Babe..

in addition to Babe being one of my all time favorite movies, and I LOVE baby pigs.. here's a babe for the Lake House.. Bowser wasn't quite sure about him since he's bigger than Bowser is..

other Trophies

Ken has a nice collection of Trophy Cups at the loft in Chicago, we just had to add some to the lake House decor.

some new additions...

some new additions to the Lake House...for the record, not a fan of deer hunting. I am however a fan of Trophy Mounts.. and until now all of our Trophy Mounts have been faux.. But this guy was just so beautiful and he was so lonely hanging in that musty antique store. I figured, he's already mounted.. he might as well have a beautiful, warm home to keep watch over.

First there was a sign..

So Ken and I have a dream about retiring to a Hobby Farm. I say screw it, why wait for retirement age.. I vote 5 year goal! We have a sign.. just need the farm..

Hey there...

Sorry I've been gone for so long.. 1st off I went back to work.. ugh. so thats where I'll lay all the blame on my neglect.

My love of all things Blue... Happy 4th of July...

as in Blue Dog...

summer lovin

The boys love to lay on the deck and seem to follow whatever bit of sunshine they can get...

visitors to our estate...

a baby rabbit was playing in the yard while a wacky squirrel devoured most of the food in the bird feeder....

The rain gutter adventure

ken and I installed new raingutters on the Lakehouse recently and considering we were working with a ladder that was about 5 feet too short.. I think we did pretty well.

This is the real grill..

we broke the grill in the night before by grilling steaks, but this lunch just turned out so beautiful I had to show it off. The Steak kabobs the next night were near perfection ...

Memorial day visitors...

we're finding more and more critters that like to visit at the lakehouse...

the Screen room...

we redecorated the screen room at the Lakehouse this weekend. We were looking for a tent feeling and chose a striped canvas fabric from Ikea. Tenting the fabric to cover the ceiling. We added halogen lights along the ceiling since there are no light fixtures out there. Check out the before and after photo's.

Outdoor living at the lakehouse....

Notice all the conveniences of home..

actually the appliances are nicer than what we have in the loft. LOVE LOVE LOVE the waiter / ice in the door on the refridgerator. We even have a garbage disposal.. we haven't had a garbage disposal since we left Los Angeles in 2007....

one of my favorite things about the Lakehouse...

yes... I'm thrilled to have a full size washer and Dryer! The cabinet above the W&D was originally mounted in the strangest spot on a kitchen wall.. I bashed my head on it the day we closed on the Lakehouse so it had to be moved! works perfectly above the W&D.

Our room...

These bed frames are so high that Jake has decided he loves his bed under ours...

The Guest room...

It all started on Friday morning..

with a trip to Bolingbrook to pick up the U-Haul truck.. 1st stop Ikea. We breezed through Ikea with the precision of skilled shoppers. Loaded our findings onto 2 carts, yes, 2 carts I was pushing one overflowing while Ken pushed the furniture cart. Checked out and surprisingly came in under budget. We loaded the U-Haul and headed home to pick up our goodies that were packed and waiting. 3 hours later driving through pouring rain we arrived at the Lakehouse, me driving the U-Haul truck and Ken driving tha Saturn with the dogs in the back seat. It stopped raining for about 30 minutes and thats all it took to unload the truck.

We stayed up and put together beds, and living room furniture, unpacked dishes and glassware then crashed. New bed, strange surroundings, pouring rain and wind, but we were so tired it didn't matter. Slept like babies.

Woke up to a very cold and windy Saturday. Drove into Angola and bought a Washer and Dryer while we had the truck to haul it back home. Spent the rest of saturday putting together furniture, decorating and cleaning. here's a couple of photo's... One is the Living room and the other the Dining room... What do you think?

30, count them 30...

Bags of leaves. Thats what we cleaned up around the Lake House yesterday. We also steamcleaned the carpets and took down some strangely placed cabinetry (the bump on my forehead proves it). The deck looks amazing now that it's clean. This really was the most physical work we've done in ages and we're paying for it today. I feel like an alcohol-less hangover. Poor Ken, is so sore from raking leaves. Today has been a lounge on the sofa day although we did accept a delivery of the Beds for the Lake House this morning. They went into the basement until Friday when we'll take furniture out there.

how should we use them?

as side tables or as a coffee table??

The view ...

this is what we see from the living room.. can't wait for sunsets over the lake.

Crazy...

Crazy to think that at 48 years of age I am finally a homeowner.. correction WE are homeowners. Ken and I purchased a Mobile Home on Silver Lake in Angola Indiana. I personally think it was an unbelievable bargain, but after purchasing the home, getting all the utilities hooked up and furnishing it to our satusfaction I think we'll have a sizeable investment. The good news is that we paid about half of what it was actually appraised at so hopefully the value will continue to rise. Angola, Indiana is a 3 hour drive from Chicago, straight shot on the 90 east, the best part is.. if you don't want to take the toll road, US 20 runs right through Amish country, the frams are beautiful, and it's amazing to see the horse and buggies running along side the highway. We have started buying furniture in pieces, we'll rent a uhaul next weekend and start taking things down. This coming Saturday is going to be yard and deck clean up day as well as carpet cleaning day. The home has been vacant for a year so there is a bit of stale odor... I'll keep you aprised as things evolve...

in a sewing frenzy...

I whipped up a bolster cover for the lakehouse... we still haven't closed on it but that hasn't stopped us from getting things ready for it...