It's a Butter Firkin Birthday!
It's been exactly a week and a day since we moved in and the Butter Firkin is really starting to feel like home (even if there are projects that need to be done all the time). Finn has had a sleep over and I got to celebrate my birthday.
It's been exactly a week and a day since we moved in and the Butter Firkin is really starting to feel like home (even if there are projects that need to be done all the time). Finn has had a sleep over and I got to celebrate my birthday.
I wish I could tell the newer readers who don't know me so well that I am not usually this over the top...but this cake kind of embodies my personality. The unicorns are kind of a new thing...they are fun...and magical...and when you get yourself in deep with a place like this you kind of have to believe in magic. So, I am embracing the unicorns this year.
I wish I could tell the newer readers who don't know me so well that I am not usually this over the top...but this cake kind of embodies my personality. The unicorns are kind of a new thing...they are fun...and magical...and when you get yourself in deep with a place like this you kind of have to believe in magic. So, I am embracing the unicorns this year.
And look! The kitchen is really starting to look like a warm, homey, kitchen. Still working on finding doors (as you can see, there is just a gaping opening down to the basement...).
And look! The kitchen is really starting to look like a warm, homey, kitchen. Still working on finding doors (as you can see, there is just a gaping opening down to the basement...).
For my birthday I wanted to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. So, some friends decided to bring the party to the firkin. This motivated me to make it shine a little, despite the cold I was fighting all week.
For my birthday I wanted to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. So, some friends decided to bring the party to the firkin. This motivated me to make it shine a little, despite the cold I was fighting all week.
The living room is coming together, but what is important to notice is THE SCONCE. You have no idea how hard it is to find a decent sconce these days. You think I am joking. I am not.
The living room is coming together, but what is important to notice is THE SCONCE. You have no idea how hard it is to find a decent sconce these days. You think I am joking. I am not.
These kitties were late to the party, but always know how to let everyone know who the most important guests are.
These kitties were late to the party, but always know how to let everyone know who the most important guests are.
Beautiful birthday mums from my dear friend Karen. They brighten up the porch...which is about to get real bright as the painters are due this week! I'd like to end this section of the post with, I ended the summer, literally with swimming in the pond with the boys - which was such a joy. And I got to feed friends and laugh till I cried in our dining room. So, when you see the things you are about to see, scroll back up to the following picture and remember that I am, in fact, truly happy.
Beautiful birthday mums from my dear friend Karen. They brighten up the porch...which is about to get real bright as the painters are due this week! I'd like to end this section of the post with, I ended the summer, literally with swimming in the pond with the boys - which was such a joy. And I got to feed friends and laugh till I cried in our dining room. So, when you see the things you are about to see, scroll back up to the following picture and remember that I am, in fact, truly happy.
But what's REALLY happening at the Firkin now? Enough with all this sappy happiness!
But what's REALLY happening at the Firkin now? Enough with all this sappy happiness!
Okay, brace yourself. I made a little YouTube video of what it's like to walk up the stairs, down the master suite hallway, look in the bathroom, and then into the hallway. There's a short clip of the bulldozer doing it's work at the end - something horrible happens and the only way to find out what that is, is to watch the video. For those of you who do not want to watch the YouTube video, I will put photos below of the highlights.
Okay, brace yourself. I made a little YouTube video of what it's like to walk up the stairs, down the master suite hallway, look in the bathroom, and then into the hallway. There's a short clip of the bulldozer doing it's work at the end - something horrible happens and the only way to find out what that is, is to watch the video. For those of you who do not want to watch the YouTube video, I will put photos below of the highlights.
The Hallway to the Master Suite....deceiving...
The main room - also deceptively charming - but does give you the sense that this will be a lovely room one day.
But then you turn around and enter the amazingly large, but unbelievably devastatingly destroyed closet.
SO. MUCH. MOLD.
TOTAL DEMO - no start or completion dates have been discussed with the contractor, so don't ask, it makes me, what some people would call "pissy."
