Guest Comment, 2006

These guests were very nice people that must have ran into my dad somewhere on the creek. Mom and Dad's house and where I grew up is near the cottage.

From Sheep Sheds to Furniture

I really like the rustic furniture in the Sundance catalog, but lets be honest and ask, "Who can afford those prices for an end table?" My wonderful and talented husband had a solution! They were tearing down the old sheep sheds at a neighboring ranch and it was full of great, rustic wood. Here is the result:

He also made a tv stand, a bench, and a vanity all with the same beautiful Doug Fir that was harvested locally and used to build the sheep sheds sixty years ago.

Wood

I love this floor. It is the original fir floor that was through the entire house. There were many holes for vents, no floor where there were walls and some damage. So, I ripped up the entire thing and we laid the good stuff back down in the living room, dining room and kitchen. On part of the wood there was a horrible linoleum glue we had to get off and some of the floor had been under carpet for years and years. The end result is a beautiful floor with some character and scars. I love having a piece of the old house with all the new things we have done here.

Water, Water Everywhere.

The cottage finally has a sprinkler system, which will save on energy and some time on my part. This upgrade will ensure everything is watered properly and I should not lose many more bushes to lack of water! The lawn is actually a drought tolerant mix of yarrow, roman chamomile, clover, rye grass and fine fescue, so it requires quite a bit less water than a conventional lawn. I mail ordered the mix from Nichols Garden Nursery . The dryland ecology mix is for this zone and they offer many other options for other parts of the country. I love the feathery, soft look and do not mind the occasional, dare I say it, dandelion.


Here is another guest comment I received by email from the same people that I posted about yesterday.

Guest Comment

July 2006

These were some of our first guests and they came back the next year for the week of Thanksgiving.

New to me

We became the proud owners of the cottage in November of 2004. Immediately we began destruction/construction and two years later, we were ready for our first guests. The time into the project was well worth it and we have loved staying there and sharing with others.

Over the next few posts I would like to show some of the adventure that remodeling this old house has been.

Thanks for coming over!