Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2020 by prairiemoonquilts in Prairie Moon Ranch

The start of a fresh new decade! Do you have big plans for it? I do . . . but we’ll see how that goes.

Seven years ago, we had just moved in here, and here’s what I posted on January 2, 2013.

So for an update on all of that, let’s see . . .

We had just gotten our internet hooked up here, and now we actually have an even better service since they installed fiber-to-the-home a while back.

Our new furnace has given us fits ever since it was installed, so we’ve had to have the repairman out at least once each winter (and sometimes in the summer for the AC, too). Until now, and it’s been going really well this winter so far, so cross your fingers for me that this can be our first year without having to call the repairman. Still, I’m very happy to have heat on demand, since the ranch shack we had previous to living here didn’t have heat at all, and our house in Nebraska never got above 57 degrees inside. I feel very spoiled now.

Our 1921 2-story farmhouse is still a major work in progress. Major. I think I’m not making any progress at all, and there are long periods when I’m not, but I look back at how far we’ve come, and we’ve actually done so much. It all just takes time and money, both of which I’m short on for this house a lot of the time. (I’d rather buy fabric and spend my time sewing it up!)

So much of the work (and money) has gone into fixing things that don’t show, so it looks like we haven’t done anything, but plumbing and wiring are necessary structural things that kinda needed to be done first. We also had to have a new water heater, and a new washer/dryer set. It’s always something!

And we desperately need a bathroom remodel, but it’s very difficult to find anyone who wants to take on a small job like that. Handy men in the area advertise “no job too small”, yet I find that there really ARE jobs too small, and they won’t do them. Getting someone to show up is like pulling teeth. But I’m still hopeful and it’s still on my list.

We did get a stove and a refrigerator a few months after moving in, but we went for over a year without a kitchen sink! We finally got the new countertop and new plumbing installed. I had intended to buy a new sink, but the one we took out was perfectly fine, so I just re-used it, and put in a new faucet. We’re trying to keep and use the stuff we tear out, and repurpose it for other projects if we can, both to keep it here as part of the house, and to save money.

Here’s what it looked like when we started that project in November of 2014:

I was so happy to have it in, I didn’t even wait for the backsplash, which is now in place; but I still don’t have all the doors back on the upper cabinets, altho the bottom ones are finished.

I hope to have a proper after picture to show you once I get the upper cabinets done. You can see my pantry HERE, if you’re interested. I’m not far from finishing the kitchen, so hopefully this will be the year to get lots more house projects done.

We’ve done sooooo much work outside, and the animals take precedence, so the house gets the back seat.

I still hate stripping wallpaper, and have given up on most of it, and just painted over it. I still have indecisiveness about paint colors, too, but I did put a red floor in my longarm room!

Also . . . my memory isn’t any better, and I still weigh the same, but in the best news yet, I haven’t ever fallen down the stairs!

You can see the original house tour HERE.

And the post I did when I first finished my sewing room HERE. Boy, has it changed over the last 5 years! I need to start over in there.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you for following along and visiting my blog, and playing along in all my challenges. I know you have lots of choices, and I’m extremely glad you choose to visit here! I hope to post lots of fun stuff for us all this year, so stay tuned!

And may 2020 be very good to all of us!

Happy New Year!

16 responses to “Happy New Year!”

  1. Wendy says:

    Home remodeling is a huge task and, you’re right, so many things are often unseen. Add in the adventure of tearing out and finding much bigger projects than anticipated and, well, I’m sure you well know what I’m talking about. Feel good about the progress, Shelly! I know how difficult it is to be patient with that stuff! Here’s to a happy, healthy, quilty 2020!

  2. Cindy Wienstroer says:

    It is a slow process! We moved into our 1912 house in 1981 and still haven’t done it all. We need to redo the floors, strip some doors and redo stairs to basement. The nursery is now my sewing room since kids are gone. But we don’t have animals and live in the city so our lot is small. My husband had to retire in 1994 due to post polio syndrome so he can’t due the things he used to. The kids built a shed & garage so they have skills for their own homes now! I did retire so now get to play more with my fabric and I love it!

  3. Shasta says:

    Happy New Year! Remodeling is a big task. I try to do a little bit every year in my house so it doesn’t become a big job.

  4. Pam says:

    I too can relate to the construction. My home was built in1923, old cape style. We have been here 50 years. Two furnaces, two kitchen remodels and my rooms repainted. I don’t think is is ever done. Enjoy it all. The work makes so many memories. As I said I am on my way to sewing room to clean out and reorganize.
    Happy New Year to all and happy sewing

  5. I know exactly how you feel. We moved in to our place 11 years ago. A lot of work still to do, though a lot work has been done. When we moved in we had no kitchen, hot water or heating. Our place was built in 1876 and added on to over time. We found sometimes we had to stop and rest in between jobs because they seem never ending and enjoy the bits you have completed.

