Trash to Treasure

I love taking old things and turning them into something useful. At an auction this summer, I bought a dining table, chairs, hutch, cart, and end table that all matched. My mother-in-law wanted the hutch and it all went for such a bargain I couldn't resist. The end table had a nice size marble top and a drawer. I had already decided to use the marble top in my new kitchen for rolling out dough. I am going to build an island and make a place to keep the marble.
I took the legs off of the table and will use those to make an ottoman. The legs are still attached to a frame so I will make a new top and then upholster it. I took the drawer and sanded off the finish. The wood itself is not particularly pretty so I painted it a light blue. I just used a light coat and now it looks aged. I found some scrapbook paper to put on the inside and now I will hang it in the bathroom and use it as a shelf.

Old drawer

Handles removed and painted blue

Finished shelf - I just need to hang it on the wall!

Grout Nitty Gritty

I got the grout applied to one of the platforms today. I think I might need more grout than what I have left to do the other one so I will wait on it. Home Depot run! I love that place. The label on the grout said wait 4 hours to wipe off the tiles. My Home Improvement book said wipe off soon after it is applied. I followed the label. Next time, I will take the book's advice. We got the excess off but it took a lot of elbow grease! That is one thing I like about DIY projects...I am always learning something new. Even if it is the hard way sometimes!

The grout is actually a sandstone color and is darker than appears in this pic.

My First Tile Project

We have new propane stoves to heat the house. They are the type that look like wood burning stoves complete with fake logs! I like to have a heat source that I can back up to - a bun warmer! Leon built some platforms for them and I tiled the tops of those today. I learned how to use a tile cutter and how to apply tile adhesive. Tomorrow I will apply the grout.

The first tiles...

The first platform

The second platform

Tiling has turned out to be fun! In the past I had been intimidated at the thought but the more I read, the more I thought it was doable. Now I am thinking about what other projects I could tile. Maybe redo the bathroom counter? I would like to make some end tables and tile the tops.  I will post more pictures as this project progresses!

Wheat Harvest 2011

Wheat harvest has come and gone! It seems like we were just getting ready for it and now it is already over. It was shorter this year for us for a few reasons. One, we didn't have as many acres of wheat planted this year. We are trying to get more of our land in the rotation with milo and not plant wheat on it every year. That way certain weeds and diseases that inhabit wheat can be controlled. Two, the wheat was not very thick so we could cut a lot faster this year. And three, we had no major break-downs. Yea!
 
We were very thankful for the wheat we did have. Since January, we have only gotten about an inch or so of rain. It is amazing that we had crops do as well as they did with no additional rain. Someone made a comment to me that we weren't going to have any wheat if it didn't rain soon. I told them God could make it rain anytime He wanted to. Come to find out, God can make the wheat grow without rain!

It was really rewarding for me to be able to cut the wheat that I drilled last fall. I drilled some of the white wheat we had this year, then cut it. Soon I will clean it and grind it to make bread. I feel like the Little Red Hen!

Now we are cleaning up the John Deere that we lease so it can be picked up and taken to the next farmer who is going to use it. They don't want water used on it so we have to blow all the dirt, straw, and chaff off with an air compressor. It is a super dirty job! We try to get it as clean or cleaner than it was when we got it. Next, we will take the duels off. That always makes me a little nervous since if one fell it could crush a person. Taking them off is a lot easier than putting them on!

We can take more time cleaning up Bertha Belle. The girls can put on their bathing suits and play in the water while they are washing the combine. The grain cart and both semis will have to be cleaned out too.

We have gotten a little more done on the house since harvest. We got the siding put up on the walls that we had added. and replaced the other set of windows in the old living room. It did have a set of double windows and we replaced it with a big slider. The living room is so much lighter now! The only old window left is the set of two over the kitchen sink. Maybe we will get it put in soon.

New Window

Yesterday, Leon and Lorena tore out one of the old windows in the living room and installed the new one. We put in a shorter window and then an air conditioner below that. That way if we are not using the air conditioner and want to open the window, we can. Now my job is to figure out how I want it trimmed and finish it out.
The great thing about doing things yourself is you are not limited by someone else and their ideas or time table. It is taking us longer to get everything finished than it would if we would have hired someone. But we are enjoying the learning process and I love the smell of freshly cut wood! I have learned how to use several power tools and I have researched and found things like milk paint, soy gel, and citrus solvent. Great alternatives to the harmful paint strippers and thinners out there. The soy gel strips paint, varnish, and other finishes without any harmful fumes. You can use it inside the house. I tried it on one of the leaves of our dining table and it works great. After I get the table stripped I plan on refinishing it with pure tung oil. I remember my dad made some oak cabinet doors with a hand-rubbed finish. They were beautiful! With a tung oil finish, you can easily fix any dings or scratches by rubbing more oil into it. Check out the website here! Real Milk Paint
Anyway, I love my new window and I can't wait till we get the rest of them put in the old part of the house!

Plans and House

We were at the farm show in Garden City a couple of weeks ago when my daughter, Lorena, called me. She told me that Cody had proposed so now they are engaged! They are planning on a September wedding in 2012. We want to get our new kitchen and dining room finished before then and a lot of other work done on the house. Maybe since we have a deadline, we will get to work on it more.

We have been working on the roof. Right now we are taking one layer of shingles off and covering with roll roofing. Just trying to protect it until we have time to put on a metal roof. Hopefully after wheat harvest! The wind was blowing 40 mph with gusts up to 62 yesterday. Leon noticed some of our hard work was trying to blow away so up we went. It is crazy being on the roof when the wind is blowing like that! But we got everything nailed back down.