Chimney

Today our house is one step closer to being oh so toasty warm this winter.  After a marathon of work Saturday, Sunday and today, we have a chimney! 

We are so blessed to have great friends.  Throughout this entire four-year process our friends have shown up to help us out over and over again.  This weekend was no exception.  This time our friend Eric came all the way from Portland to lead the way in building the chimney. 

Eric and Jason worked their guts out building the chimney for two and a half days, well into the night both Saturday and Sunday nights.

Now, just a few days after beginning, we have a complete chimney!  Here it is on the first floor. 

This is looking in through the thimble to the flue.  

Here it is coming up through the second floor. 

And here is what it looks like outside. 

What do you think?  Pretty nice, huh?

 Eric, thank you so much for coming all this way to help us with this project.  We definitely could not have done it without you. 

Plastering on the Inside

Plaster, plaster, plaster!

Plaster

After weeks and weeks of prep work, we are finally plastering.  The good news is this process is a whole lot faster than the straw-clay work, so we should make great progress over the next couple of weeks!

A Quilt for a Wedding

Months ago I began working on a special gift for my sister and her new husband.

I went to the fabric shop and picked out around 18 different, wildly colorful cotton prints. 

I began cutting, and trimming and sewing and stitching.

I made piles of squares that I eventually sewed together into 12 in x 12 in blocks.  

After piecing all of the blocks, I needed to decide how to arrange them to make the top of the quilt. 

I brought the quilt to Lily Sweeny, the "Batty Quilter" to do the professional quilting.  It turned out so beautiful!

For the back of the quilt I made a special block. 

I loved learning to applique and to work some simple embroidery stitches.

Laura and Josh were married on July 20, and I was so excited to give them their gift.  I hope they cuddle up under it this winter and remember how much their big sister loves them!

First Floor Stuffing Finished!

It is summer, and we are finally back to working on the house almost full time.  This week we finished stuffing the first floor with straw clay!  We didn't have that much left to do on the first floor, but it still feels great to have all of our walls closed in. 

This was the final kitchen wall.  Getting up into the tippy top was tricky and HOT!!

Now the kitchen has three walls! 

Jason also finished the stair treads going to the second floor.  Now we can run up and down the stairs between the basement and the second floor! 

My father came to visit for a week in the middle of June.  He worked on the plumbing for us.  Now that is all done, too! 

The Garden, July 1