The Bickering Builders Build aTree Fort?

Hey! 

Thanks for stopping by, and a Very Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all of my Canadian readers!

Today I am excited to share one of the projects that has been in the works now for a few days…The Tree Fort.

Yup…I said a FORT.

This is the story of the ‘Bickering Builders’.

My Cowboy  (bickering builder #1) is really just a large kid…and he knows how kids think.  He likes to play…and build…and really likes to give my youngest  (bickering builder #2(Busy) and her little friends (bickering builders #3 & #4) a very hard time about Boys…and just about anything else that will get their dander up.  haha.   So…when he noticed that Busy and her bestie were doing their best to build a fort in the trees out back, he decided to give them a hand.

At first, he was telling them that he was building himself a fort even better than theirs, and that his fort would have a NO GIRLS allowed sign on it.   BUT…that didn’t last, and the plan was struck to build the BEST tree fort EVER for Busy and her little friends to hang out in.


So..they set off down the path that we have been working on  through the trees for the quad and the ‘little truck’ to go through…bickering about this and that, in search for  a perfect spot.

After a little bickering…okay…who am I kidding here…a LOT of bickering… they decided that this looks like a perfect site for a tree fort... right?  

They needed to stake it out…and bicker, measure and plan and bicker and scheme…and bicker…did I mention that my Cowboy and my Busy are always bickering?   Ya…but it’s not a serious bickering…they try to get each others goats…but it's all in good fun…STILL…to the outsiders…it’s bickering …and it requires a lot of tylenol sometimes for this old gal.   haha

SO…How does one build a tree fort if there are no trees on the spot they chose?

They bicker and argue until they find a couple of good ones…and chop them down….


They dig a few holes…and plant those logs into them…(still bickering about how to do it.)

…Making sure to bicker and argue about who’s working harder the whole time…(or it’s just not fun!)

OH MY WORD!!   The tree fort is going to be RAISED UP off the ground????    OH MY!   This is where the mother gets a little skeptical…I just don’t know about this…

Making sure it’s level…and bickering about that too…ha ha

I wonder if she is excited?   It’s no wonder that she waits desperately for the Cowboy to come home from work…he’s one of her absolute favorite playmates.   Those two are always doing something silly and fun…but I think this is the best project yet.

One base frame done.

Now what? 

More bickering? 

More calling each other Grandma and Grandpa??? 

ha-ha  Yup.

The Bickering Builders put on a floor.

While the older one got the walls ready to assemble…the younger one secured the floorboards.

HEY!!!!   That’s MY drill!

SOMEHOW the Bickering Builders roped me into helping put up the walls…and gave the camera to big sister to take all kinds of embarrassing photos (none of which will ever see the light of day)…and one or two that cold be shared.

So far SO GOOD!!!    Even I am getting excited!
  
Just after this photo was taken, I had to run to town quick to pick up some head ache medicine and a couple of helpers…and when I got back…to my surprise…

The Tree Fort was DONE!!!   Just in time for the Thanksgiving LONG weekend off of school!!!   YAY!

Slide and all! 

The Bickering Builders had accomplished what I thought was next to impossible…and neither of them were injured…AND they are still the best of friends!

The girls had found this ‘slide’ out in the bush when they were exploring one day…and they just HAD to have it. 

I think that the bullet holes in it just add to the rustic charm of the place don’t you agree?

Move in time…The extra helpers were absolutely delighted to see the fort was ready to decorate!  Everyone grabbed a pop and headed for the fort.

Some VERY happy faces.

These girls raided MY stash of spare tables and chairs…and got to work.  

It was like watching an episode of Divine Design!   ha-ha

Comfy chair and... a coat tree…?

They built themselves a shelf…and isn’t that my drill again???

They invited me up…which wasn’t a big deal…I do ladders quite well…

It was the getting out that had me a little worried.

I did it…but can honestly say..it was COLD.   ha-ha

These ladies even talked the head builder into building them a swing…which the next day turned into a double swing…and there was some talk about a zip line...but I think that was put on hold for now.

It’s not hard to tell that my Cowboy made three little ladies VERY happy with this fort.   Good Job Cowboy!

The decorating is not quite finished…there will be a curtain type door…and a few other odds n ends in there…but for now they are happy as can be!

