Guest House Living Room "After"

A few months back I shared some "before" pictures of our guest house.  Well, our friend (who is gracing us with his presence in that guest house) has since done a lot of work on the place and I thought it was high time I share his accomplishments.  He's worked on more than the living room, but since I hate to share any "after" photos of rooms that aren't totally finished, I'm only showing those living room photos.  Here's a "before" for comparison:

 And here are a couple of photos of the new living space:

 Chris painted the walls and concrete floor, added lighting and window treatments and furniture, and was very frugal and creative will all these tasks.  Those vintage yellow shelves up there are actually plastic garage shelving that he used plastic-friendly spray paint on. Amazing, no?  I must also mention that he is very good with dishes and loves to cook...and is single.  All my single friends take note.

Cold Day in ... Texas

 Autumn and Daddy shoot water from the hose as Jeb chases its stream.

 Autumn and I blow bubbles in the back yard.  As the wind only seems to blow from east to west, I'm sure the neighbors on our left think there's a bubble fiend living here.

 My new raised vegetable bed, build by Jason and myself.  I've started all kinds of vegetable plants, but I'm afraid the days are so short and the nights suddenly now so cold that they won't acclimate to the weather and will simply freeze to death.  Big let-down.

 Jeb attacks the water hose.  That dog is hilarious.

It's a good way to spend the baby's nap time on Jason's day off.

The Farmhouse Table, Completed

 I took this pic a few weeks back but totally forgot to post it!

My husband did such a lovely job, and it was great to have enough seating at Thanksgiving.

My Kid the Artist

 We've found a great use for all those paintings of nude subjects I had to do in college: let Autumn paint over them!  Hey, a free stretched canvas wall art AND an enthralled toddler is a deal!

 I even had frames left over from when my mom bought me a bunch in high school when I was learning to paint.

 Jason painted with Autumn on the first, more blue one, and I helped her with this one.

 D2 helped me prep the canvas.

We're working on a third now. Hey, I'm going to milk this for all it's worth! And who knows? She may become an accomplished SOLD artist too someday  :)

My Crazy Dog

He loves yogurt.

Our Week of Thanksgiving

 I was given a belated surprise birthday gift from my friend Chad the day before Thanksgiving - D2, one of my best friends from NC!!

 

 My dad visited from NC too, and got to meet the baby for the first time.  Autumn enjoyed having "Gampa" around to play with her and watch her do crazy things.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was graced by 3 friends from TX, but I failed to get a photo of everyone.  Our turkey turned out incredible, thanks to an easy recipe from Bobby Flay.  Also on the table were Brussels sprouts, asparagus, mashed potatoes, 2 kinds of gravy (one a mess-up that wasn't too bad), rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, and Jason's mom's recipe for dressing (with a few twists).  It was a lot of work!

But after Thanksgiving there was a lot of playing and laying around in our pj's, watching TV and making memories with people we'd missed dearly.

Felt Fruit for Ethan