Is That A Floor I See Before Me?!?

So (as they say in the south) it's been a minute since I've posted.  My blogging hiatus was largely due to a much needed retreat to the fabulous state of Washington.  A last minute decision, my impromptu vacation was SO needed, and, though I'm back in Georgia now, I feel refreshed and ready to deal with the house situation again.

Here's just one of the reasons I desperately needed to leave for awhile.  This is the view from the dining room.  The water damage that we knew we must deal with turned out to be a huge problem in this area.  In fact, it was so bad that the contractors discovered there was nothing between the siding on the exterior and the drywall inside the house.  The frame work and diagonal wall had completely rotted away.  Thankfully, they were able to fix it.  I'd have hated having a hole in my house for eternity.

This was another giant hole.  Same story as the other one, but I was lucky to see it was covered with plywood.  Both of these pictures were taken the day I left for Seattle.  Just for fun, I'll not show them in their current state until I talk about Washington.

Ah, Washington.  My retreat was not simply to get away....well, mostly.  However, I did enjoy spending time with my family, and I also found a project to work on.

To do my project, I did need the expertise of my mom, the quilter.

It started with some fabric...

Required me to be friends with Eb, the elusive one...

And eventually, this beauty came together.  Paper piecing and a lot of trial and error helped my mom and I figure out how to do this intricate quilt design, known as the mariner's compass.

I discovered my hand sewing skills need a lot of refining, and to make the process go faster, my mom helped me attatch the circle in the center.











And then I had to attatch the medallion to the background...that was a lot of pinning.

Luckily, I got it all pieced and ready to go.  Just in time to be packed up and put away until I have a space to quilt it.  That's not all I did while visiting the North West.

I went to tea with my Great Aunt, Grandmother, my mom, her sisters, and one of their cousins.  I was the youngest in the room, and I felt like I saw my future.

I also found some paint color possibilities from Home Depot.  The couch we picked out has interesting colors, so I had a hard time finding the right paint chips.  Hopefully, Jared and I can agree on the color that we both can live with.

I also got to know Eb, one of my mom's cats.  After all this time, he got used to someone else other than my mom, and I discovered he is quite amusing.

Classic...

















But now back to reality.  I came home to find...

A kitchen with a floor!!!!  The inspector did his thing, and the Rabbits were able to move along and put down the sub floor.  I maybe, possibly, could be getting tile today!

I also found a glorious passthrough to replace the silly little window that used to be there.  The amount of light that is able to move through the space is amazing.  I'm absolutely in LOVE with it!!!

We also now have a rot-free frame underneath that window, and as you can see, drywall going up! 

Hooray for no holes in the wall!!!  It's amazing what a difference some framing, plywood and drywall can make.  This shows the "after" of the first picture in this post.

And presto!  The wall is intact and beautiful!  Luckily we saved some of the wood floor where they expanded the half bath, because the floor underneath the window was getting rotted out as well.  Not anymore!

Here's the view of the passthrough from the family room.  The difference is AMAZING!!!  Have I mentioned how in love with this I am?

And last, but not least, the new back door was put in.  Even though there was a window there, the door lets in a lot more light than the old window.

My house is still a construction zone, but the progress is visible.  When I left, the workers were probably at the lowest point in the whole process.  Now, however, we've started to put things back together in this giant puzzle piece of a house.  The tile is possibly going down today, and the cabinets should be in by Monday or Tuesday.  It's been a long time coming, but this house is FINALLY starting to come together.

Sarah