Married to a Carpenter

This year, as one of our winter projects, we decided to tackle the downstairs bath. We had torn it out when we first moved in three years ago, and it has stood abandoned ever since. This was for a couple of reasons- first, we could never agree on what this bathroom should look like- or should it even be a bathroom? And secondly, with so many other projects on our list, it simply was never high enough on the ladder to warrant tackling it.

And so, for the better part of three years, the door to this room has stood closed. It is directly off the kitchen, and looked more like a back door- a way to a patio of some sort- than a bathroom door, and hence, we were rarely ever asked about the room. But this was the year we were to reclaim this room. Besides the obvious benefits of the extra bathroom, there are other reasons I am excited to have a bathroom on the first floor. First, we garden so much in the summer, that a room to wash up in straight "out of the dirt" will be fantastic. No more muddy footprints through the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hallway. Secondly, as we get set to "train" yet another young boy, I am left thinking of convenience and accessibility.

So, we set out to plan this little project of ours. When we had the layout figured- one that included a shower, toilet, and sink, we started to look at dimensions.

Do you know how difficult it can be to plan those three fixtures in a room with two doors, surrounded on all walls with windows past mid-point, and only 6ft by 6ft? It's...challenging. One of our biggest obstacles was the sizes of sinks. Even if we went with a pedestal sink, we were looking at a 25 inch depth, which we didn't really have room for. After many searches on the Internet, we started thinking outside the box. We came across this picture of an old-time wash stand. I loved it's charm, but knew we needed something with running water. It was on Ebay, and I asked Phil if he could modify it, but he was less than pleased with that idea. But it got us thinking- could we make a sink? So, we set out to do just that. We planned an early morning trip to a number of stores- starting with Target, where we bought this bowl. At Lowes, we picked up this tile hole saw for $13 and some drain parts.

We realized after we were home that we only bought one bowl. If it happened to crack or break, we were sunk. We also only bought one of the hole saws. Again, if it wore out, broke, etc, we would be facing another trip into town. But it went swimmingly. But, if I were to do this again, I would have doubled up on supplies. Once we had the bowl and the drain complete, we discussed what the finished product would look like. And here you can see why one of us is a carpenter, and the other one is clearly not. I drew the top picture, and showed it to Phil, explaining my idea and the parts to it. Then he looked at me quizzically, drew the bottom 4 illustrations, and said "I was thinking more like this." Also, let it be on the record, his drawings took as long as mine. So. Sad.

And then, the neat part comes- where he turns that drawing into furniture!
Here is the finished product- minus the drains and faucets (which will come at the next stage of progress). But, I think it turned out pretty well, and it fits our space!

