The Fletcher Family Scramble

Well hello there,  

After giving little hints in my blog post previously, and upon have been given the permission by our architects, we can finally let the cat out of the bag.  Fletch and I are doing a total remodel of our 1960's 900 sq/ft home.  We have called this our nest since 2002 and to be frank, this isn't going to be easy to knock it down.  This is my husband and I's first house and what we called ours since living in our sweet little mountain town.  Last summer, beginning in May, we had an offer into an amazing house that we called the Red House.  To make a long story more brief, it was a short sale and in a total mortgage buying time warp.  We just couldn't get excited about the house any longer after having put up three offers and having none work out just right.  I didn't mention it here, because I don't deal well with dissapointment and so I could never get excited.  Really, this was just a blessing in disguise that allowed us to re-evaluate our wants and needs.  What we wanted was a new house, in our existing neighborhood, next to the Lowry's, with all our special needs.  After a bit of research, and because we live in the county, the best plan was to build on our existing site because we could avoid all the sticky city covenance crap and building permitting business.  See, we live in Bozeman right in town, but are grandfathered in to a county set up with nothing more than a landuse permit required to build.  Oh goody! Lindsay Schack and Tuya Studios are the architects we have been working with since February to get our desires on paper.  We decided on going with Biggerstaff Contstruction of Big Sky to build our custom Fletcher Flat.  We will begin work after the 11th of July and hope to be finished in four months-ish, heavy on the ish!  

So that's the story in a nutshell.  Fletch and I are going to do our best to be gentle on each other, a family pact we have already established, because the stress is building.  We do what we can to get outside since the weather has finally decided to warm up, smearing fat together in the woods seems to be the best remedy of late.  

Happy weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kristin 

Our House Now.

The Partners' House,

Our Home for 5 months, 

luckily only 4 blocks away.

Fletcher's New Flat

View from the front. 

Yep, that's a flat roof on the garage!

View from the backyard.

Elevational Details including:

rolled steel gutters, a sliding panelled door w/exposed hardware,

framed and detailed window brows, reclaimed wood siding,

entry nook, and a clean volume.

Continued details:

Master Bedroom above the garage with enclosed

steam shower and river rocked detailing the floor, private master

patio with 3 paneled sliding door.

See that garage door on the back, that's to my new studio!!!!

I will have a workbench on coasters and will

schelp projects outside to work.

I am also excited about the finished texture on the garage volume,

it is a layered and trowelled plaster in a dark slate that will have 

a velvety texture when completed.

New Kitchen:

angled garden window, marble pastry slap, 

Alder chopping block, an open floor plan,

and a Blue Star cooking range.

Bro, Sister-in-Law and Dad.

Check out the Aspen tree in 2005, 

the year we got married.

And would you look at it last week?

Unfortunately this baby is getting the yank,

the top half is dead and way to close for our new 

two story garage structure.

These are the parts that are going to be hard.

But we do have the garden planted!

If we completely meltdown

and when all else fails,

we will run to the hills by our 

CABIN!

We are in fact headed up this afternoon,

I have to get going!

Hasta luego otra vez,

Biz

El Trabajo de Mis Manos

Howdy Doody,

Please excuse me for my bliggity blog absence, I am not sure where the month of May went? Maybe down the stream with the rest of the rain that has hammered us. No compaints on rain, we are green as can be. I would just appreciate a bit more sunshine. These weekend promises to be sunnier, we can't wait.

I have been keeping my torch hot, but not crazy hot! Here are some goodies that were smithed up from scratch in my little shop.

Manly Bangle in sterling.

Sweet Swinging Hoops in sterling.

Antique vintage glass and pierced floral design.

A first in piercing designs.

14k white gold wedding band,

also a first in using 14k gold white.

Mommy neckace of

14k gold and sterling.

My first little owl,

crafted in sterling and Mokume.

Laura snatched this one up, right quick.

My second hand crafted owl,

of sterling and Mokume.

He hasn't flown far from

MY neck since his birth.

Mixed Metal Luxe Earrings,

of sterling, copper, 14k gold and turquoise.

And introducing feather earrings...

by the gobs.

