Spring is Coming...It Won't be Long...

We'll be there soon... We're so excited and now preparing, decluttering for the big move soon....The Lord has placed such an excitement along with beautiful recollections of when we once lived in the area. Perhaps this time, I'm a bit more mature and wiser and more appreciative of the Lord's Beauty. I see now that the burbs just weren't all that in more ways than one, but ya know... God's ways are much higher than ours and I know things were used for His Glory. Isn't He wonderful? Here's some new photos of what is transpiring in our new home: Here is one of dear hubby, "Dh" and three of our four daughters, even our little poodle gal, Esther...trying ever so hard to get laminate flooring down in Michelle's bedroom. Oh what a trial, a wee one but a trial, maybe more of a nemesis? lol Well maybe more of a downright aggravation...Never the less to the girls...This was worse than me trying to make homemade laundry detergent... Dh is very handy with his hands but the "easy" snap-lock flooring was just not so easy! ; ) That week a young daddy raising by himself... several little children came by our smalltown office looking for work. Hubby asks: Ya do wood floors?

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

To make a long story short, the youngish man finished the upstairs floors, not so perfectly but at least they are done. Downstairs will be done in stain, we had the slab folks finish it out smoothly so we could try the stain loft-look. Hubs is trying out different mixtures of gardening Coppers etc. to achieve the right tone of a cordovan. Don't I sound fancy? ; ) More pics JLiving Room/Den & a sort of formal large dining area. See the wood burning stove to the right? I hope so. (This blog is not cooperating with my photos, it seems to be posting portions of them) Zuzu sawing off something...  The beginnings of our kitchen! We chose to use the prefab cabinets, the plain jane ones, and Dh has since tweaked them beautifully. We saved loads using the standby cabinets, there really was not that much difference. Check out my island, the way we put two sink bases together. Pretty neat huh? : ) OKAY. Now drumroll please.....

 

Isn't that jazzy? : D I think Dh did a GREAT job! The cabinets are now painted a pretty off-white, very light beige. This reminds me of a sweet dollhouse kitchen. Guess what kind of countertops we will do? We really wanted to incorporate the outdoors into our home, we don't want it looking track-homish if you know what I mean....We are going to do real wood oak countertops with a pretty crown-molding around the edge in a pretty mahogany stain. I am so blessed that Hubs knows how to do this stuff. The upstairs railing is being done with white spindles that Hubs found in a box at the lumberyard on clearance for $10 dollars for the entire box! He is finishing the top hand rail with a pretty mahogany color stained oak as well. That's the wrap for the house. In the meantime I've been studying minimalist writings and blogs trying to get a balance to my depression era clutter bunker mentality. Dh is a self employed real estate broker, the equivalent to a George Bailey in a small town and that's okay with me, the people are wonderful, wouldn't trade it for anything. But it's much like being in farming, some years are good crops while other years are not so good so it tends to put a fear in me as far as what to keep and such in the way of material goods. I'm learning though that clutter keeps me from using what I love. Today I got rid of tons of little keepsakes and decorations that had been given to me...Yesterday I gave away three pair of leather clogs that were just not doing a thing for my back when I would walk around in them. I really love clogs but I have to do what I have to do to help keep pain away. I also released my old favorite black jumper and a seer sucker jumper that the girls just looked at and shook their head sadly.... frumpy-frumpy... I kept one cute sweet jumper, made from a nice soft material with buttoned straps, it fits loosely. I really like that jumper; it's the last of the mohiccans so to speak. But I like it. : ) Remember the book the long lost cousin and writers were tracking me down for, for pics & info? It's out. There is a nice size pic of my grandfather in it. They put the name of my cousin's father as my grandfather's name! (shaking head in amazement) It says something like... "John (wrong name) Jones owner of the famous place in town" I cannot believe they did that, but then again maybe I can. It's all okay, because.... Spring is Coming! *Please pray for my father in law as he suffers from Alzheimers. He is not doing well at all and the family was told to place him in hospice care. *We visited my 80 yr. old father last week and had a wonderful visit...He has macular degeneration. It breaks my heart to see him look in the distance almost through my daughters at times when he is talking with them... My dad tells us over dinner...He obviously has such a wonderful sense of humor! "I ate a piece of cake at a lady's house the other day, I had to chip the icing off with my fork. It was old enough to vote!" ~My Dad Oh my. He still has such great stories and such life within him... Spring is Coming. Til the next time, take care all. ~Amelia I am so looking forward to what God will do. I have an excitement in my heart and a skip in my step.