These are pictures of the kitchen stripped down, so you can see how far he's come!
And here is our dining room, which has been a makeshift kitchen for the past two months, albeit with no running water. Rather like camping. :-)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Matt has been working tirelessly on our kitchen and has made great progress! He is making all the cupboards himself, with the faces and doors made from salvaged pine floorboards from our living room and dining room. The wood is beautiful and the occasional nail holes give it character.
These are pictures of the kitchen stripped down, so you can see how far he's come!
And here is our dining room, which has been a makeshift kitchen for the past two months, albeit with no running water. Rather like camping. :-)
These are pictures of the kitchen stripped down, so you can see how far he's come!
And here is our dining room, which has been a makeshift kitchen for the past two months, albeit with no running water. Rather like camping. :-)
Monday, July 6, 2009
On June 18, Matt and I left Molly at his parents' house and drove west across Minnesota and South Dakota for a two week road trip. We briefly visited Badlands National Park and Mt. Rushmore, camping at Custer State Park (which charged us an extra $7.70 for being out of state residents, a great way to promote tourism) and drove the Needles Highway and the Iron Mountain Road -- both gorgeous, winding, tunneled roads constructed back in the early 1900s. This picture is of the eye of the needle.
On our way to Yellowstone National Park, we drove through the Bighorn Mountains. Hwy 14 is beautiful, with winding roads, tight switchbacks, and open land at the top for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. We found snow in abundance, though the air was warm. Matt and I both thought it'd be great fun to come back with mountain bikes and explore.
Our first National Park was Yellowstone. We drove the winding Bear Tooth Pass road in the evening. Mist was rising from the trees after a heavy rain, the air was cool, and the clouds were breathtaking in the way they swirled across the sky. The coolest temperature we noticed on our car was 37 degrees at the top. My mom and dad were up here earlier this summer and I'm sure temps were much colder then.
This tree was really neat. I don't know if you can see it clearly on the blog, but the push pins mark important dates in history that this tree has lived through. The green push pin reads "1776: Revolution, 232 yrs old". The red push pin reads "1805: Lewis & Clark 203 yrs. old" and the blue push pin means "1872 Yellowstone National Park established, 136 yrs. old". Amazing to think that this tree was around at the time of the Revolution. I'm sure there are older trees in our country, but it's something I don't think about.
Yellowstone was incredible. I had always thought Old Faithful was the main attraction (for many visitors I'm sure it is) but I hadn't realized how beautiful and diverse the park is. There are mountains, valleys, winding roads, sharp drop-offs with no guard rails, wildlife in abundance, and a host of thermal features so different from anything in the midwest. Our drive through Lamare valley was halted by a group of bull bison who crossed and recrossed the road in front of a line up of traffic. We were lucky to be near the front of the line. This bison was directly in front of our car. We could hear him making deep grunting noises and his reddish eye rolled warily back at us. I was nervous he might put his sharp horns in the Subaru's grill.
Our first hike was to see the Yellowstone River and the Lower and Upper Falls. The power of the rushing water was incredible. June was a great time to visit for the quantity of water we saw in every creek and river.
We loved Mammoth Hot Springs and the hot springs around Norris and the Lower, Middle, and Upper Geyser basins. The colors were so vibrant and the steam felt warm in the chilly air (most days at Yellowstone it was only in the upper 40s, low 50s.)
Wildlife seen at Yellowstone: bison (lots of them), a bighorn sheep, a bull moose, three black bear, pronghorn (which aren't really antelope), doe elk with calves and two bull elk, mule deer, multiple birds including pelicans and an osprey, and two grizzly bears (from the safety of our car).
After Yellowstone we visited the Grand Tetons, which surprised me by their beauty and miles of hiking trails. I would love to go back someday and backpack there. Our favorite hike led us 4.4 miles up 3,100 feet of elevation to two glacial lakes, just beginning to melt. The trail was obscured by snow over the last half mile or so. We had to use our topo map and indentations in the snow to guess the trail's route. Surprise Lake really was a surprise when we reached it! The best part was sliding back down the snow on the heels of our boots. :-)
After Grand Tetons, we met up with Matt's friend Josh and his wife Heather and their three month old son Isaac for lunch. We continued to Craters of the Moon National Park, which is a huge lava field in the middle of southern Idaho. The coolest part of Craters (besides seeing black lava rock in all directions) were the caves. These caves were really lava tubes, formed when the top of flowing lava cools and forms a crust that keeps the inside lava hot and flowing. The crust hardens, the lava flows out, and a tube is left behind. Eventually, parts of the tube cave in and people see the caves. We explored three caves with our headlamps, finding ice and snow when outside was 85 degrees. Some parts we had to crouch and almost crawl and at others, the ceiling was many feet above our heads.
