Dreamy Country Sunday

I haven't done a house update in awhile, as Clint wanted me to hold up and surprise you with final kitchen pictures. Shocked, you'll be shocked! It won't be too much longer though; floors, walls and cabinets are in. Refrigerator is running, dishwasher works, and stove is lined up. New washer & dryer just need to be removed from boxes and installed.

The bedroom is...my current workspace for staining and urethaning the wood trim for floors, doors, & windows. Clint is making all of the trim himself, routering all of the edges to match the existing trim in the house.

My workspace, and our future bedroom:


What I've accomplished so far (staining only, each will get 4 coats of urethane).


And still left to do:


In the meantime, spring is here, and there's a plethora of additional chores to be addressed, that take time out of the house-making. We spent hours this afternoon taking care of said chores.

Trees had to be trimmed:



And brush burned.


Recent storms have been blowing nesties out of the trees. I'm not much of a packrat, but this is the 2nd nest that Clint and I have saved. They are so solid, and someone worked so hard to build them that we just can't bring ourselves to throw them out.

I imagine, someday, a small awning on our garden shed, and maybe a series of decorative nests, with our own dried flowers tucked in.

We didn't have time to put our dream garden in this year, but I did plant a few flowerpots this afternoon, for the front porch.


Or rather, the front stoop. The porch is still kind of in the pallet stage:


This thornless hawthorne begifted to us recently, still needs to be planted. We discuss where it will serve us best.


We are making progress, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. While Clint continues to finish out the new section of the house, we're at a point where I can work simultaneously on the old section, clearing rooms, preparing walls and floors for cleaning and painting.

Still so much to do, and still so fun to dream. We walk the property and hash out where we'll put the garden, where we'll put a clothesline. We map out flower gardens and birdbaths and courtyards, that may, little by little, take years to develop. We dream of future "gatherings," as Clint calls them that involve lots of great friends and great food—indoors and out—with perhaps a little music thrown in.

We dream so, that none of this seems like work.

We can hardly wait for it to be finished, and yet we never want it to end.