Thanks for browsing. Stay tuned for more bombshell news this week. Fletch are I have about two weeks to COMPLETELY move out of the house. The tenor of change is resounding in the Fletcher house. I will let you know of our plans soon.

With gratitude,

Biz

Springtime Jig

Happy Friday,
I hope this note finds you well and that the week is winding down to a Friday Happy Hour! In the Northern Rocky Mountains we are still snowing and experiencing some onery and ferocious storms which come in the form of rain, sleet, gropple, slop, flakes and the like. I tell you, this is the hardest time of the year in Bozeman. I am ready to be done skiing, but it is far too muddy to do anything else. Spring mud season is a beast of her own caliber. So my Springtime Jig is to show Mother Nature that I am holding strong in a flowered skirt, because there aren't any flowers popping in the garden. In fact, we are something like %135 of our normal snowpack in the Gallatin Range and hubby left at 6am this morning to ski powder that fell yesterday. Truly, all this snow and moisture will amount to ample stream flows for the fishies and less forest fires. I wrapped up two major projects with deadlines at the real job, I am thrilled that it is Friday, and we have an exciting birthday party this evening.

Do have yourself a good day,
Lolita

PS. I took these photos alone with the help of a remote control :)

A Ski Tour of Small Mountain Bridger

Welcome to your week, I hope it is treating you well. Several weeks ago, when the snow was still fluffy and the weather still wintery, I enjoyed a beautiful day at Bridger Bowl with my best ski pal, HUBBY. The first video is a tour from the ridge, just off of Schlachman's lift. To ski this area, a beacon is required, and we always bring along shovel, partner and probe. More this year than ever, Fletch and I have resort skiied and had plenty of days in the back country. This has been a fabulous winter!

The second video is me filming Scott fluffing and flirting in the cold smoke. And you get to hear my voice, for all of us that haven't met in the flesh. Just so you know, Scott and I talk bird....in which CAW is a universal word and totally effective communication. CAW can .... divulge your whereabouts, announce you are lost, say you are ready, locate your husband in the forest or snow storm, OR, say I am ready with the camera, SKI ON!!!! See for yourself.

Cheers, Bisquit

I'm Lucky, Gemmy, and Random

Howdy Hump Day La Gente,

First to report, the lucky part: The Fletchers have a new family member as of today, we welcome Holden Fletcher. HAPPY BABY, Steven and Kirstin. We are lucky and blessed, as this is the second munchkin born in our FAM, Madeline was just born last month. So Fletch and I are Double-Aunt-and-Uncle LUCKY.

Now to the gemmy and random part. Since I am a civil servant and there was the looming issue of the government shutting down and such, I thought I might have a couple of days off. Rather, we have a weeks worth of money to work with and we will see next week. Eh hem......getter done already, SENATORS. So we went to work happily, as usual, and the week's work travels took me to Red Lodge, MT. This is my favorite town, by far, next to Bozeman, in Montana. Given this ripe opportunity I snatched up some stones cut by a local lapidary that works in town. Would you look at those stones? And Joe took me on a tour of his newly located shop which houses his miriad of stone cutting tools. Clearly this tickled my fancy, I love to see how raw rock makes it way to cabochons, and I asked as many questions as I could. And boy howdy, I can ask some questions.

Enough banter, here are the goods.

A bunch of turquoise, Tiffany Stone w/ Drusy Vug,

Burro Creek Jasper w/ Drusy Vug, Cobaltocalcite Drusy

Love my new IPhone and I am

making feather earrings.

Feather Flirts are still in

the trial stages to see

how they wear.

The Cobaltocalcite Drusy with all its fancy

Malachite crystals.

More than ever:

He's my nook and I fit in his cranny...

under the chin, right in the sweet spot

where I belong.

Good Photo Mr. Shanky

Mom knows, so the news is out.

I got a tattoo....my covey of huns

in flight....

our home birds.

And last but not least,

we put Bridger Lift access to bed.

We wore our best 80's wigs for support and

rounded out the year with an

epic 120" inch base.

While the season of lift access is a thing of the past,

I am sure my hubby will convince me to skin

up Bridger in a bikini like last year.

And I probably will,

but only if the sun is shining

and I can tan my

Montana Winter White Fat.

Over and Out,

Mc-Fletch-Rae