From Trash to Treasure: Teak Bench Edition

It's no secret that our neighbor Kate and I like to find "treasures" in people's garbage and this teak bench was a major score! When we found it it was in bad shape...unstable and in desperate need of teak oil. Dave fixed the wood and Kiera and I sanded and oiled it. It now has a second life at the farm near the She Shed! 

As the girls worked on the bench, Dave stained the beams

Strong legs...always up and down a ladder!

 While we were at the farm this weekend, we picked these beauties! 

Bait Shack

We're getting a new outbuilding at the farm! Dave has dubbed it "The Bait Shack" and we plan to store the kayak, paddle boat and fishing poles.  Dave found the inspiration for the shack on a job site. We had unseasonably warm weather so Dave put on shorts and got right to work on the foundation.  The following weekend, Jacob, our carpenter friend did the framing.

Here's the inspiration pic...

Bird House

Dave was working on a project that involved cutting a hole in a piece of wood. He gave Kiera the wood to color on and she was upset that the wood wasn't "square" so she could "build" too. Being the fabulous dad he is, Dave went out the next day and bought a bird house kit for Kiera. They assembled the kit this afternoon. Kiera enjoyed hammering and (over)gluing. Tomorrow they are going to paint it.

How to Make Monster Slime

We had fun making monster slime! Here's how we did it...

Dissolve 1 tsp. Borax in 1 cup of warm water. Stir until mixed. Set aside.

 In a separate bowl, mix a 4 oz. bottle of Elmer's Glue and 1/2 cup of water.

 Add 5 or so drops of food coloring, stir well.

 Add Borax and water mixture to the glue and water mixture.

Knead with your hands.

Pour out excess water.

 Remove slime from bowl and put on a flat surface, 

like a cutting board (for easy clean up!) 

Keep on kneading.

 Stretch a little, knead a little more.

 Roll it into a ball. Do whatever it takes to "firm up" the slime.

 Act silly when your mom asks you to hold up your slime.

 Make your mom happy and give her a nice smile.

Enjoy your monster slime!

Moving into the Kitchen

We're glad to be moving from our makeshift
kitchen in the laundry room......to the real thing upstairs. Dave hooked up the plumbing today and we made our first dinner in the new kitchen. Everything is put away though I'm sure we'll be organizing, adding and rearranging for some time to come. I'll be sure to add pictures of the new additions (backsplash, hardware, etc.) as we get them!

Countertops

Call us crazy, but we opted for granite and marble countertops
over our previous white and gold fleck ones!

The kitchen is still far from complete; we still need...to fix the soffit above the fridge, a back splash, cabinet hardware, glass for the cabinets, kitchen rugs, kitchen towels and a spot to hang them, a painted chalkboard, a spot for our keys, a final coat of paint on the walls, a new plant or two, to remove the old outlets, a new shade for the pendant light (perhaps purple?), we need to get Momma Kette's coffee house painting framed, Dave needs to hook up the oven and garbage disposal, and Dave needs to rehang the t.v. (his pride and joy!) I'll be sure to post more pictures as more of the details fall into place!

Cabinets

Someone pinch me...I didn't think this day would ever come...new cabinets! No more plywood cabinets, no more having to wash the pans from the bottom cupboards before I use them and no more using a screwdriver/knife/whatever-is-handy to open the drawers with the low hardware that we had to remove for Kiera's sake. There is a lot more to do...hardware, caulking, and correcting a few boo-boos, but here are some pics!

My handsome model

Now we just need to hurry up and get the counter tops! Anyone know of an overnight granite fabricator/installer? And I'm just realizing that I didn't take any pics of the peninsula or the desk...more later, off to school I go!

Flooring

Dave and Mark are hard at work on the kitchen floor (good thing since the cabinets come tomorrow!) To quote McDonald's..."I'm LOVIN' it!"

Dave's famous "kneeling/criss-cross/sitting" pose

The picture doesn't really do this justice! The floor is done under the fridge, it's just on a towel and plywood to keep from scratching the floor. The perimeter around the back and right wall are where the cabinets will be, hence no bamboo flooring, only plywood (and tool storage for the time being).

New Soffit

We are finally and slowly and inexpensively remodeling the kitchen. While we would like all new cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling, we have decided to keep the current soffit. This way, we only have to order 3 new cabinets and new cabinet and drawer fronts for Dave to paint. Because we moved the refrigerator to make room for the island, we needed to build a new soffit above the fridge. As you can see, it was made with love (I don't know how Dave is so patient with her, she always wants to help!) and it is strong!

Kiera helping daddy measure

Wood frame for the new soffit

Another look

See how well it's built?