Frymark Homestead....Part Two

I didn't forget ya'll. We just don't have internet at the house yet. And its proving to be a real ordeal to get someone out.  I have to admit, the last time we lived here it was awful trying to get any work done...you can wave all the cash you want at someone and they still just can't be bothered to come to work. Ugh.

Anyways, so we haven't moved the trailer yet so we can go use the internet and watch the cable if we should chose. Its paid up until the 16th. Now we are about out of time and are trying to figure out if its worth keeping it on a daily rate for a few extra days or if we go totally without.  I know. White people problems.

But back on subject...

Come on in!

As you step into the foyer, you are immediately looking out to the back of the property. These windows overlook the covered patio or courtyard as Jean called it. Love that.

And check out my polished brick on the floor. The amazing lady that lived here left me detailed instructions on how to keep it looking like this. I would have never guessed this would be a floor I would like! Its really pretty.

And through the door right there on the right, we head into the girls side of the house.  Please ignore the burnt orange carpet, new flooring for this part of the house is in the works.

First room belongs to Songbird. It is huge.

With a wall of built in shelves...

And a window seat...like she has always wanted.  We won't discuss this wallpaper right now as that is a whole other post.

She also has a bathroom with tub and shower. Again, it is huge.

 Next is Mighty Mouses room. Lovely orange carpet. This one is a small room, but the kid is so messy she needs a small room.

She also has a built in bookcase.

And a built in chest of drawers and shelves in her closet.

I did not get a full shot of her bathroom yet because it is pretty small. The paper is just...wow. And the chocolate brown and white marble is very 70's, Charles Bronson movie-ish. She has a shower and no tub.

And now we return to the foyer.

To the left you will notice the dining room off the kitchen, a step up from the living room The owners left a glass table so we at least have something to eat off of right now. Since it will be November before we get our household goods this is a really good thing. The door leads to the courtyard.

The living room is right here to enjoy. There is a wood burning fireplace and built in shelves. And most importantly as far as Cinder is concerned....

...the picture windows that allow her to police the neighborhood and strike fear into every leaf, child or dog that dares to cross into her view.

At the far end of the living room you can head down the hall to the master bedroom.

Really not much I can show you here, but know it is a big big space.

The master bath has a his and hers side. I have a vanity.

He does not but he does have his own sink which makes both of us very happy. We are so used to the tiniest bathrooms imaginable. In this one we don't knock each other over if we both enter at the same time..

A quick side note.  I am not a wallpaper person. The previous owner was. Because of this I try not to say too much because its not fair to judge something you don't care for....it could be the best ever and I still wouldn't like it.  Enough said.

The tub will be replaced in phase two of the floor remodels. More on that another time.

Now, back to the dining room so I can show you the kitchen.  I must admit that this was the one area that disappointed me. Not in the materials or anything..simply in size. I really wanted a big kitchen. But, after being there almost two weeks now, I can honestly say with the island I am completely content with the size now. Sure, I was looking for a big kitchen, dining entertaining area....but all things considered...who cares! I still have all kinds of room for people in this house.

The kitchen is partially open to the dining area. I do love the quartz counter tops.

Don't care for the in-wall oven....but oh well. Do like the brick which is the back of the fireplace wall. Wish I took a better picture of the quartz.

Down the hall from the kitchen you find the mudroom/office.  More of the polished brick again! This makes it perfect for taking the dogs in and out.

This is also where the previous owner had their desk...and a built in bookcase with cabinets.

Heading back down the hall towards the den from the kitchen...

Across from the mudroom is the utility room.

It also has built in cabinets on both sides. This one is really high.

And now on to the den.

When you step inside, you will see the gas fireplace on the left. This is also ducted (closed at the moment) for a wood burning stove in case we decide to put one back in.

On the right is a wall of windows. This is where they used to sit and watch the birds out in the yard.  There is also a little office type closet back in the corner. The ceilings are wood.

Cant get a good shot as its a small space.

And on the other wall, under the stairs another built in. We are calling it a bar for lack of a better word. The top is tiled. They were also nice and left the stools for us.

Shall we go upstairs?

Cant get a good shot...but there is not alot to see.

This would be the front half of my quilting studio. And through the door you can see the back room.

And that door leads to an attic room with a full sub-floor and built in shelves.

But lets go back down stairs so we can finish up in the back hall that leads to the back door.