That evening, it was quite chilly outside…but those girls wanted to spend as much time as they could in that fort…so they bundled up, took flashlights, and their Cowboy (you know for protection from Moose and Bunnies) and hung out for just a little while...then they played hide and seek in the dark…and headed into the house.   Big sister and I were there too…but we didn’t have near as much fun as the three bickering builders.

That’s all for me today…Until Next Time….

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
 
www.tootsietime.com

today’s post has been proudly sponsored by Chic-a-Boot…

HOME

Hey all!   I know it has been a while since we had any REAL Tootsie posts.   Thank you all so very much for being so patient with me…I have so much on my plate these days, that it seems there are not enough hours to accomplish all that I have to do anymore. 

A lot of you have been asking for photos of where we live since the move to the country.   I have not been able to share until now for a mirad of reasons…but am happy to say today is the day!

Today I am going to share a few sneek peek photos of the exterior what that the Cowboy, the kids and I call home.   I am super excited to share the big project that is happening right now, but I think you need to see a few other things first…AND I want to wait and show you that project when it is at least close to finished.

As most of you know, about a year ago, we decided to move out to the country.   The original plan to do this was to move to the beautiful place that I grew up, but that was not in the stars for us, so we went on the hunt to find a place that we all could love.  We did get very lucky, and we found this place. 


This is not the full photo of what it looked like when we bought it.   Sadly, I don’t have one anymore…because when my computer crashed a few months back, I lost everything I had on it and nothing could be saved.   SO...this is it.

I know you are all looking at this photo and wondering WHY we would fall in love with a PINK house?   Well…we said the same thing…

This is a photo of the whole thing almost finished…I had to go up and paint the chimney…haha…if not for this photo, I would have missed it completely!  HAHA!     I also would like to you ignore the pulled curtains in the window…those were like that to remind me to wash the inside windows…and have since been returned to their normal state.


A little paint went a LONG way for us.  We are all very happy with the finished look. 

We live about 20 minutes outside of the little town we were living in before..and we have lots of space to spend time.  We have even got enough space for one VERY silly horse.  

His name is Cruise and he’s a character all right.   The kids absolutley love him and they spend a lot of time with him.

He lives in the fenced area just behind and off to the side of our formal yard.

The former owners neglected the treed area on this property for a long time, and we are working on cleaning all the dead fall out of the trees, to make room for more horses…and then we will fence off our entire property so that we can use and enjoy it all! 

Until the clean up in the trees is finished, our spoiled beast will have to stay in the area that is fenced. 

As we clean up the dead fall, we are salvaging any usable wood to be used as firewood.   We have already sent several big loads home with the old man that used to be our neighbor in town.   He’s always happy to come out to visit us, and to have us in to see him. 

Our acreage is home to all kinds of wonderful creatures.  Cruise spends time with this little fella…and his freinds…dozens of them.  haha

Some of these little guys are quite tame…they hop right up to us every now and then.   It is a lot of fun to watch them play in the yard…they are cute!

We listen to these guys calling and LOVE to watch them sneak across the yard.   I wish I could have gotten a good photo of the 5 babies that were following them…

I did manage to get a picture of THESE guys though…

Mommy Moose and one of her twins…We are told she has twins almost every year.


The other twin…

A young Bull Moose… and his little rack of horns…(most likely one of the babies that Mommy Moose had the year before)   The one in the trees behind him made this monster baby look tiny. 

There was a HUGE Bull Moose in the yard with this guy, the mother and the twins.   He just would not allow me to take his photo…and I was not about to force the issue.   haha.   They were all standing just a few feet from my truck that morning.   I didn’t notice them right away as I was walking out to get in…and when I did…I turned right around and went inside.  haha.  
It was quite a sight to see!

We love this place.   We love the silence, the privacy and the space…There is never a day that passes that we don’t marvel in how beautiful it is out in the country.
 
If you drive down this driveway and take the turn to the right…

…You will see the large pond that is right across the road from our front yard.   We get to listen to the frogs and ducks and geese…it is so wonderful. 

That hedge…well guess what we discovered this spring???

It Blooms a beautiful pink….and then…

We had more Cherries than we knew what to do with!

