a place for everything...

The husband and I are discussing the possibility of refreshing and updating our kitchen in the next few months. Of course, this has me daydreaming about kitchens every chance I get. I love all the little details.

I ran across the photo above while perusing my sister-in-law's back issues of BHG yesterday. I'm loving that bread box. It would be nice to find an authentic old version but I'm thinking that this shiny new one is pretty cute, too. You like?

buried...

We're buried here. For real. I don't remember ever having this much snow in my life. The kids have had at least six snowdays in the last three weeks or so. I can't say how many exactly because I've lost count. It's a good thing that I like snowdays.

I spent last week in Texas where it was sunny and 60 degrees or more (though I've heard it's not like that this week - I got lucky!). When I left on my trip I thought we had a crazy amount of snow. Little did I know that it would continue to snow and snow and snow while I was gone.

See, here's a shot I took one morning a couple of weeks ago. That's a lot of snow, right?

Not so much compared to the shots I took this morning (I laugh every time I look at that pile of snow on top of the portico - it's taller than the roof of the portico). I think we've added two-feet or so to our original pile. It's a bit surreal. Actually the barn across the street collapsed under the weight of the snow last week - before we added another foot. The snow on the sides of the driveway is piled as high as my shoulder. I can't shovel because I'm too short to throw the snow over the piles. Darn.

A lot of people are complaining but I kind of like it (maybe because I'm not shoveling it all). I'm an indoor girl anyway so I enjoy LOOKING at it while puttering around my cozy house. You can't deny how pretty it is, that sparkling white against the blinding blue sky. Magical.

Of course the children love it, though it's difficult to play in because they can't even walk in it anymore. They can only play around it and burrow through it. They're not complaining. They've amassed an impressive collection of icicles, mostly from the neighbor's house. We have seen some pretty impressive icicles in the last few weeks.

Pinky's loving her first real snow experiences. We bundle her from head to toe and she waddles happily through the tunnels of chilly white stuff. Every time the older kids leave the house she wants to follow them. Here she is all ready to "go 'side" this morning as the kids got on the bus (after two days off). As long as she's got her boots on she thinks she's good to go. Luckily she can't open the doors by herself yet!

Ah well, I caught her and convinced her to stay inside with me by tempting her with a giant batch of steel-cut oats and lots of fresh honey. How could she resist? See, it's not so bad having the house buried in snow when you get to snuggle up inside with a warm bowl of yumminess.

portico in progress 3...

Ah the portico, all decked out. It's been a while since I've shared the progress on our project. The portico is mostly complete and has been since just before Thanksgiving. I've always wanted a pretty porch to dress up for the holidays. Merry Christmas to me!

There are just a few things left to do. The screen door is going to be replaced, I'm on the hunt for new light fixtures and there's some touch-up painting to be done. Those items are all on the agenda for spring when the weather warms up a bit. And then we'll move on to landscaping. Poor neglected landscaping that has been waiting ten years for the ever-promised portico. It's time has finally come. Good-bye sad, scraggly bushes! A few boxwoods, some pachysandra, several hostas... I'm going for green and lush. Thoughts?

portico in progress 2...

The portico is all framed! Now the eaves just need to be built, roofing installed and then it will all be covered in white azek. That's all! That's all? Not sure if it's a lot to be done or not. We'll see...

Here's a shot of the partially finished walkway kissing the freshly finished stoop. Aren't they a lovely pair?

 The husband and I nearly completed the walkway last Saturday with lots of help from the children. Really! They actually were a great help. The Boy transported stacks of brick from the driveway to where we were installing them and Cha-cha handed me bricks and ran for various items as needed. Princess babysat Pinky in the house which was a very difficult and crucial task as Pinky was unrelenting in her effort to escape. Ocasionally I did have to work with my 25-pound baby on my hip. Ah, the joys of motherhood! But with everyone's help we made great progress.

We worked late into the night, 12:30 to be exact. We only stopped when it began to rain and we realized that we were going to be short by 16 bricks. Argh! We used this tutorial from This Old House. It's a great one and worked smoothly once I convinced The Husband that yes, we did need to follow instructions of some sort. What is it with men and directions? So cliche! We wasted a nice chunk of the day trying to do things The Husband's I-don't-need-to-follow-no-stupid-directions way. That's okay it all worked out in the end... once I stomped my foot and took over. It's okay, too because in the end The Husband sheepishly grinned and told me I was right. Let's all remember that... I'm always right.☺

Pinky and I took all of the above photos yesterday morning in a balmy autumn breeze. I swept some more stone dust into the nooks and crannies. We'll have to do that repeatedly over the next couple weeks. Don't mind the ugly wood braces they'll come off in two weeks and be replaced by edging that will buried under the back-fill. And all the messy strings and piles of stone dust and various accoutrements will go away, too. It'll be all neat and pretty. Yes, it will.

This is a scan of my inspiration portico. It's from the August 2000 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. That's right 2000. I've been drooling over this page for ten years. Actually in August of 2000 we were still shopping for houses. We nearly bought some land and were going to build a sweet little cape like the one in the article. It didn't work out which is good because we would've outgrown that cape a long time ago. Darling, isn't it though?

For your viewing pleasure, a close-up of the inspiration portico detail. Hopefully mine will look like that except for the railings. We decided we didn't need them as our stoop is lower.  Ah, now I've immortalized the photo by posting it to the internet. It's a good thing because I think The Husband and my Dad would probably like to torch the magazine, They seem to be pretty tired of me clutching it and pointing and saying things like "Is that trim going to be as wide as the trim in the picture?" and "Are you sure those columns are the same size as these ones?" I'm a bit of a control freak that way which is okay 'cause I am always right.☺

portico in progress...

Ten years. We bought our little yellow house ten years ago this month. Ever since that day I've been aching to add a portico. Well, we've finally gotten around to doing it. A bit of curb appeal to celebrate our tenth year in the house!

Here's a photo of the house taken this summer after we tore out some giant arborvitae bushes, and before we embarked on the portico project.

It's still a work in progress but some of the pretty part is done and I'm excited to share it with you.  I won't bore you with photos of all the digging and concrete pouring but we expanded the concrete stoop by about a foot all the way around.

The mason finished installing brick and bluestone on the stoop yesterday morning. It was like Christmas, Pinky and I ran out and shot a couple of photos in the cold October drizzle.

We chose a tumbled brick for the sides and risers and thermal bluestone for the treads and landing. So much prettier than the crumbly painted concrete that was there before.

My father designed and is building the actual portico structure and has contracted and worked with us on everything so far. I know, how lucky are we?! The bases for the columns are in and the roof is started. It's exciting to see the beginnings of what it will be.

Here's a basic rendering that I made for my dad of what I want the house to look like when it's done.  I'll have to scan my dad's finished blueprint for you one of these days. I love me a good blueprint. It's much more detailed, but this is the general idea.

We'll also be replacing the cracked asphalt walkway (ick, I hated that thing) with a tumbled brick walkway and finally working on the much neglected landscaping. I can't wait until it's all done, I've been dreaming about it for ten years. It'll be such a relief to check it all off the list of to-dos and a bit of pretty always makes me happy. I'll keep you posted on our progress...