Grilling Dinners

From the start, we did not have a sink in our makeshift kitchen, so meals that don't require any cleanup were a necessity.

Night one we had grilled porterhouse steaks, grilled zucchini, and an easy salad.  For the zucchini we simply quartered, sprinkled with some kosher salt and rubbed with a bit of olive oil and grilled on Medium-Low until soft and lightly charred.  The eco-friendly inside was pained by using and throwing away paper plates, but it's just for a while until we have a sink :)

Night 2 I made chicken.  Seeing how long we can make it without going out to dinner!  I marinated the chicken with salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.  I sprinkled the same on the zucchini & squash.  I purchased a tomato & parmasean flatbread from ShopRite and threw it on the grill to heat up - it was great!  Plus a greens salad with Marzetti Light Ranch dressing - so delicious, relatively low fat / calorie (for Ranch!), with no preservative, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or artifical flavors.  Next -best to homemade :)

Demo Day

We are finally ready.  Permits are in order, subcontractors are lined up, and Hurricane Irene granted us a free day off of work.  Monday, August 29 was demo day.

The dogs were wondering what is going on.

I had removed many of the perennial bulbs from the beds that surrounded the old addition, with the help of a great friend - unfortunately we got poison ivy in the process!!  We also saved most of the stones that were used to make the rock wall.  The electrician and plumber came to disconnect everything leading to that section, and the framer cut the roof for easy separation.

Goats don't care -

Kenny getting ready to rip & tear.  He jokingly said "Oh I read that book, "How to Tear Down a House", last night so I'm ready!".

Got a good spot -

It was a bit nerve-wracking!

But all went smoothly and the addition came right off the stone house as expected.  We tried to salvage as many of the old beams as possible.

Juan found a praying mantis - we were happy to see this sign of good luck on Day 1 of our demolition.

The symbolism of a praying mantis:


The mantis never makes a move unless she is 100% positive it is the right thing for her to do. This is a message to us to contemplate and be sure our minds and souls all agree together about the choices we are making in our lives.
Overwhelmingly in most cultures the mantis is a symbol of stillness. As such, she is an ambassador from the animal kingdom giving testimony to the benefits of meditation, and calming our minds.
An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, get quite and reach a place of calm. It may also a sign for you to be more mindful of the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent.


I love what it represents and how it fits into our lives right now.


But enough with the serious stuff... celebratory champagne!

We had to start right away removing the old concrete/ plaster from the old exterior.  This wall will be our new kitchen wall, so we want to get the exposed stone nice and clean.  Minor damage above the doorway where one of the pegs was very securely in that beam.

Chris getting right to work:

 The house looks so small and cute!

Beautiful end of an awesome day!

Pre Demo

Before:

 First, the asbestos siding had to be removed and properly disposed of:

Over the weekend we removed all the rest of our belongings from that section of the house, and anxiously waited for Monday!

Our plans

The stone portion of our house was constructed in 1851 and was very well built.  The walls are thick, the foundation was dug deep, and it has stood the test of time.  The addition, however, which was constructed sometime before 1938 (See Here), is not as well constructed, on just a crawlspace, and was experiencing some major sagging in the kitchen due to a lack of a sturdy foundation.  Since we purchased the house in 2007, we knew that the addition needed help.  Over the years we have discussed options with my father, a seasoned and skilled builder - thoughts included removing the kitchen floor and digging down to pour a slab foundation, but in the end it proved a better plan to remove the entire addition portion and rebuild to get the structure up to modern standards.  We have been saving our money and our ideas - always looking at pictures in magazines, on blogs, of houses for sale online, as well as of houses my father is working on in the area for inspiration to plan the construction and help envision how we wanted our home to be.  It has been a fun/sometimes stressful/ but always productive process, and finally in March 2011 we met with the architect.  He was very helpful and even had new ideas for us that we hadn't already thought of.  We would definitely recommend Marc Marion at Architecture Plus in Bridgewater, NJ.  He had great experience and ideas on how to smoothly incorporate the new addition into the old house without overpowering it.

The addition will include a nice large eat-in kitchen, laundry room, mud room, powder room, great room looking out to the barn/field downstairs; a full basement (!!); and 2 bedrooms with a full bath and a large linen closet upstairs.  We can't wait!

Here's the layout of the first floor design for the new portion:

Hee Hawwww

Introducing, Miller (Lite) & Snickers (a.k.a. Snickerdoodle) - our two Miniature Mediterranean donkeys...

and Jethro (a.k.a. Goat) & Mae, our two Nigerian dwarf goats.We got them from a friend who's moving and searching for good homes for her animals before that time comes.



Miniature donkeys are herd animals, and they should always be kept with another Miniature Donkey or other animal as a life-long friend. It is clear to see this bond between Miller and Snickers... they are literally always side by side (as are the manure piles). It has been a lot of fun to watch them and learn their personalities. Snickers gets grouchy with the goats around feeding time and shows them his rear to threaten with a kick if they get too close. Miller greets me every morning with a loud bray as soon as the upstairs lights turn on in the house, and also greets Chris when he pulls in the driveway every evening. They love attention and petting and brushing...many evenings I spend out in the barn with their big heads on my lap, just getting attention and scratching!

The goats are tricky, as one would expect.  Jethro is much friendlier than Mae, who prefers to keep to herself.  They both love to climb on things and we are always thinking of fun items to add to the pasture for their enjoyment.

We love our barnyard friends!

The birds

We got 6 chicks in March, who first had to be indoors with a heat lamp, and grew quickly to become awkward adolescents.  These shots are from from their first day trip outside -

Henrietta (pictured above), Carolyn, Ping Pong, Erin, Lady Gaga, and Copper Top were the original crew.  Unfortunately, screeching noises coming from the sunporch told us that we had some cockerals...  Lady Gaga, Erin, and Copper Top subsequently had been re-homed.  Henrietta (a.k.a. Henry) the Rooster stays to keep a watchful eye over the girls.  We have also gotten 2 more (adult)  hens, to help with the egg production since our loss of birds.  We love getting fresh eggs daily - our 5 hens now produce between 3 - 4 eggs per day, and Henrietta is my natural alarm clock :)

We bought a coop from a guy through craigslist - just $50 + red paint to match the barn-

Lily keeping guard -

Lots to Add!

Since my last post over a year ago, we have been busy!

We just dove into the renovation - the "new" part of the house has been removed and we are working on the addition.

We adopted another dog, Walter!

We adopted 2 miniature Mediterranean donkeys, 2 Nigerian dwarf goats, and some chickens (and roosters!).

Lots coming...