Easter Brunch

menu:

~ pecan maple stuffed french toast

~ spring mix apple pear salad

~ fruit salad w/ raspberry dressing

~ twice baked potatoes

~ chocolate cheesecake

guests:

~ Nana & Auntie Carole

(bench Mark made from twin bed)

New video, includes all three. Have sound on and enjoy! :c)

NEW PHOTOS KITCHEN!!!!! ( & some from other blog)

Well, Mark continues to work in the kitchen...It is finally coming together! Yahoo!!!! I am sooooo happy! I am posting the pics from the old blog here as well. I am so happy Mark can build what he builds, fix what he fixes. From cars to computers. He is great! And to build the cabinets, etc he uses all re purposed & recycled items.
This picture is of the kitchen after the cabinets were pulled down. Note the tiny dishwasher! lol So different with just three of us instead of 7 or 8!

Wiz and I found this downtown Bridgton w/the "free" sign on it. We pulled over, and in the freezing cold of January, found some tools in the car (YES THE BUICK!!!) and finagled it (SOMEHOW!) into the back seat and trunk. I couldn't believe we got it in. I wasn't sure where it would fit in the house but I knew I wanted it. Just what Mark needed...another project! (He was happy to see it though as he recognized the potential also.)

VOILA!!! Fits wonderfully into the kitchen. You can't really see it but there is a nice wrought iron drawer pull on the shelf above the curtain which pulls out for a work surface.

Our friend Pattie and her husband Lenny had an old farm they were tearing down and Pattie invited Mark in to get some things. One thing he found was this old sink which was full of frozen dirt, pots, muck, etc. Using Loreli's plastic sled coaster, he managed the to slip and slide the sink down the drive where Wiz and I helped him get it into the trunk. So...from this.....

to this!!!!

isn't it quaint! The dishwasher is housed under the sink behind the door. Thats the corner of the stove peaking out on the right side.

When it comes to working, Mark is never alone! LOL That's Wee Eduardo (aka: Ed) on his lap helping him make....
this counter...
Here are some dowels Mark got from Patties farm house, and cut down to put together and make....
this!

Here it is painted & finished!

This is our new "fridge" cupboard which Mark made from bits and pieces of old scrap wood. Yes, the fridge & freezer are in there. The whole thing is on casters in case we want to change it's position. The top of this is from Patties farm also. THANK YOU PATTIE!!

This is the back of the fridge cupboard.

This is a photo which shows some more of the cabinets Mark has made. The coffee/wine center was made from an old bakers rack which I had gotten from a fellow free-cycler. Having used it in many different ways, it has finally found a home we love. This area was once the closet which housed the old water heater but thankfully now that is housed down cellar. The cabinets below it and above the microwave (to the right in the picture) were built by Mark also when we first moved in.
Here's our vintage stove which although is not in it's position in this photo, is actually in position in our kitchen. It should be hooked up this week as this is what Mark has currently been working on. I can't wait! It complements the deco so well.

Archived Photo from Blog 6

This is an arial home view taken a few years before we purchased it. Our house is the square in the lower right corner, garage directly to the left of it. The chicken coop is the building to the left of that...(No chickens this house!!! Just a future shop area.) The large rectangle in the upper part of the photo is the in ground pool. The smaller square to the upper left of the pool is the pool house, a place to gather with a kitchen area, dressing room and utility room for pump, etc. The last rectangle is a RV which was parked there by previous owners and no longer on the property.

Archived Photo from Blog 5

Guest Room before....

View of cubby area....
Guest Room after....Come on over!

Built in bureau...

Side Table & Chair

Cubby area w/tv & VCR

Window & closet to left .This cabinet, Mark built for me for the kitchen corner in Limerick. It is made out of a couple of old table leaves which he found in the barn there. It once had a door on the bottom but for this area I liked it better without it.

Archived Photo from Blog 4

Living Room before with closet doors removed and some shelving in (dining room to right).....

Mark doing his magic on this....

one of the side cubbies after.....

Completed Television hide-a-way....
Interior of completed cabinet after....Isn't it amazing what he did with those hollow doors? He uses all recycled materials in his projects....

Archived Photo from Blog 2

Dining room entering into living room before

Dining room ...after (small side board Mark made in background)

Dining room entering into living room...built-in cabinet Mark made....

Another built-in Mark made...

Tea-cup lamp Mark made from last of my collection I have given away....sits over table sans greens which are on for Christmas....

Archived Photo from Blog 3

Second Living Room before.....
All the rooms in the house down stairs were painted a peach color but Mark painted them all white as well as the guest room and upstairs bathroom. The downstairs bathroom and upstairs hall and master bedroom still need to be painted and redone.

Second Living Room After....Mark made a built-in window seat with built-in cabinets on either side. The cabinets are open shelving to the ceiling with doors on the bottom for closed storage. The window seats opens up for storage also.
New door (Hardware from old barn in Limerick, actual door Mark made from panels he and Carole Smart picked up from her friend) slides over to provide privacy while hiding closet door when opened.....
New door Mark made to kitchen closes for privacy while allowing heat to circulate....