Cats in Straw

Andy & Cleo, our two cats, decided that the straw would make a nice bed. Basically our yard became an out door barn for them to sleep in. Everytime we went outside we would find them sleeping somewhere in the straw. Even as the grass started to grow through the straw they would find a place to sleep. I couldn't resist taking several pictures of them.

It's Been A While

It has been some time since I have posted to our blog. Looking back I can only determine it was because I finally gained access to my studio. After spending several months getting it back in order while working on other projects around the house I had little time to post. Over the next few days I will attempt to catch everyone up with what has been going on at Casa Troutman and let you see the latest project we decided to tackle.

In April we hired landscapers to come in to grade and seed the yard. Here are some before and after pictures. The last photo shows the straw that was spread to prevent the birds from eating the seed.

Weekend of March 20th

This weekend we decided to tackle getting the carpet installed in the new lower room. The carpeting we chose has a foam backing so we didn't have to put down a carpet pad first and it was fairly easy to cut. The challenge was getting in the closets and trimmed around the doors.




We decided to try to get the room finished by getting the baseboards in - which we manage to do. We even managed to get the treadmill moved out of my studio!

Weekend of March 6th

This weekend we finished hanging the cabinets in the laundry room / half bath. We also added a mirrored medicine cabinet over the sink.


Then we removed the cardboard that was protecting the vinyl. What a difference that made!!

Weekend of February 27

This weekend we decided to hang the cabinets in the laundry room and install the sink base and drawer base. We also cut the laminate counter for the sink and got the sink set into it. The plumbing will have to wait until next weekend along with one cabinet because it was damaged when we unpacked it.

The Weekend of February 20th

I'm switching to only posting what we accomplish on the weekends because that is when we are finding time to work on the house. Everything is finished that the contractors where supposed to do with the exception of a door that needs to be replaced and the rough and final grading of the yard (which won't happen until Spring).

I was out of town this weekend so Forrest took the opportunity to get caught up on work that he brought home from the office. He did find time to hang the ceiling fan in the living room and put the door knobs on several doors.

The Week of February 9th

This week they came back to figure out what to do with this strange small ledge on the stairway that was caused because of the original exterior wall. Hand rails where also hung in the stairway. The trimming out of the ledge of course means more painting for me.



We found a spa about a year ago that we really liked but at that time we would have had to put it outside. After building the Three Season Room we decided to go ahead and order it. It was delivered on February 12th.




For Valentines Day we went shopping and found an area rug for the living room. Hershey and Denver really like it. Of course we had them in mind when we picked it out.


Forrest also got the bar stools put together that we purchased before Christmas and hung the coat racks by the kitchen door.


The lower coat rack is for the boys raincoats!!!!



I almost forgot - we also removed the cardboard that was covering the kitchen floor - we hadn't been able to see the actual floor since it was installed - what a surprise it was!!!!