the boys are back in town

Dan and his brother arrived safely home after a 21 hour drive, two fill-ups of a 50 gallon diesel truck, and a stay in a hotel that, as my brother in law put it, "I felt dirtier after my morning shower than when I began." But they are here.

My sous-chefs and I went over to the house this morning with egg sandwiches and warm muffins and they were already up to their eyebrows in work. I walked in to a bare dining room floor consisting only of the log beams running across the floor and an eerie view into the basement. They're jacking things up and preparing to lay down the barn flooring later in the day. I try not to ask details, just the basics, like, "Now when we put our dining room table on this floor, will we fall through to the basement?"

And right now, I shouldn't be sitting here, but dealing with the unmade bed on my right, the hairy, dusty floors below me, the piles of laundry I'm tripping over in front of the washing machine, and the thousand legger corpses in my kitchen sink. They come out in droves when our house sits empty for any length of time. And they seriously creep me out.

But I'm drinking my reheated coffee from this morning--three hours later. And taking the moment to pop in and say hello and thank you--for all your overwhelmingly encouraging and "I'm so happy for you" comments from my last post. You're great people. What would I do without you all? Thank you for reading the long version and for taking your precious time to leave me a comment and tell me about your experience, your excitement, your understanding. It really means the world.

More reno pictures coming, I'm sure. But first I must regain control of the apartment homestead.

(The muffins were from the current issue of EDF. The basic recipe and I added a topping made of brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, flour and some oats to sprinkle on top. yum.)

Happy Monday. (Oh and go here to get yourself some free pastels from Pentel. One per household and use the promotional code SA2008. )

Comments

[Stefani]

Lordy those muffins look good!
Such busy little bees you all are... and such happy work to have. I'm just so excited for you! I wish I could be there to help or at least bring over some celebratory pie!

[Crystal]

The 'dirty shower' made me giggle. :) I have been there done that and hope I never have to do it again.

Thanks for the free pastels link. Can't wait to try those out. The kids and I are still honing in our watercolor skills. Ha!

[melissa]

yay! free art supplies!
your little bowl is almost ready- remind me what color you wanted!

[kirsten]

woo hoo! sounds like you're getting there. or will. and the photos look like the house has great 'bones' - it'll be awesome.

(and thanks for the pastel link - cool!)

[miss chris]

How exciting... you're that much closer! Can't wait for more pics. And those muffins -- YUM. Thanks for the pastel link. Those will get lots of use over here. xoxo & have a wonderful week.

[Mary Beth]

Thanks for the free pastels link. And your muffins look delish. I made the crackers and they really were fun and yummy.

[amy h]

Oh my, those thousand leggers freak me out, too. I still remember the first time I saw one in college. My hair stood on end for a good hour.

How exciting to get to be in your house soon!

[Heidi]

First of all, those muffins look amazing!!!...Just wanted to write to let you know that I so enjoy your entries! Especially loved the photo of the fly-away kite a few weeks ago! Please keep sharing...Heidi :)

[Kimma]

Just stumbled upon your flickr & and now your blog! Very inspiring and happy :) My husband and I hope to renovate an old farmhouse one day (lord knows there are tons round these parts that could use it) and i look fwd to hearing about your project. Right now we live in bitty cottage in the blue ridge mountains and I totally relate to your statement "I'm absolutely thankful that life brought us here. I've learned so much living in this small space. I've learned a lot about myself, about my children and about what I really need in life" - maybe their is more glitz, glam, and money in the city but i wouldn`t trade this small town life, the scent of the pastures, and these humblin' hills for anything in the world :)

[Deb]

I'm glad you re-warmed your coffee and popped in here. It's always fun to read about how your renovations are going. You know, I'm going to want to bring you a housewarming gift.

[Chris]

LOVED the long version! Hope you will do that again. (I'm a very "details" kind of person.) How exciting for all of you. Hope you'll post more pics as progress takes place so we can see how things are going. What a great God! Love how He supplies all our needs. Rom. 11:36

[Laura]

Molly, the muffins look so good and I'm so happy for you. I would LOVE to renovate an old farmhouse someday too... But for now - I can live vicariously through you!

[Sarah S.]

I am so happy the boys are hard at work! The muffins look yummy!