They Messed Up My Mojo

Well, it has been a LONG time since I have done a blog update, so I have a lot of catching up to do. This is what I would call the storm before the calm. The kitchen cabinets are all torn apart for refinishing, and primed ready to go. This was a couple of steps before the "last laugh" for laminate post below. I don't miss having the kitchen torn apart, or the dust, and dirt.

Sadly, we would not use the company that did our refinishing again. Too much mess--at least as much as replacement cabinets. The only real benefit was cost.

Issue 1: They brought their 10 year old daughter AND her friend to our house with them. This creates a liability issue for us. We have a 12 foot deep pond at our house and rescue horses. We can't be responsible for someones child that is just hanging around while they are working. Joel likes to have on Sports Center during the day. The unexpected guest child wanted to watch Disney--Disney it was.

Issue 2: LOUD LOUD, did I say LOUD preachers. I work for a company that owns a radio station in Mississippi that makes a living off of Southern Gospel Preachers, but I don't want to walk in the house to hear that blaring, and scaring the dogs. It makes it worse when it is not turned down when you get home, and they just EXPECT you to be ok with it.

Issue 3: Not done on schedule. Before our final trim was done they had to go on vacation. Then, since our last few pieces were small a bunch of other jobs got in the way. 2 months later we finally got our last cabinet door and trim back, but not before things got awful in email.

Issue 4: Quality of work. We had to fix several things that should have been done during the job. The Lazy Susan ended up out of balance, a pull out drawer was out of track. Primer ended up places it shouldn't be--like on my new appliances and our newly refinished hardwood floors.

So, if that is not enough, I'm sure there were more issues. Thankfully the kitchen looks good now, but MojoFaux really messed up my Mojo.

An Apple A Day

The orchard is flourishing, and we will have lots of fruit for later this summer - homemade fresh apple pie, and canning is in the future.


The Garden is hit or miss, but is doing ok for a first year here.

We have an apple tree:




A pear tree:



Zucchini:




Corn:



Along with Cherries, Beans, Okra, Tomatoes and a few other things. My peppers have been poor performers this year, and the lettuce has bolted to seed with the hot Spring we had.

Last Laugh For Laminate

The oak edged Laminate countertops are having their final hurrah. Moments after the taking of this photo they met their new nemesis--crowbar and circular saw, and were removed from their life of leisure in the kitchen. They have now been replaced with gleaming granite. (Photos coming soon!)

Victory Shall Be Mine

Victory over the Algae, that is. We now have a healthy sparkling pond, that is truly a joy to sit by and relax. We have at least 6 turtles currently calling the pond home, along with Mrs. Mallard and her 4 ducklings, and countless frogs who make noises that make us laugh.

107 Passengers In A Mini

Continuing our pond cleanup efforts, we loaded up the Mini with a bunch of workers to help keep the algae at bay....105 to be exact, plus me and Joel.

Yes--it was Fish Day at the Co-Op, and we brought home 50 catfish, 50 Bluegill and 5 Triploid Grass Carp. In the fall, we will pick up 25 Bass, and our pond will be completely re-stocked.

I found it extremely difficult to photograph bagged fish, so to explain, the Bluegill and Catfish are sharing a bag--they are each between 2 to 2.5" long.

The 5 Triploid Grass Carp are in their own bag. They are already 6 to 8" long. They all seemed happy to be released into the pond, and on to their new life.

Bonus--the pond surface is COMPLETELY clear now.

Oh Gee

We have been working with Douglas on understanding the word Algae---he calls it Oh Gee, but we can understand why. When the beautiful pond gets overtaken with a thick coat of stinky slimy green stuff, it's hard not to look at it without saying "Oh gee, what now?"

The what now has been long and involved. First 4 Gallons of Non-Toxic Blue Colorant. It doesn't hurt the fish, but it makes it harder for the green stuff to photo-synthesize.

Then 2 Gallons of Water Soluble Copper which is a fish safe herbicide.

Then and electrician to run electric to the pond so we can hook up the pond fountain. That takes us to these photos, where a good portion of the Algae is already gone....




