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

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

It just doesn't fit - Part 2

I'm trying again...this will be where we left off...

 and then we go from there...to...

this...and from this to....

this... and then to ...

and we reach where we are currently...

That's right... I've got another sink in the HOUSE!!! No more washing dishes in the bathtub and pretty soon that blank spot will be filled with a dishwasher and I'm not talking about Moi! Highest hopes are that by Sunday this Butler's Pantry will be done and we'll be moving on to the Master Bedroom... that would be four areas done!  Well, mostly done.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to cook and clean and work in the same spot.  If Martha has taught me anything, it's that we take for granted so much!  I will happily settle for a "kitchenette" for a spell while other things move along and we finally get to do the kitchen!  The counter top may look familiar to you... it is the mate to the desk top we put in my office.  I feel so lucky to have found both of these pieces at The Habit for Humanity ReSale Store!  I would not be able to afford quartz counter tops any other way.  The gray cabinets are from Ikea and all's we have left to do ... continue mudding and sanding the walls, sand and repaint the new ceiling, paint the trim and put it up, install the dishwasher, do the tile work, stain the window and the wall cabinet and a few other little this and thats.   It's only Tuesday right?  We've decided not to stain the floor until we are able to stain all of them to maintain the same color so we have to cover the floor with contractor paper... but I'm okay with that.
It's super fun to put things on the shelves and it's all new things I've acquired since we got Martha.  Somehow, I have a lot of China on the shelves and I've not brought over any of that from our other house....I'm not sure George has realized that yet...no need to mention it now.  LOL
You might be wondering why we need to do so much work to the walls when we just put up all that drywall... I know I would, and the answer is simple...while trying to get the counter top in, it decided that it would like to see how far thru the walls on both sides, it could go!  So it's in and it's NOT coming out.  I would also mention that  that "special time" is one I'd rather not repeat in any form or fashion.  But I keep telling George that it's moving along and now we are taking care of what needs to be taken care of so let's just let it go and forget it.  (you have no idea how miserable that was and I seriously need to forget that)
I just love this room.  I wish you could come over and see it in person, I think you'd really like it too!
More updates to follow soon.
Thanks for looking in on us.
Peace,
C

It just doesn't fit...

So, the blog can't handle my 16 minute tour of Martha so I've taken to cutting it down into 2 minute increments and that's not working so well either.  Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  Meanwhile, all sorts of new things have been happening or not happening.  Do you remember this...

or perhaps you remember it like this...

It's hard to tell but the counter tops  are 29" tall.  Try that out.  See where that hits your leg when you hold a yard stick beside it. That is SHORT!!!  And that is LOW!!!  What I forgot to get a snap of was the drop ceiling...ugh.  Well, it's not done but let's take a look...

Here is George "acting" like he's doing something... We have the bottom of the shelf installed and it is LEVEL!

I love this... it says "BORTZ" and that is the family name of the people Martha was originally built for.  So this is original trim and a MUST STAY with Martha. (Side note: JM, I put this up here for you.  I know how much you like to talk about the original family!)

Side panels and middle panel along with the top of the cabinet are UP!

Cabinet is up and waiting for shelves...and paint... and stain... and more work.

Side walls are drywalled and the electric for the dishwasher is run! Looks like we have so much done and yet so much more to go...I have more snaps but it won't let me upload...
Hmmmm...
I'll be back.
Thanks for checking in on us.
Peace,
C