One Step Closer

Another post on the progress at the carriage house in Georgia!

 Starting out with a pic of the tile we chose for the bathroom, laundry closet and entry.  Love the color, hate that they messed up the layout.  Second tile from the top is not right.  Sent them a note and that should be fixed soon.  Our builders have been great so far about everything including last minute changes so can't complain too much.  Can't wait to see the tiled floors in person once they are all done.

 The wood floors have a few more steps til they are finished but I really like the color they turned out to be.  This picture is from the kitchen into the small pantry.  The cabinets should go in this week.

 Living area and doors into bathroom and bedroom.  That wall next to the doors will be where our TV will go.  I want to get a white painted buffet to go below the TV.

Here is the painted exterior, during a rain shower, as taken by our daughter.  The garage doors still need to go in and will be white.  The front door will be painted black.

Here is the dormer area in our bedroom.  Don't know what I will end up putting there but I have always wanted a house with dormers so I am excited about just having this area!  

We are getting really close to the finish line.  We will check with the builders this week to see if they have a "finish" date for us.  Then we will rent a little uhaul and move in.  Looking forward to vacationing on Lake Lanier and just getting away from the everyday life.  I can already picture us sitting on the boat dock or taking a ride in the boat while my husband fishes.  Or maybe exploring the area, stopping to shop at all the fruit and vegetable stands.  I have already mapped out the bakeries nearby including a pie shop that looks really good.  Sounds like I better put on my stretchy pants!

Diana

Carriage House Cement Work

 The cement pads were put in.  This should help with keeping that Georgian red clay from coming inside the garage. 

Baby Blanket

Maybe it is my skill level but not going to lie, this was a really difficult blanket to crochet.  

 Took FOREVER too.

 It is a gift for a little girl I recently met.  She is so sweet, I wanted to do something special for her.

It is kind of cool though.

Diana

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been searching a long time for the best bakery style chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I think I have finally found it.  Even hubby (who is more of a oatmeal cookie kind of guy) said these were "really good cookies".

I found the recipe here at Sugar and Soul Co.  These cookies come out soft and chewy.  They had great flavor with tons of chocolate chips in each bite.  The recipe was easy to make, had no "secret ingredient" (that you have to order from Amazon cuz your Krogers doesn't carry weird stuff) and made 12 really huge cookies.  Only 12 cookies!  I am sure you are saying that will not last long at your house!  But take my word for it, these cookies are ginormous.  I couldn't even fit them all in my large cookie jar.  12 cookies will be enough.  Seriously, I refuse to believe you will be able eat more than one. 

Recipe

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted *Do not use soften butter!!!!  You must melt it!!!
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 additional egg yolk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Cream together melted butter and sugars in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. 
2. Add in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and beat until light and creamy. 
3. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time, mixing between each addition. 
4. Fold in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. 
5. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

   
   
6. Preheat oven to 325­­°F and measure dough into 1/4 cup-sized balls (I used an ice cream scoop), place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet at least 3 inches apart  (I lined my pan with parchment paper). Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan.

Here are some Recipe Notes that Sugar and Soul Co. shared on her site.

It is crucial that the cookie dough is chilled for at least 1 hour so that the cookies will be thick and chewy.

It's also very important that the cookies are allowed to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes after coming out of the oven. 

***I followed the recipe very carefully.  Well almost.  I didn't have unsalted butter so I just reduced the additional salt from 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon.  Seemed to be about right.  Cookies tasted great!!!!

Diana

Carriage House Nears Completion

 This is going to be a really long post with lots of pics so sit back, relax and see what we have been up to,

 

We made a quick trip to Georgia to check on the progress at the carriage house and were we ever surprised.  The drywall was up and the mud was drying.  We has so much fun seeing our plans come to life!

 Here is Ron's three car garage.  We had it built with no posts in the center so there are huge beams supporting the ceiling and second floor.

 This is the other side of the garage.  He has an entry into the foyer, a utility closet and a storage closet.

 This is the foyer that leads to the staircase.

 Going up the stairs.  The ceiling is about 25 ft tall!  There is a huge window that brings in a ton of natural light.  

 

 This is the window that lights up the stair area and you can also see the entry doors to both the garage and stairwell. 

 Once you climb the stairs you come through another door that leads to the main open area.  The kitchen will be behind the half wall, the opening to the right of the kitchen leads down the stairs and the large closet on the far right is my laundry area.

From this picture you can see the kitchen and the door that leads to the pantry behind the half wall.

The pantry is housed in one of the three dormers you see in the front of the carriage house.  In the pantry I have a half door that leads to some additional unfinished storage and the attic access.