So, we let the pond run for about a week, change the head out to one that creates a greater oxygenation level in the water, and add 2 more gallons of water soluble copper. As you can see, this brought us back to having far more clean water surface than algae surface:

Out with the Old

And in with the new. The old appliances are being taken out, and the new are currently in the garage. We posted an ad offering this old wall oven free on Craigslist, and in less than 5 minutes had 5 people that wanted it. This one now lives with someone in Springfield. Our ovens, and other appliances get installed Monday. We will finally have a microwave that pops popcorn correctly again. I have missed that!

Light always follows the path of the beautiful.

The track lighting in the kitchen is gone! Track one has been re-fished to allow the install of these two gorgeous pendants. Track 2 and 3 will be revealed on Memorial Day. (They aren't done yet...)

An Entry Worth Blogging

The original front door was nice. I really liked it. However, it was truly an antique door that had been reclaimed for the house. This is a practice I am normally a HUGE fan of. The problem was the door did not properly fit the frame, and no amount of weather stripping was going to fix it.

Every time it rained, our foyer was getting a shower, so we were having to keep a towel on the floor by the door. After a few attempts at solving the problem, we just decided to get a brand new door that we loved. The old front door will go down in the garage where it won't get hit directly with rain, and if a little seeps in, it won't matter because it is just the garage.

Fountain of Yutes

We put in a courtyard fountain! Love the sound, though every time Joel opens the front door it sounds like it is raining. The fountain is very nice though. It's another first that we are really enjoying.

The pump that came with the fountain was, unfortunately, not strong enough, so we bought another one from Tractor Supply, and now it is working fabulously. Before, it just had a pathetic little trickle, and we almost returned it.

Mulch and Shrubs

Spring has fully sprung, and Joel has been busy landscaping to get the house back to looking grand. I put in the landscape fabric, shrubs are in, and now it is mulch time. This is transformational.

Water is the driving force of all nature.

And we had it coming in droves. The CPVC piping which goes to the barn water spicket was split about 6 feet long, so when we turned the water on to the barn, it was more of a shower.

Thankfully, Joel and I both can moonlight as Amateur plumbers, so $15 in parts and an hour of work later, we have the whole line replaced and working great. The spicket in the pasture is also now working, but we do not know why the two in the horse wash stalls don't have anything going on. It is like they are on a separate shut-off, or were just disconnected at some point down the line. Doesn't make a lot of sense, but we had to call it a day today on our plumbing escapades.

Productive Produce

The garden is growing, and starting to produce little by little. Yesterday I was able to eat the first pole bean right off the vine, and we gave a couple of baby hungarian hot wax peppers to Poncho and Jesus. The apple tree and pear tree are LOADED with little baby fruits.

This weekend I hope to till the last two garden beds to get the winter squash and watermelons planted. Everything else is in the ground and growing away. I'll do the first neem oil spray of the year to make sure we don't get a pest problem as well.

All the corn is sprouted, the lettuce is going gangbusters. Our broccoli and Cauliflower are looking spectaculer, and the first sprouts of baby carrot foliage are peaking up. The potatoes are also all vining above ground now.

This Spring rain has set everything off on the right foot for a bountiful harvest, and we should have bushels of organic produce---enough to put away for winter, and share with friends.

Freedom!

Charlie and Lady's first off leash adventure in their new yard. Lots of sniffing, mole hunting, and exploration to be done!

Let the Light Shine In

Our new back doors are in! We ordered doors to match the merchandise return one we had for the Living Room that we got from Lowes. The ones we had to pay full price for were pricey, to say the least, but they are gorgeous, and allow so much natural light in. It makes the rooms feel bigger, and really brightens everything in the morning.

The old steel doors will be re-purposed down to the barn, where the wooden door on the feed room and tack rooms are rotted. The old doors will be perfect for that use.

Safety First

We have installed about 600 feet of fencing so far to make a nice side yard for Charlie and Lady to be able to play safely. It's a great area--mix of lawn, high grass, sun and shade--everything they love to romp around it. We started with three rail horse fencing, which both of them can climb through, so to make it truly safe we had to add on 36" tall welded wire.

