House Interrupted - After

I know, the after-tile pictures have been slow coming. Most of the 5 peeps who read this little blog probably have already seen the tile at my house by now! Nonetheless, I finally took some after pictures today, during daylight hours. Here are the before and afters...

I know, you said, 'Wow that looks really different,' studied the picture, and are going to say that I cheated in making the flooring before and afters look good by also painting the wall, right? I had to paint the wall while the trim was off!!! I am a paint-on-trim hater, I'm sorry, and might be the only one who hates it enough to remove a room's trim before painting and put it back on when done. I really wasn't trying to cheat. I am feeling so much better without that green wall in my life, though. It was creepy, like the Geico Money eyes staring at me constantly or something.

Moving onto the kitchen...

I am thrilled with the brick tile pattern and it seems to make things look more spacious. I was surprised that the tile wasn't any louder than our laminate floor. I think the noise the laminate made was a "whoosh" of air squeezing out from under it, since it 'floated' or was not secured to the sub-floor. Since the tile is adhered to the sub-floor, it makes a solid surface and I am now able to quietly tip-toe down the hall to check on sleeping kids. I will admit, though, that the tile is very cold and I want a couple rugs now.

And the hallway and bathroom...

The bathroom makes the biggest difference to me! It feels so nice to walk from the hallway into the bathroom without crossing over the screwed-in transition board and without walking onto the lame fake tile vinyl. A BIG thanks to my husb for chiseling out that awful sub-floor, piece by piece!

Here's a close up of the tile, which was 12x12 Tanasi Harvest Porcelain Tile, from Lowes...

It is made up of plenty of warm brown tones that mesh well with my wall colors, cabinetry, carpet and decor beautifully. What do you think?

If you missed the other tiling posts, here they are:

House Interrupted - Tile Installation

House Interrupted - Demolition

House Interrupted - Before

He's Home!

10 days! That was the longest husb and I have been apart since we have been married! But he is finally back. He was on a missions trip to Tecate, Mexico. Husb didn't take a camera, so I will link you to Leah's posts about the Mexico portion of the trip here and here.

But here are a couple pics Leah's husb, Eric, shared of he and Ty's visit to see the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Northern California on their drive back.

The first time I looked at that picture, I almost missed Ty standing at the bottom! That tree is a mother! Probably a great grand mother many times over, for that matter! Ty is a certified arborist, so this must have been really cool for him. I'm sure he was sharing some of his great tree knowledge and no-one-else-knows-what-he's-talking-about vocabulary with Eric. =) He knows way too much about trees.

The tree, General Sherman, is the largest tree (based on volume) in the world. It measures over a hundred feet around at the bottom, 275 feet tall, and the largest branch was six feet in diameter (it fell off in 2006)!

That is some gnarly bark! This giant is 2,300 to 2,700 years old, which means it could have been several hundred years old while Jesus walked the Earth! Amazing! I told husb he has to take me there for our 10th anniversary.

Natural Wonders of the Teanaway Valley

I have some nature shots I wanted to share with you from my trip to visit my Mom in Cle Elum. This first one makes me think of a huge frozen mountain range...

I should have gotten even closer, but it was freezing out there! I was on the porch and didn't bother to put my shoes on. So I said, good enough and ran back inside. It was so sparkly in real life.

I saw something on a horse's leg while driving around for my house tour and made my mom back up...

I was about to go tell the owners that their horse had gotten tangled in something, when it moved and I saw this...

The Magpie was pecking at those legs like crazy and hanging off the horse and flapping around! I can't believe the horses just let those guys crawl all over them. It reminded me of Pioneer Woman's recent parasite post; those mites must be pretty pesky, so the horses appreciate the birds' work. My horse lets the swallows sit on her back and they always poop on her. What a creative maker our Lord is!

Speaking of our Maker, He also did a good job on this view, a few miles from my parents' house...

It is the Stuart Mountains, and they are breathtaking. The clouds are over the highest peak, Mount Stuart, which my husband has attempted but not summited yet. Here is a shot of it another day...

I have been looking for a print of Aspen trunks online for Mark's big boy room, with no luck. So I decided to take it into my own hands at my Mom's. I made her stop and let me run across a road-side field to get a shot of this Aspen grove. It's OK, but not what I had envisioned...

