Karla's Cottage

The Grandfather Tree is Almost a Table

Over a year ago, my husband's favorite tree fell down. He called it the Grandfather Tree because he took the grandfairies for walks in the woods and stopped to tell stories under it.

We found a guy to slice it up, then stored the stack of pieces that weighed hundreds of pounds in our garage where they were very much in the way.  When they were starting to dry out a bit, we found a craftsman to haul them off to a kiln and plane them down.

This is Matt, the artist who is creating a table and mantel for us.  Here are the final pieces he has to work with. We have a few more, but these were the best.

His shop is full of pieces he is already working on.

And beautiful piles of lumber waiting to be transformed.

I decided to go with the live edges turned inwards, so if I wanted the table to be more traditional looking for a dinner party, I could cover it with a cloth.  Matt built a water tight frame, and layed out the wood for me to come by and do a river rock scene down the center. I had lots of semi precious stones, crystals, and polished river stones in neutral tones.

He will pour resin over it all.  It will be translucent with a shimmer of pearl. Of course, the black and white material on the back will be gone, so this will be mostly transparent.

The heart is a gemstone and it will be at the head of the table where my husband sits. Under the table, the grandfairies will be woodburning special messages and we will have a list of all the grandfathers who came before us.

Matt is making tapered, square legs from the leftovers of the wood, and I will paint them a distressed white.

This has been over a year in the making, but at this stage, things are moving fast. The resin is poured and the table is ready for the sanding and polishing. I will have it delivered in time for A Snowbird's Song. This will seat about 12, so I will put my existing dining table (that seats 12 also) in to the hearthroom for the party, and will add another table in the living room so everyone will have a place to sit and enjoy their meals.

A Custom Loft Bed Clubhouse for Sugarwings

This was Sugarwings’ room at her daddy’s house.  Last winter, we found the rug at World Market, my son cut it to fit and installed it like carpeting.  He also built this loft bed/ club house for her.

Both grandfairies hung out under there with a stack of pillows, sleeping bags, games and books.

He is quite the carpenter, this is the closet he built for her.  The trim work over the two doors is beautiful.

One of the reasons working to get this house on the market was so heart wrenching, was seeing things like this.

We thought this would be the home they raised those fairies in and the custom work  their dad was installing was going to turn the place into a masterpiece.

 The loss of the potential for this home and of the happy plans for the future really stabbed at me. 

 

 

 

 

Perfect patients

Our vet seemed very surprised by how calm the litter of puppies were during his exams last week.

They all sat quietly or napped while waiting their turns.

He mentioned more than once how quickly it was all going.  There wasn’t a wriggler in the whole bunch.  When he needed to look into their eyes, they looked right up at him.  They stood still for listening to their hearts and palpitating their tummies, or whatever that was.

The only issue I had was in hauling the seven pups in and out while they were poured into two crates.  Luckily, I had a helper who is probably stronger than I am.

In the last year, there have been many times that I have said, “I could not have done that without her help.”  Sugarwings has grown up to be someone I rely upon.

And how cute is this?  She didn’t know I was picking her up at school to go to the vet with me, yet she was wearing a shirt that said, “Trust me, I’m a Dogter.”

As a reward for being such good patients, and to stretch their legs after being stuffed into boxes, I took them out on the trails in the field.

 

 

 

 

A Quick and Attractive Fix for a Soot Stained Mantel

This is the downstairs den in the house we have been working on.

Here is how it looked in the Zillow listing when we bought it.  It didn’t need a lot to get it market ready, fresh paint, two matching light fixtures, and a mantel tweaking.

While living there, my son had done some customizing to the fireplace to fit a piece of art work he had built in.  After taking that out, it needed some trim and paint to restore it.

Also, there was a dark, sooty blob above the doors.  I used black concrete stain to blend the rest of the bricks to match.  This is a “during” picture.

The bricks and mortar to the left are done, the right are not in this photo.  Doesn’t the black wash (Is that a term? Like white wash?) update the hearth?  I think this treatment drug the fireplace right out of 1972!

The rough hewn and live edge shelves in the corner were installed by my son.

We repainted the ceiling, which the previous owners needed to do ages ago.  And all of the trim was freshly painted. 

Behind that door is a giant, walk in storage area.  I cut notches in a  rug to make it fit over padding glued to old linoleum, repainted the ceiling and the shelves.  This was the last thing I did, and I used up all of the odds and ends of light colored paint that I had left.

It seemed okay for a closet, and at least that made it clean.

