New Kitchen.

I have not posted many photos of the new house since we have moved in. I really want to post shots - but I have been too busy to take the time to even take any photos. This post is mainly for my mom and sister in Nashville - who have been asking me to show the new kitchen - with the new window. I have one photo - here which shows the new window and the wonderful cabinets below.

I really love it! The ceiling is still '"in work" and the dishwasher panel is not in yet - and the bamboo floors are still in the barn - but it doesn't matter. Cooking here is a pleasure - I feel like I'm outside with the wonderful views.

I have added the old kitchen - taken in the late 50's to show the difference. We have really opened up the back wall - and moved the oven and refrigerator to a wall location - so the window would not be blocked. I will continue to add photos as we continue to progress.

I miss bloggin'.

I can't say enough how much I enjoy communicating via blogging. It is great - I love all of my "everyday" blogs that I visit. It has been so hard these past few weeks with the new job and the new house and the new schools -( can you believe the amount of paperwork that comes home every week - day? - Oh the school communications should be a whole discussion in itself. I write more checks (all be them small) to my children's schools than I write to my regular expenses!)
I have been completely swamped. So I thought I would put up a few photos of actual fun we have been having a Camp Graeff.

1st - F found a monarch butterfly caterpillar a couple of weeks ago. Into the terrarium he went - with milkweed (favorite food) and some water. He was crawling around for a couple of days - and then it seemed as if he was lost. The kids were quite upset - until we looked in the top of the terrarium (old fish tank) and saw a beautiful bright green chrysalis hanging from the smallest cord from the top. It was a miracle. The children then watched it's progress. 9 days later the skin of the chrysalis was very dark - then turned clear - so you could see the butterfly all tightly wrapped up. He came out of the sack yesterday and began filling his wings with fluid.

At this point we found out that He was a She (you can tell in the photo that her veining is quite large and there are no large black spots on the wings that males have.)

So even though I have been in my little world of "crazy" - the peeps are having fun; growing butterflies, hanging from vines, playing in the new hammock and witnessing rainbows.





It's all good.

Just for Fun.

Ok - so I didn't actually get this lovely group into a real Treasury - Rats!

I have tried, sort of, but I seem to calculate the time both the regular Treasury and Treasury West would become available incorrectly(......for days). I had hoped to show off these things and images as a nod to the year(s) my new house was built. Don't all of these look nice together? I will list the Etsy Shops below - so if you do like something you can see it yourself.

Have a great day!

Vintagedame - Plastic divided lunch plates
VintageButterfly94 - Pink Aqua Pottery Carafe 1957
Randomretro - 1957 Dutch Farm Tea Towel
Surrenderdorothy -Green Goddess Vintage Sewing Machiene - 1958and Be Prepared. American Red Cross First Aid Handbook circa 1957
Waltercurlee - 1957 DeSoto Fireflight Photo
Ohsewcharming - 1957 Simplicity Sewing Pattern Vintage 2195 Blouse Size 20 Complete
Mybirdwalks -vintage swimmers
Tigerlux -Bell and Howell Two Twenty 8mm Movie Camera
BBsvintage - Vintage Pattern - Blouse - Size 12 B
3
Jessjamesjake - Rare 1958 Golden Hearts Pyrex
deadbirdfinds- SALE Fifties Vintage Reader

Camp Graeff.

In the spirit of our move to the New House, I have produced a series of towels. Camp Graeff is a bit tongue in cheek - as we will be moving into a structure more like a camp site than a true functioning home. I don't mind - and am excited to finally get in. You see, we must be there for the start of school - as we cannot commute from the old house.

So inspiration is born - and I am going to love having these as a memory of this time in our lives. Just like camping - it is a bit of an adventure - and we can't wait!

I think I may post these in my Etsy shop- maybe others enjoy thinking about living in a campsite too!

See You Monday.

Hi Just a quick note to say I am on my way to the beach for a few days... Looking forward to a bit of relaxation time - as my arms ache from painting the ceilings at the new house!

So, have a great week and I'll be back Monday!

Am I green?

Not much crafty to post as I have been spending much of my free time sourcing stuff for the new house. Renovations are moving along well but slowly. We have had to replace more framing that we thought due to most sill- plates ( the very bottom of the wall) being rotten with bug/ rodent infestation (yuck!). Also finding that many of the electric switches and receptacles are not functioning, more replacement of plumbing needed yadda , yadda.....

And then there is the task of making decisions.
I have never really considered myself to be very "green", but as we have been looking to pick finishes and fixtures and systems for the house (from where I never want to move), we have really found some great options that make sense for us and the environment. I hope this is not too boring - I have been so interested in all of the great options out there I thought I would show you what we have decided to use/ do ... so far.