I thought a bear might be hiding in the brush but risked it for the shot. Then I heard a noise and thought he was coming to get me... no, it was my daughter screaming in the car about 200 feet away and I could hear her with the doors closed. She screams bloody murder when she drops her plug. She's 2 months.

This is a random rock outcropping on the side of the road, where I am sure a cougar lives...

Though I have never explored it myself, due to the danger of becoming lunch, I am sure there is a cave under those rocks where his lair is. It's a real wonder that he lives there right by the road and no one ever sees him. He must be sneaky. =)

This is Bible Rock...

Looks like an open book or bible and always makes me think of Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..."

When I lived in Cle Elum, I worked in Ellensburg, at the Copy Shop across the street from CWU. Someone came in to make a copy of an old photo, and it was so neat, I made one for myself too. This was the photo...

There are the two guys near the bottom, and also two or three men on the very top! It must have been taken in the early 1900's, and the bottom says "Balanced Rock near Cle Elum, Wash. (Connell Photo)." I came across the picture and left it for my dad last time I was at their house, and gave him the homework of finding it for me, since he knows most of the area like the back of his hand. He has a jeep that goes most anywhere, snowmobiles, hunts, gathers firewood and explores on a regular basis. He thought he knew where it was, so I fed the baby, left her with Mom, and we took off on our expedition in the Jeep. This is what the ride was like...

Bumpy! Mark would have loved it. That is basically a trail, covered with hard frozen snow drifts. And where the drifts are thin, the mud underneath is thick. It was very rough and we couldn't slow down to take a non-blurry pic because we were rushing to see the rock in the day light and get back before baby got hungry again! The jarring bumps don't seem to phase my dad. So the rock my dad thought was the one in the picture proved to be an impostor. He knows he has seen the one in the pic and thought it was a few miles further up the trail, but we didn't have enough daylight or time to keep hunting that day. The trip wasn't a waste though, we caught many views of the pretty sunset...

I should have gotten a prettier shot, but my dad was flying! So I think that's all you have to hear about Cle Elum and the Teanaway Valley! Until next time I visit and have some new adventures!

Tour of Cle Elum Houses

So I wouldn't go so far as to say the town of Cle Elum is loaded with noteworthy homes, but there are certainly a few diamonds in the rough. Leah and I took a day and snooped at some back in 2008 when she went to my Mom's with me; she blogged about it here. I have pics of those houses and more to share with you today.

Let's start this little snoop session in town, shall we, with the Carpenter Museum...

I'm lame - I used to live outside town with my parents, and I have never been to this museum. I had to search online for information! I found out the house was "built in 1914 by Mr. Frank Carpenter, who founded the Key Bank in downtown Cle Elum. The museum features spacious rooms, tiny alcoves and a third-floor ballroom, and features much of the original furnishings, lamps and etched light bulbs." Third-floor ballroom?? Mom, I have to go inside it next time I come over!

Next, we took Masterson Road out of town. It is named after my mom's real estate agent's family. This area is very spacious; most lots are probably 5 to 10 acres and are flat, usable land, with plenty of fenced pastures and hay fields. Here is the Mastersons' house...

For sure on my top 3 list! Love, love, love that rock porch! This family is very well known in the area and received the county's coveted Cattlemen of the Year award in 1979.

Continuing out of town, we see this ranch house...

It is on one of the larger plots, probably 10 acres or so. I love the little aspen grove at the edge of their yard and the dark-stained cedar shake siding and white window and door trim - we will eventually re-do the siding on our little house in this color combo in vertical cedar plank siding.

Continuing out of town, and entering the mouth of the Teanaway Valley, we see this neat modern cabin...

I love it - I think it looks so clean and simple, but I could never have it as my own. I can appreciate modern, but it is not me. Leah always gives me a hard time about this and says if I let modern into my life then it would be me, but I just can't do it.

Moving on, I forgot to take pics of the house that went with this garage, because the garage was such a showstopper...

I have a serious problem with lame garages that are plain and don't incorporate the same style and character of the house they are paired with, but this one makes my heart go pitter-patter. The shingles, the river rock, the doors! Love it!

Continuing across the mouth of the valley, we come to the Swauk Teanaway Grange...