  6. I don’t envy you working with contractors. I swear they have their own understanding of time. In our previous home we did two bathroom remodels. Each took 6 months and both were an expensive investment. But I loved those bathrooms when they were done. And yes the contractors or subcontractors would say I’ll be there tomorrow at 9 and days would go by before we would see them again. It might be that fewer people are going into the trades and there aren’t as many to do the work, but still the time thing is annoying. Slow and steady though and enjoy the progress.

  7. Sharon says:

    After thirty-eight years in the house we had built on our “mountain”, we had to move 2 1/2 years ago. We were fortunate early on to get a good contractor for all the work needing to be done. My husband’s brother and wife moved here six months ago, and my sister-in-law is constantly complaining about how hard it is to get someone to come and do their small jobs. This area is growing, and everyone is so busy the last couple of years. Hope you make lots of progress with your projects this year.

  8. Becky Collis says:

    I totally get it! I bought a can of paint for the foyer and the guest bathroom 3 or 4 years ago. I should get it out, dust it off and see if it’s still good! I too like eating and living indoors, so the longarm gets the majority of my time! I am going to try really hard to do some painting before spring.

  9. Deanna says:

    Ah, the joys of remodeling. Our home is 1963, but had been badly mistreated in the past. It has been a labor (of love) for 17 years. In fact, my Christmas present this year from Husband is basement carpet and he is down there painting as I type. We, too, salvage and reuse a lot. It makes it so much more affordable.

  10. Danice says:

    Yes, we have found out as well that some jobs are really considered “too small”. It’s all about money, and more of it seems like. So glad you are making progress on your farmhouse. The red floor is really pretty. Wishing you a very wonderful 2020 also. ‘So glad to have found your blog last year.

  11. Angie in SoCal says:

    Now that was interesting. We, too, live in an older home, yet not as old as yours – 1946. It was built in a grapefruit grove. There are only a couple of trees left. The house was built by the grove owner’s son and a friend and they did the best they could. Our house was built for a daughter who was near 6 ft tall. I could barely reach the first shelf in the kitchen cabinets as I’m only 5′. But that was changed by the remodel in 81. After 51 years there’s still a lot to redo, but we’re hanging in there. Happy New Year, Shelly and Mr. Cowboy – may God shower you with abundant blessings in 2020.

  12. Marcia in TX says:

    Wow! That is a lot of work. Happy you have heat, praying it stays working all winter.

  13. Paula in NE Ohio says:

    You really have done a lot. Sounds like your priorities are in the right place.

  14. Cindy Wiens says:

    There is always something that needs to be done. Looks like you are slowly but surely making progress. Happy New Year to you and the Cowboy. 🙂

  15. Peggy Long says:

    My home was only 2 years old when I bought it in 2000, but it needed a remodel to accommodate my husband in a wheelchair. The huge Jaccuzi garden tub was removed and garage wall bumped out into the garage 3 feet. The little shower enclosure was replaced by a closet and the large vanity top reset on a new custom built hanging oak vanity. The pis d’resistance is a totally white tiled bathroom with dark purple accent tiles sporting a big roll-in shower. I convinced my SIL and his father to do the work as the handymen I interviewed left me with very little confidence. I grew up in a home my parents totally remodeled (as funds allowed) so I knew what a good job looked like.
    The furnace had to be replaced because the original was too small and upstairs in the attic on its side without a drip pan, so when the AC ran, the condensation ran down the closet wall below (around the light switch!). Pile caroet had to be replaced by “bank lobby” low pile carpet (again, for wheeling ease). Doorways had to be widened and doors replaced. A front patio and sidewalk had to be poured because there was only a big step down and grass. A ramp and back door had to be installed. Although there are woods on two sides of the property, there were no trees around the house. I’ve planted about 30 trees over 20 years and 30+ shrubs, too. Late winter 2001 brought a terrible ice storm that downed several large old trees…talk about a crushed new landowner. It has been two years now without kitchen flooring as the concrete needs some work…at least I have the vinyl planj flooring…maybe this year!

  16. Happy New Year to you and your cowboy. Looks like you have made tremendous progress with your remodelling! What a job but how great you are moving along! Love your sewing rooms. Thanks for the great blog. I really enjoy your farm life adventures, and those sweet goats…

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