Speeding Time

Time is speeding by! 

                 There 

                                 are

                                          never 

                                                      enough

                                                                      hours

                                                                                      in  

                                                                                                   a 

                                                                                                               day! 

Our attention 

was focused 

on other things 

now and then 

as the days marched on to this point. 

The anticipation of getting all the layers off the walls has almost come to an end. 

We now have the original walls! 

It was an exciting adventure 

and now will be almost as exciting getting it into living shape. 

The following photos were uploaded a bit at random.

Distraction 1

The Yard!

Earlier there is a picture of my wheelbarrow and how much I LOVE it. 

Now . . .

I am posting my most awesome gloves my sweet hubs bought me.

I LOVE THEM!!!

They are snug so I can get hold of the small weeds,

I can get them wet and they dry quickly,

they wear like crazy!

Still no holes in them!

And they keep my hands clean!

Ever so "handy"!

Surprises can be quite exciting.

But when my hubby surprises me,

it is more sensational then ever!

After a long day at work, 

I 

came

home

to

THIS!

My sweetheart had the torn off all the extra layers 

down to the original logs!

Isn't it beautiful!

The Window Wall

Distraction 2

Memorial Day

A day to remember our loved ones 

and those who have served our country.

A beautiful day!

My dad's grave.

(Notice the little black car on the left. More of her to come later)

My darling granddaughter. 

She had a great time taking pictures all day.

My sister's grave 

who passed away in a car accident 

when she was about 8 months old.

I think she was five years older than myself, 

yet I feel I know her and I love her.

Back to work!

North wall.

Definitely a door and possibly a chimney. 

There is only part of this wall.

So many questions arise while looking at this wall.

Is the other part of this wall out in the shop? 

Was this a front sort of front porch?

What was behind this originally?

Questions maybe Lance's sister might be able to answer. 

The hue is beautiful! 

The west wall.

A newspaper was nailed to the wall.

Was it used for insulation?

Where it is only two pieces, 

Did someone nail this to the wall for us to find years later

and wonder

why was this piece nailed to the wall? 

Hmmm. . . 

There is an interesting article 

about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.

Must be a Deseret News.

Here it is again with more of the sheetrock torn off.

The "door" wall 

showing the beautiful baby blue color 

with the torquise on the left wall.

The colors are delightful!

Close up of the baby blue

Lance taking the newspaper off.

Being quite excitable, I was a bit nervous.

But he did a great job and preserved it wonderfully!

He spoils me in the most wonderful ways!

Distraction 3

Remember our little black car, Henrietta?

Well, she didn't make it back from a trip to SLC.

: (

Traveling down to a reception for my nephew's daughter,

poor little Henrietta gave it up. 

She took us many places and saw much adventure for our sakes.

(But honestly, she was ready to go, poor girl)

And now we have a new addition to the family:

ESTER!

Yup!

She is a Subaru Forester

(For-Ester)

In case you didn't get it.

And we are already loving her! 

Just not ready for a 

                                                             Road 

                                                                       Trip 

                                                                                 Yet

A bit gun shy still when it comes to further than Idaho Falls!

We need to get to know her first.

Distraction 4

YARD WORK 

And a lot of it!

Lilac bushes:

Mom loved Lilac bushes

and there are several in the yard.

This one was gorgeous.

(Trimming has already taken place. 

It was quite healthy before.)

The lilac represents the first emotions of love.

Quite significant as Mom loved her father dearly.

Her mother passed away when mom was but 2 years old.

This mother would never watch her sweet daughter grow up,

she would never get to curl her hair

or buy pretty dresses for her.

She would not be able to take her shopping 

or to a movie

or hold her close at night 

when chased by a nightmare.

However, her father did.

He bought her Shirley Temple dresses

and had her hair done up in Shirley Temple curls.

He took her to the horse races,

the dances, 

and took her shopping.

He even LET her 

milk the cows 

and feed the horses. 

:)

Mom remembers how he carried his bills in a money case.

He would buy his daughter many beautiful things.

And the lilac?

Such a representation of a love between a father and daughter.

But this one had to go. 

It was just too close to the front door.

We dug.

We lopped.

We chopped.

(Whew)

We sawed.

We dug some more.

And we broke some off.

We continued!

And then we took a break.

Then--

We dug.

We lopped.

We chopped some more!

I found out how tough my sweet hubby is

and how tough my baby girl is!!!

I even surprised myself with this 

unusual amount of work!

And finally, Darci and I leaned into it,

heard a cracking sound,

and there she went!

