Up north, Modern Farmhouse and a sale.

by the Artist

I'm sitting here in northern Minnesota at a sweet little resort. It's a cold blustery cloudy day. The lake reflects the gray. Typical for our spring weather this year. I'm with my Minnesota girl in-laws for a weekend getaway. My niece and I are sitting at the table... while she catches up on homework I thought I'd write a little....

I just got back my Mac from being repaired. I am happy. It was touch and go there for awhile. But Apple came through for us! 

And speaking of Apple... while I enjoy this weekend.. the Carpenter is back home finishing up his work week at The Modern Farmhouse Project. Things are going well. They started the major lakeside renovation phase. And we have very large doors and windows in our garage being "kept safe" for this side of the house. I'm being extra careful not to drop something, push anything, or scratch anything on strict orders from the Carpenter. He knows me. I am not the most careful person. I'm clumsy and move fast. Little messes and accidents trail behind me. I confess. 

Evenings find the Carpenter painting furniture for our "A Painted Apple" sale coming this Saturday May 21, He picked up another load of goodies at our local town's "Trash to Treasure" day a few weekends ago. He loves the hunt. Hooks up one of his open bed trailers and takes off to cruise downtown White Bear Lake. So along with what we have to finish up before the sale... we now have a few more pieces we can hopefully get done in time. 

Unfortunately for the Carpenter he is now much more involved in my project then he ever intended. Figuring out how to run "chalk-paint" through his commercial paint sprayer is a huge time saver for me. And a huge time loser for him! I could not have gotten as much done as I have without his help. And the paint quality of the furniture is way better then my early hand brushed pieces. 

I will head home Sunday morning to more furniture ready for me to distress and wax. Then will spend the week preparing for the sale. Oh I hope it goes well. I hope we sell every single piece. And if it goes well I might have a fall sale. But the Carpenter doesn't want to talk about that.

 

 

,

The best things.

,

by the Artist

It's beautiful outside. Breathtakingly so. Not a cloud, bluebird skies, flowering trees.

We started the Modern Farmhouse Project in February. The site had to be cleared of snow, the winds blew bitter off the lake. It was brutal at times. Today is the crew's reward for making it through that harsh start because it is already 85 degrees! I'm sure they will head home to start their weekends with some nice sunburn!

I stopped at the project yesterday and took some photos of the progress. They are rebuilding the entire lakeside of the home to meet engineering specifications for the new windows/doors that are going to be installed. In preparation for that, they had to build temporary walls to shut off the interior of the home from the exterior. To protect the home from the elements and for safety. I have not seen this done in any of our past projects (doesn't mean it hasn't been done I just haven't seen it). Amazing.

I feel for the homeowners who are shut off from their beautiful lake views from inside their home. Wow. It I'm sure would be easier if it was the dead of winter when the frozen lake looks quite inhospitable. When the winds are blowing the white around and around. But I am sure they know the sacrifice of living in a construction zone will be well worth it when it is all said and done, and they have gorgeous windows and doors to enjoy their beautiful lake vista.

I remember years ago when the Carpenter and I gutted our current home. It was dreadful. It was filthy. Old house dirt and debris. I had to keep an image in my head of the end product. I saw myself walking up to the front porch, a welcoming light was on, the porch was all white and very clean. Honestly that image got me through and helped me to keep going when it seemed like the renovation process would never end. And we've since enjoyed our little front porch ever since. It is still my favorite place to hang out!

Most times the best things take the most work. Very true here.

Sunday note.

by the Artist

Well it's official. Our furniture sale "A Painted Apple" has been rescheduled for May 21st. Check out details and photos here. http://www.applewoodremodelers.com/a-painted-apple/

I stopped at Hobby Lobby (my first visit to the mega craft store) to buy knobs for some of my pieces this week. I almost gasped when I saw the selection. exciting! I was even able to get the exact knobs that I had envisioned for one of the pieces. When I showed the Carpenter my "loot" he wasn't very impressed. He said... "you paid that much for one knob?" And I said.. "well it was a good deal at 50% off"!

