1 Project Complete! Family Visit

 

The kids' bathroom is complete!

This was by far the most frustrating project we have done to date.   Everything that could go wrong did.  The closest Lowes or Home Depot is 20 minutes away and in those final days before my brother and his family came,  I found myself driving to one of them at least once a day.

My dad installed the tub, added all of the wonderboard for us to tile on, fixed the electrical that was definitely not to code,

installed a vent fan because there wasn’t even a hole for one! (How can you have a bathroom without a vent fan?!  Our master bath doesn’t have one either!)  Hooked up the sink, etc.

My mom and I tiled the tub, repaired and painted the walls, installed the flooring, 

painted the existing vanity, installed the wainscoting, etc.   

It was a pain,  but we got it done!   I am so happy with how it turned out.  It is the one and only room in this house that feels clean and done.

Before: This picture makes it look pretty good - it is from the house listing. Watch my house tour to see how gross it was. 

After:

My parents wanted to put up a pool before Steve and Michelle came.  Poppy spent many hours making sure it was level.

 

  The kids love it and they spend a lot of time in it on the 90 degree days.

 They also love jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler on to keep cool.

 

Steve and Michelle and the boys arrived after a loooong drive.  Jack was especially happy to see his guy cousins.   They slept in my parents trailer and my parents stayed in Paige and Jack's room.

The kids played, 

swam,

 we played chicken foot,

and took them to see the Hot Springs and feel the water (thrills galore).  

We got season passes to Magic Springs and with our tickets also got enough free passes to take S&M’s family and also enough to go with Bryan and Rachel next time they come.  What a fun place!  It’s a water park and amusement park in one.  The kids love it,  I love it.  We have gone 3 times in the last 2 weeks.  (There are some big rollercoasters - it is very similar to Knotts Berry Farm and Sunsplash)

Paige and Joy had been at church camp the week before they got here so we also celebrated Paigey’s 8^th birthday while they were here.

  

On the 4^th of July we went to a church member’s property and had an excellent view of fireworks.  Probably the best I’ve seen in many many years.   It was 75 degrees out as we waited for them to start.  I got chilly!  On the fourth of July!  I love it here.

Blackberry season is in full swing.
 

I have always had an overly romanticized idea of what picking blackberries would be like.  Don’t get me wrong,  I like to do it, not because it is enjoyable, (because it is not) but because I am in awe of how blessed we are that we have unlimited blackberries on our property and that all we have to do it go out and pick them. 

 

The kids do not like to pick blackberries so I give them each a measuring cup and tell them they have to fill it up twice before we can go back to the house.   

It’s an ordeal to get ready to go picking.  Long pants, snake boots, arm guard for the picking arm, gloves for the holding back branch hand, bug spray, tick repellent and duct tape around your waist to keep the bugs from getting in.  (I did not do this the first time and I kid you not, I had 32 bites below the waist. – yeah, still feeling the effects from that one)

I have canned 16, ½ pints of jam and it is delicious.  Especially in place of syrup on pancakes and French toast.

The garden continues to produce copious amounts of cucumbers.  

We have harvested 84 lbs of cucumbers and I have become somewhat comfortable with canning pickles and relish.   We did taste them now and they are SO good!  

I make sweet and spicy pickles – not dill.   My dad seems to especially like them. 

Beans are now maturing and need to be picked again and canned. 
 

I have not yet broken out the pressure canner.  That will be happening next week I imagine.  Nothing makes me feel as homesteady as canning.  I love it and am terrified of it at the same time.   I need more jars.

 This is a potato flower.  I had never seen one before.

The tomatoes are turning red and the zucchini, seems to be picking up speed now that I tied them up vertically.

The first cantaloupes are just about ready.

Watermelons are getting big.

Hornworms have been present but manageable.  I get a thrill from finding those jerks and feeding them to the chickens.

The garden is officially secure. 

 It is surrounded by 8ft deer fencing.

We have a friendly snake that we have spotted several times.  He likes to sun himself on a roll of wire fence.  He is frequently found there although the other day the kids and I came across him right in front of us in the pathway.

The projects continue to keep everyone busy.  The kitchen is currently under construction as my dad is painstakingly taking off the cement  counters and getting it ready to put on the new ones.  I can't wait!

This next week we have VBS!  I am planning the snacks as usual and the registration numbers keep climbing! It will be hectic but I am looking forward to it.