This looks pretty bad, right? Guess what? I'm over it. After cleaning the amount of mold I cleaned this summer...I totally know I can't clean this and I am so glad we decided to gut this room completely. So, not worried. Not stressed. Do I wish they were working on it right now, at 9:32 pm, Sunday? Yes, yes I do. But I am a realist now. And I know it will likely be Thanksgiving before I get to wake up and look out of those really nice windows onto my beautifully bull dozed backyard. Remember that? Yeah...I have a beautiful forest to lose my mind in....(also, I apologize if I have already posted about this bedroom - I haven't had time to go back and read all the posts...so...yeah...sorry if this was anti-climactic. But if anything, now you know we still haven't fixed this room.)
This looks pretty bad, right? Guess what? I'm over it. After cleaning the amount of mold I cleaned this summer...I totally know I can't clean this and I am so glad we decided to gut this room completely. So, not worried. Not stressed. Do I wish they were working on it right now, at 9:32 pm, Sunday? Yes, yes I do. But I am a realist now. And I know it will likely be Thanksgiving before I get to wake up and look out of those really nice windows onto my beautifully bull dozed backyard. Remember that? Yeah...I have a beautiful forest to lose my mind in....(also, I apologize if I have already posted about this bedroom - I haven't had time to go back and read all the posts...so...yeah...sorry if this was anti-climactic. But if anything, now you know we still haven't fixed this room.)
Interested in other ways to lose your mind? Cabinets. Cabinets will make you lose your mind. I thought Bill would love these great little, simple black knobs. They contrast the white, they will go really nice with the dark, grayish oak flooring I picked out for the kitchen...but no. I can tell he doesn't love it.
Interested in other ways to lose your mind? Cabinets. Cabinets will make you lose your mind. I thought Bill would love these great little, simple black knobs. They contrast the white, they will go really nice with the dark, grayish oak flooring I picked out for the kitchen...but no. I can tell he doesn't love it.
And now there's the problem of hinges. OH MY LORD. Had I known hinges - JUST ONE - could cost SEVENTEEN DOLLARS A PIECE (sorry for all the caps, but c'mon $17???) I probably would not have started this mega project of painting and doing all this nonsense myself. It took Bill over a month to choose a wall sconce. These hinges are going to be a problem. Black will stand out, if we choose another color then we will "have too much going on." I totally get all of these things. They are all 100% valid...and yet...I just want to put the damn doors back on...especially the 4 that are painted ...especially especially the 2 that are painted AND have knobs.
And now there's the problem of hinges. OH MY LORD. Had I known hinges - JUST ONE - could cost SEVENTEEN DOLLARS A PIECE (sorry for all the caps, but c'mon $17???) I probably would not have started this mega project of painting and doing all this nonsense myself. It took Bill over a month to choose a wall sconce. These hinges are going to be a problem. Black will stand out, if we choose another color then we will "have too much going on." I totally get all of these things. They are all 100% valid...and yet...I just want to put the damn doors back on...especially the 4 that are painted ...especially especially the 2 that are painted AND have knobs.
Practical me wants to put the old ones back on, but a lot of them are rusty beyond use...so I have to give into this crazy world of home renovation and spend bucco bucks on flipping hinges!!! Well, Firkin Friends, what do you think about the black knobs? Don't sugar coat it. It's okay. I'll be 44 on Monday, and that's a pretty grown up age, so I can take it.
Practical me wants to put the old ones back on, but a lot of them are rusty beyond use...so I have to give into this crazy world of home renovation and spend bucco bucks on flipping hinges!!! Well, Firkin Friends, what do you think about the black knobs? Don't sugar coat it. It's okay. I'll be 44 on Monday, and that's a pretty grown up age, so I can take it.
So, for now, we are finding places to unpack and store things while the unusable rooms (Adirondack, mud/laundry room/ master bedroom) are getting worked on. One day I will go back to painting the walls - I still have to finish the cabinets. It gets a lot harder to finish projects once school starts...oof. But, for now, that's where we are at. Thanks, as always for reading and following along.
So, for now, we are finding places to unpack and store things while the unusable rooms (Adirondack, mud/laundry room/ master bedroom) are getting worked on. One day I will go back to painting the walls - I still have to finish the cabinets. It gets a lot harder to finish projects once school starts...oof. But, for now, that's where we are at. Thanks, as always for reading and following along.