Still no word on my ailing mac. I think we will be headed to the apple tree this week to pluck a shiny new mac off the lowest branch. I don't want a new mac. I want my old very fast rebuilt mac! I'm still hopeful that it can be saved. still.

We are taking a break from our "Painted Apple" project to start spring clean-up today. Between the spring rain and our schedule... the grass is high, the dandelions are plentiful, the gopher party huts are numerous, and the winter branches lay where they were flung. An acre of work and loveliness!

So here's to unexpected and expected life circumstances, busy weeks, plentiful work, and much needed patience to handle it all! Yes... we can do this with God's help. A Word for our Sunday and yours!

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting room.

by the Artist

It's been an unusual week for me. My computer experienced a potentially catastrophic episode. It's been in the "hospital" since. Touch and go. I've been out in the "waiting room" pacing. pacing. pacing. Every once and awhile I think about it and wonder how it is doing. I wonder what I will do if it flatlines. I've never been without a computer since getting my first Apple Tower. I feel lost. I am concerned about the cost of replacing a mac laptop. I am as attached to my laptop as many are to their cell phones. It is true you truly don't know how important something is until you lose it, or think you are going to lose it.

I've also been heads down working on my painted furniture project- "A Painted Apple". The Carpenter has been quite involved too. He's spending his weekends and every night after work painting. You know what that means... exhaustion. I feel bad about that. But we discovered a way to use his commercial paint sprayer to apply the "chalk paint". It's been an awesome time saver! After the Carpenter sprays a piece I can then distress, do lettering and wax the piece. We are cruising now! If only the sale was further out. How can I slow time down? Through the past few weeks I've learned tons about the whole chalk paint process. And thanks to a wonderful friend I've learned how to properly wax to create a beautiful patina.

My friends and family are coming forward to help with the day of the sale. Things are starting to come together but still too much to do. I don't know sometimes why I got myself into this. It is mega work. I hope it is worth it. I think it will be. I'd love to show a photo of my progress here but I don't have access to photoshop.. that's on my laptop. I'm using the Carpenter's laptop to write this post.

I hope and pray my computer is home with me soon. I can't do a final marketing push for my sale "A Painted Apple" without it. Even if I purchase a new computer next week. Either way a May 7th sale might have to be rescheduled. Isn't life fun?

On the construction front... we continue to be super busy at Applewood. Meeting with new customers, design consults, continuing on with our Modern Farmhouse Project, and we've spent time looking at homes to purchase with a potential customer to turn into their dream home. (Similar to Chip and Joanna Gaine's Fixer Upper).

A lot of apples nearly ripe. We just need to be patient.

 

 

 

 

Stinkers go to heaven.

by the Carpenter

photo of Gracie meeting one of the bird's the Carpenter rescued out of our wood burning stove one day.

photo of Gracie meeting one of the bird's the Carpenter rescued out of our wood burning stove one day.

[the Carpenter wasn't sure this post was worth putting on our construction blog because it's about our dog... again. But she was worth (to us) two posts...  So here you go.. plus the Carpenter wrote a post!]  

Not sure why I am writing this……. maybe some closure, maybe still some grief, maybe just to remember.

If you follow this blog, five weeks ago you know we lost our dog, Gracie. The Artist wrote about her back on March 21, (post title.. Our Sweet Snack Manager) only a week after Gracie died. I don’t know how she was able to do that so soon, other then a lot of you had seen Gracie on our website and in this blog for some time, and I know she felt it was important to at least let people know. Gracie was our good-will ambassador. A lot of you had a chance to meet her. I have thought over the years that I should have always brought her to my homeowner meetings and that could have sealed many deals before they began!

It has taken me much longer then the Artist to be able to talk about it here. I know some won't care and just move on from reading this. That’s fine. This is for those of you who know what it is like to have lived with a pet and lost that pet, and also for those who have known the Artist and I and know what our pets have meant to us over the years.

Some have said that Gracie was our child. No, she was not our child. She was our dog. We loved that dog deeply, but she was not our child. I can only assume that because we don’t have children, it’s easy to put that description on us that our dog was our child.