We get the wire in 100' rolls from Tractor Supply Company, which is pretty economical, and we really like Tractor Supply. It's always fun going shopping there. Especially in early Spring when they have baby chicks and ducks.

To The Rescue!

Joel and I have contacted Volunteer Equine Advocates about donating our pasture for rescue horses. They came out to the house this week, and were really happy with the offer. We have a few things that need to be done, but by this time next month, we should have our first rescue horses staying with us.

One of the things we need to do is replace the fence line that separates the yard from the pasture. The old one was badly installed and dilapidated, and Joel wanted to change the location of it, so we just removed it entirely. The new fence will probably be up next week.

We also finally tried to turn the water and power on to the barn to no avail. There is a broken pipe in the barn--seems to be within my skill level to repair, but the power is another story. The mains have been pulled from the breaker box in the barn, so it is not connected, which also makes the power to the riding arena dead. We need to get an electrician out to get that fixed. One more unexpected hiccup. Hopefully someone will give us a good price on the repair since it is for the horse rescue.

Dallin is 10!

I can't give props to one nephew without acknowledging his fabulous little brother. Dallin is 10! Hooray! Can't wait to hopefully see both of them (and my sister) this Summer.

Bad Boy

We went out shopping this week, and got Joel a new toy. It is a 60" Bad Boy Mower and it mows at 7 miles an hour---which feels a little too fast, actually, but it will allow him to cut the acreage in about 3 hours instead of 3 days.



The garden is also now completely planted, and I have identified the fruit trees. Three of them are Apples, though only 2 have fruit. 1 is a Pear (I hate pears...yuck)and it is LOADED with fruit. The last one is a Plum, and it has no fruit. I think it may need a cross-polinator. I want to add some peaches, nectarines, and another plum. I'm really happy to have 2 mature apple trees though. Nothing better in late summer than apple pie ala mode with homemade ice cream and apples straight from the tree.

Last, but not least, the lighting for the kitchen came in. I am going to try to install a couple of them tomorrow, but not sure if we will have time.

Mojo Faux

Ande from Mojo Faux just left, and we have picked out our cabinet finishes. We should have our quote tomorrow. This is the photo for what I will call our "inspiration room".

It would be nice if our kitchen was actually this big, but we can at least go for the basics of the look. It will be really nice when it is done.

Stairway to Heaven

We do hope our guest rooms will be heavenly..they are still a work in progress right now. But, the stairs are another big step closer to completion. The old rough wood that was under the carpet is all gone, and the new stain grade oak treads and risers are mostly finished. Poncho and Jesus are doing this project, and should finish it up early this week. The stairs will be finished when we have a floor company come back to do the kitchen.

Table for Two

The brass and glass light over our dinette is gone! Once I took it down, Joel took it straight out to the roll off to be hauled away. Trust me, no one wanted that light! We installed the new one, as well as the light in the foyer, so we are 2 lights closer to completion (every little bit helps!!!)

They Foyer light was really easy to install. The one in the dinette, not so much--the glass is all glazed with sand on the inside, so it scrapes up your hands putting it together, and is very very heavy. However, it looks fabulous, and it is done.

Off The Beaten Track

We have found our replacement for the old white track lighting in the kitchen. Over the island, we will have a gorgeous island light, 2 small pendants over the peninsula, and an inverted bowl over the Viking cooktop. All are ordered, and should be here on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the nice people from Mojo Faux will be coming by to quote out our kitchen so we can decide if we want to refinish the cabinets instead of replacing them. I'm working on putting together some photos and ideas that I like to help explain what we want done, but their studio was fantastic, so we feel really confident about this approach.

Wheelz.....

This post actually has nothing to do with the house, just sharing another new development. My Honda Fit has turned into a radio station vehicle, and relocated to Virginia. You would hardly even recognize my little scooter bug anymore, but she makes a gorgeous radio car. She has pep and personality.




With my car off to a new calling, it was time for me to find a new set of wheels. After a lot of exploration, I chose a 2011 Mini Cooper Countryman S. I love it!