Dreams Do Come True :)

Me, age 4, Our Farm

(My favorite childhood photo ~ you can't make that kind of happy up..:)

As April winds down this week, so is the construction. The plan had been for me to start moving some stuff in the first weekend of May (5/1) with the balance happening by mid-May. Sadly, the final subs have had some personal issues come up, so it looks like construction will be completing next week. After that, there will be some ancillary items still in process (rock work, ceiling work after the pine dries (late summer), and some finish carpentry work (bookshelves, etc.), but none of that impacts occupancy...in fact, I have already received my occupancy permit (last week). It is getting serious (as Wesley would say), and I am excited, nervous, and giddy.

It is nearly inconceivable that I could actually spend a night in the workshop, wake up and drink my coffee on the deck while watching the sun come up. All while listening to the creek run and the birds sing. I hope that if you have ever had a dream...and you have ever doubted that your dream could/would come true...I hope this blog, this posting, reignites your dream for you. I have been there, and now I am here. I am on the verge of experiencing and living one of my dreams.

Doretha had asked me late last year if I had my original goal list that I drafted when I was 9 years old, and I wondered too; I update it annually (no surprise) so I have all of the originals down on the list, but that original list on yellow legal pad??...who knew??  I went on a treasure hunt, and I found it in an old trunk that my dad had painted for me before my first summer camp at Camp Wyldewood (I am the family treasure keeper ~ every family has at least one). So long ago, 30 years tomorrow, I wrote out my childhood dreams, my goals for my life.  I was a scared, confused, broken hearted child when I sat down and wrote out that original list.  The therapist back then told my parents that their separation had thrown my world into chaos, and I was simply writing out everything (wills, letters, to do lists, goals, and even a daily schedule (some things haven't changed:)) in order to find order in the chaos.  I was a 9 year old kid trying to gain back a little control.  It makes me laugh a little and shake my head when I think back about it, and then I think that was me..that was my life.  Sometimes it all seems like it happened to someone else.  One of the main things I listed back then was to move home...back to Yellville...we had just moved a year earlier.  I think that more than anything I wanted to go back to where I remembered us all being happy.  All the people I loved were there.  Our farm, our animals, the water, my pear tree, my swing, and my church.  I think I thought if we could go back...if I could go back...everything would be okay ~ like magic.  In a little kid's head (and heart), a plan was hatched ~ I would work hard, go to college, get a good job, save my money, and someday I would go home and buy our farm.  Then I would find that happiness again...that childhood happiness. 

Well, the farm hasn't been for sale in years, and even perfect dreams have to be adapted sometimes.  I knew the day I stepped foot on my land that it was home.  I had been looking at land for years, and nothing.  It was either too much, too little, relative issues, politics...you name it.  Then this land.  It was a God thing ~ his timing is always perfect.

Tonight I was working feverishly to catch up on my blogs, and with my most recent post (Barn Doors) I was up-to-date.  I didn't mean to write this blog.  I guess with the wonderful day I have had (nothing I am prepared to post about just yet), and my 39th birthday tomorrow.....the words and tears are just spilling out of me.  I guess God is reminding me that he was there with me when I was 9 years old, and he is here with me now.  Everything has changed in the last 30 years except his love for me.  His hand was on me then, and it is on me now.  That is powerful stuff, and although offering up a look back behind my curtain is rare for me...I felt the urge to share.  This blog has brought me new friends and reconnected me with old friends.  All of this together has made me very reflective of the journey I have been on, and ever so grateful that God gave me so much time on this earth and all of you to share it with :) 

Not to get all mushy, but there is a 9 year old girl inside of me tonight squeezing the air out of the 39 year old inside of me.  I swear I can hear, "We did it!" and laughter.  Remembering is good, being grateful is good, and I am experiencing both tonight.  I am a grateful girl made even more grateful that the ones reading my silly little blog are allowing me (I know you will) a post such as this...Thank you!!! 

Heather's little takeaway lesson from this post...Grab a kid, build them up, believe in them, share their dreams, and inspire them to forge on and make those dreams happen for themselves.  There is a great line in Ya Ya Sisterhood when the main character describes the pivotal breakdown that altered her life...she says simply, "I dropped my basket."  I had several beautiful, dear people who stepped into my life (and they continue to step in, to this day) when my family's basket got dropped.  They were/are God's foot soldiers, and I am forever grateful and indebted to each of them.

Now go change the world ~ one dream at a time!!! :)

Barn Doors and Mechanical Room Doors (mid-April)

I came back from my trip to San Francisco to see a lot of new things, but one of my absolute favorite surprises were these....the barn doors (and mechanical room door)...WOW!!!!  As Steve said to me as I stood there near tears, they look just like the picture....yes, they do :).  I saw a picture of a renovated barn, and I had given the picture to Steve when we got started last year and said this is the look I am going for on the exterior.  Boy did he deliver.  His nephew actually made them...a great carpenter.  They absolutely set off the entire workshop and "make" the look.

The finishing touch for the doors...Bob Patrick, a local blacksmith, is making the handles and door holders...I will certainly share those in a future blog once they are installed.

I am now up-to-date with my blogs...YEAH!!!  With the rate at which things are humming now...there will be a lot of posts this coming weekend so standby!! :)

The Newest Discovery ~ Another Beautiful Bluff Line

I thought a change would be in order....actually I am really excited and wanted to share what Wesley uncovered with his dozer.  As I noted in the water and spring house blogs, Wesley took his dozer and cut a road down to Caney Creek.  Well, he didn't actually stop there....he took the time to cut what will be a future four wheeler path along the creek.  It actually serves the additional purpose of getting us access to continue ice storm clean-up since there are trees down everywhere (the pictures tell even more of the story).  So, imagine his surprise as he starts clearing it out when it opens up to the most beautiful stretch of bluff line.  Gorgeous, huh?!  In case you can't tell from the photos, you can actually crawl in most sections of the bluff and lay down, etc.  I would imagine that at one point indians, bank robbers (probably), etc. crawled up in there to wait out a storm.  It is just beautiful, and I had to share. 