The closest I have to kids are my nieces and nephews. I have 10 by blood, and 2 by marriage, but all 12 have a place in my life that would not be the same without them. I do wish the 2 out east were closer in distance, but they are still special to my heart.

Knowing how I grieved for Gracie, I can’t imagine what it would be like grieving for one of my "squirrely girls" or "monkey boys"….can't even go there. The one thing that makes the grief somewhat different is I know if my “kids” were Christ followers, I would see them again. My pets, well I don’t think anything is said in the Bible about dogs going to Heaven, but I make myself feel better by believing they do. It makes their loss somewhat bearable to go through.

Back to the topic of Gracie. She was a little stinker. From the time she rode home laying on the passenger side floor of our explorer between my feet, till that last breath she took as she gave me one last doggie kiss, she was able to put a smile on my face. She was a dog that was always a happy dog. Stubborn at times, very independent, but happy. Never a growl, never a lip quiver, but always there to shower you with big wet sloppy kisses. We have a friend who happens to be bald that would let Gracie lick and lick and lick that bald head. I never knew who liked it more, the friend or the dog!

Gracie was a true Labrador through and through, well almost. Yes she had a great nose. She would dive into our marsh, get on a scent trail usually to come up empty but the nose was to the ground until she flushed something, found a deer bed or even the deer, or we just tired out.

She was friendly with everyone. We always said if she got loose and someone picked her up, she would have acted like they were her best friend.

And yes, she could eat. It has been said often if you let a lab alone with a bag of dog food, they would eat till they died. I think Gracie would have been one of those Labs if given the chance. Good thing her food was in a closet. However one weekend while dog sitting, the dog we were taking care of (Libby, you know who you are) somehow figured out where the food was and was trying to get the lid off the bin. Gracie was right there watching and learning. Good thing I stopped it before we had two Labs in Purina coma.

Yes, like I said, a Lab to the core…..except for one thing. Gracie was a Lab who wouldn’t swim! Oh, she wanted to especially when she saw her cousin Labs having a great time in the water. She would walk out in the lake chest deep, whine and bark and fidget, but just wouldn’t swim. Once in awhile she would get up the nerve and leap straight up as if trying to walk on the top of the water, belly flop in and swim awkwardly a few feet and then turn around, and get back to land. It was the craziest thing.

Gracie would turn heads. She was a real icebreaker. We would walk her in our downtown quite often, the Artist much more then me. On many occasions we would be invited into businesses, bars, outdoor patios, everyone wanted to see her. I think it was her bright white coat. I wanted to think the ladies were paying attention to me, but no, everyone wanted to see Gracie, not me.  ;)

When she was very young, I would take her to work. In one neighborhood, the neighbor kids would take care of her for hours. Many times I would go check on her and find her all curled up in one of the kids laps sound asleep after a rollicking good time of play. I know they missed her after that project was done. About three years ago I saw one of those little girls, much more grown up and with a big smile on her face she asked about Gracie. Haley said it was a fun summer knowing Gracie was going to be in the neighborhood and she could doggie sit.

Well time goes so fast. The puppy stage grows up and the real bonding starts. In some respect she became my identity. She truly did put a smile on my face each morning and each evening when I came home from work. It is something people can't give this side of Heaven. It is something only a pet can give, true non-judgemental, unconditional affection.

I miss Gracie a lot. A tear can still come at any time for any reason or for no reason at all. It just happens. There will never be another Gracie, But……

There will be another Lab. She won't be Gracie, She won't be Abby or Tasha, our other dogs from our past, but she will be special in her own way.

Yes I am happy to say that hopefully in September sometime, we will have another little white stinker in our lives. We are on a waiting list with a breeder that will be giving us good news soon.

Thanks for letting me share.

The Snack Manager position is filled!

 

 

 

 

 

 

,

No bumpy road!

