Hello Yes, it's been a while, not much... how 'bout you?

Okay...I've got nothing.
No good excuses
No good explanations
No good reasons...why I've been gone so long, other than to say...I dropped out for a wee bit. : )
It's been before Christmas since I've last blogged.  The holidays took me over the edge. So we're going to start fresh and new, just like SPRING...

OMG!!!
This is the new SPRING!
Okay... it's not quite like this outside as I write this but this snap is only 3 weeks old and it's April 27th!!!
So kids... buckle up... it's going to be a BuMPy ride!
I'm giving you the "Nutshell" version of the last 5 months. (Can that be right??? 5 months???)

Well, here we go...











Without adieu, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Chatreau-Grifo family...

MEET MISS OLIVE GRIFO!!!

As you might have guessed... She was a Christmas present.  She's a Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel and she is the sweetest thing.  To share just a few of the "sweetest" things she's eaten so far...

1. My Coach Purse
2. 4 pairs of my Shoes
3. 3 Wood handled screwdrivers
4. My iPad cover
5. 2 area rugs
6. The bottom flap of a new chair
7. 2 iPhone cords
8. 1 Wooden Salad Bowl
9. Countless pairs of my undergarments...seriously, I lost track!
10. The cord on the vacuum cleaner - completely separated it.

This is just a small sample of her greatness and abilities... the worse part is... you can't get mad at her because she is so stinking cute... here's a few more snaps...

Soooo as all new parents are consumed with their new baby, we are no different.  We giggle at each head turn, we talk about her latest poop style, we stop everything to kiss her and squeeze her as hard as she'll allow.  It's L-O-V-E folks!  No doubt about it.

On that note... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 We've decided that even though the rooms aren't done... that won't stop us from living in them as if they were!  We had 4 beautiful trees this year and even though the pictures of the village were lost in my phone break down, I still found some of the trees... at least some of them.

 For the first time, I had an 8' Christmas Tree with room at the top and it was sitting on a stand that was 3'!!!

 Even decorated the mantel... and had fires in the fireplace...

Here's a great snap of Olive and my granddog, Maeby!!! 

Okay....enough dog talk... well, at least for now.  

 Here we have the diningroom tree and the mantel in the diningroom... the Charlie Brown tree didn't count as one of the official 4 trees...but it sure is cute!

Got an unbelievably gorgeous Chandelier  

 from Blake and Steve It's crystal and it is a SHOW STOPPER!!!
I still shake my head at the friends I have and their willingness to help, give, share and just indulge me with their goodness...
Life is so funny that way... I am thankful and I am full of thanks.
Jealous much?  LOL

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WE WELCOME IN 2014 

... with the coldest, snowiest, yuckiest weather on record!!!

and... after 18 years with The Arthritis Foundation, I took a new job with Make-A-Wish!!! So I am working with actual people now and when I ask questions, I'm not answering myself, other people talk to me!  It's amazing!!! By the way, it's World Wish Day and you should donate your airline miles or $$$$ to MAKE-A-WISH... and do it now!  (Tell 'em Cherie sent you)

I digress...So in your spare time Cherie, what have you been doing?  Glad you asked... here's a smidgen of what's going on with Martha...

1. Miles Bedroom is, for the most part, done. (pictures to come)
2. I have a laundry room where I can actually do our Laundry and after 6 months at the Laundry Mat, I still tear up when I can put clothes in the washer without putting them in the car first!  (This will be it's own story in a few days)
3. The main floor bathroom is moving along.  I've tiled the floor and the walls are ready for tile this weekend and then we just have to install the new toilet and sink and all the accouterments and it's done
4. The Back-Kitchen will be done in the next two weeks... I'm hoping...
5. The Pots and Pans Room, which WAS going to be George's office has changed and it will now become the China Room...due to a slight addiction/problem/concern that Cherie has...otherwise we'd need to build on an addition and that seems crazy in a house with 22 rooms in it already!
6.  We ripped up the last bit of carpet ... the main stair case... and still need to remove the nails, staples and screws (yes, I said screws) up but it's WAY better with that nastiness gone!!!
7. Bill Howell, the Wandering Troubadour, came back down and installed our beautiful banquette seat that he made out of some lovely oak with plug and all for the back kitchen.
8. Nancy and I took a road trip to "almost New York" for an estate sale!!! Drove there on a sunny Friday after work and came home on Saturday!  We did the trip in 24 hours!  It was AWESOME
9. My phone, our computer and a water pipe all broke in late December, early January... so I have a new phone number, a borrowed computer (thanks Blake) and new basement water pipes...
10. The radiator in front of the "found" bathroom door has been moved out of the way and into the back kitchen so you can access the bathroom.
11. We've been so lucky to have so many friends and family stop in to see us and meet Martha over the past few months and have enjoyed each and every visit! Everyone has been so gracious to act like they don't see the holes in the ceiling and cracks in the walls and the DUST... oh the DUST and just love Martha for her possibilities.... Thank You...Thank You... Thank You.

