The August Kitchen

Almost 32 years to the day from when we moved into the house, we moved into our new great room. (8/7/76 and 8/8/08)



A few views of the kitchen





Back toward the hallway

Basement Patio

A few more fews of the finished patio down underneath the deck.

The stone bench to the left of the double doors


To the right of the double doors


A view of the back of the house as well as the deck and the lower patio. The two staircases open up to where the concrete patio used to be.

Inside Changes

Inside things are shaping up as well!

The brick front for the fireplace going up...



All finished! Just needs the mantel yet.



Getting the trim finished up



Installing the cabinets



With a close up of the wood


Everything put together, ready for the appliances and for the tiling to begin




The new kitchen table has been picked out but has not arrived yet, so here is a photo of the demo table. It is in the mission style, same as the windows. (The previous one has been in use since Jim's single days more than 35 years ago and is now being relegated to the new basement.)



And last, but not least, Jim getting comfy in his new favorite spot.

Outside Changes

Things are going along relatively swimmingly at the summer kitchen, and the end of all the construction is beginning to feel like a near possibility. Here's a glimpse of things on the outside...

You can see the deck up above and the start of the retaining wall down below



The stones for the retaining walls are from the foundation of the part of the house that was torn down.

Bringing the stones over....



closer...



Putting it in place



the almost finished wall to the left of the basement doors



the start of the wall to the right of the basement doors


The deck is also finished enough to be a comfortable place to rest and relax. Here is what Evelyn had to say about it...

This morning we again enjoyed the relaxation of coffee on the deck. It isamazing that after living here for 30 years we can enjoy "our Corner" of theworld from a different vantage point.sitting there we can watch the sun riseand hear the birds singing in the trees from a slightly different angle.

Remember the mountain laurel...

that was getting ready for it's first bloom? Here it is in all its glory.



A couple of other grounds shots to share the flowers...

the green dragons




the roses climbing up the trellis along the side of the house

A little more from the inside

Here is a picture of the new hallway where it opens into the new great room/kitchen area. The picture is standing as if walking into the old kitchen from the laundry room and is facing the door to the sewing room.



The new fireplace is in now. Next stage is to put up the brickwork and the mantel....

Siding and start of the deck

Views of siding and the beginnings of the deck. We were really pleased with the siding job . They did a great job, and the man that did all the finish work around the windows and corners was Aden Miller. The boss was Jeriah Troyer- a really nice guy. The siding guys spotted a 4 ft. black snake crawling out from the locust bark.... I really do hope that was the last!

Drywalling

Drywalling...the actual process and the finished job. Bet they had stiff necks at the end of the day.

Gardens

Being so far away, many of you can't stop in to see the flowers that are blooming around the place this spring. With the slightly cooler weather many have been around much longer than they often are. Here's a little glimpse of a few corners of Evelyn's gardens.

the clematis and johnny-jump ups-- glory at the foot of the locust tree



the bleeding hearts



the late-blooming rhododendron



the ferns



even the pine trees are blooming



the japanese barberry



salvia and purple irises



perennial asters



the berries on the holly bush by the front side porch



In amidst all of the flowers, several of our plants have special memories of friends and family

The hostas in their new home. The one in the center is Grandma White's August Lily. Other fun names are the Robert Frost hosta to the left and the Francis Williams hosta to the right.



Grandma White's peony usually blooms for memorial day. We didn't think it would this year, but voila



The mountain laurel shrub purchased at Espenshade's last year is getting ready for its first bloom



Cuttings/starters from a boxwood..trying out Aunt Nora's technique of growing cuttings. Hopefully it will work as well for us.



Lucy's purple and white irises.



the Dwarf Alberta spruce surrounded by pachysandra

Jim's other projects...

Along with planning the new addition, he's had several other projects going. One of these projects has been to take down several of the trees around the place that had seen better days.

The buckeye tree out front came down in three parts last fall



All the wood then needed to be chopped...



The only potential casualty appears to be recovering nicely



Next up for chopping? the locust tree that used to stand where the new addition stands



Another project has been to convert the first part of the barn into a workshop. Notice the new concrete flooring ....



After learning how to lay concrete from a pro, he used his new knowledge to make himself a set of ramps in another section of the barn



Next project? Worm all those sheep that lost their winter coats yesterday....