Matthew's Blog: Oh how I LOVE THIS!!

Matthew's Blog: Oh how I LOVE THIS!!
Click on the link to see more pics of the "monkey on his back" and what I wrote.

*LOL* Notice the contrast on our faces... one gleeful bliss, the other.... not so much.

Banana Nut Bread from Jen

I have now made 16 loaves of this yummy Banana Nut Bread I got this recipe off Jen's blog... this was her mother's recipe .... and let me tell you ... it is good. I gave Mike 8 loaves to take to his squad the other night and it was a huge hit.

If you want this wonderful recipe... go here to Unglazed. It was totally easy.

IF you all like Date Nut Bread... I have the greatest recipe that has been in the family for a million years ~ it's my Great Aunt Katherine's.... we used to make it when we were little kids and give away to our teachers all wrapped in ribbons and bows.

AND, if you love the stoneware, let me know... I've been a Pampered Chef consultant for going on six years now. Once you go stone, you'll never want to used metal again. I love Pampered Chef kitchen tools.... makes cooking and baking sooooo easy.

Stairs almost done ~ just need to do the basement stairs

Re: that window on the landing... that's not exactly where we thought it was going to be... but it's hard to know when looking at plans ... well, we'll have a good breeze and lots of light. If I would have known it was so close to the landing ... I would have moved it up just a ways. We thought it was more at eye level. When the guys were doing the logs and leaving spaces for the windows, there is no way they would have known back then. It's okay... but it just looks a little odd.

Timmy cutting out the hole to go into the basement.

Looking up from basement.

The last window is in!

Yes, it's taken a while... but it's finally done. That window was so heavy that the guys needed at least three bodies to get it up there. Also, Mike has been using the scaffolding for caulking.

But.. here it is! Looks good huh!

Tim working is chain saw magic again.

Last week, we were at the cabin while it was dark out .... it was awesome. We were standing in the family room ... and that upper "picture" window WAS like a picture ... you could see the moon perfectly with the stars. It was so beautiful... That was another one of our changes that worked out for the best. Originally, that was going to be Matthew's room, but we just couldn't cover up that beam and tung n groove work.

Entry way stairs, next to the mudroom.

Framed in our walk in closet (to the left) and our master bath (on the right). We changed our plans quite a bit from the original plans ... right down the center there... well, that was going to be a hallway to our room, off the entry way....

and the left side was to be a closet and small bathroom... but then we had hardly any room for our bathroom etc... so... we moved our door coming off the reading room and gave ourselves 36 more square feet of closet and bath!! We also moved the little bathroom into the mudroom.

Poor Tim.. he's probably ready to fire me.

The girlies in Beaver were sick, so Matthew and I needed to stay home this trip.

Is it just me....

or have veterinarian prices just gotten WAY out of control???

Dang, we took the two kitties in for shots and we spent $242.50! We aren't even done yet, we have to go back in, in three weeks for boosters and a "poop check". God only knows how much it will cost us to get their little "hysterectomies".

We have stopped taking our parrots in for their "well birdie" check ups b/c it is too costly anymore ~ two years ago we spent $300 just for a couple blood tests.

A few years ago, we spent over $6,000 on our two dogs and one 20 yr old cat that got very sick.

Our 9 yr old German Shepard got cancer and we tried to save her with surgery, but she died a few months later. Our Golden Retriever had lupus and after all kinds of treatments and a leg cast, and we still ended up having to put her down. We are going to have to re think trying to save them. It's just too costly now days.

We always joke around while we are waiting to see the vet and make a bet how much each visit will cost... and we rarely get out of a vet office for less than $300.

It's almost too expensive to have pets anymore.

* lol* My little Baby Einstein.

Amy wanting that kitty.

Matthew's room all framed up... Matthew will be sharing his room with Crabby Old Man and Glenda when they come up from Texas for a visit.

Just finished up the first row up and the first row going down.

Timmy working his magic w/ the chain saw.

Looking down to the landing from the upstairs to the first floor.

Matthew wondering... what the heck is that on daddy's face!

Landing for the stairs to the basement.

Trim and siding on the dormer done.

Trim in front done. Looks so much better now that you can't see the insulation.

Cabin flashback to a year ago!

Staking out the cabin, this is the kitchen ~ I'm standing where the sink will be. lol

Setting the footers. Gosh, I was just giddy with excitement when they dug out that basement!

Getting ready for the basement walls. I can't think of one step that wasn't totally exciting for us. Every step was just a thrill. And those of you that e~know us, you know we LOVE BEAVER.

Getting those walls up. The basement floor was poured the day or two before Thanksgiving.

Our logs were delivered November 30th. They started tossing logs on Dec. 1st in the snow.

This sure has been a fun and amazing year!!

Except, for the miserable experience we had with our absolute loser concrete guy (who still has not fixed his violations on the deck footers, from last December) ~ this has been a dream come true. I still need to pinch myself ~ we used to dreeeeam about doing this cabin when we first bought the property 7 years ago.

Tim and Mike have done an outstanding job, huh!! For the most part, this cabin has been built by two guys. We did have help w/ those beams and the roof. Tim also spent a lot of time working on it alone while Mike was here working.

http://wwwsteelmagnolia.blogspot.com/search/label/cabin

Here is the "cabin" link for those of you who want to go see this project as it has come along. This blog has been great to see the progress ... on one hand it went by quick, but on the other... it was A LOT of hard work for the boys. They froze their bupp cheeps off last winter.

"Spiderman Tim" scaring the crap out of us

He is 29 feet high. We have always called him "Spiderman". This was in January, Tim and Mikey setting the first roof beam. (Which ended up being too short so we had to change it up at the last minute.)

A lot of work in one year. I can't wait to see where we'll be by this time next year!!

Spookie's sister, Baxter

Baxter and Spookie in Matthew's high chair.

Mike brought "Baxter" home, too. They sleep all day and play all night.

Living the life. Former outside kitties enjoying the inside life. They love Magoo's room!!

Wanting a little taste of Mike's steak omelet.