Of course those who know me know my love of lopsided hearts.  The story is that I discovered a rock shaped like a lopsided heart in 1996 at a church camp I was visiting with my friend John Hendrix.  It was a "sign" for me at the time, and I started collecting them.  John came to pick up some books, I got a sign from God ~ that is even..ha ha :)  I still have that original one from '96 too.  Anyway, the last picture is a huge lopsided heart rock (though I cannot get the picture to load to the blog in the correct direction), and even better...it is covered with moss (which I love almost as much...in fact I have pondered naming the land Moss Cove or something to that effect).  Anyway, both were good signs...are good signs.  Just God reminding me of his power in the beauty he created all around me. :)  I am blessed...VERY!

Tile for the Upstairs Bathroom :)

I went with Jason Bradford (Marshall, Arkansas) for my tile work in the upstairs bathroom.  He did a great job!!  I would highly recommend him.  I got three bids for the tile work.  At the end of the day, the price was similar on all of them, so I went with my instincts on the one who seemed to click best with my personality.  As I have posted before...one of the biggest aha moments on this whole journey is that instincts should always trump.  Jason's "vibe", I guess you could say, won him the job over anything else. 

I went with the same tile design/look I used back in 2001-2002 when I renovated a house in Jonesboro, Arkansas, that was built in the late 1800s.  This was not my first choice in the workshop; I actually had a completely different color palette in mind, but something clicked causing me to go back to this look.  I am so glad I did.  One additional note on my tile choices....I love doing tile halfway up the wall.  A couple of guys on site the day I was getting bids from the tile guys were laughing at me about it...so I proceeded to tell them (joking around) that if they really loved their wives they would tile the walls in the bathroom.  I love it because it looks so clean, and I believe it is easier to keep clean.  They just gave me that look like "silly girl" so I just shrugged my shoulders.  Maybe it is just a "Heather Thing", but I really believe tile walls rock! :)

Allow me another slight digression to explain why color choices, etc. are getting so difficult...when you are building one structure, but you still have the dream of another in your head (for me the cabin)...it can get confusing and overwhelming sometimes when you get to big design choices or even small touches.  Sometimes I cannot remember which one I planned something for, and the nearer I get to the end of the construction period for the workshop, the more overwhelmed I seem to get...Yeah!! :)

It took Jason two days to lay and grout the floor and walls.  He came back a few days later and sealed it.  I cannot say enough about his demeanor, professionalism, and work.  It was a very pleasant experience from start to finish.  I did not get to see the final product until I got back from San Francisco, but I was thrilled.  The funny thing was both Wesley and Jason said the pictures didn't do it justice...they were right.  I thought it was cute how proud Jason was of his work...nice! :)

There will be more about Jason in another blog (probably next week).  I was so impressed by him, that I posed a question to him...and it ends up he is going to save my bacon on another part of the workshop.  Yeah again!!

Cedar Deck Railing

Once the exterior doors were installed and stained on the last weekend of March, it was time to start the railing (first week of April).

I love the covered deck.  It may very well become my favorite room in the place.  As you know from an earlier blog, when you look up you see cedar beams and the metal roof.  The cedar for that came from Phillip Fouraker...when it came to the railing, we went back to Fouraker to get more cedar.  Steve and his crew did an amazing job on the railing.  I love it.  There will be a surprise add-on....it will come by June (hopefully), and I don't plan on ruining the surprise...stay posted :)

You will notice that the left side of the deck there is no railing...that is where the sprial staircase will connect.  It is set to be installed the week of April 26th :)

Exterior Doors Going In...More Problems (broken door) & Stain Time

The photos are slightly out of order, but you can see what the doors looked liked when first installed.  These are the three exterior doors on the second level.  They are 8' french doors made out of solid alder wood (knotty), and they are gorgeous.  The outside of the doors needed to be stained to match the window trim.  I chose two different colors, and ended up going with dark walnut.  It was SO dark, but the color matches the window trim beautifully.  The other decision came with choosing to stain the exterior (one coat) and then poly (2 coats), but putting only 2 poly coats on the inside of the doors.  It will be easier to understand when you see the entire finsihed project on the inside, but especially because the knots are just amazing and I really wanted to show them off.

I love to stain (and paint) so I never considered having anyone else do this part of the job.  That said, while I have stained a lot of things in my life, these doors are SO big.  I might never have finished them in the two days I had if Wesley had not jumped off the dozer and helped me (he felt sorry for me).  I paint and stain freehand because I detest painter's tape.  This adds to your work time, but I think the end result is better.  I had to stain the outside trim (and not mess up the much lighter CWF that had just been applied to the west coast cedar siding the day before), and not get any of the very dark stain on the inside of the doors that were simply going to get a clear coat.  Stressful, but I am very, very pleased with the end result.  After everything else is done, I plan to go back and do some light sanding on a few mistakes and then apply the second (and final) poly coat.  (don't worry I haven't pulled the film off the windows on the doors yet :)

Before I close, I have to tell the broken door story.  There is a photo of the latch at the bottom of one of the doors ~ it was broken.  It took weeks for me to get the attention of the door company, and after all of that it took them 30 mins to mail a $14 part and 30 mins for the GC and his crew to fix it.  Is that nuts??  Yes, it is.  Just one additional disappointment I have in that firm. 

The lesson for this week is that everything takes longer to accomplish than you think...I thought it would take two days to do all 3 doors with all 3 coats AND I would get the deck done.  Yeah right?!  :)  I am so naive (aka stupid).