Our House

We moved into our house knowing that the front pillars were rotted out underneath their aluminum covers. After hours were spent (by Mark and his dad) repairing the pillar on the east side of the house where the house is drooping, the center pillar decided it was no longer needed for structural support and began dangling in place. Needless to say, it was necessary to remove it before it fell on an unsuspecting passerby. So, we had to call a contractor to have the porch lifted and new pillars put in. The siding had to come off in order for the contractor to check for rot in the wood of the pediment as well. So, we got to pay for some new siding as well.

We opted for round, fluted pillars and our porch no longer droops. Mark even installed recessed lighting so we could get rid of the big black hanging lantern over the front door.
The lights are so bright, they seem like flood lights.
We have also had some trees removed and branches trimmed
so that we have full use of our backyard.
I'll have to list all of the improvements to the interior of the house later. It makes me bone-tired thinking about it now, especially since we are far from finished and the holidays are nearly upon us. I've spent a portion of almost every day (and night) working on this house. I feel worn out. I'll suffice myself to say that we have new carpet upstairs and in the family room and I have painted the family room, the living room, the study and most of the upstairs bedrooms, walls and ceilings. (Some of the rooms have required removing wallpaper etc. What a pain!) Mark has replaced all of the electrical outlets and switches and patched walls and fixed a lot of random things that needed fixing in this house. We found hard wood under the carpet on our stairs, so I stained it and painted. We also had a carpet runner put down the middle. We are putting in hardwood floors in the study and living/dining rooms and have boxes full of wood planks filling our entryway as we speak. The house is in total disarray with furniture placed in the garage, blocking the front door and filling the entry etc.
I feel as flustered as the house looks.

On the outside of the house I would love to figure out how to remove the shutters without breaking them so that I can paint them black. I am also planning on painting the front door. I might have to wait until the spring. It has been hard to have so much work to do on the house, but it is starting to pay off. First of all, it doesn't smell like smoke around here anymore.
I am also really pleased by the colors in the rooms I have painted.
I am discovering how much I like color! Things will come together eventually.
I hope we'll fully move in at some point as well.

Interior before and after pictures later.

Calder's Dairy Farm

This past summer while hunting for houses in Dearborn, we found a metal cooler on the porch of a house we looked at that had the logo for Calder's Dairy Farm. We were excited to try Calder's ice cream because our inquiries resulted in praises of that cold and creamy dessert. We waited until today, one of the coldest days we've experienced in the last five years, when Mark was home and we were so tired of home improvement projects that we could allow ourselves a break.

So, we packed into the car with blankets over our laps and headed out over bumpy dirt roads and tiny paved roads, past many other picturesque farms not too far from where we live toward Calder's Dairy Farm.

Once we had arrived and opened the doors to let all of the little Calders out of the car, a goat climbed right in to greet us. He honestly tried to get his back legs up and in as well. When his investigation of the interior of our car turned up nothing worth eating, he stood dumbfounded for a moment before Grant put a stop to it and gently pulled him out of the car. The goat recognized a kindred spirit, stubborn and willful, in Grant and they played together until the goat realized he might never receive any sustenance and thought better of hanging around any longer.

We found an old milk truck made just for us and the kids climbed in for a moment but the cold soon drove us inside for.....ice cream?!

The kids each chose their flavors and then sat at antique school desks to enjoy their treat. We were only 100 yards away from where the very cows who provided this delicacy were being milked in their stalls in the barn.

I think they all liked the ice cream, but sadly, Mark and I aren't big fans. I thought each flavor tasted of eggnog and artificial additives. That was a blow. I was hoping for a new favorite haunt. We'll keep looking. One thing is for certain, no other place could have such a great name.

The farmhouse was charming and the yard vast and well laid out.

This black cat greeted and enchanted us with its mysterious eyes. It fit perfectly into this setting with its' wooden picket fences marking off the farmhouse yard and the lake near the house. We took muddy paths to view the animals as well. I had to wash off all of our shoes once we returned home.

Not sure who chose to put the cow statue here, but apparently you should keep off of it.
All in all, we really enjoyed the trip to the convenient country (only 5 or 6 miles off of the main roads). I would have preferred warmer weather conditions so we could have explored without running for cover whenever the wind picked up and it would have been nice to have fallen in love with the ice cream. I guess I should put my order in now to find a place that serves delicious Italian Gelato somewhere in the Detroit area. Hope springs eternal.

We haven't had any outings lately because of Mark's work schedule and all of the work we're doing on our house, so this was a much needed and enjoyed excursion!