Where is Tootsie’s greenhouse? 

Well there isn’t one YET. 

I KNOW RIGHT?!!!   What the heck!?! 

That is a post I will share separate from this…there will be one…have no fear…it’s just still in the planning stage. 

I am going to leave you with one final photo…which is kind of a foreshadowing of what the next few posts will look like…There’s a project in the works…and I am just dying to share it with you!

Until Next Time…Happy Gardening


(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.

www.tootsietime.com

today’s post has been proudly sponsored by Chic-a-Boot…

When the 80’s Called and Demanded Their UGLY Back…

Hey guys!   How the heck are ya?   I have missed you all a lot, and finally have a few minutes to sit down and share a little bit of what I have been doing around here when I am not working on …well…work!

As you know, my Cowboy and the kids and I have recently purchased a beautiful acreage.   We moved in last November and are loving our new home…well Mostly.

This house was built in the 80’s.   It is a very nice size for us and has all kinds of wonderful things about it that made us want to live here.   However…there were a few things that right off the bat we knew we were going to change.   Today…I am sharing one of those things.

MY KITCHEN.

I adore the layout of this kitchen.   Having the stove on the island is a dream!   It makes this Tootsie who generally hates to cook or bake…almost enjoy that task!  There are plenty of cabinets and drawers for what we need…and on the other side of the dining area there is a built in china cabinet.
 
What’s not to love!



Ya…THAT’S not to love.

The oak Cabinets have turned VERY orange…and the finish is worn, dry and in bad shape.








We talked and talked about what to do with the finish on the cabinets.   The possibilities are endless when it comes to things like this.
 
I am NOT a fan of the chalk paint or the other fad paint products on the market right now.   So that would not be an option.

I wanted to go classic…and keep the integrity of the wood, so I got the sander out…and took off the old orange finish.

It took HOURS and HOURS and HOURS and PAGES and PAGES and PAGES of sand paper.   It was a nasty mess!

I sanded the doors of the cupboards outside when I could…the weather was great, and I enjoyed the fresh air.  :)



The cabinet frames and the island were done in place as I did not want to move them off the walls and floors…so I hooked my shop vac to the sander and went to town!

My oldest Daughter was in need of a project for her industrial arts class, and she decided that helping me would be a fun time.  So…I handed her some gloves and a sander and put her teenage self to work…teaching her how to do what she needed to do…and documenting all of her help.   (she did not want me to share the photos of her assisting me, so I am keeping it simple for her)



Once we finished all the sanding…we were ready to stain.



I didn’t really want to have a color that everyone else has…so I decided to mix up my own color and it turned out to be exactly what the Cowboy and I wanted!

Waiting for it to dry enough to do the finishing touches on felt like FOREVER.



Once the stain was dry, I applied a coat of protective finish to it all to ensure that it would last for years.   Once that was dry…it was time to put every thing back together.



Ta-Da!!!    The finish came out so great!



We love the way the light plays with the colors.   At different times of the day, it takes on a bit of a different shade…sometimes light grey, sometimes darker.   Either way it looks very nice.



Now…once I finished the main part of the kitchen, I turned around and decided that the built in china cabinet could NOT stay the original orange oak that it was…but we did not want it to feel like a big displaced heavy cabinet in the dining room…I had to co-ordinate…but be just a little different from the rest.

Here’s what I came up with.



I did the same finish on all of the doors and drawers…but painted out the frame with the same color as the walls.   I also used that cream color inside the microwave opening in the cooking area…so it all goes together nicely.



It was a huge undertaking…and a challenging one to say the least…but we are very excited at the way it all came out.  It went from Dated and Worn to a more up to date shade of pretty.



What do you think?

I know we are happy with the results…and pooped from all the work!   The clean up is almost as hard on us as the sanding!  lol

Thank you "Miss Georgie" for all your help!   I hope learning from your old Mom was fun!

That’s all I have for you today.

There is more to share from the adventures in this house…but time is of the essence and I will share again soon!

Until Next Time…Happy Decorating!

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com

*)*)*)"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, only then well there truly be peace" ~ Albert Einstein

Todays post has been proudly sponsored by Chic-a-Boot
                  
                        www.chicaboot.com