,

by the Artist

I'm getting more design consults. That is a good thing. Basically if you sign on a project with us, you get me (the Artist/Designer) to help you navigate the sometimes bumpy decision road. It doesn't matter how large or small the project. It doesn't matter if you know what you want, but you don't know how to get there, or you have no idea what you want and don't know where to start, or you just need someone to listen to you work through the options. I'm your girl.

As Applewood grows.. and we are growing quite quickly these days.. I've been able to assist our homeowners in making the decisions needed for their project. Paint colors, tile, lighting, flooring. And here's the great part.. my assistance comes at no additional charge to you. It comes with the signed project. I will come to your home or meet you at a tile shop for as many times as you need till you are sure of your choice.

I've been told that I have a nice manner about me. I am not a "forceful" type person. I've been called "soft". I come alongside and gently lead you to your own decision. I do not push my own personal design sensibilities on you. I identify your style and go from there. It's all about you. It's all about updating your personal style. You don't think you have a style? You do.

So if you have a project in mind.. don't know an interior designer or don't have the funds for one.. you might want to consider Applewood Builders for your project. Not only will you end up with a wonderful new addition or remodel... but the journey to your dream might not be as difficult as you imagine.

, ,

Bags on.

, ,

by the Artist

Off to a brand new week after a different sort of "last week". Our Lead (who is never gone) was on his honeymoon, the Carpenter had to be on site 8-5 (yes he added a new layer of tired), and the weather was not kind (no.. it was downright nasty). It sleeted, it rained, the winds blew hard off the lake, and Friday wrapped up with a nice snow squall. And this is April?

I stopped by the project site today and took the photo for this post. It was in the 30's (still) and there was a good chop on the lake. I promised I would shoot fast! Yes.. please humor the photographer!

We've got quite the eclectic crew right now. Two brothers, a songbird and a scholar. Let me explain. The brothers are our nephews. One is our Lead and the other is his younger brother who has been with us since last summer while he looks for a job in his chosen field of construction management. He has been gaining great hands on experience in the meantime.

Our "scholar" is our newest crew member. He came on about a month ago. He lives on the great Mississippi River where he enjoys exploring it's nooks and grannies. And he is working towards getting his doctorate in Geography! 

Our "songbird" is actually a long time sub. He can usually be found up on scaffolding singing classical aria's. He always has a smile on his face and keeps the crew laughing. The "scholar" said one day at lunch that the "songbird" (not how he referred to him) was the "spice" of the crew. What does spice do? Makes things flavorful and interesting. yep that's him.

So now the crew is back together and "bags on". The weather report for the week is a definite warming trend, (oh please!) and the Carpenter can take a step back (I'm hopeful). 

The photo of the crew is minus our "songbird"!

 

Launched well.

by the Artist

Adam_Katie_wedd_cookie.jpg

We celebrated the wedding of our Lead Carpenter Adam to his fiance Katie this past weekend. It was blustery cold. The wind was relentless. Not a good day for photos. But a great day to stay inside and enjoy the moments in warmth surrounded by family and friends.

Inside away from the wind and cold the venue was beautiful. A group of us designed the woodsy theme decor for the reception. It was great to be creative in another way. I ended up designing the bridal party bouquets and corsages. That was really fun (and some work) after so many years away from my floral design days. And I have to admit.. as the bride walked past me on her way up the aisle I was looking more at how well the bouquet matched her gown then anything else. Always the designer!

And now it's hard to believe Adam, who is our nephew, is now a married man. Seems like just yesterday he was helping the Carpenter on little projects around our house. And later very big projects! He has been mentored by the Carpenter as an uncle and as a craftsman. And along the way he went to school to learn the trade too. Adam has come far. He has learned well and upholds the Carpenter's high standards for homebuilding.

It will be interesting to see how he changes, with his new responsibilities and life change. We look forward to getting to know the married Adam. 

I thought after the day was over... Adam and Katie have been launched well into their new life together. Family and friends could not have been more supportive. There could not have been more love. Now it's up to them to establish their marriage. I hope they do that well. 