The Pace of Peace

It all started with a mishap. I suppose that's how most of my stories start- as when things go along quite swimmingly, there is nothing too surprising to report. That old pipe under frozen ground, stretched between house and well, broke- burst-cracked, or in some way, shape, or form, ceased to work.
In America, we don't often have the pleasure of being so thankful for something as basic as running water. I have been given this gift many times here on the farm. And let me tell you, I am thankful, thankful, thankful for that warm (or cold) stream of water that so effortlessly pours from my faucets. But I digress...
This, ironically, was not the mishap. When the last of frost had melted away and the ground was crumbly instead of clumpy (as the farmers put it, well, I don't know if that's how farmers put it, but we'll pretend for the tale's sake), we rented a trenching machine. The behemoth came with its own trailer and should have come with it's own set of earmuffs. When properly positioned, it plowed into the rich earth; way down, 48 inches, to be exact. It clipped along at a steady pace, snaking across the yard to the well. I held my breath watching the machine chug chug chug along, knowing at any minute it could run into the old water line, the sewer main, any number of unknown buried objects (a farmstead has many stories to tell under that layer of soil).
We kept Ryan and David far from the large, loud and dangerous machine. They watched eagerly from the window, fascinated by it. When Phil came in half way through, he was weary, worn, and dirty. While he ate a sandwich, we ventured out to survey the progress. With a tape measure, we realized that while the machine's violent grabbing and throwing was creating a trench, (a feat in itself in such clay-like, heavy soil) it was also throwing a foot of earth back into the hole. That foot of soil was not to be trifled with- it would have to be removed somehow so the pipe could be pushed firmly down 4 feet below ground level. The frost-line can reach over three feet here some years, and we didn't want to chance being in this situation again.
It's funny the things that make us slow down, appreciate life a bit more. Because at this point, we didn't stop- we didn't figure out how to fix the refilling issue. Hurry hurry hurry get it done before the weekend's over, there is more trenching to do! "We'll just get that last foot out by hand or something", we reasoned with each other dismissively. (It made sense at the time)
And so was put in motion yet another opportunity to learn the meaning of focus, discipline and patience.
And then, the mishap. When the link snapped and our rented trenching machine stopped in its tracks, a rock sunk in my stomach- what would we owe? How would we finish our trench? And what about that extra foot of dirt at the bottom of the 8 inch wide hole? But at the end of a long day we were all tired, frustrated and weary, and we called it a night.
The next morning, boosted by a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls, we headed out to the back yard, and surveyed the landscape. With no other option, we borrowed some hand-tools from Neighbor Mike, and fashioned some of our own (nothing nearly as good as the old time tools hanging around in Mike's barn), and headed to work, painstakingly dipping and scooping the last foot of earth from the bottom of the hole, dreaming of water.
Sssshh, thud, ssshhh, thud. The steady rhythm of the "crumber" dragging along the bottom of the trench and the dull sound of dirt being dumped onto the grass outside the narrow hole is punctuated only by laughter and talking. Over post-hole diggers, crumbers, and sweat, we reconnect. Sometimes there is only silence, a faint chirping of birds, whispering trees, and ssshh, thud, ssshh, thud. The work is hard, our bodies ache for relief, and so we take turns- the tagged-out member sprawled on a picnic blanket with two wide-eyed boys (one of whom, by the way, was later quite useful in the "tamping down" stage of the process.)
It was so opposite, such amazing dichotomy, to sit and witness the difference between man and machine. Man tires, the machine does not. The machine can break, man only wearies for the day. Man takes longer than machine, so, so much longer. But beneath all of this, encircling the entire event, is something so much more important.
That machine, the fast, intentional, harsh, thrashing, incessant stream of activity allowed for nothing else- no small voices, no interruptions, no questions or laughter or conversation. It allowed only for the efficient plowing-through of the unpleasantries of life. But what is life but a series of activities? Must some be deemed unworthy of time, patience, and gratitude for its gift, while others are given elitist status because of their relaxing nature? Might not all moments be worthy of enjoyment? Must we rush through the life, only waiting and longing for a ceasing of activity? Man, in all of his inefficiencies and imperfections, can allow- must allow- for life to happen through it all. Kids can run and jump over a trench being made with a shovel; shovels can be lain aside to tackle said child into peals of laughter.
It was in that moment, that moment where the sun cast its rays low, lingering on the edge of the world, one boy picking quietly at blades of grass and the other watching intently the rhythm of tools from a way of life now collecting dust on a bookshelf, I understood this rare slice of peace- a gift in itself- one that does not come from inactivity nor is it attained by escaping the trials set before us. No, it lurks in those spots least noticed, in slowing down, working through, persevering. Right where I never expected it, and just where it was meant to be.

What's cookin?

I thought I would post some pictures of our kitchen remodel. We aren't finished yet, but you can get a rough idea of where we are so far. This is what the kitchen looked like when we first moved in. There was really no room to move because there was a huge island in the middle of the room, mostly blocking one door. Everything was green, and those cabinets you see are all metal. The woman in the picture is our real estate agent.








So, we decided that this kitchen just wasn't going to work for us. We decided to take everything out of it. The big box in the middle is our old dishwasher, and the walls are of cement and stone. You can kind of make out the old carpeting - must have been about a 1970 style, or earlier. To do the floors we ended up taking up the carpet, and then scraping up some linoleum that was underneath.







This is what our kitchen looked like a few days ago. We had put up the wainscoting, and all of the flooring is up. We debated painting the floors, but after sanding a bit of the floor, decided to try and see what it would be like if we just finished the floors. I am nervous about upkeep, but Phil assures me that the finish he got is very good. We are going to put many coats on to seal the floor.






So this is where we are now. We have not stained the floors, but the walls are done, and the floor is mostly sanded. We added a fan light fixture to help move air in the summer (and because the old one was terrible!I am so excited with how it is coming out! What a long road, though. My new stove is sitting in the breezeway, waiting for a new room. Hopefully by Ryan's birthday I can bake a cake in it! (There I go again with my lofty goals! Ha!)

UPDATE! We have added curtains (thanks Calli/Mom), stained floors, and we have a WORKING STOVE (thanks Dad/Ken)!!!! Life is good!

A few pictures from the Homestead

A view from our front window during winter. We got some more snow on Tuesday, but it has actually been a very mild winter here. Everyone keeps telling us "wait until we get some real snow!"











A couple of sunsets from our front window. We have no shortage of beautiful scenery out here in the boonies. One benefit of no mountains, trees, neighbors...you see all of the sunrises and sunsets, unless there are clouds, of course.























This is a picture of our living room before we painted, removed carpet, etc. Phil took this photo on his first trip back to Iowa.
















