The Fireplace Mantle

Hi Friends! We haven’t had a ton of news at Casablanca because…

That’s right – I’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting 125 new MBAs Launched into a new semester. They are well on their way now, and the Whites can get back to some more reno in Coaling!

We have some new friends in the pasture out back…

Magic and Jaguar are getting accustomed to their new home. They should be joining Duchess and Buckskin in the wider pasture this week. We got to horse-sit over the weekend – which basically just means filling up their water bucket. They seemed appreciative!

Mavinee and I tackled our antique mantle this weekend. We bought this beaut from Allison Houston at Southern Mother Junker several months ago. It’s at least 100 years old, so it fits in nicely to our 164-year-old house! Here are a couple “before” pics…

Mavinee has a public service announcement for all you reno addicts out there…

If you’re going to use Formby’s Tung Oil on your antique wood mantle, please remember to wear the gloves!!! She and I were so excited to get started on this that we dove right in without gloves on the first go-round. Wow… that stuff is sticky. We washed up with dish soap, but after drying off, we found that our fingers were stuck together like we’d dipped them in cotton candy. Duh, read the directions! We tried a variety of solvents and finally ended up out in the drive way pouring gasoline over our hands. Mercy.

The good news is that we ended up with this gorgeous thing! This is not the mantle’s permanent home, but it’s here for now until it goes in Mavi’s room later. I’m pretty much in love with it!

And, bless his heart, this is a whole lot of what Eric did all weekend…

He’s still sanding the living room ceiling. He’s a trooper because it’s looking better and better all the time. We can’t wait to show you updated pics of that!!  More later, Friends – have a great week!

The Weekend

No, we didn’t meet the pop singer, The Weekend. I know you were wondering. But it was a beautiful weekend in Coaling. It’s been awhile since we posted any pics from the outside. Eric got these shots yesterday. Perfect day for a photo update.

We expect the outside to change drastically and soon. The final papers are getting signed and plans are being made.  Still, I can’t help but think that the place looks gorgeous even right now!

New Equipment = More Work!

Hey Friends! We haven’t had a ton to post about lately because… paperwork! Yes, we’re finally in the paperwork stages of working with our contractor. Nobody needs to see pictures of that.

However! We acquired a new piece of equipment recently and it’s been helping so much with the sanding of the living room ceiling. Eric is building muscles he didn’t know he had. And after all this is done, we’re going to open our own Rent-All place. So let us know if you need renovation-type equipment – we probably have it!

Big sander for the ceiling…

And what, you may ask, am I doing while this is going on? I’m cleaning 17 layers of dirt and dust off our 100-year-old mantle we bought from my friend, Allison. Did y’all know I’m not a big fan of dirt? Not loving the cleaning part, but will definitely love the results…

While we were waiting on the big sander to show up, we did get a little paint on the walls in here – Krypton from Sherwin-Williams. I think we’re going to love it!

We put the John Deere to the test recently and attacked the very over-grown portion of the pasture that’s ours. Love the results!

We also had a little bon fire with our brush pile. Pyromania 80s flashback at Casablanca. Don’t worry, we had a water hose on hand!

So… what do you do if your niece and nephew are down and you have this kind of fire? Roast hot dogs!

And this is what the night sky looked like!

We sat out in the pasture until late in the night just star gazing and pinching ourselves. We’re so blessed to have this new home!