Buzzings from a quilter who bumbles her way through life!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Hill Country Update, June 2015


My life has been REALLY busy this spring and it doesn't appear to be slowing down now that summer is looming near! My husband and I are spending four days a week at the Hill Country house now instead of only weekends. That means we are getting twice as much accomplished! 
Someone asked me for a photo of the exterior of the house. It is really hard to get a good photo of this house. I took this photo last week.  
I attempted a photo of the front and because I was standing on a slope, the photo makes the house look like it's slanting down into the ground! The house is on a little over 2 acres, on a hill,  and is at the very highest point of hill!

 
This is the front, taken a year ago in winter. You can't see the front steps in this shot. The door to the left of center is to my sewing room.

In the last couple of weeks, we have made progress in the pantry kitchen. So far we have:
  • Had granite installed
  • Installed the appliance garage
  • Installed the dishwasher 
  • Installed the faucet 
In the main kitchen, we have:
  • Fit tested the red cedar island top for installation. (After installation, it will be waxed with butcher block wax.) In this photo, it is just sitting on top of the frame. The boards you see sticking out at the ends will be trimmed and corbels added. (We still have the refrigerator to tackle. The door needs fronts to match the cabinetry and the cabinet space above needs to be finished.)


  • Painted the hardware with a brushed nickle metal paint

  • Lined most drawers with cushioned shelf liner
  • Moved the food items to a different location in preparation for moving it to the pantry when shelves are installed.
  • I've played with how we might use the breakfast area off the kitchen. (I just pulled in extra furniture to see what could be done.) 
 


In other rooms, we have:
  • Played with furniture arrangement. (Unfortunately, we have determined that the sectional makes the room less functional when set up as an L shaped arrangement. I would like to replace the coffee table with a lower one, also.

  • My husband installed new ceiling fans. You can see the old white one as compared to the new wooden one here:
 
  • I've tweaked the bedroom decor.  

  • I chalk painted a $50 thrift shop dresser to use under the television in our bedroom. 
  • We bought the hardware to hang the television on the wall, but haven't done it yet.
  • We started opening up the dark, claustrophobic stairwell!!!! 
I'm very excited about showing the after on this one! It will take a while, though. We ended up removing quite a bit of the walls you see here, both in the doorway and the side with the railing. It's going to be so much better!!! (We haven't tackled the floors in this area yet, either.)
Outside in the fenced patio area, we:
  • Cleaned out old, overgrown shrubs and weeds.
  • Planted hydrangeas and roses in the terraced beds and installed drip systems on them.

  • Cleaned up existing rose bushes and pulled up all the overgrown "stuff" around them.
  •  Everything got a very thick layer of cypress mulch.
The shrub on the left has been given a lot of TLC and should be looking better soon!

  • Transplanted irises to the beds along the fence where they can get sun. 

 I didn't have the time to do much estate or thrift sale searching this week. I did find a minute to look through a downtown antique shop. I spotted this little guy and it immediately sparked an emotional response in me. I had to have him. My sister thinks maybe our grandmother had one when we were little. 

 In the meantime, I am preparing to fly to Oregon to visit my youngest son for a week. He has just bought his first house - a 1930's bungalow.

 


13 comments:

  1. I really love your home, both inside and out, so nice to be up on the hill like that.

    Debbie

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  2. Your new home will be a treasure, enjoy seeing your son. I will have my two sons together on Saturday - meeting in Wichita, KS.

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  3. Linda your home is lovely and truly coming along nicely. Even your landscaping is lovely. My husband wants to know where you are in the Hill Country of Texas. He thinks he wants to move us to Texas but still wants to have trees similar to what we have here in Nor Cal...Pines, Cedars, Madrones and Oaks. Blessings and June JOY...

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  4. Wow ! You have been busy Linda! Your new home is looking fabulous! DO you have an nice view ?

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  5. Your hill house is coming together nicely and it looks fantastic. You have put a lot of work as well as thoughts into it and I'm sure you'll be very happy there. I'm assuming that you will move there full time when the times comes?

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  6. Your progress on this wonderful house is amazing. You and your husband make such a terrific team. Love the pictures of the outside of the house and beds.

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  7. Your vision and work that you've both given to your hill country home look awesome. Thanks for sharing those details with us. We are cheering you on and watching this wonderful transformation. Love the kitchen pantry area and can't wait for the full reveal as I'm sure you'll also be glad when that time comes. When you painted those kitchen pulls, do you have any tips as I'd like to update some of the pulls in my own kitchen. Thanks!.

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  8. Linda, your home is magnificent, especially with the terraced gardens and landscaping. You must be beside yourself with happiness, being able to spend your lives in such beautiful surroundings. Happy to hear about your son's purchase of a 30's bungalow, as my husband was born in one in 1932 and I am very familiar with them. His parent's initially had a coal bin, but converted to Gas when it was available, but he remembers shoveling coal into the furnace. I'm sure they'll be very happy there. We've had nothing but rain, rain, and more rain here in the Chicago area, but today is nice, so we're working outside. Enjoy your trip. lv2bquilting2@comcast.net

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  9. Your house is really coming along. Oregon is beautiful this time of year. We are heading that way in a couple of weeks.

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  10. Wow, what a beautiful home. And lots of things you have accomplished. Sure makes me miss that fabulous Texas weather and surroundings. Still cool and rainy up here in Chicago land. :(

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  11. I feel tired just reading about all the things you have done, Linda. LOL! Everything is looking lovely.

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  12. This is just moving along so nicely...I know you will be thrilled to have this all finished so you can nestle into that great little sewing room....

    I am just so happy for you both.

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  13. This is just moving along so nicely...I know you will be thrilled to have this all finished so you can nestle into that great little sewing room....

    I am just so happy for you both.

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