Tales of a Castle

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Long awaited house pictures

Here I go again. . . I accidentally deleted this picture later in the post and have no clue how to slap it back in the middle. :-( It is a lovely view of the nice hardwoods, but it would fit a little better in the middle of the living room shots. The lighting isn't the best either. Most of that is due to the fact I am still learning how to use this camera and need to reread the manual. (Ick!)

Well I am fiiiiinally posting the longed for photos. :-) As you can see by the date (9.21.09) I began taking these weeks ago. . . According the the neighbors, this house was a pitiful sight before the remodeling process began. Consequently I had to wait for the crews to finish some of the work before I could get the "after" pics. The front still had a few things to be done in this shot, and Seth and Ethan are diligently picking up rocks to help the landscaping.
I had hoped for a one story small (but adequate) house that wouldn't cost too much to heat/cool. I had a few desires but didn't actually think they would materialize. . . You can imagine my thrill when we got here and I saw firsthand how nice it was! No, it's not big and full of amenities, but it is all brand new (minus the toilet in my bathroom)! The location is on a hill at the end of a cul-de-sac which is a huge plus for me! We had lived on one in SC, and it is so nice not to worry about traffic. The back is very private and opens up to woods (yippee!!!!) on one side and an open field on the other. My little guys are good at bringing me handfuls of wildflowers from the fields. The back has a shed attached and a nice sized deck which I hope to make the home of a "handy dandy" grill next year. :-)

We had a third bathroom for a little while as the crews finished their last jobs.

This is the "lovely" sight that greets you upon arriving in the master bedroom - all the necessities of electronics (desks, printers, computers, etc.). Not pretty but has to be somewhere, and I would rather not cram it into the living room. The room is almost half the size of our other one, and that is taking some getting used to when it is time to maneuver.

The only pics in the hall are these.

Seth and Ethan's room is about the same size as their SC one; I just miss the orange walls! Sniff. Sniff. I could probably paint if Iwas willing to make it white again in three years, but. . . I despise painting too much.

Boys' bath.

Miss the orange walls here as well!

I found these little chalkboard wall clings at Dollar Tree, and they are so fun to use!

Silas gets to share his room with guests. (Well some of them anyway.) Most of the time I take him out as the average person might not appreciate his way of waking them up!

I am not really into the whole swivel rocker world, but it came with the crib and is quite handy. I wish you could see the details on the curtains - they are little green polka dots that match the ones around the crib.

This is the view you get from the hall.

All ready for the book loving guest.

I love this little picture! Seth once asked me what I would like for him to draw, and I chose a flower garden. He spent a good deal of time meticulously drawing all of these little flowers, and I thought it was so cute that I tucked it into an old frame. (Pardon the angle; I was trying to avoid glare.)

The completed armoire in its rightful spot in the living room. :-)

I looove having hardwood floors again! Makes life so much easier.

Love, love, love this kitchen! It is all brand new - even the appliances.

Opposite end with washer/dryer closet to the right.

This is the view out my kitchen window, and I love it! The photo does not do it justice! It makes me so happy to gaze out here and see all the beautiful trees and woods. It looks so different with the weather or degree the sun is shining. . . So glad this is my backdrop and not another house in a subdivision or commercial property! To me, this backyard was the icing! :-)

Happy Fall, Friends!

posted at 10:26 PM
11 comments

Monday, October 26, 2009

39 pics for the M-I-L!

"Virginia is for lovers," and I'm in love with this state! I am not sure where to begin in my gushing over the beauty. . . So, before I fling a barrage of photos your way, I wanted to include some scenery near my home.

Now for the pictures to soothe the heart of my mother in law! :-)

Many of you know of the shed saga where Silas accidentally locked himself in the shed to which we have no key, and I thought you'd enjoy a few snapshots of the tale. Pardon the nasty door; the landlord had not yet replaced it.

It was a looooong 30 minutes of Silas' wailing along with tears from his older brothers who thought he would never be released from his prison! As you can tell by the picture below, Silas wasn't the least bit thrilled with the Rough Green Snake that we had found on the porch right before the ordeal.

For the rest of these photos, I do not plan to add captions as I might be here for several hours. I'll just label the destination. Enjoy! :-)

State Arboretum

We walked, enjoyed a picnic, relaxed in the meadows, walked a nature trail, and spied beautiful flowers.

Virginia Farm Market

The boys met "Red."

Apple Festival

Live Celtic music!!!!!!

Tasting "real" cotton candy for the first time.

Jim Barnett Park

I thrive on reading historical markers and cracked up when I spotted this sign.

Love the sense of humor!

Wilson's Wild Animal Park

Didn't take any pictures of the kids petting lions, bears, panthers. . . We decided to feed only the tame! I was amused when Silas saw the lions and nonchalantly motioned them to him and said, "Mere, lion, mere." If he only knew what he was asking!