Ok, I know it has been a while, so I will catch you all up to date. Yes, it is true, Chad and I bought ourselves a new Husky, and as you can see it was much needed, our grass was getting way too long, and our neighbors were giving us the eye. It was either a tractor or a mower. We went for the mower, and it does a fine job.

Our progress has been a little slow lately because Chad and I have been so busy. Thank God, the end of the semester is here. My last class was yesterday. We finally got the building permit, so Chad and I will motivate again soon with our new crew. We have hired three of Chad's students to help us with the renovation this summer. We have finally realized that we can't do it all ourselves. It should be fun now with some extra hands.



We are hoping to buy this barn too. Our neighbor said he was going to tear it down or burn it to extend the graveyard, and we just couldn't let him do it. It is so beautiful, and we are trying to perserve this little town the best we can. The owner said that we could make a donation to the church, and it was ours. We are trying to coordinate a moving party so we can move it and reassemble it all in one day. We will see who is up for it. We are looking forward to some exciting months ahead of us!

Oh yeah, did I mention the lady bug problem we had...

Here's the closeup; tell us how you really feel, Chad!

yes, there seems to be some more really bad linolium

This weekend we had a huge fire and got started on the outside. It was such beautiful weather we just couldn't resist! Stay tuned, there will be plenty more to come during our spring break!

Does anyone remember the green vinyl carpet at our house in Manteo? Well, I think this could be worse; however I have had some ideas for future use of this linoleum sinse it comes up so easily. You will have to stay tuned to see...

The pink room is no longer pink, but the good news is--it is insulated--the only room in the house that's insulated, that is! That should keep us warm.

Squint your eyes and take a gander through the facing wood wall...behold, that is the exterior of our house--vinyl!! Let's just say it gets very cold in the house during the winter.

The second pic is where the entrance is located and what used to be the rose paper walls and the red/blue room.

work week 3

Ok Sue, this one is for you...and don't you worry precious, aint nothin penetrating these masks, so now you can sleep at night!

Low and behold, more wallpaper. If you look below, you can see where this is located. Again, that whole room where the stairwell is, was covered in this wallpaper.

This is what you see when you enter the house. This used to be the room with all the rose wall paper. We have since taken it down, and knocked a wall out. We have to leave the wall to the pink room because it is about the only thing holding up the house right now; did I mention that there are no studs!

Remember the pink room (the one with the dead mouse)...well, it used to be a porch, and this asphalt is what used to cover the exterior of the whole house

the stairs downstairs; right now there is just a hole in the floor

Just in case you need to make a phone call...

the mold cellar; oops, I mean the root celler, and this is actually an improvement; in comparison this cellar is spotless

current dwelling: work week 1

front views

You can barely see these floorplans, but if you would like a better perspective of the current floorplan and the future floorplan, just click on the pics.

Most of these pics were taken earlier this fall.

This is the back of the house; from where I was standing, if you were to turn around and walk through a wooden fence, you would be at the creek. It is very relaxing by the creek. Chad and I look forward to enjoying it.

This is our barn also; it is located across the street and sits on about 4/10ths of an acre.

This is another view.

Here are some outside shots; if we clear some trees out, we will have a nice view of Beech Mountain. This shot was taken a coupla weeks ago.

This is before we started tearing stuff up. This will be the living room at some point...guess what the first thing to go was?

yes, the acoustic tile ceiling, how'd you guess?

Next comes the wood paneling...

This is where things got weird...after pulling down the paneling (dont worry, it will be reused), we realized the walls were covered entirely of card board boxes, over which there was this "wall paper." This card board was from wall to wall to ceiling, as you can see!



we thought the cardboard had to have a purpose, but as we pulled it down, they were just reused boxes...I dont know maybe insulation??

Bedroom 1--new ceiling height

Bedroom 1 and 2; yes that is a toilet....

Doesn't this just make you want to go to the bathroom, and cozy up with your magazine?