it seemed like time for a little kitchen project update. when i first showed this to you back in march, it looked pretty impossible that it would ever be cleared of all of the old cement flooring, pig bones and 2800+ buckets (husband didn't count, but he calculated) of dirt. but this weekend, husband hauled out the last bucketful and it's now ready for the next stage - which is fixing the foundation and preparing the flooring (structure, insulation, heat elements, pouring of cement).

[Image] march 18 [Image] march 25 [Image] april 1 [Image] april 8 [Image] april 9 [Image] april 15 [Image] april 15 i find it quite unreal that husband did all of this by hand and mostly by himself. i kept him supplied in coffee, various cakes and lunches. it was impossible to get a machine in any of the openings to do it with a small digging machine, so it had to be done completely by hand. pretty amazing, don't you think?

[Image] where all that dirt and rubble went. husband hauled trailerload after trailerload down to our lake, where he built a little road (not shown) and this small peninsula, from which we'll build a little dock to tie up our little boat and generally from which to enjoy the lake.

[Image] project pizza oven and because he can never stop, on sunday, he worked all day on bricking up the pizza oven and foundation for a little smokehouse so that when we get our pigs and it's time to make sausages and bacon, we'll be able to pop them in there to smoke.

[Image] project smokehouse i hope also to be able to use the smokehouse, without smoke, to dehydrate fruit, veggies and herbs.

[Image] under the old oak tree this is placed out the door of the new kitchen and will eventually be a large patio area. there will also be a small sauna. that's something we wanted at the old house, but didn't get to because we decided to move. the pizza oven is also a long-desired feature and it's nice to see it starting to happen. just out of this shot on the lefthand side is a gorgeous old, majestic oak tree. it's gonna be great!