An extra set of hands

My father-in-law, Roger, came to Hillsdale last weekend to help Ryan work on the house. It was a fun and productive visit - the best kind.

They spent the first few days installing new, energy-efficient windows on one side of the kitchen. We have more to replace the large window over the sink on the other side of the kitchen, as well.

Above, they are knocking out the old windows and making big holes in my wall in the 30-degree weather... ;) 

And here are the new windows with pretty, new white trim! I think they look great with the yellow paint. They also insulated the walls around and underneath the windows...apparently there wasn't any insulation there before. Yikes. The kitchen feels much warmer now and the wall isn't as cold to the touch. 

They also installed a new front door, also energy-efficient. Trying to get the new door to fit in the old hole was a bit difficult, I gathered...I just took pictures after I got home from work. 

Here is the house, sans door...

And the next day, James came over and helped put the new one in!

Isn't it pretty? :

As a refresher, here's what the front of the house looked like when we arrived, after we had only taken out the juniper bushes. That old, red paint was really terrible. 

I would say we've made some progress. 

Ryan is installing another cabinet he finished today:

And here's a nice photo of some icy branches in our front yard the earlier this week:

We're doing well! Many thanks to Roger for helping us this week.

~

Who needs a microwave, anyway?

Two weekends ago, my brother Paul helped Ryan and I paint the kitchen. We chose a color called "Goldtone" which is yellow but not bright yellow. It's soft and, hopefully, will match well with whatever counter we get...eventually.

Ryan also installed the microwave we bought in July...which had been in its box in the middle of the kitchen, serving as an island, since the day it was delivered. He had to build a custom cabinet to go above it that holds the microwave's ventilation system, electrical cord, etc.

Yesterday, my father-in-law arrived in town. He's going to stay for a week and help Ryan work on the house. They plan to replace windows in the kitchen (awesome!), work on cabinets, get the electrical and water lines for the refrigerator hooked up, and probably several other things.

Right now I am sitting in the living room, trying to ignore the ripping, scraping sounds coming from the kitchen behind me. I just have to keep telling myself that messes now = beautiful kitchen later.

We have only used our newly-installed microwave a few times...we got used to not needing one at all. Aside from using the microwave at work for my lunches, we haven't used one at all since we moved here. Yes, heating up leftovers in the oven was a slow process, but I didn't really miss not having "the modern convenience."  

Here are some photos of the painting process and the new oven/microwave/cabinet setup.

Here, Paul removes the terrible old curtain rods. 

Our kitchen wall color. 

It's hard to tell, but this is what it looks like after it was painted. 

Eventually, cabinets will cover that oven cord...just imagine it all completed! Yes, that wall is painted. In bright light it doesn't look very yellow. 

This is our new computer! We bought it very gently used but it's basically brand new, and it was a great price. It was time to retire the Dell that I got when I graduated from high school in 2006 (yes, I was still using it until this one arrived).