who knew I was pregnant?

yeah, child birth is a bit#%! I started out my friday morning with a slacker friday "I'm outta here" moment (with permission of course) and made a run to damn near west virginia where my baby was.....In a little over 2 hours, I touched down in Flushing Ohio and picked up our new baby girl.....People, meet Matilda....

Yep, It's a girl! A little boston terrier puppy at 7 weeks, born easter morning. I wanted to name her magdaline (easter, mary magdaline, (how catholic was I raised?)) but that wasn't happening with the rest of the fam.....then B wanted to name her coco chanel.....ok, could you picture me at 6'6 and 270 lbs at the park yelling "come back here coco chanel".....me either...Matilda works though, or tilly for short.

By 10 PM, after hours in the car, a couple of quick stops off the highway at some Zanesville Ohio pottery shops, a quick run by a jobsite and a supplier, followed by hours of exploring her new house, She found that Crosby our 10 Year old GSP was a perfect nap buddy. Months ago, I dyed up some coarse wool with some almosted exhausted red dye, and it made a neat rose color next to the matural off white wool color. In my washing machine now is the test felting of about 18" of a 3 stitch I cord that's has wide stripes of rose and natural color of about 4.5 inches each. The goal is to make a long, lightweight drag around lead for her to start off leash training right off the bat. I'll throw up some pics later in the week of knitting, Promise!

-matt

Speed post

It's been a crazy 5 months, but here's what happens when I get the chance to gut the first floor of a 30 year old house in need of a facelift......

New painted maple cabinets, Granite tops, Tumled limestone backsplash.....

Awesome Wolf range, second Dacor under counter oven, fireclay porcelin sink

I won't even mention the cost of the faucet.....

Totally custom and built on site bench seat, I even made the v-groove paneling from scratch.
Custom dry bar w/kitchen aid wine fridge with 3 seperate temp zones

seeded glass in the upper cabinets, granite top, travertine backsplash....

The big red furniture piece, Built in our shop by one of the greatest craftsman I've had the pleasure of learning from, finished offsite, installed by me

Same cabinet, just a close up of hardware and rope mould fronts

It's not often I get to demolish, frame, set cabinets, and do all the trimwork by myself, but to be honest, since this one was all me from start to finish, it's one I am the most proud of. Next week, I'll give up pics of the mantle, powder room, and laundry to finish up the view from my office...maybe even some knitting pics. Relax this weekend, I know I am......