No Place More Delightful…

Cicero said, “There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace” and I am a believer! Even more so now that we are this close to having 3 of them!

Unfortunately, temps as low as they have been lately in Alabama do not make for great chimney and fireplace building. Casablanca has been on a slow roll for a few weeks now as we have all waited for the glorious warming up that happened over the weekend. Because of the short window of above-freezing temps for the last couple of days, the guys have been working non-stop to get these delightful places done for us!

As a reminder, here’s where we started…

Chimney…

Dining Room fireplace… it’s the boarded up hole on the left side of this pic!

Front bedroom fireplace… yeah, that bookshelf.

So here we are today! Chimney…

Dining room fireplace… still needs a mantle.

Front bedroom… still needs some work and will ultimately have an antique mantle over it.

Yay for progress!

We’re also moving forward with getting floors! This is just more awesome than you know!

Over the weekend, Eric, Mavinee and I went to United Textiles in Bessemer. We found more rugs than even three people could take in – but we came away with a fantastic find for the dining room! And we almost lost Mavinee…

We bought a very farmhouse-looking braided rug in just the right colors for just the right price! Check out this place if you’re looking!

Our other big project for the weekend was to put the kitchen cabinet doors in place. The kitchen is slowing coming together. We still need new counter tops and new flooring, but those are coming soon! Bless Eric’s heart for being the contortionist it requires to fully assemble a kitchen!

And Mavinee now has even more skills to add to her renovation repertoire!

Handles and pulls are on order, but it’s getting there!

Duchess says hey!

Thanks for keeping up with us, Friends! More soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Casablanca! I hope 2018 is your best yet. We are hoping 2018 is also the year Casablanca becomes our forever home. It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I have a few updates for you.

The Christmas break turned out completely different than I expected. And, per the usual, God’s plan for us was much better than our plans were! I truly thought we would spend the entire break working at the house – mostly painting kitchen cabinets. As it turns out, the house had no power and/or no heat for the duration of the break. Guess how effective it is to paint in a house where the temp is 40 degrees? Yeah, not. But I don’t go down easy! On the first day, I got in the front bedroom and plugged up two space heaters in an attempt to get one room warm enough to paint. I managed to get the room to 49 degrees before I made peace with our reality – God was offering us a break. We took it.

Since then, I’ve just let the professionals do what they do! And they are doing a great job. Here are a few updates:

On the outside, our chimney is inching up. It’s been so cold that the mason has had a hard time getting the mortar to dry. We need just one little heat wave, please!

On the inside we are getting walls, trim, and paint. My little reading nook is tempting me to move in a comfy chair right now! And the ceilings – we are loving them!

In the 1800s, this was a fireplace. Then it was a bookcase. And now it’s going to be a fireplace again. We are thankful the hearth bricks are still in the floor. Getting closer!

Some scenes from around the house:

It’s so much fun to have family come to visit! Alyssa made fast friends with Buckskin by offering and receiving hugs! And Aunt Janice, even having grown up on a farm in the country, had never had a horse take a treat from her hand! Magic was more than willing!

Meanwhile, Lucy the-prettiest-cat-ever is enjoying being warm inside and making plans for her new home. Obviously, she’s so excited!

We certainly hope over the coming weeks we will have more updates to share. Call me if you’ve always wanted to load a U-Haul with someone else’s belongings and carry them in someone else’s house. That will be a thing soon. 🙂

I know 2018 will be another year of work, surprises, learning more construction moves, God’s provision, and celebrating those blessings. We hope you are celebrating with us!

From the Casablanca In Coaling Crew: Happy New Year!

Mavinee (17), Lori (old), Eric (almost as old), & Michael (21).