Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Join The Club!


My Fan Club that is.

Yep. I finally got around to making a JL Yarnworks fan page on Facebook. Anyone with a Facebook account can now become an official fan of JL Yarnworks!

See for yourself HERE.

Through the fan club, I will announce appearances at events like Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival (May 9-10!!!), new products with tons of pics that won't fit on the blog, and all that business-related jazz. Plus, there's a spot for discussion where you can share your blog address (great for traffc, Bloggers!), post your twitter ID, and talk about your latest fiber-related project.
I'd also love to create a photo album for all of you that have knit the Hermione Cable & Eyelet Hat to show off your finished hats as well!
So become a fan and tell me what you'd like to see!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

House Update

Last Friday we had our house inspection. The new house did quite well except for a few minor electrical "cleanup" issues (wires not tacked down, etc...but it was all wired properly). So we've asked the sellers to take care of these issues. As luck would have it, the seller is a licensed electrician and agreed to take care of these issues without complaint. Yay!

Now the house has to be appraised by the VA to find out if they'll back our loan as-is or if the sellers will have to jump through any more hoops to get the house ready. It's the VA (Veteran's Administration), which is a government agency, so don't expect any real updates anytime soon.

Anyway, during the inspection, I took some more pictures. 80 of them actually. I'll spare you since most of them were just of fixtures, features, and minor repairs we'll want to address once we move in. I'm working on decorating the house...or at least picking out paint colors and figuring out what furniture to keep and what needs to go in a giant yard sale. The pictures of fixtures and things will remind me whether we plan to change anything once we move in.

This is a picture of the "foyer"...which is actually the kitchen and breakfast nook. That's the front door in the picture. The pantry and a cabinet are right there. Then you can also see the table they have in the nook. The corner has an L-shaped built in bench with cabinet space beneath.


I'm totally in love with this dining room. I think this is what sold us on the house to be honest. The built-in cabinets/shelving and we love the cutout window right over the kitchen sink. One of my complaints in our past few homes is that the kitchen is so isolated from the rest of the home. I don't want a great room, but I'd like enough openness or space in the kitchen itself to be able to be social while I prepare meals or do the evening cleanup. Between the breakfast nook and this window, I can participate in conversations even if we're entertaining. But the living room is totally separate. Perfect!


I'm also loving this bathroom. The layout is a little funky, but I like it. And I love the colors. Very spa-ish in my opinion. Now I just need to get big plush ivory towels to really create a spa at home. Oh, and I told my husband that I thought the exhaust fan was broken because nothing happened when I turned it on. "It is on," he say. "What?" I listened closely. Still nothing. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Yep." "WOW!" Maybe I'm just too used to rentals, but I'm digging that.

Miss May had to come along to the inspection. She spiked a fever the night before, so we kept her home from school. She has declared his house "the best house in the whole world," but I think that's probably because her room is the largest in the house.


The house is situated on 0.24 acres, and is rather close to the road (it's a small town and not a busy road at all), which leaves most of that space for the back yard. Those are actually my kids back there by the ball. Plenty of space for my garden, a swingset, and more. On the left you'll see the side of the detached 2-car garage. It's been a bit neglected (still solid, but doesn't have a lot of the updates the house has), so we're planning to rebuild it into an oversized 2-car garage with loft....for my studio! For now, I'll be using a large room upstairs, which works just fine for everything except dyeing yarn, but Mr. Yarnworks wants to get my whole operation in one room and wants me out of the kitchen!


So that's where we are right now. If all goes well, we'll be moving mid-June.
Until then, I need to stop drooling over the new house and prep for Shepherd's Harvest!



Monday, April 13, 2009

Busy Bee

Sorry for the radio silence lately everyone! I honestly don't even know where the time has gone. I had the flu for a good 2 weeks in March, but beyond that, the time has just disappeared.

I do know that the next 3 months aren't looking any less busy!

Mother's Day weekend, May 9-10, is the Shepherds' Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival. So I have lots to prep for that very exciting weekend. My friend J* has graciously agreed to come with me, so it should be a great time!

Two weekends later, I'm planning a massive yard sale to purge all this stuff we seem to aquire. You'll understand why this is so urgent in a moment.

Then, June 1, my baby girl is having eye surgery. For more on the what and why, click here.

And then the zinger. Today, we put an offer on this house.






And it was accepted! We should be closing June 8th as long as the inspection goes well!! I'm very excited. This house just sang to us as we walked through.
But if anyone has some spare sanity laying around, pass it over, will ya?