Before and After (Finally!)

Okay, it has been a long time coming. And I still haven't unpacked the camera. But Michael and his trusty iPhone have gone through some of the house to give a few indications from where we have come. So, I would like to first introduce to you the before and after shots of our kitchen:





Still a few details to attend here ... a shelf over the window and some outlet issues, a hood over the stove and, clearly, some dishes I need to do! Look at that, messing it up already. Notice we've removed the laminate floor and put in a hickory wood floor and some tile in the kitchen. Here is a close up:



Okay, now the next shot is the dining room before and after:





Okay, and not the same angle, but perhaps you get the idea and can see a corner of the vanity we replaced and the paint, light, etc. But here are before/after shots of the kids' bathroom:






And Michael really spent some time building out our closets. I painted our entire room and the door and trim which you won't be able to see in the after shots I'll get a better shot later, but here are the closets before with the old unpainted doors and old floor that we replaced with that beautiful hickory (not pictured in the after shots yet!)







This just really shows off Michael's craftsmanship (all from scratch!) and the utility we are getting from this space now versus a single rod. We're so busy admiring this handy work that we don't actually have doors on the closet yet. Please note: NO WIRE HANGARS -- EVER!! (To quote Joan).

And just to take us out onto the land, I share with you this picture of Spot and Stripe (the two goat kids we are borrowing. Momma Starlight is pictured below her boys). Anyhow, these two kids have been officially fenced out of the poultry/orchard area as they are carb addicts! They can go through a bin of organic chicken feed like it's nobody's business. And they love to climb. Here you see them perched atop of the nesting boxes Michael built onto the "Chicken Palace" out back.



Okay, more pix and stories later. I still have boxes to unpack!

Last Day of Summer Break

Where has the summer gone? Well, I'm pretty sure I know. Of course, we're still not entirely unpacked. However, I plan to get a bunch of unpacking done this week and maybe, just maybe, I'll unearth that camera! So, in lieu of a camera I will have to paint a picture of the ever-expanding Tifftown with my words.

We "officially" moved into the new digs August 3rd. Of course, the house wasn't actually finished or anything. Our kitchen consisted of a utility sink, fold up table and a stove and fridge. (At least we had appliances. That made camping in the house completely civilized). We actually had the audacity to have some friends over for dinner one night. "Hey, we need steak knives! Hold this flashlight while I dig through this box!"

In the meantime our star thistle, bindweed and other as yet unnamed weeds continued to spring from the dried bed of foxtails left behind after the spring rains. Now, with all this land, that is a heck of a lot to mow! At the suggestion of Adam, our fantastic realestate guy (who made out like a bandit courtesy of us this summer) we are borrowing some goats to do the "organic weed n' feed". That's right, those things can turn the most invasive weed into fertilizer. I'm pretty stoked! The kids' strings teacher is letting us borrow a momma goat, Starlight, and her two kids. Actually, she'd like us to keep the little boys, but Michael insists that every animal on the farm has to be a working animal. So, he says if we keep them, we eat them. I am not quite there yet. Plus that was not the arrangement I had with Shelley when I loaded those goats into the back of the minivan. So, when they are done weeding the backyard, they will go back home to Forest Ranch.

And because we have all this land and enthusiasm for varmints, we took one of our contractors up on his offer of some chickens. Last Thursday evening Michael and I drove up to Los Molinos and wrangled five hens and a rooster. I was so stoked to wake up Friday morning to the "cockadoodledoo" Mr. Johnson (so dubbed by Michael) and the bleating of the goats. I felt like I was on a real farm. Quiche or pound cake anyone? We've got some eggs!

Of course all these rascally animals led to the necessity of a fence. I couldn't believe how fast we were going through the chicken food. Turns out those goats were having a feast. Carb addicts! So, while are cabinets were being installed in the kitchen the other day, Michael and I were fencing off the future orchard/poultry/bee zone in the back forty. Dang! It was hot out there.

And even without the garden of my own (yet!), we have been receiving gifts of fresh veggies from our neighbors and friends. I have a whole basket of tomatoes and basil and squash that are just begging to be sauced at this point (now that I have a kitchen!) And some friends called us last night and popped over with some freshly harvested raw honey from their backyard hive. How lucky are we??!

Okay, as soon as I discover in which box our camera lies, I will snap off some pix of the poultry flock (9 hens and a rooster) as well as those crazy goats. Plus, I'm hoping to put up some "before and after" pix of the parts of the house.

Love from Rancho Wilhelm ... come visit!