Pepper Paints

Slow and Steady

Building is a slow process!! Extreme Home Make Over and Holmes on Homes makes it seem like all the different trades show up at the same time and work through dinner to get the job done. Let me tell you–that ain’t so!! But we have made some progress!

We now have insulation and drywall!!

And we have dust–holy cow do we have dust! My lungs can attest to that too cough, cough, cough!! Even with plastic up the dust is everywhere! They don’t show that on TV either!!

Ginger’s room (the diagonal flooring) really looks small with it opened up!

I love the wood we picked out for the ceiling! With all it’s grain and knots it looks even better than we thought!

Here is a bedroom shot.

The metal roof on the screen porch has also been installed. It’s hard to tell from the photos but it is a copper color and looks so pretty in the sun. That is, when the sun actually shines around here!

Slowly but surely we are moving along. Hopefully sometime this Spring we will be able to “move in”!!

2 Thumbs Up For Home Demolition Project

Just a quick update on our home improvement project. We have been busy cleaning up and taking up the rest of the garage foundation and the rest of our 10 inch thick concrete patio that has a brick patio underneath it.  The permits should be back any day and our “list of things to do so the builder can get started” has just taken priority over everything else.

One of the things I have been excited about is the possibility of finding treasures when we dug up the yard for the foundation. I have been told our house once held the original farm house for this area. Most of the existing house was built in the 4o’s so there could be old stuff as well as newer “trash.” I have found some broken dishes and marbles out back.

Over the weekend my husband found our first treasure! An Oneida lmtd Silversmiths  Triple cocktail or olive fork.

I think it is railway or cruise ship flatware. I can’t wait to see what we dig up next!!

Here is the video of our garage demo–in case the photos weren’t enough for you! You can view it in live action. I’m pretty sure Siskel and Ebert would give it 2 thumbs up!

 

 

 

How NOT To Demo Your Garage

Call your husbands and sons because they will definitely want to see this. What started off as a community event quickly turned to OMG!

We invited neighbors over for coffee and donuts before the show .It’s the least we can do for them for putting up with our dust and wild homeschooled children and all their friends and barking dogs and loud stereos and a weedy garden…….I am confident donuts take care of everything!

First the boys tried the Amish way…

Hahahahaha They realized that wasn’t going to work and they needed to return to 2011 technology…The Jeep Wrangler.

How’s that donut Bryan?

Well, that didn’t budge it–maybe that should have been our first clue that the old girl was more sturdy than she looked. Much discussion ensued between boys er,  I mean the men. Let me tell you it was like they were all 10 years old again. Giddy with excitement of donuts and demolishing a building and big trucks! Yes, big trucks!!!

–EEk don’t hit the refreshment table! Wouldn’t want to upset the  neighbors!

They finally strapped her on to the Big Daddy truck.

Look at ‘em–boys and their toys!

The following photos need no commentary other than to say…this is not what the boys expected to happen!

Ready………….Go Joe……….

And there she sat

Now scroll through that series again quickly–it’s like a flip book!

Luckily she didn’t continue to tumble or the peanut gallery with bellies full of donuts weighing them down never would have gotten out of the way!

Now the boys were crapping their pants!

And everyone had an idea of what to do next. For me the excitement was really turning to anxiety. The longer the speculation of the next move went on the the more we were afraid the wall closest to the house would buckle and the structure would twist on it’s way down and hit the house or worse yet someone was going to get hurt.

The boys devised a plan to anchor one side and pull it towards the backyard. Well, just when you need your controls that run the bucket in the bucket truck to work-they fail. So we put caution tape around our entire yard  and my husband drove back  to work to get a different bucket truck. At this point the crowd dispersed and I was left stressed with all the donuts. sigh

My husband and I decided via cell phone that we should call a Demolition Specialist that his company has used in the past…. but of course the office was closed on a Sunday. So, we did what any desperate non Amish person would do-we googled the owners name and got his home phone number and called him on his day of rest.

When” The Specialist” showed up he was amazed at our ‘pickle’.  “Well, I’ve never seen this happen before”

But to the boys credit he agreed with their anchoring idea. Having him confirm that was the best plan of action allowed them to put down the donuts and get back to work.