It recently burned down and was rebuilt. Cute! It is the frequent site of bazaars, hunters' breakfasts and benefits of all kinds. This is the view from the hill the grange is on, back across the mouth of the valley, toward town...

The Teanaway Valley runs off to the right in this picture. And, I should have waited another week or two until everything turns neon green for a brief time in the valley. My parents live 15 minutes further into the valley from here, back behind the ridge in the right of the picture. Heading deeper into the valley, we come across this blue and brick beauty...

Also one of my top 3 favorites. And I love this juicy little detail... a little birdie and very good source, told me how the owner acquired this house. The next house I will show you, a stone's throw down the road, is owned by the Nordstrom family of Seattle. They have a caretaker for their Teanaway retreat, who used to get stock options as a perk. A deal was struck, where the caretaker traded in his stock options for this brick house! How interesting! And, so, here we have the Nordstroms' retreat...

And, I think that rounds out my top 3. There was an existing house here, and it underwent a major renovation several years ago. They did a beautiful job! Another place I'd love to see inside! There is a little garden and a stand and I think they sell bouquets in the summer, if I remember correctly.

The same black fence borders a couple adjoining properties and I think it is all owned by the Nordstroms, including this one tucked back in the tree-line...

So pretty back in the pines, with all that space out front!

Heading further into the valley, toward my parents' house, we come across this little cabin...

So precious! If I had a vacation cabin this is how big I would want it, so there is as little upkeep as possible, thus with as much recreation time as possible. I wish I could see inside that little gem. Another similar cabin sits down the road several miles deeper into the valley...

It is leaning; that is not me taking a crooked picture, though I do sometimes... is one leg longer than the other, or what? Anyway, I always tell my mom when she is old and frail I will build her one of these in the back of my pasture and take care of her. I can picture her, white hair up in a bun, sitting in her rocker on the front porch that I would add to hers. It's so precious, though! I wonder how old it is.

Last but not least, we have my parents' neighbor's real log cabin home...

My parents' is the fourth and this is the third-to-last house before it turns to logging roads and wilderness. The whole property is lined with 4-rail lodgepole pine fencing and it features a nice barn to house their mules, and a full shop, as well as another full shop with apartment above, which they rent to hunters, and also another shop/shed which shelters his construction business equipment and excavators. Like? It could be yours for only a little over $1M.

And I am so lame, I forgot to take pics of my parents' house! I know, what a bad blogger I am. So this concludes our Tour de Cle Elum Real Estate, I hope you have enjoyed it!

His Artistic Side

He told me this was a "skier boy"...

Finally, art that looks like something!

Mom's Craft Room

One of the ongoing projects at my Mom's house is her craft room. We got most of it done last year, and are finally getting around to finishing it, so she can get ready to host some scrap booking and crafting retreats now that she is retired. This weekend we did lots of brainstorming, and didn't do a whole lot to the room, but I decided to share pics nonetheless, since most of the room is done.

This is the main craft area of the room, directly to the right when you walk in...

On the to-do list is to select and buy new chairs; I am leaning toward Ingolf Chairs from Ikea...

On the right, we have the desk where she keeps the paper cutter and Cricut...

The shelves hold accents, catalogs, manuals and decor. The bulletin board holds cute snapshots that didn't make her scrapbooks. The bulletin board is made with cork squares tacked to the wall with upholstery style tacks and framed with painted casing.

To the left of that station, on the short wall between the desks, are some Ikea benches, housing decor, and supplies...

Beside the benches is a tall, white dresser that I would like to replace eventually with something wider, with more style and character. I made the picture hangers on the back wall from painted and distressed scraps of wood and glued on painted, distressed clothespins to hold pictures or artwork.

To the left of that is the other desk, where most of the crafting and scrapbook composition takes place...

The 12 x 12 paper holder was a gift from me, and so was the dot artwork on the floor. To make the artwork, I purchased a blank canvas, penciled in circles by tracing a cap, mixed various colors of paint along the color scheme of the room, and used the different colors to fill the circles. The spinning caddy holds all the tools she needs handy.

Panning slightly left, we can see the whole front of the room; the craft area on the right, and a sitting area to the left...

