The Octagon House

Hello!

My apologies for being MIA for soooo long! I can’t even believe that its been as long as it has. We’ve had some interesting life circumstances that have kept me far from a computer. Or my trusty laptop. Alas, my laptop is nearly dead. That has been a great deturrence in my ability to stay connected to the online world. The power cord doesn’t plug in correctly anymore and the screen no longer had hinges to stay upright. So in order to use it I must smash something against the side to keep the power cord in JUST the right place and I must have something supporthing the screen. Its an extravaganza let me tell you! On top of this, my camera of two years has decided to just die on me. So I no longer have anything to take pictures of this glorious house with! Its been a technilogical massicure in Sparland. And now I find how much I’ve relied on it as far as spending time on this blog and being able to document our progress in this eight sided home.

On the health side of things I did have surgery. Its been two weeks and the recovery has been so so. I would of course prefer for it to go faster but I am grateful that I am not where I was a week ago. I actually spent a whole week away from this house per my hospital stay and spending time at my mom’s house (where there are no stairs.) When I walked into the house on Thanksgiving day later that evening, I sat down in a chair and cried! It has been an emotional time of it as it is  let alone being away from a house that my heart is very connected to. It was such a relief to see the cracked walls, cans of paint…the beautiful library…sigh!

I have to tell you all about something VERY special that happened to me. Last week I got an email from Sara Coker, daughter to the Coker’s who owned this home before we did. It was a very sweet email and I was so excited that she wrote me! Well after I finished reading her email I checked my inbox again and there was a second email from her. This one was even more exciting then the first! She had found a picture of me on the blog and realized we knew each other! I’ve been getting my blood drawn for a couple of years at an OSF center, more frequently the past nine months, and Sara was actually the girl that registered me every time I went! I had known her for years prior to purchasing the house that SHE lived in for 20 years! How ironic right? So I had her over the Sunday before my surgery and she brought an old album filled with pictures and paper work regarding the house. So completely amazing!!! It was an amazing time visiting and getting to know Sara better! It was such a grand boost to my spirit before having surgery later that week.

So! Now you are up to date on the crazieness that is the Octagon Life. We haven’t done much in the past few weeks other then prepare for the surgery, surgery and then recovery but Floyd has somehow found time to do a few things. The library is nearly completed except for the ceiling: astounding! Its my favorite room and I can’t wait to share it with you all on here.

Yesterday I borrowed my sister’s camera for the evening so I could take pictures of our current project: The Dining Room. We both really want it to be done well before Cmas. Then we can get started on Grady’s room so that he has a place for all of his toys. He is such an amazing little trooper. I really pray that this surgery lends itself towards me having a more pain free life so that I can be the wife and mother that I want to be!

Anyhow, back to the dining room. We have decided to do something a little different then originally planned. In one of the newpaper articles that was in Sara’s album we saw that the Coker’s had put a hutch infront of one of the entrances to the kitchen in the dining room. We realized this would give us more wall space if we did the same thing! So we moved the piano infront of the door and hopefully in the kitchen I will get the booth I have always dreamed of having! Since I don’t have my laptop I can’t put before pictures for your conveinence of the cracks and general disarray of the dining room. If you care to visit “The House” page at the top and click “First Walkthrough” there are pictures of the dining room there. Here are a few pictures of the room in the mudding stage.

There were a ton of cracks in this wall!

The bay window needed a lot of work!

The very messy, still moving in, under construction dining room! Notice the position of the piano...we will probably be blocking any sign of the door with decorations and the such! Also, we replaced the light! I love the new one! But don't worry, the old one has been saved for a project upstairs!

Cracks and pot marks everywhere!

Floyd hard at work! Getting the paint ready for me to edge in! I have to be on my bum anyways, may as well be working right?

So that has been keeping us busy in our free moments! We did actually get our christmas tree up! That was sooo exciting! I didn’t really expect to since I have been so sore, but we got it done! I would hang ornaments in about one minute increments before I had to run over to a chair to sit down and rest my poor tummy. But it was a lot of fun and its wonderful to see such cheer in this house that was just a year ago very diserted! Infact, I think its been between 2 or 3 years since anyone would have been here celebrating this holiday. Since our pockets are empty it was my goal to make the tree look cheery and country all at the same time! I wanted it to kind of look old fasioned! So with a couple of ideas and an amazing husband to help me carry those ideas out, we have our tree! The pictures don’t do it justice!

Here it is just leaning, before we got everything arranged. We dug through quite a few trees before we found this one! It is BEAUTIFUL! Its the first time we have ever had a tree that I couldn't reach the top! We always bought cheap ones thus short. Thanks so much to Aunt b and Uncle Bill for our Cmas tree! We couldn't have gotten it without them!

I thought a tin tub would give it a grand rustic look!

Grady's idea of helping! ) He had so much fun!

Floyd taking his decorating very seriously!

In one of my brief standing periods, Floyd caught a picture!

Grady taking a break from decorating to play with one of his new favorite toys! Thanks to cousin Kim for that! He absolutely LOVES it!

Here is our tree! Pinecones, lights, red bulbs, home made tags, and gold ribbon! Simple, but it works! The tin tub is my fav! The pictures don't do it justice!

Blurry but twinkly!

There you have it! I’m back! I will try to post updates from either Floyd’s computer or my mom’s when I am able to sit upright longer. I will also borrow my sister’s camera when I can. I know you all just “love” to listen to me ramble on about the house, but a picture IS worth a 1000 words! The pictures just show it all! Anyhow, love to you all! I hope your Thanksgivings were amazing a blessed!