Of course this is where we come in and out of the most.

And to the left there is the guest bath...complete with claw foot tub.

And finally...

The hot tub room.  When I'm done here, I'm going back home and getting in.  Love. Love. Love.

And that concludes the tour of the Frymark homestead.

The house we searched for five months for.

The fourth contract.

Sometimes God has a little fun with us I think. I'm very thankful for all those failed contracts...even if that wasn't a cheap thing to go through.

So, when ya'll coming over?  I've got some wall paper removal I need help with.

(Just bring your own chair as I only have enough lawn chairs for us

Frymark Homestead....Part One

This is going to be too picture heavy for a single post so I thought I would split it up by outside and inside.

We are finally home owners again.   A home.  A job. Both girls settled in new schools.

Wow.

I think I forgot how good this can feel.

And even though we do not have our household goods right now, and it might be as long as November until we get them (due to work we are having done), it still feels like home.

Unfortunately the only thing I have for pictures right now is my phone. Most things about this house do not photograph well using only a phone. Things tend to be rather spread out and the spaces large or angled in a manner that I cant get a good shot. Point in case, the front of the house. We are standing on one end of the curved drive because in the middle of the curve is a bunch of beautiful landscaping with large trees that obscure the front of the house if you are looking straight on.

From the other end of the drive. As you can see we have a large wall of picture windows. Thankfully they have solar tint on them and solar screens on the windows.

Let me take a minute to let you know about the previous owners. They were/are awesome. This house feels like a home from the minute you walk into it. They did upgrades and additions. Everything they have touched was done very well. All the yard and landscaping has been done organically. This is a well loved home.

This is around back on the right side of the house. As you can see Dion got his metal roof. He really likes them. The large windows are the den that has a great view of the trees and half of the property. The previous owners were avid bird watchers so the property has plenty of trees, a few bird baths and other landscaping that allowed them to sit at a table by the windows and watch all the wildlife. The sliding glass doors are the hot tub room.

Closer in you can see the covered patio space outside the dining area. There is also a mud room entrance here that we take the dogs in and out of to spare the wood floors. Inside the house is the entryway/front door area.

This is looking out on the right side of the house...part of the view from the den windows. I call this area lot one. We have almost an acre and a half because the property actually takes up three lots. Lot one is nothing but trees.  Lot two is where the house sits. And lot three is where the shop sits.

A swing to enjoy the outdoors.

Farther back on the right we have this area. There is a cemented circle that is going to be used for a pool for the Mouse next summer. One of those bigger fill-up kind, not an inground. Farther back you see the covered grill/smoker area.

There is electricity and lights run out here. Room for an outdoor dining area. On both sides were there gardens. There are a bunch of volunteer tomatoes and peppers out there this year as they didn't plant.

Its a mess now but can't wait until next spring when I can plant!

Also need to do some research on what to put in this bed that we can eat. Its shaded pretty much all day long. Maybe some lettuces?

This is the area between the grill area and the shop. There are a couple of swings for the littles. Lots more trees.

The ultimate man cave. Dion has his shop. And it is nice. This is looking from the carport behind the house.

Speaking of the carport. We can park two of the vehicles back here and still have plenty of room for more  - especially when you consider the shop area.  The windows on the left are the hot tub room. It all opens up.

The left side of the back of the house. We are on a corner.

The back entrance to the property.

Another shot of the shop.  And did you know I have to have a separate business account for the electricity for this? Weird.

And that completes the outside tour of Homestead Frymark. We are still pinching ourselves to believe we are out of the trailer and have such a great place.

Inside pics to come next.

Good Friends and Good Food...Does It Get Any Better?

I love being back. Every day there is some little thing that is like yet another "welcome home" moment. And it feels good.

My friends here were all talking about a book that they had been passing around. Have you seen this?

All the girls were talking about it, quoting it, or in a supper club based on the book. So, one of the girls let me borrow their copy and I read it and got caught up in their excitement.  A book about community and food and opening your home and heart to both.

At one Monday night get together, I mentioned it might be fun to do a cooking class. After all, there are 11 of us.... and there were things some of us knew how to do that others didn't. We could teach each other....and eat. LOL.

At that time I did not realize some of the ladies were already in a supper club based on the book. When I found out I dropped it. After all, we are all very busy moms. We already had family and the time we carve out for each other.