This was, of course, 

HOURS

later.

Another end of an era.

Picture after lopping and digging around the lilac bush.

The large pinetree has to go too.

The roots are threatening the foundation. 

SO wish it was out further.

Beautiful tree!

(Notice the beautiful green lawn. :)

More yard work.

Our rose bushes.

This was a huge thistle patch

the had grown just this year.

And now, after many days of digging,

Lance has cleared them all out.

Now we need to till it and plant some grass.

(Doesn't the lawn look nice at the top of the hill?)

(The green part at the bottom of the picture.)

This is what the above picture looked like

as you look at the thistles.

(They are the pretty tall, green, almost to flower plants)

Many more distractions have taken place.

Yet we have taken all the layers off every wall 

in our soon-to-be bedroom.

Sanding, sanding, and sanding

still to be done.

chinking,

staining,

colors to choose

Still so much to do.

Yet a feeling of going somewhere!

So much to see,

So much to learn!

Treasures from the ceiling.

Demolition can bring such wonderful memories of another place and time.

As the hubs began tearing off the paneling, he suddenly stopped,

turned to me and said, "I remember helping put this on. Isn't that weird?"

Oh, if only these walls could talk.

Each layer left me wondering about the family members who thought of doing it just this way.

 Who decided to put up the plaster and then paint it a beautiful turquoise?

Was this the layer Grandpa Paul Hansen put on

or was it Dad?

Did Mom sleep in this room 

and glue the two beautiful pictures we found to the ceiling?

Or were these treasured pictures of her mother's, 

A sweet mother who could no longer hang on to this life,

but had to go to another life,

leaving a precious 2 year old daughter

and a baby boy?

Was she ill a long time and therefore had the images glued to the ceiling,

So she could gaze at something of beauty while she lay there?

At this thought, my heart hangs heavy at the thought of this beautiful mother,

one who probably cried in Heaven, 

with empty arms, missing her babies.

Was it she who chose the soft blue wash on the first pressed board?

While choosing her color,

was she thinking of a beautiful day such as this, 

with a blue, cloudless sky overhead?

Oh, the wasted dreams of a perfectly good mother.

Maybe the color was chosen by a single father

who wanted to brighten the life of his little, 

happy, bubbly daughter.     

Such a great father who loved his babies dearly 

after his sweetheart left.

Imagining the lives of those who added each layer is fascinating.

Whoever put these walls up, no matter who painted them,

my hubby's mother lived each layer, and each painting.

She is in these walls;

 her wants, 

her needs,

her dreams.

She lived it all right here.

Each layer representing another time, another life, 

trying to make their home more beautiful than before.

I feel infinate respect and love for the history these walls share.

Our treasures from the ceiling:

Items from Lance's day and time.

Trick or Treat bag, race track section, clue paper.

 Part of The Bret King book cover, game card, electrical part, coaster paper

Tithing paper from Primary, Love letter to Kurt, torn letter to Santa

We actually found four buttons, two monopoly houses, three hockey game pieces (metal ones!)

 Beautiful clear with white marble. So pretty!

A different era and time:

 Beautiful mountain scene with sheep in the foreground.

Title:

"Fast Falls the Eventide" 

Found glued to the ceiling on the third layer.

Richest treasure from the ceiling:

A beautiful picture which was glued to the third layer of ceiling. 

The name:

"Love's Greatest Treasure"

Tons of baseball/card bubble gum wrappers! 

Hahahaha!!!

Sorry Kurt!

Linoleum removed. 

 Beautiful wood floor.

Hoping we can sand it down and refinish it.

Yard work is just staring us in the face! 

Back to it. The front yard.

Funny how all my life I have wanted a wheelbarrow and have not had one.

After mentioning it to my oldest daughter one year, 

we ended up with a wheelbarrow for Christmas!

How could a silly wheelbarrow mean so much to me? 

But it does!

And I love it!

Such a handy little item,

and it is getting such good use here!

 The Craigy Hills of Ireland, 

with it's rocky ground 

and soft varmint homes.

I have read turf grass requires a rock-free surface. 

Hmmmm. . .

So grateful to the little folks who live just under the surface

who pile the rocks on top and aerate the soil. 

Such kind folk!

Before cleaning under the pine tree.

 After.

When returning home from work one night, 

I was met with the most aromatic smell.

My sweet hubby had made 

rolls!

And they were most delicious!

One even turned out to be a heart roll.

Really, how sweet is that!

Love my man!

Lost picture finally 

FOUND!

The inside of the greenhouse.

