December In A Nutshell

I had such aspirations for December....

Oh well, let's not dwell on it, okay? Here's a few little updates.

Early in the month I visited my mom and we found ourselves in Warsaw, MO. Ohhhh - the shops, the food, the small town sights, the sunset! Lovely!

Isn't this a stunning painted lady?

I have a faint memory of driving over this swinging bridge while on a family trip to the Ozarks when I was a little girl.

This side table begged to come home with me. At only six bucks,  how could I say no? It just needs a bit of love!

This was the view Mom and I enjoyed at the end of our visit to Warsaw....

Sometimes -
no 
words 
are 
needed....

Here's my first try at chalkboard art on my newly installed magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen. I figured I better get a picture of it quick before I erase it for a New Year's message.












The sunroom has carpet!! Yea - it's like a real room now! 

Not only that, but the first snow of the season came the same day!

Christmas was family-full and happy.

 Best wishes to you and yours!

Just Because It's Pretty....

A couple mornings ago I thought it was unusually bright in the kitchen 

and realized it was coming from the sunroom.

The morning sun was brilliant and the leaves freshly fallen.

Yes, that is ribbons of ice you see....

 When I reclined on the loveseat, this is what I saw.

I hope it makes you smile like it did me.

Sunroom Project 3

I am excited to show you the next update on our sunroom. You can see earlier updates here and here.

One of the first essentials was a platform outside the screen door.

Next up...enclosing the base of the deck.

This will be painted to match the sunroom support beams.

Sorry raccoon family. You're just going to have to find a different place to sleep!

(Yes, four raccoons came nightly to finish the cat food and sleep under the deck.)

The wall we added is insulated, drywalled, mudded, and painted.

Sub-floor is installed. Electrical outlets installed and working.

Now for the tricky part.

How on earth are "we" going to make the beams connecting the sunroom to the side of the house presentable? I use the word "we" loosely. I am the brains; hubby is the brawn. 

We have loads of crown molding, so decided to try cutting it to fit around the vertical supports.

It worked!

Brian covered the gap under the molding with another narrow length of lumber.

A tidy finish, don't you think?

To finish it off, the gaps and holes will be caulked, 

smoothed over and everything will be painted to match the wall.

At the end of day we were treated with this spectacular sunset.

So many brilliant colors!

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

    The skies display his craftsmanship.

Psalm 19:1 NLT

Sunroom Project 2

A House and Yard has over 10,000 page views! 

Thank you, dear Readers, for taking time from your schedules to visit.

I appreciate each one of you!

Last week was a full week. The writing challenge continues to be - well, challenging. But I am writing. Brian and I had a fun couple days celebrating our anniversary. Over the weekend we enjoyed time with friends from church. Today and yesterday we are entertaining two of our granddaughters while their mom and dad are out of town.

Time for the some house updates. The sunroom is completely enclosed.

Here's a shot of the wall. There's a door leading to the outside play area.

It needs insulation and sheetrock on the inside.

Some items on the sunroom to-do list include installing the retractable shades for the ceiling, enclosing the deck exterior so critters can't get underneath, electric outlets and ceiling fans, subflooring and carpet. Then, it will be a finished room and I get to decorate! I am devouring sunroom pictures online for ideas! In the meantime, we are enjoying having a screened-in porch.

Bonnie is a little confused about being locked out of the area that was previously part of her domain.

.

Another thing checked off the to-do list is blacktop in the back. Brian was beyond excited about this.

The guys came Thursday morning and began by digging up the existing yard and old, crumbly blacktop.

I didn't get many pictures of the process because Brian and I were out on our anniversary date.

When we got back, it was done! This is a great area for the kids to play basketball and ride their trikes and bikes. 

Eventually, there will be a garage next to the house, but for now it is a wonderfully open space for play.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sunroom Project

There is progress on the 

sunroom addition to the house!

To refresh your memory, here is the deck before it was made bigger

and the original railing and cover removed.

This is what it looks like now with ceiling panels installed.

Following are some shots of the progress....

After making the deck bigger to accommodate the size of room we wanted,

the demolition began.

Goodbye, old deck cover.

See you later, old framework.

Here you can see both the sunroom framing and

the exterior wall extension that is needed for our room.

Frames are up...

...and vented ceiling panels installed.

While installing the ceiling panels, Brian discovered this little froggy.

I hope you appreciate these pictures, because I had to get up on his shaky old ladder 

to get them and I do not like ladders of any sort - shaky, sturdy, old or new!

He appeared to to be quite comfy up there, but

was gone the next day when Brian needed to continue installing the panels.

Clyde was oblivious to the construction going on around him.

He must have had a long night of mouse hunting.

May continues to be busy month at A House and Yard.

There is a double graduation open house to plan

as well as a family outing to celebrate my mom's birthday.

Not to mention the never ending list of projects 

that slowly, but surely are being checked off the list.

Keep your eyes open for updates.

Have a blessed day!