You know one thing that brightens a room that most people don’t even notice?  Repainting the air vent covers.   Over time, with gas heat, they can discolor.  So can the area around them.  Cleaning and repainting is a small thing to do, and I will bet you no one even notices that I did it.  But I will also bet you that they can feel that it was done, even if they don’t see it.  

The house feels much fresher and cleaner with the vents tidied up.

One thing I did not do that bugs me, is that I left the shelf under the windows the same as the walls.  Not that it looks bad, I think the unbroken color is a good choice.  But as a painter, I know that eggshell finish wall paint isn’t as durable for shelves as a satin or semi gloss.   I could do a quick, clear coat over it to ease my mind.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lightening and brightening

Almost the entire interior of this house got painted.  I left 2 bedrooms that had been recently repainted by my son for the kids.  The rest of the house, excluding one closet (there is a ton of storage space!) has neutral, lighter colors.

The entryway was originally dark green walls with dark blue steps. Here it is after a coat of bright white on the trim, that already helped.

Next, I painted the risers white too, they had also been dark blue, which made it hard to even see the steps when walking down them.

I wanted the steps lighter, but knew (or am hoping, at least) that there will be a lot of traffic through the house and didn’t want footprints to show.  So, I layered grays and whites to create a barnwood look, and gave it a few clear coats for durability.  

The stairs going up from the entrance are hardwood and we couldn’t afford to match that, we had to make do with what was there.  We did replace the light fixture and got daylight LED bulbs for it.  Much brighter!

I don’t particularly like that rug there, but one was needed for open houses.  I am going to find one more appropriate.  That ivory one will be messy too fast.

The door and frame didn’t need painted , since it was nice wood in good shape with just some oiling and elbow grease.  Every other door in the house was painted the bright white  they were many different colors and styles, so the fresh color was unifying.

But I did put a fresh coat of an espresso color on the exterior.  

 

 

Through Struggles to Appreciation and Acceptance (I hope)

(Reposted from FB)

Won’t this house show nicely with the autumn leaves turning? Wish us luck, it is ready to go on the market! These last 6 weeks have been grueling. But I have learned a lot about myself and others. Who I can count on, who I can trust. That I can work through pure exhaustion, an aching body, and sadness to get something accomplished no matter how my heart has been torn, how much pain I feel, or how bitter I am. That some people are users, and some friends are always there for you, no matter what, for emotional support and kind gestures. Others, can act like they don’t even notice what is happening to you. That family doesn’t always step up like we thought they would.
This was hard, due to the betrayals involved with the mess left behind and by the split up of the family we bought it for.

Also, my husband retired the week we started restoring it and my emotions were already running high due to a cut in half of my hormones... adding a mortgage payment and thousands of dollars to renovate didn’t help ease me into a retirement budget. Doing most of the work ourselves helped the budget, but made me feel trapped, the huge job ahead seemed hopeless. I cried. A lot.

But I also learned that anything can be done “one task at a time”

That my son also can survive and grow from this, he will heal and move on.

That my husband can wash windows! And that we make a solid team.

That no matter what you are going through, kids will always need to be picked up at school. And have a million stories to chatter away about the second the car door opens.

That the garden still grows and tomatoes need picked every day. That puppies need snuggles and lots of care, whether you are busy or not. That there are plenty of happy things that outweigh the bad. That life goes on through bitterness and heartache. That things change, enjoy what you can, when you can. That I am full of cliches.

That tucking in and kissing a grandfairy goodnight when you are too tired to haul your old lady ass up the stairs is worth the effort.

That teaching puppies to sit and looking into their loving eyes, or smelling homemade tomato sauce bubbling away on the stove are worth the extra effort, even though all I really wanted to do was crawl into bed after hard, physical labor.

That turning an uncared for mess into something pretty can be rewarding, and creativity exists in me even when I am not in the studio.

That even when I fall apart, I am still strong enough to go on, and work through the tears of exhaustion.

That while this was hard to complete, and we are losing money on it, it will not break us. We are lucky that we can pay for the restoration. That we won’t go without a meal because of it. Paying for the mortgage might not be an ideal situation, but we can do it, that we are blessed to be able to handle it til the house sells.

That no matter how tired or bitter I was, I was lucky to go home at night to my own home, to my furry flock greeting me at the door, to grandfairies who gave me endless hugs, to friends who dropped by with flowers, or texted to see if I needed anything, to a handsome husband who is the world’s most generous man and who worked even harder than I did, but did it with good humor (not like me).

That lessons can be learned at any age. And this job sure has aged me, but I survived and have plenty to be thankful for.