loyal blog readers, I have been remiss

it has been way too long since my last post

moving and family drama kept me down

but

I am back!

here is what you have been missing on the remodel 

of the 126 year old adobe farm house
 in northern New Mexico:




the living room, bedroom and bathroom had been re-done
I was "cooking" in the toaster oven with a small fridge in the living room
and was anxious to get into the kitchen....



literally
the kitchen had no access to the screened porch
and it needed a door

that was the first thing we did

and eventually a window next to it
but still the kitchen was dark
it had no other light except from the screened porch
and it had a stone floor that just sucked up the light



we decided on a small window over the sink
to the west
small "because sometimes in these old houses if you take out
too much of the wall, the whole wall falls down...."



Leroy knew what he was doing
he cut a small opening outside and
cut and forced a frame in as he went



wow just look at all the light coming through



first coat of stucco inside



and a finish coat on the whole kitchen

still in progress.....

 this classic old stove came with the house
we put in new pipe with super safe go through the roof and ceiling things
it's great on a cool morning

and with the finishing of the kitchen, the office also got a coat of stucco
and paint

my new office with a great sunset view

it is the room right off the kitchen

and probably meant be a dining room

but I put the big table in the living room

admiring his work
that wall still needs 2 new windows - office on the left and kitchen on the right
I just can't decide so it remains like this
until I get them

one of the first things we did was start to take down the fence
it looked like the house had braces



 I thought we would take down a few panels and see what it looked like
- didn't stop till all but the back was gone



 and put it up in the front 

trucks liked to come in and turn around in front of the house
making it a parking lot



I want to turn it into a garden

this is the finished side of the fence looking from the house
with a new cherry tree and a pear
there is still a road on the right that you can get down around the back
or down to the lower fields

this is the new fence to the left of the front door

meanwhile
this was the leaky woodstove in the living room



cute from a distance 



but not safe

happy was the day the new stove went in
Vermont Castings - top loader
I love it!
cold no more

next

we focused on the room between the adobe buildings

it was an add on and never meant to be there

a good friend once told me that sometimes you have to take something out

well this was that time

it had leaked for years, was dark.....

this photo shows the window already taken out and some of the 

adobes removed

we saved the adobes

 and hopefully a horno is in my future

there doesn't that look better

soon to be a sweet patio

with nice chairs and plants in pots......

the front and side building are the main house

and the back building I call the studio

the outside of the studio was in dire straits
all the old mud had washed off
and the buttresses were not even touching the ground
they had been worn off by rain
and several large trees had been allowed to grow right next to the house
and they had gotten under the foundation 
and even pushed back the tin on the roof

I wish I had a photo of those trees
here is what it looked like when they were cut down

and here are the roots

they were huge and had to show just how huge in a photo



then he filled the holes with concrete to make a new footing





when the foundation was done





he wired the whole thing




in chicken wire

then started the first coat of stucco

the building is really starting to look good

and I think I hear it thanking us....

in gratitude

xxoo