Home Improvements

We have been busy as bees here at the Gossenauer hive, I mean, house, and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the newest changes.

The first massive project that I undertook was sewing curtains for three different rooms in our house. It wasn't enough to use fabric alone; I decided I needed to attach black-out fabric onto them, too. I pulled out my beautiful antique Singer and went to work. I think it took me about 3-4 weeks to finish them. They definitely have what I call "personality," but I am so proud of them!
This is a picture of the set I made for Asher and Josiah's bedroom. The guest room now has cream colored curtains and our bedroom has beige with tiny brown flowers (those are yet to be hung, so no pictures yet!!)


Another lovely addition (that has been long overdue) was buying new curtains for the living room. We've had black-out fabric hanging over the three living room windows for months and finally we found some affordable curtains with lining to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They're pretty basic, but the color adds so much "life" to the room.




The final, and most noteworthy improvement was landscaping in the front yard. I'll call it "Project Front Yard: Phase I." The reason I call it that is because we have many aspirations for our little hilly wonderland, but we can only do it in very small pieces. You can see the "Before" and "After" pictures we took.



Oh, and when I say "we" I do mean Michael. I took off for Manhatten, KS with the boys and left him alone with the house for a few days.
He amazes me with his knack for all kinds of handiwork. He shocked several of ours neighbors when he mentioned that he'd never done anything like this before. (notice those serious knee-pads he's wearing, courtesy of Martin and the Unites States Army).
I have to mention the fact that Michael was extremely sore for several days after this project. He told me that he lifted about 2 1/2 tons in three days- what a stud!!