Tree House Interior, by iPhone

These photos are straight out of my iPhone and not fancy. The 3GS’ quality is “iffy” when light does not fall directly on the subject. Please excuse.

But wait ’til I get my Amazing Camera this summer! Oh, it’s gonna be sooooo Grrreat!!

Anyway…

This morning Kelly went up to her clubhouse to brush her hair and arrange Kirsten for breakfast.

I came back from dropping her at school to find Kirsten still at table.

She sat there all day like that.  Such amazing staying power!  Just sitting and sitting.

Kellllllly, where arrrrre you?? I’m waaaaaaiting.

The photo directly above is one of those “iffy” ones due to the 3GS’ lighting challenges.

But enough of that…

🙂

Yesterday Kelly and her pals had a little American Girl Doll party in the clubhouse.

The dolls got so sleepy…

Mid-afternoon I arrived with a tray of apple juice and popcorn to find Kelly wedged between the bed and the frame.

Luckily her friends managed to pull her free.

I still have to set the bunk bed up correctly. We got it off Craigslist, and one bolt was missing.

But I WILL get it together.  And take photos when I get my Amazing Camera!

See all the great stuff to look forward to in Funsterland??  🙂

Whoo-hoo!!!

Yep, Jim had the clubhouse hard-wired.  That’s an A/C / heating unit in the back wall.

And Kelly amazed me the other day by asking for the little cuckoo clock I got in Germany to hang on her wall.  I said “Sure!  Why not?!” 

Who am I to stand in the way of an 8-year-old’s decorating dreams??

She arranged everything in there herself. 

She even brought her broom up and keeps the floor swept!!

And finally, a Kodak action shot of Kelly supervising her dad on construction in April, 2008…

Good-used American Girl Doll Kirsten off eBay, landed — $97.50.

Total building materials — $2000.00.

Jim’s labor for 12 months working part-time on tree-house —  Priceless!

Any questions?

Do you or have you ever had a cuckoo clock? Any cuckoo clock stories to tell?

Posted with love, from Jannie

xoxo

Oh, My Wonderful Heck (Part 2)

I took the above yesterday.

And the below a few months ago… (how our front entry had basically looked for, um, maybe 5 years!)  🙂

The green door marks our original entrance. 

And the new door opens into a breezeway leading to a garage / Final Living Room addition my Jim built with his own two hands, starting about 7 years ago.  The interior is abut 80% finished.  Christmas tree in there this year?  Maybe!  🙂

Did I mention Jim also works over 50 hours a week in his Real Job?  And that he’s sweet, funny, nice, and a great disco dancer??

You saw the tree house he built, right?

We all agree —  Jim is AMAZING!!!!

And wow, our house is finally coming together in many areas, after 17 years of working on it!

Then there’s the falling-down Canada house that waits for us…  🙂

(But I digress.)

So I’ll move right along, to our front entry in 1994.

(Yes, I posted the below picture in a previous remodeling post!  Good memory, Jannie veterans!)

Notice no addition then?  Nope.  Wasn’t even really an idea yet back then.

(This was the first addition, off the kitchen — at the back of the house.)

And yep — the tuliped door above was later painted green, then many many moons later was replaced with the window on the left in the first photo of this post.

Did you catch all this?  I know it’s a lot.

Whew, I need a cup of tea.  And a beer — but not necessarily in that order.  🙂

Maybe a nap first?  🙂

You can catch my Oh My Wonderful… Part One post from yesterday too, showing another after-and-before angle of the entrance.

Oh, but I just gotta re-post this next pic, me  in 1994 with Chance…

If you’re new here — you might like yet another rambling remodeling post from this house.  I think there will be 20 in the series on this house.  At least!

Posted with love, from Jannie

xoxoox

Oh, My Wonderful (House Remodeling) Heck — Part One

So, above was about 20 minutes ago.

And below was about 3 months ago.

Same basic spot? Yep!

3 months ago I stood in our old front doorway to take the photo, but this window is now where that door was, so I can’t back up far enough now to get as wide a shot.

More “after” angles shall be revealed!

(Eventually.)

Remember how we had 2 front doors for so many years?  Maybe “Oh, My Wonderful… Part Two” will show how we now have just ONE front door!

Or maybe not. There will be tons more “Oh, My Wonderfuls…” here in the coming weeks, years and decades — you never know which one you will see next.

(All interwoven with my other usual shenannigans, of course.)

Like this…

My toes about 21 minutes ago.

Bet you weren’t expecting that picture next, eh??

🙂

(I did the basic pink, and Kelly put a coat of sparkles on top.)

xoxoxo

How To Make Window Shutters

Begin with one (preferably non-shuttered) window…

Procure some 1″ thick pine boards, dressed. (Naked ones are far too sassy.)

Cut boards to desired shutter height, less the height you want your 2 “end caps” to be. More on end caps in a minute.

Glue and clamp boards together for desired shutter width…

Depending on how busy your life is, allow glue to dry for 12 to 1700 hours.  Usually 12-24 hours is just the ticket.

Trim off any uneven ends…

Measure something…

Next… cut the end caps, same thickness and width as the shutters.

If possible, make funny faces when you saw, to improve performance…

The finished shutters in this blog post are 35.5″ high — 31.5 inch boards, with a  2″ end cap at the top, and another 2″ end cap at the bottom.

(Actually, I’m not even sure if “end cap” is the real term, but it hopefully gets my point across.)

Careful with that blade!!

Whee!!!  This is fun.

Gaze lovingly upon your growing pile of end caps — you’re doing a great job!