But others didn't let me drop it.  And in the blink of an eye one of our talented organizers was gathering information to get this thing started.

So we had our first cooking class this month. It wasn't the plan. We were aiming for starting after the school year started.

But darned if a very important thing didn't happen early August.

See, I also had ulterior motives. It was about to be Hatch Green Chili time! So I had already conned one of my friends into letting me use their kitchen and freezer space if we weren't in a home when it was time.

It came early but I volunteered to teach how to roast green chili to use or freeze for later use.  Plus cook a bunch of my favorites to share.

Since cooking class was a go, I also put together everyone a binder to put their recipes/instructions in. Also I wanted a place for all the recipes we were always wanting from each other after trips and get togethers. That stack was already growing and this gives it all a place I can find them all easily.

So a bunch of us got together for green chili night. One person volunteered their kitchen -- which I promptly made a huge mess of (and she cleaned!!). So there was green chili dip, breakfast cups, enchiladas, green chili deviled eggs, etc.

And then there was the class. Someone remembered to snap a few photos. First they wanted a shot of the chilis.

Wait...wouldn't it be better against something white?????

Yes someone actually said that. So I complied. But after laughing about it I was more red than white.  But someone pointed out that it was okay because green, white and red are the Mexican flag colors. Its all good.

Roasted, steamed and ready to peel.

And everyone got their binder. With their personalized cover and quote. They are so hot I found a 50's pin-up girl to represent each one....


 
 
 
It was lots of fun. And everyone took home a bag of chili ready to use. I really look forward to enjoying more time and bread and wine with these ladies.

So glad to be home.

She Can See!

A year ago I found out Songbird probably needed glasses. This was at her 8 year check-up at the pediatricians office.

Being jobless we had to ignore that fact for the time. (We were told it was a mild problem).

Getting established in our new community and gearing up for school brought that overdue eye appointment. Well that and the insurance. No insurance. No glasses. That is just the way it was.

But now all of that is rectified and my baby has picked out her new glasses. And since it is back to school time we took advantage of the buy one get one specials.



Her first pair is a black and pink pair with flowers.


But my favorite is the zebra pair.

She thinks they make her look very smart. I agreed of course.

Now I have a hard time keeping her out of them. She only really needs them for the blackboard and maybe tv watching.

And yes, she broke all records by losing a pair in less than 30 minutes. Luckily we had not traveled far and were able to return to the store she set them down in and retrieve them from lost and found. I do believe I have put the fear into her over losing them again.

We will see. Hah. Pun intended!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gun Shy

I know I haven't been keeping up with the updates.  At this point I'm afraid to hope that this house will actually go through. I'm a little gun-shy about being hopeful. Sad but true.

The house did pass its inspections.  You guys, the INSPECTORS were high-fiving each other. LOL!! These guys were so awesome -- we used the same guys for each house so they were feeling real sorry for us.

Of course there are a few things here and there to take care of over time. The house was built in 1977 so of course there are little things. And septic does need to be pumped but we have the sellers paying closing costs so we will do that out of our pockets. That was the deal. I'm okay with that.

Closing is supposed to be the 28th of this month. I'm waiting for that phone call telling me they need longer. You just never know when dealing with the VA. But so far so good.

I did have a time with finding house insurance. Sticker shock. Turns out Texas is now the highest price state to insure a house in. You not only have hurricanes on the coast, tornadoes, hail and winds-- but now they have the wild fires from two years ago. We have actually passed Florida even. Unbelievable.

And then there is the doberman. We couldn't even use one of those places that will search lots of insurances at once. When you admit to having a dobie it drops down to one company that will even consider and that's for an extra thousand a year.  Honestly happened to me.  But I was able to find a few that don't discriminate on breed -- only bite history. And its now all worked out.

And USAA is losing 100% of our business.

So that is all I have on the house for right now.  Once this becomes real I will tell you more about it. Everyone keeps asking me if I love this one.  I really like it...but I had hoped for a bigger kitchen. And my quilt studio is not on central air. That's really the only don't likes.  So, I am not unhappy at all. Also it is not in Waco and is a bit of a drive -- but only as far as we used to live so that doesn't really count either...AND it has a grocery store whereas China Spring did not. So again, that's good.

Hoping to do a nice "look at my house!" post in a couple weeks.

Stay tuned.