You can wipe your feet, because we have a mud room now, and you can stay awhile, because the weather has cooled down. Low 70s all day today and most of the week to come! Whew! I don't think I'll ever complain about cold weather again! Especially when I can sit by the fire in my log cabin!!! Speaking of which...we finally decided to keep our great room fireplace a wood-burning one! I know, I know...we've read all the articles, done all the research, asked around, then changed our minds to gas logs (which is what we have now and love, btw). I actually made a decision tree, which is what I teach my students in guidance classes, and the branches were really heavy on the gas-burning side...more energy efficient, getting too old to carry in logs, big mess to sweep up, either cut your own wood (getting too old & love the trees we have left!) or spend a fortune buying wood, warm air just goes up the chimney, fire hazard, and the list goes on. So why did we settle on wood-burning? Simple! Because I LOVE the fires at Cracker Barrel!! So what's a log cabin without a wood-burning fireplace?? Kind of like a faux log cabin, if you ask me. HOWEVER...we compromised. The fireplace has a gas line and will have a gas starter, which means later on when we are 80 years old we can change it to gas. Also means it will be easier to start fires. ALSO...it will have a vent rather than a flue, which will allow warm air to better circulate, if that makes any sense. MOREOVER, we will be able to smell the wood burning and hear it crackling, which goes hand in hand with log-cabin living! We will also have a fireplace in the sun room and one in the basement---both with gas logs, so...yeah.
Below pics show mud room to the right of our house, which will also feature a wheelchair ramp (yay). This time granddaughters Bella and Ava were with us! Such fun!
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| Mud room on right. Entrance door is behind. |
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| Window in mudroom, door is out of view on right |
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| View of mudroom from entrance. We will keep a deep freezer here (among other things). |
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| View of mud room looking towards entrance. From entrance you see a scenic view of our backyard, which features a lovely, white porta-potty! |
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| I am standing in dining area looking across kitchen to breakfast room, where precious Bella, Ava, and Terry stand. |
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| I love them. |
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| Terry and I were looking out the dining room window (see below) and Terry wanted me to get a close-up of the beautiful clouds. |
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| I think this kitchen and eating area is where we will be spending a WHOLE lot of time! |
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| It was such a beautiful day today (Sunday) that Terry and I went back out there and went for a walk in the woods of acreage adjoining our acreage, which we hope to purchase in the future. We saw all sorts of animal tracks... |
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| And we found this stream! I think our grandkids will love exploring here! |
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| Our front yard--my back is facing a narrow strip of woods, and below picture is the other side of the narrow treed area. So these will be the 2 pastures for our cows and goats, and the treed area will provide their shade. |
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| Can't tell it, but we are facing our driveway--the part BEFORE our main gate |
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| I took this pic today from our great room window. |