I really want to add window treatments, but these A-frame style windows are a bit tricky. I'm not sure if I want to do rattan blinds on the square windows and ignore the triangle windows on the either end, or do breezy panels on the square windows and either ignore the windows on the ends or try to make some sort of slanted rod pocket to hang panels on the ends.

We found an old, aged wood window with 8 panes in the game room, which Mom said needed to go in the green house, and I said it needed to hang from the ceiling in the peak above the door in the craft room. I didn't get it done this week because I wimped out and wanted a man to help me hang it to ensure it didn't fall on someone's head later. Men are good for that.

We also decided that we need new chairs in the seating area. I like the Hibiscus Wing Chair from Pier 1 Imports. Wouldn't these add so much spunk to the room?

They go with our scheme really well, too.

This is the unfinished side of the room...

The Grandkids' toys are incorporated, since they like to play while we craft during visits. The wall on the left will feature a love seat eventually. I like the Banana Settee from Pier 1 Imports...

With this cushion...

Behind that, I have a mural planned. A tree will be painted on the wall, and have Mom's relatives displayed in frames on the branches. It will be a nice way to display all the hard work she has done on her genealogy and family history. When she hosts a retreat, she will move the love seat in front of the toy benches and add a folding table on the wall for the guests to work at.

I love the little magazine table re-purposed as a printer table. I picked it up for $10 at an Estate sale down my road, and Mom ended up stealing it. It's okay; it's cute holding her printer and supplies...

That's all I have for now. Stay tuned for a tour of neat houses in Mom's neck of the woods, coming tomorrow!

Retreating

This was what I was left with when Ty left for his missions trip to Mexico last Tuesday...

All my bathroom, kitchen, dining, bar and entry way furniture and appliances were literally piled in the living room! So my dear mother showed up that day to help me wrangle the kids, so I could finish various cleaning, painting and tile mopping projects. Then, when the kids went to bed, I made her get down on her old hands and knees and help me seal the grout lines with this product (NO VOC's). I know, I'm mean. And it was a serious chore, too! But we got 'er done and got a few key pieces of trim back in place, along with a few key pieces of furniture and applicances. Then, the next day, we retreated.

We packed up the kiddos and went to my mom's. It was totally worth every minute of the 2.5 hour drive to go and relax for a couple days. Only problem was, I couldn't blog!!! Mom lives twenty minutes outside a small town, right next to the wilderness in central Washington. The internet out there is horrible! So I will have a few blogs in a row coming up quick about the trip. First, I have some random pics to share...

The first morning, we went to town. This is what the little town of Cle Elum looks like from the Dairy Queen driveway...

It's a cute little town - small, old and very western. While we were in the drive-thru, this guy was anxiously waiting for his food...

Sorry but he cracked me up. He was fixated on that window for several minutes, not moving a muscle. I'm betting he regularly gets something outta that DQ bag!

We gave this little gal a bath...

I had been neglecting her hygiene with all my tiling madness! Bad mama! She's squeaky clean now. But spoiled rotten from being rocked and coddled and sweet-talked by Grama for a week!

As always, Mark got to help Grama Sue make cookies...

See how he put that row of dough all close together in a line? He told us it was his motocross track. Is there anything in this world that does not somehow turn into motocross? For those of you who don't know, that is racing dirt bikes over lots of jumps on a track. Yeah, he's obsessed.

After dinner, he was shelling and eating his pistachios...

Papa taught him how to shell pistachios. While he was eating them, he notified me, "I am never going to stop, Mom." When I was done laughing, he calmly said, "I was just kidding Mom," as if to say, "It wasn't that funny." Such attitude. He's only 3! He changed my name from Ma to Mom a few days ago. I'm still grieving Ma; he sounds so grown up when he says "Mom" for some reason.

Anyway, we came back to my house today; the kids, Mom and me. Ty is driving, on his way home from Mexico, which will take a couple days. So Mom is going to help wrangle the kids so I can finish getting the house put back together. Moms are the best. So are friends -- thanks to a dear friend and her man, we got the entry trim back on today (it required a belt sander, table saw and lots of muscle). Now me and my handy dandy little brad nailer will go around finishing all the baseboard trim, and then, I will finally bring some after-tile pictures to you!