Butcherblock Island, So Far

Number One's dad donated a butcherblock island countertop to the cause (our remodel) and we are so happy and grateful. Ranch Hand helped us trim and install it. It is almost finished.

I have coated it with several thick coats of mineral oil, letting it soak in for hours and days on end.


The only thing we have left to do on the island is install the bar sink and faucet. We had to coat the sink hole cut with several coats of good sealant, to prevent any warping or cracking in case it ever got wet. Number One and I will caulk the sink in and drill the faucet holes, then the plumber will be able to come back and hook them up to the plumbing, then it will be completely finished.

Number One wanted to use the butcherblock the other day to slice bread, so it's already showing some signs of use. Soon it will look like it's been there forever!

I keep talking about attention to details in everything we've done in the house. Well, here's another one. Number One's dad has a butcherblock island countertop in his kitchen (with no sink). The detail we borrowed from him? An electrical outlet strip under the countertop.


I spray-painted the outlet strip black before the electricians installed it, so you can barely tell it is there. The average person probably wouldn't even notice it unless we pointed it out!

Our kitchen is simply amazing. More pictures soon!

B.C. (Before Carpet)

Here are a few photos of the Master Suite, just prior to the carpet being installed. Sorry a few of them are blurry, I was rushing to get these taken. We were a bit nervous about picking out the color of the carpet, it's a much bigger commitment than a few gallons of paint!

We kept the old wood flooring in the old part of the room, because it really is beautiful and we didn't want to cover it up.


We picked out the style, I guess you'd say, the fluffiness or shag if you will, but weren't too excited about the neutral color choices. We were drawn to a darker color, called Falcon. We decided since our room is larger, over 16 x 16 feet, we could get away with a darker carpet color. Even with the dark purple on two walls. We decided to go for it.


We carried the same color into Number One's closet, above, which is directly off the master bathroom. Falcon goes very well with Scone and dark green.


It will also go smashingly with my closet color, which happens to be pink. This picture is bad, but one day soon I will take a decent picture of my pink closet in all its glory and Falcon carpet.

This is the carpet on the truck, and apparently it is the last picture I took on Carpet Day. You'll just have to wait and see exactly what color "Falcon" is. This carpet was trucked down 60 miles to get to our house. A shorter distance than most of the rest of everything, actually.

Will "Falcon" be too dark?

Does the carpet overwhelm the room?

Or is it simply perfect?

Stay Tuned!

So That Happened...

I woke up the other day to see this:

A huge tree branch had fallen on top of the boys' swing set/club house some time during the night.

You can barely see the swing set, right in front of our house in this picture. We are thankful it didn't land on our house, as it easily could have!


H-Bomb was very sad that they couldn't play on the play set until the tree branch came off. It really would have made one heck of a "tree house" with the branch on there, but it goes without saying that wasn't going to be allowed!


Yes, Sawed Off, your swings are still in the jungle there, you just can't swing right now!

We weren't home when CG had Ranch Hand and Farmer use the tractor and a chain saw to remove the tree branch. I just get to rake up all the smaller branches that made a mess of the side yard!

Now we have to replace several of the main support posts on the play set, as well as the swing beam that were all cracked from the impact with the tree. So there is still no swinging allowed...because you all know how far Home Depot or any lumber stores are from here!

More Photo Shoot Pics!

Here are my favorites, so far:
(thanks Susan!!)

me

Number One

H-Bomb & Sawed Off

C.G.


All photos © Jim Krantz,
CG and I are wearing Adam Kimmel

Grace in Small Things: 5 of 365

I am forcing myself to do this today, because I am sad and concerned about four of my friends/relatives who are all going through serious health problems at the same time, and I am hoping they all come through okay. There isn't much I can do for any of them except send positive energy, so let's cultivate some of that, shall we?

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My health, both physical and mental, as well as the health of my boys, husband, and all of our parents.

2. The new swamp cooler that we installed along with the addition on our old house.

3. The knowledge that our days in this three-room bunkhouse are coming to an end.

4. Number One, who painted a second coat on the ceiling so I could paint the walls while he is on the mountain this weekend.

5. Our garden, which grows bigger by the day, and which very soon will have fresh, ripe tomatoes!

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 4 of 365

Man, it has been a long time, but I will keep my word and accomplish this. Eventually!

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My powerful, shiny orange lawn mower I got for my birthday last year.

2. My boys who are just old enough and quite responsible enough to play unattended and not get into trouble while I mow the lawn.

3. My father-in-law and step-mother-in-law who are wonderful and thoughtfully booked a trip for all of us to a luxury resort this weekend.

4. My husband who can make me laugh about things that bug me but really need to be laughed at.

5. A freshly-mowed, green oasis in the middle of the desert, and enough irrigation water to keep it that way.

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Cowgirl Min, Fashion Model!

You may remember that this cowgirl was hired to model designer clothing for Adam Kimmel's 2010 Spring/Summer Collection. The photo shoot took place at our ranch, with photographer Jim Krantz. (you can see more of Jim's pictures of the shoot, but sadly not one of me, here)

Here is the first picture of myself that I have seen on the WWW, and likely the only actual picture of me that you may ever see on this blog:

photo © Jim Krantz for Adam Kimmel

The funny thing is, the only piece of Adam Kimmel clothing I am wearing in this picture is a sweater, which Sabina the wardrobe lady told me was "probably cashmere." I believe her, and I really don't want to know how much it would cost in a store. Plus, it wouldn't last one hour in a real cowboy workday. Anyway, the jeans, the chinks, the boots are mine; the hat is Jean-Claude's. And the red dirt is on our ranch. (If you go to Jim's website, you can see the spectacular ranch scenery BEHIND the white muslin sheet!)

So much fun! I will keep searching for pictures of myself (obsessively) and let you know if I find any more. In the meantime, you can check out the rest of Adam's collection, including a couple pictures of CG, here.