So I'll close this blog with some snaps, act like I never took the break and we'll move right along...

This was how it looked  BEFORE...(I wonder if this was dirty?)

This is the AFTER...not done but you can see the difference...

This is one side of the "Back Kitchen"... raised floor, new shelf wall made from the bead board we took off the walls in the butler's pantry.  I wanted a shelf for the herbs and tender flowers and this room gets great afternoon/evening sun. I can't wait to get this finished!!!

Stairs with carpet... sideways... don't ask

Stairs without carpet... sideways... again, don't ask : )

Main Floor Bath... You can see the radiator in front of the the door... and the floor

Here you can see the radiator is GONE and the Penny Round tile is in!!!

 This is the now famous... "Almost New York" trip...

 No one does a 24 hour Estate Sale Road Trip like Cherie and Nancy!!! WE RULE IT!!!

Hater's gonna Hate... but we don't negotiate!!!

The Toledo Mom's head down to Cbus to see the Columbus Daughters...Great way to spend a Sunday!

Had a wonderful Easter with our wonderful neighbors...Dave and Kevin and Miss Nancy! Go ahead and hate on my dish selection for the Easter table... Green is a nasty color on you!

Gathered with my sister and brother to celebrate my cousins life!  We are one less in the Cunningham family and that breaks my heart for so many unsaid reasons...but so good to touch my brother!!!

And last but not least... I've got the greatest kids... silly like their father and smart like their mother!!!

So this was a very different blog post... but it was a blog post... so you can stop sending worried notes, and texts and emails... It's all good here at Martha.  I'm falling into a new happy with my new job and I miss you madly.  I promise to be better with my updates and hope this finds you happy and living your path.

Peace my faithful companions...

c

So a guy walks into a bar....

Last we chatted I was getting ready for Thanksgiving and finishing up the dining room so we could use it for our wonderful Thanksgiving Gala!  I can NOT believe how fast time has sped and I find myself telling you about Christmas but here we are.  To kill the curious cat... we have been moving along and the Library Bar is now done and well used, I might add.  : )  In addition, Miles bedroom is almost complete and I am chomping at the bit to get it done but other things have placed themselves ahead in the line and so, in typical Cherie fashion, I continue to disappoint myself my by missing my self imposed deadlines.
What could possibly putting itself ahead of Martha?  Please believe me that I ask myself this question daily and I even do that outloud!!! George loves to answer the question with "Looks like you never really cared about how the house looks...you never have."  and then he walks away laughing!!!   Okay, that calms me down a bit...I know that we have gotten a ton done in a short 6 months but for the love... could anything go quick and easy...I'd settle for quick and painless....how about "quickly"? Martha continues to teach me patience. I never knew how impatient I was before this.  So with that I feel like Martha continues to teach me to be a better person...well, at least a more patient person.
Let's have a peek at what we've been up to lately...

This is the Library before we bought it...

Here's an action shot of George "cutting" the walls in the library...

We are doing these walls the same as the dining room to tie them together... The wall with the actual bar is painted Swiss Chocolate and the others are the Williamsburg Stone.  The crown molding was sanded and then saturated with a wonderful brown oil... you need to see this in person...

These are the pocket doors that lead into the living room and they are such a treat... but as will almost all the rooms in Martha, they are just two of four doors in this room.

So here it is with all it's trimmings and I must tell you the floor was my favorite.  We got sorta "fancy".. hey don't hate the hipster!

Aren't they beautiful?  We usually keep them open because I've closed off the huge door from the receiving area into the dining room and this is how you get from there to here...but if need be and George or the kids want to watch something in the bar, I can still listen to the stereo in the living room in glorious peace.

 I turned a hard wired light into a plug in lamp and hung it over the bar table!  Love it!

 View from the dining room doorway.  Now don't you want to come and have a beverage or two?

 This door leads to the back staircase and basement staircase and into the door to the kitchen.

 The tv is so big but it looks small on this wall and usually the cords aren't showing but we had an issue so... well... you know.

 Cool cool floor with a nice area rug....

 A better view of the beautiful floor...

Great spot for a light dinner or lunch or a dirty martini or four...

