Hutch Videos

*Disclaimer - I do so solemnly swear from now on to take any and all videos from the other angle because apparently the orientation on them just can not be changed. I've tried for two weeks now to no avail. Anyone who can help, please do! *

Hutch Video #1: Chris and Dad try to put the hutch in. And fail. Sighhhhhh. 

Hutch Video #2, approx. 15 hours later: Chris and Dad put the hutch in. And succeed. Huzzah!

Leo's in the Box

About a week ago, we were over at Tom & Ashley's for some football (with Penny and Leo, of course). They had a big box in their hallway and I got the big idea to plunk Leo in it and see how long it would take him to get out. Well, he didn't seem to think that was an option. He spent almost 5 minutes in the box before Tom went over and sprung him. What was funny, though, was that once he saw that he could, actually, escape the box, he would get out of it within seconds. Enjoy the before and after...further proof that our little man sure is handsome, but not too bright!

My Hutch is so Hutchilicious

Are you ready for this jelly!?

You may recall that a certian house flipper who will remain nameless screwed up the plumbing job in our upstairs bathroom. That meant that he had to re-route the toilet vent through the downstairs ceiling, meaning that he had to cut an access panel in the wall he had just crudely built. He decided to make lemonade and create a lovely little hutch area - without a hutch. So we can just call it a chunk out of the wall.

Nook on move-in day. Note that Flipper did put lighting in there to make it seem less, well, ghetto.

We painted the dining room, plunked a piece of really terrible furniture that my parents had kicking around in there, and called it a day. Lather, rinse, repeat for about two years. 

Until one day when my parents came for dinner. My Dad was CONVINCED that he could build something custom to fit in the space and to give us more storage. He took copious measurements and spent massive amounts of his own time (and some of Chris', too) building us the most incredibly detailed, meticulous cabinet I've ever seen. It makes me a little teary eyed to see it every day, honestly...this house is really shaping up around us. When he started this project (remember?), he kept saying that it would fit so well that we could un-install it and take it when we move. I didn't hold my breath. I also never plan to move, so it wasn't on my list of thoughts. But when installation day came, a whole new list of challenges presented itself. 

The walls in our house are all bowed. Badly. So no matter how many times Dad measured, this was destined to be a nightmare. Never did we expect, though, that Chris would have to remove drywall in order to get it in.

 Once the wall was opened, we realized just how much space there is in this wall - he could have given us LOADS more room in these two spaces. Argh. Curse you, Flipper!

Videos of the Installation that Wasn't and the Installation that Later Was will be coming soon, once I figure out how to get them off of my phone. For now, though, feast your eyes on what my men were able to accomplish!

Obviously it still needs some work. I need to go have glass cut to size for the doors and the shelves. But just look...just one more time...

Before

After!

NO, my father is not available for custom work. DO NOT take him away from us! Thank you, Dad, for your long hours of work to make this perfect piece of art for us. Great job!

F in Blogging

I deserve an F in blogging over the last month. I realized today that I'd better get on it before I went a whole month without a single update. We have been doing stuff, but not much was of note until the last couple of weeks. Leo pretty much sums up November:

If you can't tell, he has food all over himself. We spent most of November preparing for our first Thanksgiving at this house. It went off without a hitch, even Chris and my (horrifyingly tenuous) plan to brine the turkey before roasting it. We got a beautiful 17 pound turkey from our local butcher, made a couple of gallons of secret (okay, it's Alton Brown) turkey brine, and put the whole thing in the downstairs shower for about 14 hours. The possibility of ruining the Thanksgiving turkey gave me heart palpitations but luckily everything came out fine, thanks to Chris' brother and his turkey-savant skills. 

Brine, baby, brine!


Other than that, I've been really busy at work and generally crashing when at home. I've been trying to run again in the extended warmth of this global warming trend Indian summer in New England. We've been cleaning and de-cluttering only to clutter up other spaces. Not much of note around here. 

We did, however, take some nice family photos recently. Enjoy! Should be another post shortly about the awesomeness taking shape in our dining room...