Steph's Reality Blend

Do you know how to build a kitchen cabinet? I didn't either. At least, certainly not in a day! All it takes is a little planning, the right tools, and the right people. When my brother Tim and his family visited for a week in early October, he and I (and Laura, one day!) focused on getting a few cabinets built for the kitchen. Randy and I had heard about MyWorkshopSpace at a business fair, and conveniently, it's a program located at Down to Earth Woodworking, just across Pine River from our place! For $50/week, you get to use all the tools, purchase materials through the shop, AND Allan Wiener , the owner and operator, is on-site to teach you... How best to plan your project How to use the equipment How to put everything together What not to do, too, and how to fix mistakes Now, with my super-great brother Tim, Allan didn't need to help "me" much, as Tim actually went to school for woodworking and spearheaded that week of work once he was fam...

November 1: Since winter hit so early this year, we use decently warm days to work on siding, and the rest of the days (most of them) to work inside. At this point, there was no heat in the house yet. And since the days are really getting short now, we do more work in the pole barn when it gets dark, and often after the kids are in bed. November 2: I LIKE the siding. It's Hardie Plank (cement board) in Deep Ocean  (ooh-la-la) with white trim. Obviously.  Those long days of working in the cold fresh air really tucker everyone out! November 5: The wood stove chimney is installed and getting some final clamps tightened around the joints by some serious helpers. November 6: ALL the sheetrock for the whole house arrived from Menards about 9am, and we spent the whole day (minus a lunch break) until 4:30 moving it indoors. Thankfully, the truck had an off-road forklift and was able to plop the stacks right outside the south door! This was about halfway ...

Actually, I found one more (significant) photo from September: the day our beautiful Marvin casement windows came! We had been told that they usually send 2 guys with the truck to help unload, but there was only one unfortunate middle-aged gentleman to help us that day. Thankfully one of our strong friends was in town and was able to help spontaneously. The biggest window was over 200 lbs! October 2: For my 33rd birthday, my husband and son built me a front door stoop. :) Here's the weird, temporary view out the "front door"... through the master bedroom wall.  October 3?: Oma and the kids did a great job cleaning up the work site as best they could! Here they are coming in a newly installed fiberglass door (primed white - I'll decide what color it'll be after the house is sided). I still really like it every time I walk through it, multiple times a day. One project Dad and I did during this visit was replace the temporary stair treads...