Hubby is collecting the most beautiful rocks 

to put in the middle for a walking path.

So exited to finally have a greenhouse!

Back to the house!

While trying to decide whether or not to tear out the walls

we took a week hiatus. 

I wanted to. Hubby, not so much!

After thinking it over, and even going to the temple to decide, it was affirmative.

The walls are going.

We pulled the paneling off and found. . . 

NO LOGS!

Where is the log cabin!

We were very sad. 

But after tearing out some of the wall

WHAT!

Houston, we have logs!!!

Unbelievable! 

And so ecstatic! 

It is the beautiful, original, old logs!

"Now look whose Happy is too loud!"

(From "We Bought A Zoo")

Thorns, Thistles, and rocks!

And unto Adam, 

I, the Lord God, 

said: . . . cursed shall be the ground

 for thy sake; 

in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. 

Thorns and thistles

 shall it bring forth to thee, 

and thou shalt eat 

the herb of the fireld. 

By the sweat of they face shalt thou eat . . . 

(Moses 4:23-25)

The beautiful snow has melted,

and even though high winds threaten to knock us to the ground,

and rain clouds hang heavy in the sky most days, 

Yard work needs to be done. 

Heavenly Father has given us this beautiful land

and we have stewardship over it.

The responsibility feels overwhelming, 

however, we are committed.

With consistency and hard work, we will bring the land back to life!

The meadow with all its beautiful thistles! 

Most of the meadow looked like this.

I feel for Adam and Eve!

The thistles must go. 

Our goal is at least 30 minutes of thistle pulling every day,

except Sunday, of course. 

This is part of the meadow which has been 

"dethistled".

You can see the thistle patch to the left.

Lance was able to put the tramp together a few weeks ago.

This also shows more of the "dethistled" meadow.

This shows weeks of hard work!

Hard work never hurt anyone! 

(Right!)

Hubby started fixing up the green house. 

It is the small building on the side of the shop (left buildings) with all the windows.

Pictures will come later (since I can't find them right now!) of the inside,

 which is turning out beautiful!

My sweetheart has even scoured the area

 looking for the most beautiful rocks

to put on the walking path in our green house. 

Side note: I LOVE rocks!

Buildings in above picture:

Far left: Greenhouse and wood shop.

On the right:

Pump house with log play house in the back.

We walk the land regularly, looking for hidden treasures, 

bringing a never ending excitment to our adventures. 

Out side treasures coming up soon. 

Inside treasures coming next.

Bedroom Demolition

The remodel has begun There are eight or more different kinds of wood paneling in this house. 

We are starting with "Our Bedroom"

 Before 

Painted wood paneling, brown carpet, 

a vintage wagon wheel chandelier,

 and white fiber board ceiling tiles.

The Closet, Before

About a month earlier I was so curious about what was under the paneling 

we started tearing off the paneling and the ceiling tile. 

I was hoping to find the original logs from the old log house. 

No such luck. 

Another angle, Looking straight in from the door, closet on the left. 

We started with tearing out the ceiling tiles. 

When we removed the carpet we found beautiful linoleum! 

It would have been gorgeous all polished up. 

HOWEVER: 

The seam down the middle had pulled apart and there were holes, like the one at the top, in several places. So sad! : ( 

Every day we took a break and went for a walk. 

This is the view from just around the corner. 

 

Just breathtaking! So peaceful!

So sad this is as big as I can make it. 

Grand Teton Peaks

A heart in the entrance posts of a development. 

You can see them in the picture above. 

When I first saw this, my heart began to swell.

 I took it as a sign 

from my Father

 this is where we are meant to be at this time.

After all the ceiling tiles are gone. 

We wanted to save the wood and are taking the nails out.

At one time the turquoise plaster was probably so beautiful!

It just peels off at the touch.

Starting to tear the ceiling out. 

This is taken looking up at the ceiling. 

There were several different layers. 

1. White Ceiling tile, which is already torn out here

2. turquoise plaster  

 3. Layer of fiber board sheet rock painted white

4. Fiber board sheet rock with gray wallpaper on it

5. Wood ceiling board, very old and very pretty! 

Another view of the different layers of ceiling

All the layers of ceiling are gone. 

Lance also tore out the old log house beams,

which are still in this picture.

Notice the pretty new-looking wood beams and 2nd story flooring.

There is one old beam showing here.

One day we had visitors for lunch! 

They came almost right up to the window

One day on our walk we saw this. 

A second cousin (Nick name: Cowboy) of the hubby's lives across the street. 

He's going out to feed the cows.

More of the remodel to come.