Still have a few things to get up on the walls and I still have to paint the bottom buffet that holds the liquor but we are moving along to finish Miles room and George is finishing the back kitchen floor!  UPDATE... thanks to the best neighbors on the planet... I opened the bathroom door that leads out to the back kitchen now instead of the kitchen... on that note... I just want to say that our neighbors Dave and Kevin are so wonderful.  They have had us over for dinner once a week and they are so fun and we are very lucky to have found such warm and inviting friends.  We lived in Harvard for 20 years and NEVER once were invited for a drink, let alone DINNER.  These guys continue to amaze us with their generosity and kindness and they had a key that fit our door! Lucky, lucky us... this neighborhood is amazing!  OLD WEST END RULES!
I'll be back with more updates....soon.
Hope all is well and you're wrapping up with someone warm.
Peace,
Cherie

SEW...what have you been up to lately?

Moving Right along... And to your left you will notice the wide expanse of fields and a barn...That barn was originally built in 1894 in rural Ohio by the...Oh hello!  I didn't know you had joined us.  We are in the middle of a whirlwind and trying to keep our heads on while 15 things are happening at once.  LOL... LOL... it's not that bad but it's taken a turn for the crazy!  I thought I should take a minute to try and catch you up to speed with what's been going on at Martha... Since we last talked the following has taken place...

• It rained all weekend and I am happy to report that we did NOT experience any leaks!  The roof job worked!!!!  That is HUGE news and I can not even try to share how wonderful it was to not see any rain coming in through the ceiling on the third floor into the 2nd floor closet, down to the living room ceiling... and believe me it takes a lot of Cherie running upstairs to see and then going to check in the closet and then going downstairs to see ... I think I repeated this 3-step-look about 15 times!  Yaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
• The sewing/art/scraping room is in its final round!  George painted the walls with Dry-Lock White Paint and I painted the floor with Grey Stone Floor Paint...Then my sister Shelly came over for a visit and I put her to work sorting and placing my fabrics and sewing goods.  Let's have a look, shall we?

 This was the corner that had a "plumbing issue" The floor was covered with a laminate wood floor and the plumbing above (the main floor bathroom) had leaked down and seeped into the flooring...lending a situation that no one wants to find themselves in...OMG... this is where all the maggots and  more were found.  As you can see they felt like "covering the pipe with insulation and some time of fabric" would encapsulate the problem...hmmmmmmmmmm.... I don't ever need to see or smell this situation again and neither do you!  Just believe me on this one.

This is a snap of the area so you have a larger picture of the room and the rolling, damp floor and moldy walls. As you can see, they had a bar area and the foot rail was fashioned out of a curtain rod... and at one time this was a "Game Room" and I bet it was nice...before the plumbing issue...  So this was ALL removed and gutted, ceiling included and the plastic wall coverings removed.

This is one of the old photos I got from that website 13 years ago... so they did have it looking like a fun area and then...I'm not sure what happened... even the floor was different...

So now it's going to be my sewing/art/scrapbooking room!  It's not the prettiest room in the house but it is clean and has the plumbing corrected so pipes go how they are supposed to run and no wrapped pipes or duct taped pipes...

I am happy to report that I LOVE my new sewing room!  I've already got some sewing projects to work on and as crazy as that sounds (like I don't have room to work on) I'm itching to get busy on the machine!  My sister and I spent a raining Sunday afternoon getting it together...

You're probably wondering why I'm working on a room that isn't "necessary" at this time...so here's the explanation... As you can see, I sorta - kinda have a lot of "stuff" for this room and this is only half of the "stuff"... there is more at the Harvard house... imagine if you will...lol lol lol... so all of this stuff was in the room we are using for storage and that room became FULL and the barn is FULL and we needed some more room to be able to bring more "STUFF" over and truth be told... I needed to be able to get a room "'done" that wasn't so much work.  It was a great break for me to see a room change from the worst room in the house to my new crafting space!  I find it interesting that I need to be able to be creative to be able to actually place things and putter instead of just drill drill drill... sand, sand, strip, sand, vacuum, stain, paint, sand again...hammer, sand...etc.  I need some quicker/faster/gratifications. So I guess every 3 months or so, I'll get to do an area that isn't so detailed or need sooooo much attention... I'm not sure that makes sense to anyone but myself, but it worked.  I'm ready to move on to the bedroom.  

Meanwhile, George has been busily working on the back kitchen floor situation... and I hope to get some snaps up of that later tonight.  So many things...so little time.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope all is well with you and yours...and oh, btw... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILES RAYMOND...it's hard to believe that 25 years ago today I was pregnant in the morning and had a bouncing baby boy in the evening!  I love you and I can't wait for you to come home and move stuff and work and do all the things your mother raised you to do!  HA!!!!

Peace,

Martha and Cherie