the galley

THIS.

West Galley

Northeast Galley

Northwest Galley

Took two years and three months to achieve and still isn't finished. Note the south/sink is unpictured, but that's a whole 'nother story. I love the stories of this Portage! I like the beginnings and the endings and the middles. The ending are so especially meaningful after what came before them, though. Like the floor discovery a month after we moved in:

'neath leveler, plywood, and three layers of laminate lies shining hardwood like buried treasure

open

shut

Then there is the story of What To Do About Awkward Corners where the ancient brown refrigerator full of mold used to block the teeny tiny up high windows (see West Galley photo above). We tried a cupboard, but we needed a place for Kaya's kennel, so a card table covered her bed until the glorious day - last Saturday - that Brett built a counter to my exact specifications!

I have been waiting so long to write this post, and even though there is trim that still needs painting, floors refinishing, and the fridge (why does refrigerator not have a D but fridge does? why?! why?! why?!!) still seems far too big and bulky and always half empty besides, I am positively smitten with my little hub of homemaking.

Look how close I've come to my inspiration! Look what I want to turn the south/sink corner into! Look what you should get me for all the rest of the birthdays of my life!

People have been asking if we have any big summer projects, and I would totally love to get a functional garage door or sliding glass doors for the north porch transformation dream, but ya know what? I have a pretty kitchen galley, so I don't care about those other things. At least for today.

beauty and the mess

Only a little snow left, patches and puddles. Since two years have transpired since we got our home, and we have only 10 items remaining (five of which are optional) on the 77-item list I typed up that first month, an update is in order.

In December 2012 my sister Abi helped me paint our crumbly, cracked, stained, smudged, and crayon-scribbled EntryWay/DiningRoom. After months of deliberation, the perfect color finally dawned on me: a roasted coffee chocolatey brown. Behold, the transformation:

BEFORE - white-ish walls, different furniture

DURING - Abi paints over the color we did not like

...facing west, only the top edges left.

 (Drumroll, please:)

AFTER

AFTER in regular light

AFTER with enhanced colors

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked. You can still tell that the trim is mid-stripped, exactly the same as it was when we bought the house. We hope to strip and refinish all the trim eventually (one of the five non-optional items left) as well as refinishing all the wood floors which need it pretty bad. Super exciting, and yet so easy to put off indefinitely. Besides, I've got summer gardens and trips and markets and celebrations to keep me busy.

Technically, shouldn't this room be called the Mess Hall? I definitely had to excavate the mess before I took this picture (as you can also see in the 'before' pics). It's also the entryway where coats, boots, bags, mail, and all manner of cast-offs get piled on a daily basis. But I'm open to suggestion, especially if they sound tidier.

“O, how this spring of love resembleth the uncertain glory of an April day”
- Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 3

the day after a year

Now I'm 28, the age my mother was when I was born. We've been celebrating all summer, but the events that follow occurred on July 17 2012.
1. The Portage's historic bricks were painted Red Bay. Perhaps we'll replace the trim/windows and give the porch a fresh coat of crisp white next year, but I am fond of the sage...
2. I attempted to vacuum & prep the dining room for painting, and had a horrible asthma attack. Four meds and two hours later I was okay again, but the walls remained blank.
3. My family went to Starbucks for my free birthday drink. Norah made me about 28 birthday cards throughout the course of the day, dear girl.
4. Crafting commenced with Andrea and Jodi, and I nicked an idea off pinterest to add word art to a picture matte, while they made jewelry.
5. Pretty much everyone has been clued-in to my anchor obsession. Thanks friends!
6. Our sweet puppy Kaya Laurë turned one!
7. My wonder~FULL life continues...

before...       ...after!

love her expressions!

porthole aka library

Another room remodeling post! This past week a friend came over to help me paint and Brett put up our bookshelf (in it's 4th home in 4 years!). Oh, and we call it the Porthole because it is the port side of our house, but I like the allusion to "Portal" because books are like Portals to other worlds... Feast your eyes:


North wall - the color is Poplar Summer


East wall - only 9 ft wall in the house


South wall - it's really got a colonial vibe going with the cream & green


close to 700 books in storage from May 2010 - Jan 2012


ex libra dregge!

[new: March 2013 update]

 

evaluating

As a general rule, spending some time apart from loved ones only increases your appreciation for them. I have found this to be true of my parents, siblings, daughter - and it is especially true of my husband.

Weekends are more precious than ever. Meals are simpler and so are messes. Building a routine to keep me sane all 80-as-a-matter-of-fact hours each week that I am a single parent has, so far, been successful. I have to make more decisions myself, and I can't decide if that's good or bad.

For my half-birthday today he got a promotion. SO proud of & thankful for my steady man.

In other news, we are on the verge of painting the library. Here is the start of our Portage Palette:

poop deck

Four months and one day after we closed on our home and moved in, we can no longer say we are camping out: we finally have a fully functioning bathroom, complete with a shower. Luxurious, right?

Here are the incredible before & after pictures:

March 2011

July 2011

A clawfoot tub and pedestal sink have been my longtime dream, as well as the white trim, and I think the lemony yellow and sandy neutral combine to give this room a clean, bright feeling.

I still have to make tough decisions about where to hang my shelves and towel bars, but at least I can do my thinking after a cool shower. Ahhh. There is plenty of room for storage in the adjoining linen closet, so our toiletries are entirely accessible. I sketched out a floorplan of The Portage in case you're curious.


I don't know about you, but it still feels surreal to grab my towel and shampoo and not walk across the street...

revolutions

There is a day
when the road neither
comes nor goes, and the way
is not a way but a place.

-Wendell Berry

I have lived in Minnesota for a year now. I have been a full time homemaker for a year. The title 'homemaker' sums up all that I hold dear! Home; and Making. Place; and Purpose. Where I belong and what I do are all rolled into who I am. My identity.

I am continually learning better ways to say things. Letting love temper my confrontation of the world. Realizing that submission is not a negative word, but we have twisted and bent it into an ugly idea (too much of anything is ugly). Convincing myself of that pretty much every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed. And often failing. Embracing restoration and resourcefulness.

Questions I have been asked: What do you do all day? Do you like living across the street from your in-laws? Why are you drawn to the countryside? While these questions usually come from a genuine curiosity, I feel that I cannot adequately explain such broad and complex subjects. I want to answer with a story. I want to offer inquirers a glimpse into my life, but a plunge would be more apt. Brett and I were completely MADE to live this life. We have the exact skills and desires to turn the undesirable into the hospitable. I could write a whole post on this, but suffice it to say, we are on our own timetable and at this stage cannot do this for our livelihood. Though we are doing it for our living. *smile*

We have decided to name this home The Portage, alluding to life's transitory nature, and because this house is not our Anchor's Rest.

¹por·tage noun \ˈpȯr-tij, 3 is also pȯr-ˈtäzh\1 : the labor of carrying or transporting
2 archaic : the cost of carrying : porterage
3 a : the carrying of boats or goods overland from one body of water to another or around an obstacle (as a rapids) b : the route followed in making such a transfer

crow's nest

before

after

before

after

I love it. The color is called fresh pear; Elanor came home from the hospital wrapped in a blanket this color, and I've liked it ever since. Especially paired with pink or aqua or brown. Fitting too, for a summer baby who was named after a flower and a bird, to have a garden-fairy-dinosaur themed room. The chandelier is just a bonus, as it came with the house!