SUMMER'S BOUNTY

Cowhorn Peppers are plentiful in the back yard pot garden

It's time to do a little pickling here on Hawthorne Avenue

Dilly beans, pickled asparagus, Cauliflower and more...

Tomatoes rarely make it indoors.  A garden tomato fresh off the vine is OH SO SWEET!

NOTHING TO DO WITH HOUSE RESTORATION

Been doing some baking in my new oven.  

Pies.

Arugula/Pancetta and Pepperoni/Mushroom on the new pizza stone

    

 

"Sing-a-song-a-sixpence-a-pocket-full-a-rye....."

    

Pizza and apple pies....They did not win any beauty contests but they sure were tasty!

BEFORE & AFTER : KITCHEN

February 2011:
Kitchen as seen on first viewing of this house

March 2011:  Kitchen during demolition 

May 2011: Wallace, replacing kitchen floor joists

March 2011: Michael clears out crawl space below kitchen

December 2012:  Completed kitchen

SPLATTER ALL YOU WANT....

The backsplash is up!

Billye and I love sunflowers.

I found an artist who makes beautiful tiles, one of which is a sunflower.

The backsplash is complete.

WHITE ON WHITE ON HAWTHORNE

BREAKFAST AT HAWTHORNE

Midweek bagels, coffee, and fruit

Hot chocolate, watermelon, pumpkin cream cheese, bagels and pickles - Billye's choice - Don't judge!

Thanks to our lovely neighbor....Pancakes on Sunday

The diner on Hawthorne Ave. cooks up bacon

Miss Magnolia's special request.....pancakes, bacon, and OJ

   

MAKING OURSELVES AT HOME

    So when will we all make the move to Hawthorne Ave?  The jury is still out.  We are currently half  way there.  Fifty percent of our furniture and 50% of our children have moved.  As we do this, we all are finding our spots.

Michael reads in the wicker swing

Billye tries out the glider

Socks rests in the back room

Or is the kitchen a better place to be underfoot?

A PEEK INTO MY NEW KITCHEN

   It is time for another BEFORE and AFTER post.  Warning: Extremely squeamish souls might want to scroll down fast or skip this post altogether.  Mind you, I have not posted a couple of the worst 'before' photos because my stomach tends to heave when I look at them.

BEFORE

Sink - March 2011

Under stairs - March 2011
(Our refrigerator now resides in this location)

Kitchen - March 2011

Now, try to ignore the cleaning and construction clutter on the counter tops as you grab a peak of the 'after'. 

AFTER

Sink - August 2012

Cabinets - August 2012

Cabinets and flooring - August 2012

Cabinets and lighting - August 2012

OOOOOOOOOO,,,,,,AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

   I'm in love with the look and feel of the honed soapstone (a native Virginia product).  I just can't stop touching it.  Those of you who know me well understand my tactile quirks!

AMAZING TALENT

Cabinet from Caravati's

   
    Check out this facebook link.  Our kitchen cabinets are being installed and our cabinetmaker Roy is doing a fantastic job.  He has incorporated an early 1900 kitchen cabinet from a home on Three Chopt Rd. that we got from Caravati's  and 4 old corbels I picked up at Paul's Place, both local antique and salvage shops.  In addition, Roy has used the last bit of bead board, original to the house and leftover from building the stair well wall, to line the back of the book shelf area on the kitchen island.

Original bead board recycled as backing for bookshelves in kitchen island

Corbels shelved at Paul's Place

My kitchen is going to be so beautiful I am eager to begin enjoying it all the time.

*  Roy, if you are reading this, look at the shamrock corbels on the shelf next to the ones you put in my island!  Are they calling out "HOFFERT,  TAKE ME HOME!" ?

THE CABINETS ARE COMING! THE CABINETS ARE COMING!

Watch, my readers, and you shall see

The beautiful cabinets that are coming to me,

On the fourth of June, in 2012:

Arriving at Hawthorne both drawers and shelves

Cabinets galore for my family.

Ok, admittedly it's a weak attempt at linking to a Longfellow poem.   I am simply excited about my new kitchen cabinets.

Roy arrives with the new cabinets

The antique cabinet salvaged from an old home on Three Chopt Rd. also arrives

This is the man who will transform my kitchen (how about his Celtic logo...I like it)

The plans were drawn up by Leon Reynolds of Reynolds Architectural Woodwork

KITCHEN FLOOR

   This house has sustained a great deal of damage over it's lifetime.  Raccoons and squirrels, leaky pipes, and improper roof repairs have all taken their toll.  Long leaking kitchen plumbing  has mandated a great deal of floor repair.

We knew before we began to pull up any flooring that at least one joist required replacement.  As it turned out, 3 joists needed attention.  Previous owners had removed the kitchen chimney, however the concrete slab upon which the wood stove sat remained to be addressed.  (Demolition and removal of the slab was a back-breaking sledge hammer job which we turned into a competition knowing Wallace would take the bait.)

   Once rotten wood and concrete were removed, the crawl space beneath was easier to access and prepare for conditioning.

The new rough cut 2x10's have served us well.  Measure, measure, cut, and install.

VOILA !