 Just to the right of the laundry closet is a dining nook with a huge window.  The ceilings are all 9 feet tall so even though the square footage is small (under 800 sq ft) it seems very spacious.

 Another view of the dining nook.

Here is the laundry closet.

Looking from the kitchen you can see the small sitting area and the doors into the bathroom and bedroom.

Same two doorway plus the wall we will probably put the TV on.

The dormer in the sitting area.

Another storage area reached from the dormer. 

The bedroom also has a dormer.

Really large walk in closet in the bedroom.   

 The shower is small but should be OK.

The sink and toilet share a wall opposite the shower. 

 Another pic of the walk in closet.  Plenty of room for the stuff we will keep there. 

 This window on the 2nd story is also in the bedroom.  This side of the house stays shady and we should get good cross breezes between the two bedroom windows. 

 The back of the carriage house.  The large 2nd story window is the dining nook area.  There is a small wide window to the left that is in the bathroom. 

 View from one of the bedroom windows.

Another view of the back of the house.

 And in case we have forgotten the reason we bought this particular acreage, here is the dock on the lake where we will be spending most of our time.  The lake is above high water level so our little cove is really full right now.  We replace the ladder that you climb out of the water on.  The old one was rusty and gross.  We are slowly replacing any spongy deck wood we find with new boards.  It will take some time to get to all of it but we aren't in a rush.  Unlike the cabin, we hope this getaway is truly a place to relax and enjoy some down time.

Diana

More on Carriage House on the Lake

Imagine waking up to this view in the morning!  Once the carriage house is complete, this will be the views from one of our bedroom windows.

 Below is the dining area's view.

 Cindy took these pictures so we can see all the progress.  This is the back of the carriage house.  The window on the second floor is the one in the dining nook.

 We hadn't seen any of the interior of the first floor garage area so she took a number of them for us.  In this one you can see the stairs and the utility closets.

 There are three car bays and here you can see the massive overhead beams so we didn't have to have any support posts.

 There are four garage doors, three in the front and one on the side.

 Opposite side, where the front entry to the stairway is located.

 This is the back of the carriage house.  On the second story you can see the bathroom window and the dining nook window.  The dormers also house the master walk-in closet and the laundry closet.

Outside this garage door we will have a small patio.  It overlooks the woods and is quite private so we will probably use it for outdoor living.  Later this will be a great area to wash off the mover or access the back of the garage. But until the larger farmhouse is built (and we are ready to move to Georgia permanently) this carriage house will be our little get away home.  And really, what more do we need?  A place to sleep and boat and fish from our own dock.  A small kitchen to cook in and a place to wash clothes.....and take a shower.  And don't forget a sweet little cottage to decorate and display Rae Dunn pottery.  Yep.  this will work just fine. 

This has all been so exciting and so far not that difficult.  Not being there to watch the progress is frustrating but our builder has really been great so far about checking in with us with any problems.  As it gets closer to being finished we will probably get down there more often!  Not to check up on them but because it will be too hard not to see all the progress!

Diana

Progress on the Carriage House

So much progress has been done on the carriage house!  We wish we were there to see it first hand but at least the builder has been great about sending us pictures.

Here is the carriage house!

 This picture is looking into the tiny kitchen and pantry.  You can also see the stair opening with it's big window.  The half wall will be the back of the sink and dishwasher counter.  On the opposite wall will be the stove and fridge area.  The door on the left wall goes into the pantry.  

 This view is into the gathering or great room.  The doors to the left go into our bedroom and the bathroom.

 Part of the gathering room includes a dining nook with a huge window.  You can also see the back of the shower enclosure on the right

 This picture is in the bedroom with the opening for the pocket door to the bathroom framed.  To the right of that is the walk in closet.  You can see the shower unit in the bathroom.

 Another view of the gathering room.  There are dormers in every room so that is what you are seeing on the right side of the room.  The builder is putting in small doors to access the areas under the roof between the dormers.  This little house is going to have a ton of storage!  The ceilings are 9 feet tall which will make the small spaces feel larger (I hope!)

 Wow!  This is so fun to see our plans starting to come together.

 The road we are building on has no outlet so only the 6 or 7 houses past our place use it.  It is a big change from the busier road we live on in Ohio.

 This site is in a pretty secluded part of the property.  It can be seen from the road but is surrounded by trees.  I love it!

Hope you all enjoyed seeing the progress of our little vacation home.  We are dying to get down there and see it in person!  We might have to make another trip soon.  The Lake is calling us.

Diana