute

I show Machine Man the gardens

especially the section he wanted to rip out,

because it was so tangled and super scary

and looked just like

ummm

a junk heap 

I showed him that the scary bush he got scratched by

was really a rose bush 

after looking

and smelling

they have made friends..

smiling!

and then... 

I showed him the "other" tank that arrived!

Our PROPANE!

It came when Mrs. J and the kids were here

and we were knee deep in something or other

and because there wasn't much I could do about it

I promptly put it in the 

excited about

category of my brain

and never got a photo of it till now! 

he was just as thrilled as I, 

and went to get all this

(no he hadn't even unpacked the van of his belongings yet...

it was THAT sort of excitement!) 

all set and ready to go! 

oh my! 

it's really coming together! 

so far so good!

What do you think?

next

gotta get the fridge in..

gotta do 

SOMETHING 

about the very scary pantry

then my shelves

and caulking

and art!

oh so excited!

are you?

Assembling a wee little work cart!

We needed a wee work cart for the kitchen..

something

to slide next to the stove whilst we are cooking,

or use in other ways..

An

AS NEEDED CART

if you will...

Garage sailing hasn't produced quite the size needed...

but IKEA did !

So I had this ASSEMBLY JOB

and

seeing as I have some qualified persons here to ASSEMBLE for me

...one of my wee assemblers got a job to do !

That wee assembler did the job quite well I must say! 

Are you wondering who? 

Well look at that detail..

Do you THINK Buddy is up for the challenge?

Do you think it's more Princess's speed?

or Rather do you think C.S. found time?

Remember

it's a SOLO job.

Machine Man was NOT here

only the Mama was. 

(clearing throat- preparing to confess...)

and I will confess that THIS Mama...

is

NOT so gifted at assembly.

(never properly trained.. you understand.) 

The ASSEMBLER was Princess!

YEP!

She's at it again! 

When I told the kids there was 2 small jobs left to assemble

that I thought were in the realm of NOT needing the Papa...

She JUMPED at the chance to do another assembly project 

remember Welcome Back Kotter?

oo oo ooh PICK ME! PICK ME!

WELL

she got the job!

and I would say she did a GREAT JOB!

I am certain you'll be seeing a lot of this little cart

as we start cooking in that kitchen ..

Guess what is coming to our house!!!

propane!

(I know.. PINCH ME!  

So very exciting isn't it?)

Kitchen Tiles COMPLETE!

remember THIS?

the elephant in the wall..

and the fake phone jack?

(giggling)

well turns out that vent is a fire hazzard

it's a dryer vent...

yup

can we just say

PRAISE GOD

that He laid it on our hearts to gut the kitchen FIRST

before any other big project

(like the bathroom... yah.. don't EVEN go there)

so we are getting fancy with venting.. 

you'll see that soon enough

till then

we've patched up the wall

and need to finish tiling..

then we will grout

This is what we used for both walls 

to score and crack them into the right size

THIS was hard work, and not always accurate..

since that time

UNCLE

borrowed/gave us a handy dandy 

NEVER USED

super SNAZZY

Wet saw 

here is C.S. reading the directions on HOW to put it together 

all ready scoring and marking it up

I am SO excited! 

C.S. is learning new skills every day

skills that will make him a valuable asset 

a blessing to his future family

and build his confidence

I LOVE having Blessings Farm

it's a great place to just LEARN and GROW 

ok.. NOW you'll notice that the pallet wall is done

and I am super happy..

it was done whilst the patchwork was drying and all that jazz

we are multi-tasking 

two trouble areas.. 

can you see them..

this is going to BE tricky 

~phew

not as fancy as a professional

but tough spot #1 looks pretty good

thanks to the new wet blade 

getting nearer to tough spot #2 

just wait..

you will love how it looks all done!

nearing the finish line 

enough to do another wall!

but here we are on that LAST tile

drum roll please 

nearing that moment 

OH MY 

and can we say

job done? 

oh yes we can!

job done well!

Way to Go C.S.

you brought the job home!

so pleased :)

and RYOBI  Wet Saw

you made it so much simpler

thanks Uncle!