And this is our living room now, after the green shag carpet had been taken up and the walls had been painted, but before all of our stuff filled it up. We have been very fortunate in this house that the floors are all in extremely good shape. We have had to do nothing but put wax on most of them to make them look as good as the floor in this picture.

Oh the tangled webs we weave

With my mother and father in law back to stay with us for two weeks, we thought it would be great to have them help us with a few projects. We have finally finished painting the kitchen, which was started the week we moved in, and have almost completed sanding the floors. We are working on patching a few rooms upstairs, painting, pulling carpet, etc. While this is going on, we are placing our order tonight for our first garden. Oh yes, and the most important piece of the puzzle is that Ryan is turning ONE this week! Big kid!

I don't know why we think we can do everything...but I just don't see any other way. It seems every project we start needs to be tripled in both time and money invested. I think I am being taught patience and perseverence, personally! However, we do have small wins along the way. For example, since we moved in, we have re-done the plumbing the main floor, installed a new water heater, hooked up a new washer and dryer, taken up carpet and painted four rooms downstairs (living room, dining room, den, and front room), among a few other projects here and there. I think we can get so caught up in "now" that we forget that we are just simply on a long road.

But, looking to the next few weeks, until we get that garden planted, it is going to be a challenge! We need to get some special attachment so that the plow will work on Phil's tractor, and we won't be turning any ground until that is running. Then once you start turning ground, I think it is still quite a bit of work to smooth and prep it all. I am so looking forward to spring, though!

That tractor has turned out to be a wonderful purchase! It mows through our long, matted grass and turns it into short, manageable grass! Between that and burning off patches of grass, I can start to dream about what it will look like planted and pretty! With the wide mower deck on the tractor, he drives that thing around mowing like it's nothing. And being so old we don't really have to worry about beating it up. It does need some tune up work, but I think it will work for what we need it to do this year.

Start of a new day

So, I believe we have actually hit the threshold- we are now "real farmers"! This week Phil purchased himself a genuine 1961 Farmall C tractor. Oh how far we have come!

This hits a new point on our quest for simple living...although we have been so busy that it doesn't seem so simple, just different. We made the move from Washington State to Iowa in November, 2005. We wanted to scale down our lives from two incomes to one so I could stay home with our then-7 month old son. We wanted simpler lives, time to enjoy family and life. After much soul searching, we left our two-bedroom, one bathroom home outside of Seattle, and moved into a four bedroom, one one and a half bath 1925 farmhouse on 5 acres.

The house is old...and was last updated in 1970-something...which makes for some interesting carpet and paint, to say the least. However, underneath it all is a beautiful old house full of charm. We just have to uncover it all!

That is the short version of where we are and what we are doing. We are here on a dream and a prayer...believing that God will provide direction and provision for us. We left both of our families and all of our friends at home in Washington, which has been very hard. Before this move, neither of us had lived more than an hour away from home.

Staying home has been another new experience. Having always been career driven, this shift has definitely challenged me in new ways, but also taught me a lot, too. After graduating college, I worked for Target for three years in Human Resources. I loved the challenge, the fast pace, and the "importance" of it all. But on the flip side, with a new baby, I never felt I saw him enough. The house was a mess and no one ate like they should. I always felt divided, never enough for either work or home.

We found our house on the internet, and on a whim took a look at it. Phil flew back because I had to work...and ended up buying a house that I had never seen. Now that's trust! Phil took a job as a finish carpenter to pay bills, and I am able to be at home. In the evenings, we sit by the fireplace and read...and we have every evening and weekend together. For fun, we work on our house and take trips to "town", which is about 45 minutes away. We are definitely country bumpkins now! What a change from living 3 minutes from the grocery store.

So, that kind of catches you up to today...we looked through the seed catalog this morning over coffee. I can't wait to start a garden! I know nothing about it, but found a great website online through Iowa State. Thankfully Phil has done a bit of gardening at home. The greatest part about the whole farming thing is that we have only farmers for neighbors and church friends! So, when we need help, have questions, or whatever, people have been more than anxious to give support! Phil works with some guys that all either grew up on farms or have one currently. Every night he comes home with "The guys said this about the garden" or "they think we need this kind of tiller". One of them is actually giving us a plow and a disc for our tractor, because he simply doesn't need it! Amazing!

Oh yes, on the other side of things, our kitchen is completely gutted...we decided the 1950's metal cabinets just weren't going to cut it, and ended up taking everything out. We have been eating out of a crock pot for three months now, and I finally ordered a stove two days ago. It should be here by the end of the week! I am thrilled! Now all we need to do is finish the floor and hook up the power...small feats, right?

Ok, enought for today. I'm off to unpack a few boxes into a few newly painted closets.