It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Snow is falling, wreaths are hung on the front doors and candles light the windows of homes along main street Norwell.

The mailboxes are stuffed with last minute Christmas cards and after-Christmas sale catalogs. The farm animals are bundled up in their winter coats and Tucker and I are about to enjoy a bowl of hot oatmeal and just watch the ice float down the river.

I have all day to wrap presents and get ready for our Christmas Eve feast with the kids.

I hope you are warm with the spirit of Christmas and surrounded by the people you love!

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Tiled Bathroom

The New Bathroom is Fantastic!

Before:

After:

Doug did a beautiful job tiling the Bathroom! In fact he did such a good job, I have a pink and blue bathroom that would look great with white tile! We moved the shower and added a tub, changed the window out to something smaller, put in a new vanity, and used an old cabinet for above the toilette. We are very happy with the finished product!

Blood, Sweat and Paint!

We Are Back and it is time to CELEBRATE!

We have completed the apartment and have moved the paint brushes to our side of the SPC. After all of the hard work it was very hard to hand over the keys but I know Erin will take good care of the appartment, Right Erin? Doug and I are finally ready to move in this Saturday and I will have some time to update you on what has happened over the last 3 months. Thank you to everyone who helped during the hot summer days and endless nights, we never would have finished without you!

The Finished Kitchen

The Kitchen is complete!

On June 1, 2009 the Apartment Kitchen looked like this:

I didn't think the kitchen would ever come to an end:

Finally the kitchen is completed!

The Inspector Stopped by The SPC!

Things have been crazy at the Split Pea Cottage but everything is finally coming together. I will have some time to update the blog on the SPC's progress this week. In the meantime, we had a surprise visit from the Home Inspector and he definitely approves!

Found Treasures

When we first moved into the house it was easy to see all of the things that needed to be fixed. For everything bad we saw, there was always something good.

Bad: There was a huge pile of old grass and trash.

Good: My new beautiful Peonies!

Bad: These Horrible Fans

Good: New Fans!

Bad: Ugly stained carpet and worn floors!

Good: Amazing hardwood floors!

Bad: Blue and Pink bathroom downstairs!

Good: Huge bathroom upstairs!

We even found a good surprise in the bad walls!

Demo Days!

Let the Demo Begin!

It's been more like Demo Late Nights but days sounded better! Like with any old house, there comes a time when updating is desperately needed. Lucky for Erin, our new wonderful tenant and Doug's cousin, the updating will be done on her Kitchen and bathroom first! When the project began it sounded so simple; take a wall down here, put a door there, and put the cabinets, that have been sitting in my parents garage for many many months, back in. Well.... It's not so simple!

Doug and Mike are really good at knocking down walls and ceilings. In fact, it quickly became the answer to ever sticky situation! Whether it was because they just needed to get some stress out or it really needed to be done, the walls came down!

(Working very carefully to save the wall!)

(Scratch that! The wall in coming down!)

(Maybe we should save only one side.... One day later, that wall came down!)

(The ceiling was wavy! The Ceiling came down!)

I have learned that I am really good a scraping. Scraping brick off a wall! Scraping tile off the floor! Scraping wall paper off the walls! You name it, I can scrape it!

(Do you like my safety goggles? I think they make me look like I know what I'm doing!)

We have had some great help in the process as well. Michelle is great with pulling up tiles.

(She may have even chipped a perfectly shaped acrylic nail for the SPC and we thank her for that!)

Sean may show up in his street clothes but he can't help but pick up a hammer!

Papa Geno is a genius! I don't have any pictures because he has been there everyday while we are working hard to make the money to afford this! He definitely has skills from many years of remodeling kitchens!

Boy can Jean Clean! Without the 20+ dump runs and endless sweeping we would not be able to move around the house and our yard would look like the Rockland dump!


Last but not least, we can't forget the wonderful people that came by for moral support over the last week! Kara and John brought wall paper remover, that I used all weekend!(thanks a lot!) Kathy, Dave and Nikki brought beer!(can never go wrong there!) Di Di brought over a coffee cake last night that I know Doug will love on Saturday morning, if the workers don't get to it first. Prince Justin King has brought endless joy and laughter to everyone, even when he is sick!

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!

Home Sweet Home!

It’s Official!

On June 1, 2009, after 3 hours of paper signing, Doug purchased his first home! A home that we (I) will be calling the Split Pea Cottage! This blog will follow a new chapter in our lives filled with triumphs, disappointments, laughter and love as we move into our new Split Pea Cottage.

The Split Pea Cottage was built around 1850 by the owner of one of the original Rockland Shoe Factory’s. The owner of the Factory built homes for his employees along North Avenue and one for himself. He didn’t want his house to be more luxurious or grand than his employees but he did add floor to ceiling Savannah Style windows and a tin ceiling in the parlor to set his house apart. Rumor has it from our neighbor; there is an old Underground Railroad under the house which means the house was probably built in the late 1700’s.

The demo and many sleepless nights have begun but we are definitely enjoying our new home! Check back soon to see how the new apartment is coming but for now, here are some pictures of the Split Pea Cottage!

Where Doug and I will live (eventually):

Not everyone can cook dinner and wash clothes at the same time!

Everything wood WILL be painted white!

I know, you're jealous!


The apartment: (Before Demo)

The Backyard that Tucker will LOVE even more with a fence! (wink, wink Mom)








I need to get back to pulling weeds and knocking down walls!