Merry Christmas!!

Ut oh…the entries are getting further and further spread apart. Don’t you hate that? You check every day, and there’s no update. Well, the truth is that there just isn’t much change going on right now. We got moved in and we’ve spent most of our time cleaning, unpacking, and adjusting the little things that need fixed. Exciting, huh?

This is the promised week off…no working on the house anyway. Last Sunday was our ABF Christmas party, and we’d promised each other no working on the house for a week after we got through the party. So far, so good!!! We’re just kind of taking it easy this week, enjoying the house, and getting some R&R.

Somebody asked us about the concrete countertops, so here goes…Sherry and I originally got the idea from watching HGTV. The first “cool” thing we saw was some guy who made a gorgeous bathtub using concrete slabs. We made a note of it (like we do with a lot of the things we see and would like to try) but didn’t put much other thought into it. Then we saw another guy a few months later who started experimenting with concrete in his house. He was an artist did all kinds of stuff with it from countertops and cabinets to flooring and wall-hangings. My first thought was that if he could do it, so could we.

Since we already had floor cabinets from the basement that we refinished and needed some 40’+ of countertop, it made sense for us to at least try making them ourselves. So we bought a couple of different types of concrete mix, reinforcements, colors, and some lumber to make the molds. We started with a small piece to fit on the dishwasher, and the first two attempts ended up in the trash. The third piece looks like the surface of the moon, but it is now part of the kitchen. From there we rolled out the rest of them. The finish we got was from pouring the countertop upside down on a real smooth whiteboard material. A little sanding and a couple of coats of poly-acrylic finish gives it the final look that we have. We will also be experimenting with oils and waxes to keep the finish looking nice.

I don’t know that this look is for everybody, but we like it. We made some mistakes, and we learned as we went. Plus, we have stone countertops now. The finish isn’t as nice as a marble or granite top, but it also cost us less than $10 / square foot to make.

Anyway, since I seem to be running out of things to write about, feel free to ask questions or give us topics for writing. And in case we don’t make it back on here in the next week or so, we wish each of you and your families a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season. God Bless!!!

Home Sweet Home!

It’s officially been six months since we bought our new home, and we’ve now spent our first week sleeping there. As with any move there are quirks and small, unexpected problems, and the new surroundings will take some getting used to.

The first, and probably most obvious, thing to get used to, is that we have no doors within the bedroom. When I say no doors within the bedroom, that includes our bathroom and closet that we built. It was kind of a design thing that I/we wanted to try; there are no doors and the walls are merely partitions that do not go all the way to ceiling. So far, I love it, but it is different. Since the neighbors have kind of got used to just letting themselves in, we do have to be careful as to when we keep the doors locked.

What I’ve found most odd is that everybody seems to think that since it’s an old church, it must be haunted. I can’t count the number of people who’ve asked us if we see or hear things at night! Neither of us have seen anything out of the ordinary (except that meteor like thing while we were driving the other night???) and the only strange noise Sherry hears is my snoring.

We’re pretty close to getting the upstairs unpacked and we’ve done a fair bit of decorating, but haven’t even begun on the basement. It’s a maze of pews, unopened boxes, hand-me-down furniture, and rummage sale stuff. But, its ok; we’ll get to it as we have time. A lot of people ask about the floor; keep in mind that the only sloped part is our “great” room. The kitchen, all four corner rooms, and the bedroom area are all level. And, as long as you tilt the camera just right, you can’t even tell the living room is sloped in the pictures. Actually, it’s not any more of an issue than we expected. We’re just going to experiment and see what works best for us as we have time to try different things.

Our neighbors from “The Compound” are having a cleaning party and fish fry for us tomorrow. That will nice as we’re hosting a Christmas party for our ABF next weekend.

Also, Let us know what you’d like to see pictures of…we’re to the point where all the major changes are done. Hope everybody has a blessed weekend!!!