After Craters, we continued north to Glacier National Park. The Going-to-the-Sun road had just opened the Tuesday before, so we were able to drive it. I can't say we were too impressed with the road itself after driving the Needles Hwy, Hwy 14 over the Bighorn Mts, and Bear Tooth pass. The scenery was spectacular, however, and the mountains were fearlessly wandering about, preferring sometimes to take the boardwalk alongside people than traverse deeper snow.
A neat hike at Glacier was one up to Hidden Lake. The trail was almost completely covered in snow, marked by tall poles. You can see the people walking along for a long way.
Our last hike at Glacier was amazing. We entered at the Two Medicine lake area and hiked up to "Scenic Point". Our hike took us 3.1 miles past the treeline to a very windy summit where we had a 360 degree view of Glacier and the flat lands of Montana to the east of the park. What a way to end our trip before the long drive home!
We returned home on July 2. Molly was rather indifferent to our coming back when we arrived at Matt's parents to pick her up. She just seemed glad that more people were around to throw her stick.
On our way to Yellowstone National Park, we drove through the Bighorn Mountains. Hwy 14 is beautiful, with winding roads, tight switchbacks, and open land at the top for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. We found snow in abundance, though the air was warm. Matt and I both thought it'd be great fun to come back with mountain bikes and explore.
Our first National Park was Yellowstone. We drove the winding Bear Tooth Pass road in the evening. Mist was rising from the trees after a heavy rain, the air was cool, and the clouds were breathtaking in the way they swirled across the sky. The coolest temperature we noticed on our car was 37 degrees at the top. My mom and dad were up here earlier this summer and I'm sure temps were much colder then.
This tree was really neat. I don't know if you can see it clearly on the blog, but the push pins mark important dates in history that this tree has lived through. The green push pin reads "1776: Revolution, 232 yrs old". The red push pin reads "1805: Lewis & Clark 203 yrs. old" and the blue push pin means "1872 Yellowstone National Park established, 136 yrs. old". Amazing to think that this tree was around at the time of the Revolution. I'm sure there are older trees in our country, but it's something I don't think about.
Yellowstone was incredible. I had always thought Old Faithful was the main attraction (for many visitors I'm sure it is) but I hadn't realized how beautiful and diverse the park is. There are mountains, valleys, winding roads, sharp drop-offs with no guard rails, wildlife in abundance, and a host of thermal features so different from anything in the midwest. Our drive through Lamare valley was halted by a group of bull bison who crossed and recrossed the road in front of a line up of traffic. We were lucky to be near the front of the line. This bison was directly in front of our car. We could hear him making deep grunting noises and his reddish eye rolled warily back at us. I was nervous he might put his sharp horns in the Subaru's grill.
Our first hike was to see the Yellowstone River and the Lower and Upper Falls. The power of the rushing water was incredible. June was a great time to visit for the quantity of water we saw in every creek and river.
We loved Mammoth Hot Springs and the hot springs around Norris and the Lower, Middle, and Upper Geyser basins. The colors were so vibrant and the steam felt warm in the chilly air (most days at Yellowstone it was only in the upper 40s, low 50s.)
Wildlife seen at Yellowstone: bison (lots of them), a bighorn sheep, a bull moose, three black bear, pronghorn (which aren't really antelope), doe elk with calves and two bull elk, mule deer, multiple birds including pelicans and an osprey, and two grizzly bears (from the safety of our car).
After Yellowstone we visited the Grand Tetons, which surprised me by their beauty and miles of hiking trails. I would love to go back someday and backpack there. Our favorite hike led us 4.4 miles up 3,100 feet of elevation to two glacial lakes, just beginning to melt. The trail was obscured by snow over the last half mile or so. We had to use our topo map and indentations in the snow to guess the trail's route. Surprise Lake really was a surprise when we reached it! The best part was sliding back down the snow on the heels of our boots. :-)
After Grand Tetons, we met up with Matt's friend Josh and his wife Heather and their three month old son Isaac for lunch. We continued to Craters of the Moon National Park, which is a huge lava field in the middle of southern Idaho. The coolest part of Craters (besides seeing black lava rock in all directions) were the caves. These caves were really lava tubes, formed when the top of flowing lava cools and forms a crust that keeps the inside lava hot and flowing. The crust hardens, the lava flows out, and a tube is left behind. Eventually, parts of the tube cave in and people see the caves. We explored three caves with our headlamps, finding ice and snow when outside was 85 degrees. Some parts we had to crouch and almost crawl and at others, the ceiling was many feet above our heads.
