I LOVE fall. I love the colors and the crisp air. You can smell ditches being burned and I can see the Tetons almost the entire way home. While we were driving home tonight, we could see the mountains where we live. The sky was clear blue all around except those mountains and they were covered in tall, puffy clouds that looked like they were pouring white dust all over the canyons. The white dust filled all the cracks and crevices and covered the trees and fields. It just looks like Thanksgiving is around the corner. The fields went from green to golden and then chocolate brown after harvest. I love decorating for fall and baking pies and cakes and other warm dishes. I can't wait to make some hot cider and sit by a warm stove.
We used to have a lovely ribbon fireplace in our house in Colorado. All I had to do was flip a switch and the flame rippled to life and there was instant heat. Well, there's no such switch in our new house. We put in a wood burning stove and that means we had to haul wood.
Last week was the last of nice weather. James grabbed a chain saw (eek), I grabbed snacks and candy bars and we headed up to the woods. It was a beautiful day.
By the third day of wood gathering, our arms and legs were pretty strong. The boys amazed me. I don't think I'll be winning the arm wrestles anymore. There were some complaints for sure. We had two smashed fingers and a smashed toe. My legs were covered in bruises afterward! I haven't had bruised legs since I was kid. I actually haven't worn high heels other than church, in months! My wardrobe, sadly, is changing. I find myself grabbing my boots more and more often. I am even going to DI to get thrift store shirts that can be ruined...lots of them. :(
It was three solid days of cutting and hauling and another of splitting and stacking. We have about three and-a-half to four cords of wood now. (I think a cord is 4X4X8) I think we'll need more to get us through the winter. We'll have to wait for another nice day.
A delivery truck came with our appliances!! Yay! And yes, I finally committed. More on that later...
They did finish mudding this week and they are texturing tomorrow! Texturing brought me a little stress. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought..."Uh oh, did I tell them not to do orange peel?" This may seem silly, and bless their hearts, the men that work on our house are amazing and wonderful, but they do forget things a...lot....and I am constantly reminding them at the last minute! I'm so glad I live right down the street right now.
So, texture...I do NOT like orange peel. I don't hate it...it's not classic (I promise.) But I'm so tired of it. Long story short, orange peel allows hangers to be sloppy with the sheet rock and mudders to be sloppy with their sanding. Its a cheap way to cover up a bad technique or a quick job. It's cheaper, gets sprayed on, and looks kind of like an orange peel, but uglier I think. They usually do this method on tract homes and it's very common in the midwest and west. I have had it every house I've lived i. It's harder to patch because it's hard to match the texture even with the spray stuff you can buy. I've heard rumors that flat, smooth walls are still standard in much of the east coast. I'm jealous!
Smooth walls means that the sheet rockers and mudders have to be very precise. It's a higher end look and looks delicious and luxurious with a good paint job.
Well, I had originally asked for smooth walls and was told that would be fine...but they forgot. They sheet rocked wrong for that job and the walls will have to have texture. I was having a decorating nightmare when I found out, but I did some research and asked them if they could do a less intrusive look like, "Old World."
Old World is a little less choppy than Santa Fe. Santa Fe is kind of like the stucco look, but if you ask different people, they'll say different things. Stucco can be lots of different textures actually, and Santa Fe has lots of variations of texture too. Basically, Old World, is the least textured look after smooth. I'll show you pictures when they are done. I'm supposed to be there at 9am sharp to make sure I like it. They're learning! 😘
We have puppies in the canyon! This is a something doodle...I think it's a...no I can't remember, but I know the daddy is a reddish colored poodle. They are so darling. My SIL breeds them if anyone is ever interested. Good dogs! Too small for me, but I sure love snuggling these little guys. The mommy had these puppies just last week and I saw them the very day they were born. I went down to look at them and we were counting, and two were missing! We searched all over and finally found the little tiny, bony runt puppy stuck down under the blanket next to the cold floor. The other one was on the other side of Silver, the mommy. She's a good mommy now and so sweet with her puppies, but this is her first time and she had a hard time keeping track of six at first. I don't blame her a bit. Once we got that tiny runt over to her, she took good care of him and he's growing. We were worried he wouldn't make it, so Rylee did get him on some formula for a few days.
My first fall treat. I have made a few pies, but they don't count because it was still warm outside. We had a fall festival this week though and I made a carrot cake, a recipe from a good friend. I really enjoyed decorating it. When I took it to the festival, I set it on the table, feeling pretty proud of it, but I had forgotten that all desserts were supposed to be bite sized...oops! It got chopped into pieces within a minute of setting it down. It was so ugly and unappetizing after that. My kids were so worried they wouldn't get any...they got more than half of it at home later. They licked the platter clean. That means a lot to me. My kids are picky and brutal!
Happy Fall!
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