I know the Carpenter is a bit on edge this week with Adam away on his honeymoon. He hardly takes vacation and is rarely sick. He's always on the job. But while Adam is away the crew will carry on. We have a loaded spring schedule so there will be plenty for Adam to do when he returns!

 

 

Painting the apple...

by the Artist

I've not been feeling like writing much since the loss of our sweet Gracie. (our 13 year old lab) But I've been keeping occupied preparing for my first painted furniture sale for our new Applewood venture.."A Painted Apple". Full days are keeping both me and the Carpenter busy which helps fill the hole in our hearts. 

I've had a vision for an Applewood *chalk painted furniture line for about 3 years. I've shared the bumpy journey now and then on this blog. I started and then stopped. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I stepped into the abyss of creativity and didn't know what direction to take. Or even if I wanted to go in any direction. I was completely overwhelmed with possibility. I don't do well with too much possibility. I like boundaries. A piece of furniture? Well it could be many colors. 

But I'm here to say that I have been spending many hours in the cabinet shop in recent weeks distressing and waxing and lettering. It's getting easier for me. slightly. I'm not quitting. The Carpenter is helping me. We discovered that my formulated chalk paint goes through his commercial paint sprayer. Huge smile. 

I said I have been lettering. I love typography. Letters. Before there were computers I would do hand lettering for my graphic design projects. I am hand lettering on some of my pieces. I love the look. I've been collecting quotes and sayings. I pick a quote according to the piece. Now the furniture feels like me. Because not everyone who chalk paints.. and there are a ton of women out there doing this very well... hand letter. By that I mean I freehand write script and roman letters with a small paint brush. It's kind of nerve wracking because I can't mess up. I get one chance.

So come May 7th... you can come see my "one chance" pieces if you live in Minnesota! And if all goes according to plan I won't have a single piece left! Watch for updates here... http://www.applewoodremodelers.com/a-painted-apple/  

* Chalk paint is a very flat paint that you can write on with chalk.. like a chalkboard! There are many brands of chalk paint on the market. Annie Sloan being one. I create my own chalk paint using a formula of flat paint and Plaster of Paris. The advantage of painting with this type of paint is very minimal prep.. meaning you don't need to pre-sand. (You do need to sand lightly before you wax.) The prep is after because you need to seal the paint with wax after you distress the finish if you choose to do so. Done right you end up with a beautiful antique looking piece with a beautiful patina.

Our sweet snack manager.

by the Artist

We lost our sweet Snack Manager Gracie last week. She was a couple of months short of her 13th birthday. It would have been her "golden" birthday. Do dogs have golden birthdays? 

She came into our life at age 7 weeks. It was a bit of a rocky start. She was sick and we had never had a labrador puppy before. During the three weeks when I was still working full time and Gracie came to live with us... we didn't want to leave her alone all day. So she went with the Carpenter to work. I'm not so sure that was a good idea. She balked at loud sudden noises the rest of her life. But the neighborhood kids at that project loved her up.  

She was an independent dog. Not a snuggler. But she had the sweetest temperment of any dog we've owned. She loved humans and dogs. She particularly loved humans. We could trust her with anyone. She was very forgiving. One time a niece bicycled over her tail and Gracie didn't even flinch. She handled everything in stride and with dignity. She was always happy.

And that happiness lived in our home and greeted the Carpenter every evening. No matter what was going on in the business... Gracie was there offering her unconditional doggy love.

Along the way after I stepped into the marketing job for Applewood... Gracie got her own job title. Snack Manager. She loved that job. What lab wouldn't? She was our Applewood good-will ambassador. 

Now we have an open position. The Carpenter just confessed he's been researching lab puppies for a couple of years. He's ready to bring another puppy into our life. I am but I'm not. I think it's just too fresh. And it is a ton of work. And it is grief. But it is love. Life is short (and even more so now) and we only get this earthly life to share with a dog. No matter what people say, I'm not sure dogs will be in heaven. So I am considering.

Gracie has been a big part of Applewood. She will always be with us. In our hearts. That is what the Carpenter has always told me when we've lost a pet. 

So here's to the best sweetest labby girl.