Here are some pictures of the outside of the house. It looks much better on the outside than it does on the inside!

Side view

Front/side view

The back

This is an upstairs bedroom. The door leads onto the sleeping porch. Someone used the walls as a canvas :)



Same room, different view

  
These two pictures are of the sleeping porch.



 

Narrow and long. I'm going to LOVE this room.  I'm thinking of a wicker set on one side....or in the middle.

And a small table with two chairs...somewhere.



But, not a bed....probably....not yet.  Book bookcases though, and plenty of plants!!

A Better Look

Jim went to Sunnybrook today. He did a lot of plumbing work (and still came home in a good mood!). By the sound of it, we'll have a bathroom upstairs before you know it!!!  The house had been winterized, but now it seems we have running water.  As a matter of fact, Jim said we had a kitchen floor full of running water when he turned on the pump today (have I mentioned we have well water?)  As I understand it, that wasn't due to anything that needs "fixing", but due to the fact that the kitchen sink pipes have been cut off at the floor and the old sink removed.....as well as the walls and just every other single thing in the kitchen!!!We're getting closer though.

Jim also talked today to a company about blowing insulation into the walls and the attic. We HAVE to have insulation, so I guess that has to be the route we take. We talked and we know we have to sacrifice the look of the house from either the inside or the outside. If we have the company blow insulation in, they have to cut  2-inch holes in the clapboards outside (a bunch of them); but, on the other hand if we insulate the walls from the inside we'll have to take the old bead boards off the walls, which is part of the old farmhouse charm. A catch-22....or between a rock and a hard place. Considering the time and effort, it would be more feasible to cut the holes in the clapboard and have blown in insulation....unfortunately....fortunately....?

OK, on a lighter note, if you read my two earlier posts (about the Betsy Ross flag and the porch decorating), you'll better understand these pictures.



This is where I want to hang the Betsy Ross flag.  Right in that open space under that roof.

And these are pictures of the porch I'm dying to decorate for spring/summer.  These first two pictures are of the front porch. It's huge, isn't  it? Ah, more to decorate!

 

This is the side porch. Jim and I enjoy dinner outdoors, so I'm definitely thinking a place for that here.

  Something like this...

                                                                              or this...

And that old junked up kitchen porch I mentioned in the earlier post? Tsk..Tsk...TSK!

That mess in the kitchen had to go somewhere...but, we'll get that cleaned up soon.

I'll be sure and post pictures after the decorating is done. Everything will look better in no time at all!

Warmer weather wondering..

With the weather becoming warmer (72 degrees this weekend!) I'm getting as excited about decorating outside at Sunnybrook as I am about decorating the kitchen.....almost.  I posted a picture yesterday of the wooden Betsy Ross flag Jim and I made. All it needs is another light coat of paint and the eye-hooks and chains to hang it with and it's ready to go.  Plus, I'll have to have a real American flag for the front porch. What American farmhouse would be complete without one of those!? 

However, first we need to move a lot of old wood and other debris from the kitchen side of the porch..... and the whole porch probably needs to be painted.  That won't be too big of a job though. A can of paint and a paint roller and that job can get checked off in no time. It'll be painted back green....same as now.  Then let the decorating begin!!!!

I adore both these porches. I think they just shout spring and summer. 



In actuality I've never been too good at getting plants to look this lush.

  

Look how quaint this small porch is! I love it! It just says country in so many ways.



I also love window boxes.....and red geraniums....




.....and wild roses. 



Happy almost spring!

Betsy Ross flag! Yay!

Betsy Ross flag  



This is a wooden flag that Jim and I made to hang at Sunnybrook. I want to hang it near the road, so it's a two-sided flag. We're very happy with it.  Once it's hung, I'll post another picture so you can see it in the setting where it was made to "fly".  

Back to Sunnybrook

Yep, it'd been a while but we finally made it back for a visit. No work done, but plans made. Plumbing for the  new upstairs bathroom has to be done before the kitchen walls can be finished. (Have I mentioned that a heavy 'ole clawfoot tub for that bathroom is going up a set of steep 29 inch wide stairs?) More on that when it gets closer to happening!

With the weather turning warmer, we hope to be able to spend some quality time at Sunnybrook soon. We will be able to un-winterize (OK, I'm sure that's not the right way to say that, but you get my meaning) the house soon. In other words....water, which equals working potty and working shower, which equals more work getting done, which equals YAY!

I'm still undecided about kitchen colors. I've already decided to repaint the whole interior of the house white, or a variation thereof....walls and ceilings, so color in cabinets, furniture and accessories is of the utmost importance.  The kitchen will have white appliances, so I have to come up with some color.....and soon!

The kitchen sink base is built, and lacks only door hinges (mostly because I can't decide on color) and paint (again, because I can't decide on color). White walls, white ceilings, white appliances and dark wood countertops....those are my definites. 

Although it was a quick trip to Sunnybrook, I did have the pleasure of meeting one of the former occupants, and it was interesting to hear about her experiences in the house.

Until next time....

One more thing...

I forgot to mention it, but the idea of the pantry with the red screen door (see a previous post)  is probably not going to be a reality after all. Once we removed the fireplace surround, and the bead board behind it.....and some of the other stuff connected to the fireplace, it looked pretty good...at least to us, so we've decided to leave the fireplace open to expose the stone on the front and sides. Instead of an enclosed pantry with a screen door, Jim is going to build the wall I mentioned in the previous post and we'll slide some type of storage cabinet into that little cubby space....at least that's the plan until something else changes our minds!

                                                                                SO....




Red screen door pantry....out.

                                                      

                                                                                                                                                    

Red cabinet slid into cubby space....in.

Sunnybrook --- 3 days in a row!

I FINALLY got to Sunnybrook!  Actually, I was there Saturday, Sunday and today (Monday)!  Saturday we got there too late to actually get any work done; however, Sunday we were able to get the kitchen ceiling totally torn out and the mess cleaned up. The kitchen demolition is complete!

I guess the next step will be leveling the ceiling, insulating and then putting bead board up.  Next we'll be ready for insulation in the walls, followed by drywall and bead board. I'm getting excited...to say the least!

We got a very good picture of the kitchen fireplace.  Jim will build a wall on the left side of the fireplace, which will separate the kitchen and dining room. This will give us more room for some type of a storage cabinet.

At some point, hopefully not to far in the future, we'll refinish the kitchen floor and then we can start putting in the appliances and the cabinets....making it look like a real kitchen!

We also made plans today for a new bathroom that will be going in upstairs, over top of the kitchen. Below is a picture of that room. More to come when that actually takes place, not in the too near future though.  My clawfoot tub will probably be catacornered here.  Plumbing....yuck!