The guy in the yellow is “the Specialist” the other guy is our neighbor and Boy Scout extraordinaire! ( Who never shook his head in disgust at our home disrepair.Thanks good neighbor! I bet it was the donuts!)

They ran a strap down the center and attached it to the jeep and hit the gas (in reverse).

Even “The Specialist” is getting excited!

That cookie crumbled just the way it was supposed to. Thank Buddah! No one was hurt and the drama was almost over.

We kissed “the Specialist” feet for driving 45 minutes and leaving his wife to wash all the windows by herself just to come to our rescue. If you ever need a demo company YOU SHOULD CALL PROCON!

The steps that led to the upper part of the garage were still standing and holding up a portion of the rubble. It took more work to get that little bit down than the rest of the whole garage!

And through it all, a strong old door that we had stored in the upper part of the garage made a graceful landing, unscathed.

We decided to keep that door and use it somewhere in our house. Something to remind us of the good luck the sun shinned on us during this demo gone wrong. Things really could have gone a different way. We are so lucky no one was hurt and the corner of our house wasn’t damaged.

Thank you neighbors and friends for all the help and support!! I owe you many more donuts…… because next week we are knocking off the side of our house!!! I can’t promise it will be as exciting as this weeks adventure!

 

 

Cosplay Anyone?

I am in awe of my kid! She has abilities that seem to come to her so easily that I can’t hardly wrap my head around. This is her latest sewing creation.

It is a cosplay costume for an anime convention. She based her costume off of this Elizabeth ( Lizzie )Middleford  $400.00 costume.

Only she spent a mere  $5.00 on 2 sheets from the thrift store. Amazingly thrifty yes but the really amazing part of all of this is not only did she make this costume entirely by herself with no help from anyone but that she didn’t even use a stinkin’ pattern! She just looked at the picture and 2 bed sheets and created this amazing costume! Did I mention I am in awe??? Well let me say it again…I am in awe of this kid!

She and her friends have been waiting for months for this convention. They planned which characters from Black Butler they would be cosplaying so long ago. Everyone looked great!

I bet they are already planning for the next one!

My Kids Tagged Our Garage

To save some money we are doing most of the demolition for our addition. That means my husband and son get to knock the garage down. I think that might be any man’s dream! But before the fun can begin the siding needed to be stripped off and the aluminum sorted to be taken to recycling. Once Jake finished with that we were left with a shell of of a rundown looking garage. But not for long……..

Jake and I went to Kmart and stocked up on some pretty color spray paint and cupcakes.

Then my kids proceeded to lose a few brain cells all in the name of art, graffiti art. Even in the wide open air there were some serious fumes! It was great to watch how each kid tackled their blank wall so differently. Molly just grab the paint and started spraying.

Jake looked for some inspiration from a book we just happened to have checked out from the library

He was really methodical in his approach. Stepping back thinking about it–all while Molly worked furiously.

Ginger knew exactly what she wanted…This is a picture of our friend Chloe and her new boyfriend kissing. Awwwwwww

Then after consulting with the book, she found her inspiration too!

Of course things got a little out of hand!

If my neighbors didn’t blink at what they saw or grimace at the smell I am guessing they cringed when they heard me yelling “You may NOT spray paint your sister!!”

This window looks cool when lit from the inside

So let me ask you would you rather look at this?

Or this??!!!

I am glad we get to enjoy it for a few days…..it’s all coming down this weekend.

 

White Sands Lake

If you are local to Columbus and you haven’t been to White Sands Lake in Delaware, Ohio….well you must go!! Must!

It is a campground/beach that has been around for over 60 years. The “beautiful” emerald green lake is artesian well fed!

Most of the old school apparatuses seem barely safe which make them even more fun!

This place is definitely a hidden gem that warrants at least one visit a Summer!!

I haven’t been here in about 14 years….And nothing has changed!!

The girls really want to conquer those rings… so we will be definitely be seeing you next Summer White Sands!!

Stuffed Animal Re-Do

Our Unschoolers Co op is still meeting over the Summer. Today we had a stuffed animal re-do. Everyone brought a few stuffed animals to throw in the pot of parts and pieces. We literally cut them up into pieces–arms, legs, heads, bodies, tails and wings were separated into piles.

Kids were able to choose what parts and pieces they wanted to sew back together

Some kids sewed the animals back together the way they were meant to be

Most kids made a new and improved version!