Current Choices:

1. In-floor heating. The house has a slab on grade foundation and floor. This means no basement for any type of storage. It also means that it is a great candidate for in-floor heating. Usually people put tubing down and then pour a layer of concrete on top. I really want bamboo hardwood floors ( yea it has all arrived!)- so we found an alternative that is really great and allows us to layer our new Bamboo flooring on top of the heating tubes using Roth Panels- with even more heat efficiency as the concrete method. (Plus it will save our back and joints from the stress of walking on concrete every day). The real benefits to an in-floor heating system are it saves money and fuel by allowing the "water" in the tubes to be heated at a lower temperature ( about 80 deg.) rather than in radiators (120 deg.).


2. LED retrofit bulbs. This is really cutting edge technology and here is a link to more information. At this point the best option for using LED is purchasing the bulbs and using them in your existing recessed fixtures (can be used in low voltage fixtures y-lighting carries them on-line). I'm sure that in a couple of years there will be recessed fixtures on the market for residential applications - but not yet - alas. LED has a very white light and uses even less energy than the compact fluorescents. I do use fluorescents now but mine cannot be dimmed, LED can, - and I'm not a huge fan of the light fluorescents give off. The LED bulbs last upwards of 15 years - so less in the landfill as well. Learn more from one manufacturer here.


3. Two flush toilet. If anyone has visited overseas - you probably used toilets that have a #1 or #2 flush option. This toilet from Toto (the Aquia) allows you to choose how much water you really need to flush... so you do not use so much when it is not necessary. The little split button is cool looking too!


Long Term Goals:

1. Upgrading all glass to insulated glass. This is a truly large undertaking in this house as most exterior walls are glass - 1400 square feet of it - and it all needs to be replaced. When the house was built they installed plate glass (5' x 8' sheets all in a line around the whole structure and one huge window at 10' x 14' in the center. We are replacing some at this point ( very few) . I have found a temporary solution - by using this material from the Warm Company I will make huge "curtains" that will run on tracks. They will be closed when the sun goes down and magneted to the window frame, on the inside, making things very cozy. My dad joked that we will be living in a giant oven mitt! I don't mind as I think it will really help with the fuel bills this winter.

2. Our biggest future goal is to install a geothermal heating and cooling system. Here is a link explaining how we can get energy from the earth for free. The system for our new house would probably cost about $20,000. When you consider the cost of heating oil for the winter in the North East , however, it really pays for itself in a few years. This cost though, plus the fact that the windows need to be upgraded first to really make the system work, has made us table this biggest and most important project for at least a year (hopefully).

So here I am tonight, looking for recycled glass tiles for the bathroom - and wondering where solar panels would fit....

I'm feeling greener already!

Poison Ivy - 2; Graeff's - 0.

I was doing something this past holiday weekend. No - not at the shore, or camping, or chilling; I spent two whole days - clearing. It was actually pretty fun because we purchased a super-charged weed wacker to try to tackle the wildlands that surround our new house. The grass was waist high - and the underbrush - formitable. I am a novice with this type of foe - my previous yard was fairly tame. M hit the grass - mowing - for 5 hours straight. I took on the edges. The moisture in those weeds was flying everywhere - I won eventually - and could see the fence. The rest of the time was spent moving the 15 bush carcasses that we cut down last month to a better location - so M could mow the backyard too.

I though all was well - until Tuesday.

Wow - how uncomfortable is this! I have gotten Poison Ivy before - but I seem to have blocked out the torture. M has it even worse - poor guy. I had to purchase a whole new bottle of Calamine Lotion - and it really doesn't do the job like I wish it would.

This situation wouldn't be bad really - except that we have so much Poison at the new house - the vines are two inches thick up about 15 trees in the backyard and more along the fence. When I first saw it I really didn't think it COULD be poison - it was just so BIG. Oh well... we will look back on this and laugh... right?

(photo above: Poison Ivy - in case you aren't familiar.)

Another look.

What a great weekend off! Breakfast in bed - and cleaning out gutters at the new house. Who could ask for more? I hope all of the mothers out there had a day just doing what they enjoy!

So, not too much in the way of inspirational or busy pictures. I thought another image of the kitchen of our new house – when it was truly new (circa 1959) – would be interesting to share. Don’t you love the juxtaposition of the “modern” architecture with the original appliances? It’s all relative.

(oh - and look at the very right edge of the pic. - Ironing board in use!!)

A Piece of Time.

I just had to share these two photos taken in the early 60’s of our new house in it’s former life. It is so interesting to see how the forest around the house has grown up so much in the past 1/2 century. I just love the living room – complete with baby bassinet. These pictures were sent to us by the architect’s daughter. We were so lucky to have found her! These glimpses into the past are priceless – and help us to see how the house can be revived. More to come.