After Craters, we continued north to Glacier National Park. The Going-to-the-Sun road had just opened the Tuesday before, so we were able to drive it. I can't say we were too impressed with the road itself after driving the Needles Hwy, Hwy 14 over the Bighorn Mts, and Bear Tooth pass. The scenery was spectacular, however, and the mountains were fearlessly wandering about, preferring sometimes to take the boardwalk alongside people than traverse deeper snow.
A neat hike at Glacier was one up to Hidden Lake. The trail was almost completely covered in snow, marked by tall poles. You can see the people walking along for a long way.
Our last hike at Glacier was amazing. We entered at the Two Medicine lake area and hiked up to "Scenic Point". Our hike took us 3.1 miles past the treeline to a very windy summit where we had a 360 degree view of Glacier and the flat lands of Montana to the east of the park. What a way to end our trip before the long drive home! 
We returned home on July 2. Molly was rather indifferent to our coming back when we arrived at Matt's parents to pick her up. She just seemed glad that more people were around to throw her stick.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Kitchen Remodel
On Friday we began the remodel of our kitchen. Our kitchen was certainly functional before, though it lacked cupboard and counter space, and the white metal cupboards and drawers were at times a challenge to open, particularly the pots and pans cupboard. You had to pull with so much force that the cupboard would send your hand flying backward by the time it opened. Here is the kitchen before our big mess.
We started by removing the old baseboards and ripping off the vinyl flooring, which gave way and tore very easily -- a quality floor, no doubt.
While I was tearing this up, Matt worked on disassembling a small cupboard area that enclosed old wires and a pipe. Insulation fell down in clouds of gray fluff as he removed boards, and a pile of vermiculite rained down around his feet, falling through another hole into the basement. It was a MESS.
After pulling the screws and nails out of the particle board, we pried this up too. Then Matt had to take his skill saw and cut each old large board down the center lengthwise to keep them from cupping in the future. Notice the hole where the trap door down to the basement used to be.
On Saturday morning, we brought an entire truckload of old insulation, particle board, vinyl flooring, and rusty nails to the transfer station. 850 pounds worth, according to their scales.
Matt spent Saturday putting new subfloor in. He'll be installing a new birch hardwood floor in the next few weeks (whenever he can find a few hours when he's not working on his other flooring side jobs). 
We've been playing around with kitchen layouts and have finally settled on a plan. This summer, Matt plans to make our cupboards by repurposing the pine boards we pulled out of our living and dining rooms and planed down. He'll then make concrete countertops as well. I'm excited for the final product, though when we're doing so much ourselves -- let me rephrase that to say that Matt is doing it all himself, with me helping as much as I'm able -- it will be awhile in coming!
We started by removing the old baseboards and ripping off the vinyl flooring, which gave way and tore very easily -- a quality floor, no doubt.
While I was tearing this up, Matt worked on disassembling a small cupboard area that enclosed old wires and a pipe. Insulation fell down in clouds of gray fluff as he removed boards, and a pile of vermiculite rained down around his feet, falling through another hole into the basement. It was a MESS.
After pulling the screws and nails out of the particle board, we pried this up too. Then Matt had to take his skill saw and cut each old large board down the center lengthwise to keep them from cupping in the future. Notice the hole where the trap door down to the basement used to be.
On Saturday morning, we brought an entire truckload of old insulation, particle board, vinyl flooring, and rusty nails to the transfer station. 850 pounds worth, according to their scales.
Matt spent Saturday putting new subfloor in. He'll be installing a new birch hardwood floor in the next few weeks (whenever he can find a few hours when he's not working on his other flooring side jobs). 
We've been playing around with kitchen layouts and have finally settled on a plan. This summer, Matt plans to make our cupboards by repurposing the pine boards we pulled out of our living and dining rooms and planed down. He'll then make concrete countertops as well. I'm excited for the final product, though when we're doing so much ourselves -- let me rephrase that to say that Matt is doing it all himself, with me helping as much as I'm able -- it will be awhile in coming!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Doggy Acrobatics
Molly lives to fetch.
Buddy, on the other hand,
didn't mind a relaxing rest in the snow.
Busy-ness
Life has been so busy lately. I apologize to those few faithful friends who may happen to check this site now and again, wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth.
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