This Weekend We Cut a Hole in the Side of My House

The MIL apartment attached to our house started with a terrible floor plan. The door brought you right into a cramped kitchen which brought you into a small living room and then a small bedroom. We tore out the terrible built-in entertainment cabinets that divided the living room and bed room. They were no longer functional and took up about 3X10 of floor space. Even after taking out that eyesore we were still left with three small rooms that all felt cramped. We decided to change the floor plan to make the space flow better and feel more open. We moved the old kitchen wall to turn what used to be a kitchen into a nice little bedroom with its own door and little patio area outside. We took out the wall between what used to be the living room and bedroom and will now be one big open area for the kitchen/dining/living room. (note none of these walls we're doing away with are load-bearing. The walls that divide the rest of the house from the MIL are the load bearing ones). To make this new floor plan work we're putting a door back where we found the frame for one when we pulled off the walls. This new (old) door is probably where the door was in the original cabin that was changed around as the rest of the house was added on. (I love having a house with history). Mom and Dad came to help me with this project since Hubby is at work all weekend.

We took out the framing for the old door and put in a new frame since some of the old wood was a little questionable.

We cut off the metal siding and exposed the beautiful wood siding from a renovation or two ago.

Isn't it beautiful. They don't make siding like this anymore.

We cut around the opening and suddenly there was a hole in the side of my house.

They seem a little too excited about the hole in the side of my house. (Thanks Mom and Dad for all the help.)

Look a door!!!

I think my next project had better be stairs for that door.

My Hero

Check out the NY Times article on The Phoenix Commotion. Dan Phillips' started a company that focuses on building beautiful and affordable homes for low income families using salvaged and recycled building materials. The sideshow has amazing pictures of some of the things they've done.

I've always been a big proponent of reusing or thrift storing instead of buying new (it's quicker for me to point out the things in my house that were bought new than those I got used or made). As we renovate the MIL apartment on our house we've been trying to stay true to our convictions by finding materials used or reusing the original materials as often as possible. Unfortunately, we are completing this project on a deadline (MIL is moving in for a bit to recover from a surgery) so when I can't find something by the time we need it to proceed on the project I've had to buy new (like the door from our weekend project that I will hopefully blog about tomorrow).

So far I've been able to find a used (but almost new) Range, a reconditioned microwave/stove vent to save counter space, more than half my cabinets on craigslist for $60, an interior door at the ReStore, and hope to hear back about some flooring from craigslist. I'm still looking for a refrigerator, the rest of my cabinets, counter tops, flooring, carpet and Sheetrock. Wish me luck.

I am not a Christian ... But

Caution - extreme danger of whiny rant ahead

I am not a Christian although I grew up in that faith and hold a degree in Biblical Studies. My belief system has evolved based on my experience and research into something other than traditional Chrisitianity. I usually describe my beliefs as Ecclectic Paganism because it is the closest "name" to what I believe.

I am not a Christian but sometimes I miss the trappings of that belief system. I miss worship services. I miss having a definitive document of my faith. I miss that feeling of having all the answers and not having to figure them out for yourself. I miss the history and feeling like part of it. Mostly I miss being able to find people who believe exactly what I believe.

Paganism is a little more variable than Chrisitianity. Even my husband and I practice different aspects of Paganism. He is Wiccan and I am Ecclectic.

Mostly this post is just my way of whining that I miss the comfort of the religion of my childhood. There are some days where that lazy bum in the back of my mind just wants to follow someone else's direction. But the rest of my mind says I can't. I'm the teenager who almost got her family thrown out of their church for telling the pastor that his sermon was borderline heresy and then proving it. I couldn't even blindly follow when I was trying to be a Christian so I guess "the good old days" are just an illusion and I should stop ranting at unsuspecting blog readers.

Thankful Thursday

I really appreciated the idea of taking one day of the week and concentrating on just the good. Credit goes to "today I asked for a god" for giving me the idea.

So this week I am thankful for -
- Belly dance class and a teacher that finally made playing zills make sense to me
- friends I run into at the fabric store
- having a nephew to borrow for trick or treating
- my husband having tomorrow off
- finding half the cabinets for our remodel for $60
- finally finding Pagan blogs that deal w/ homesteading, homemaking, head covering, etc.
- cookies (everyone should be thankful for cookies)

The Dreaded Christmas List

The advantage of having a (for the most part) anonymous blog is that I can put up things like my chistmas gift list and don't have to worry about a relative reading it.

Honey - Don't you wish. Sorry honey I know you read my blog.

MY SIDE
Mom - ?, homemade jam
Dad - ?, Worst Case Senario Book
Sister - ?, homemade jam
BIL - ?
Nephew - excercise video game
Brother - ?
future SIL - matching mother and daughter aprons
future niece - refurbished used Doll House
name present A - Pretty apron out of blue and white fabric (got at the thrift store) and red trim
name present J - ? movies ?
G & M - homemade apron & cookies

HONEY'S SIDE
MIL - ?, homemade apron
L BIL - books
K SIL - cool photo spinny thing (thrift store)
M BIL - ?
J SIL - homemade bath salts
Aunt and Uncle - homemade jam and cookies

FRIENDS
M & S - homemade cookies, bath salts
C & J - homemade cookies, bath salts

Ok... I'm a little bummed. I'd hoped to have a better handle on my Christmas list by now but I see a lot of ?s up there. I'm trying to do everything homemade or repurposed. All the non-homemade things on the list so far are things I picked up used and spruced up. Wish me luck. I'll post pics of the homemade stuff as I finish them.

My Boys

Honey and Baby. They were just too cute. Baby has been pretty stressed lately with all the commotion related to the renovation on the apartment (not to mention it's getting pretty cold here and he is most definitely a hot weather dog) so we are making sure to spend cuddle time with him as often as we can.

Donut Sprinkles Fabric

This evening, after a long day of working on the house that I will probably write about tomorrow when my brain is working a little better, I went to one of my happy places. .... Oh no! you think. Drugs? Alcohol? ... Fabric Store!!! I had a 50% off coupon burning a hole in my purse and I wasn't afraid to use it! Despite the impulse shopping disaster waiting to happen this could have been I actually had a legitimate use for the coupon and was very glad to have it. I've been trying to use up some of my fabric stock and it just so happened that I have some really great Christmas apron fabric just waiting for backing and bias tape (I make my own) to become wonderful homemade Christmas presents. I got a nice dark green to back the aprons (I hate thin aprons they don't do the job) and make the bias tape out of. I'm looking forward to making the aprons and hopefully sending them out a little early so they get some use during the Christmas season. I'm always a little sad when I get a wonderful Christmas themed gift on Christmas morning and have to wait until next year to really use it.

My other reason for going to the fabric store was to find a contrasting fabric for some fun and playful fabric I picked up at the thrift store a while ago and really want to work with but have had a terrible time finding an accent fabric to go with it. The fabric is really playful and I like to refer to it as my "stripey candy fabric." Fortunately, I ran into a friend at the fabric store and she acted as my second opinion and helped me pick out some "donut sprinkle fabric" to go with my "stripey candy fabric." I'll put a picture of my finished project up once I get to it. I'm suddenly very hungry.