Stock up on them if you’ve  numerous windows to beautify.

Drill cute little holes in them.

Keep drilling — that whirring sound is so much fun!  Whirrr. Whirrrrr.  I could listen to that all day.  And sometimes do!

(Many of you know we’ve been remodeling and adding onto and more adding onto our house for 17 years now!  And more MORE adding on, but the more MORE will keep — we’ve years of blogging fun ahead — no need to rush into all this at once, right?  Right!)

Wow — nice drilled holes!  They look to be on 3″ centers.  4″  maybe?  (That’s carpenter lingo for — the holes are 3″ to 4″ apart.)

I’ve picked up scads of carpenter lingo over the years — such as “dressed” lumber, plinth blocks, 7-step crown moulding, wainscotting, finials, and coffered ceilings — to name but a few in my now vast woodworker’s vocabulary.)

Next… while your wife / photographer is in the house drinking wine and blogging, screw the end caps to the glued boards.

Trim off any uneven edges.

These don’t really need to be sanded — but sand if you desire.

Measure something again…

I’m not sure what gets measured or why, but measuring seems to be a good thing.

Meanwhile, back at some ranch or another — make a template for moons (if you like moons.) Stars are good if you fear moons look too “out-housey.” Any design of your choosing works, of course.  I notice cut-outs of 3-legged goats and flying cats are making a comeback.

Trace your moon onto what’s beginning to look a lot like a shutter.

Do a little jig with your jigsaw…

But not really.  NEVER dance while using power saws.  Or close your eyes. But you CAN do as many standing buttock tucks as you’d like while sawing — they’re actually encouraged for the best finished product.

Looking good!!

While your wife / photographer is in the house drinking more wine, paint the shutters.

To the bottom of each shutter, attach a hinge and a hook…

To the top of each shutter, attach another hinge — on the same edge as the bottom hinge!

Line up where you’ll screw the hinges on the windowframe… And watch out for mysterious clinging leaves…

Enlisting child labor is ALWAYS a good idea…

Next comes the part where the wine-soaked wife puts down the iPhone camera to hold the shutters while the huband screws them onto the windowframes.

Here’s the kind of wine the wife was drinking for this set of shutters — something cheap, yet upliftingly nonchalant with undertones of blatant anonymity and a whisper of smokey bravado.

Remember that hook 103 photos above?

It goes into an eye.

Use a masonry bit to drill the eye’s hole (if you’re working with masonry.) If you’re not working with masonry, give three “Whoo-hoos!” that you only have to drill into wood.)  (Unless you’re drilling into solid steel.  I know nothing about drilling into solid steel.  Or aged teak.)

Presto, the shutter is held back!

Whoo-hoo!

And that’s (pretty-much) how to make this kind of shutter — which, I must add — are decorative only, as per the way they are attached to the frames, and not meant to be closed to protect the window glass.  If you’re looking for that kind of shutter, I’ll be posting a how-to on them in October, 2016.

Thank you.

Any questions?

With Love,  Jannie

xoxox

P.S.  If  I am posting less than usual this coming week — please don’t worry —  I’ll be out scampering around the blogosphere reading all YOUR awesomeness, answering comments on this post, writing Actual Snail-Mail Letters, cleaning out the fridge (and freezer!) continuing with Kelly’s bedroom make-over, finally stenciling Kirsten’s chairs, and baking cherry pies — but not necessarily in that order.

xoxo again.

EDIT:  For LANCE!! Yes, my shutter guy is also very much a tree-house making guy!!

Texas Miracle Roses (a blog post in only 343 words — and 5 photos!)

See that picture directly above these words?  I took it, and the picture directly below these words this past late Tuesday afternoon.

Posed Kelly.  Poor thing, camera always stuck in her face. Such is the life of a model.

Here she graces the shed attached to our garage addition — all built by my amazing Jim, of course.  He even made the shutters with his own two hands.  And a power saw, or something.

That circle-top window shines from our new living room here, in all its not-quite-yet-finished glory. Christmas tree in there this year!??

Oh, Peeps!  I haven’t mentioned lately — but our front entry has progressed beautifully-much in the past couple of months!!  Yes, indeed. I’m dying to show you the updates, but want the gorgeousness to be just a smidge further along first. Remember our TWO  front doors?  Well, there is now A WINDOW where the old door was!!! Seriously!  So keep your dial tuned to the funsterment, okay?

Anyhoo, back to the roses and such… 5 years ago Kelly and I planted those and the other shrubs you see.

Was my first attempt at roses. I fully expected them to die of the dreaded black spot within the first year.  But I got lucky!

Don’t even remember what kind of rosebush it is. The really good kind, I guess. Blooms 8 months of the year with zero maintenance.

Next, a photo I took this past Monday afternoon…

(Poor trellis.  I should just take it down.  All the vines I’ve ever planted for it have ended up deer-munched. Yet, I like the trellis.  It looks so… hopeful!)

Notice more blooms in the Tuesday photos than the Monday?!

Aren’t flowers amazing!?!

Here’s a photo I took 5 years ago, when all was freshly new.

I’m the worst mom in the world for not getting a photo of Kelly beside the new plantings when she was three.

Oh well, I’m sure all moms miss a photo or two along the way, right?  Anybody?  🙂

But… I think I redeemed myself a bit by snapping this of her and her pal Erika in November, 2008.

Have you ever planted anything that grew more wild, strong and beautiful than you had ever hoped??

Have deer ever munched your plants?

Have plants ever munched your deer?  🙂

xoxo