The wall comes down...

...and the wall goes back up...

T has been busy taking down walls and re-framing them, correctly in the office.  It has been a few weeks now and this is the status...

1. Our awesome plumber took some pity on us and came up and fixed the leaky pipe.  Turns out the pipe wasn't even soldered together originally and it is a miracle it stayed together this long...
   
   [caption id="attachment_619" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The no longer leaking pipe"][/caption]


2. T took out all the scraps of wood, reinforced the wall studs and rebuilt the door frame and header.  He turned the door around so that it opens into the step-up playroom.  It is a very wide (36") door so when it opened into the room it took up a lot of space.
   
   [caption id="attachment_621" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The wall comes down"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_620" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The wall goes back up"][/caption]

We are making progress, slowly.  I recently had a conversation with my friend who is living in his own "entire house renovation project".  I asked him what his strategy was for keeping sane.  Did he focus on what had been done?  What happened when he started to think about the huge list of things remaining to be done and then calculate that to-do list in years (or worse, dollars)...?

He just smiled and told me that this was a "lifestyle".  I had to get over the mind-set that it was something that would ever be "done".  I am still digesting that one.  I guess in a sense he is right, things are never done, even in a new house there is maintenance and things that break or things that you want to change...  But still,  a "lifestyle"...  I had no idea.

Winter is here

After a surprise late October nor-easter, the weather here in New England has been downright spring like.  It was our first green Christmas in a while (and we mean green, the grass hadn't even turned brown yet).

Alas, on Thursday January 12th we woke to our first snowfall since winter officially began back in December.

School did not get canceled, but the kids ran down, geared up, and went outside to play before the bus came.  They built our first snow duck.  They also came running in to report that the ducks had turned yellow (the snow being whiter than they are)...

[caption id="attachment_592" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Snow Duck "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_593" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="White (yellow? cream? ecru?) ducks on white snow"][/caption]

Happy New Year!!!

The motto for 2012 around here is:  no new demolition until we finish something! We have learned that it takes much less time to destroy things than to put them back...

T is busy rebuilding the walls of the office.  It looks like two of the original windows have been removed and filled in with scraps.  He has the outer wall insulated and is working on the back wall which a carpenter's nightmare and requires a lot of new framing.  We are going to insulate the back wall as well (originally it was the end of the house).  The room beyond it was an old porch and has very little insulation and is always cold.  We usually shut that room off in the winter, but right now it has no door.

Fantastic new years discoveries:

1. While ripping out the back wall framing, T managed to put a hole in the baseboard pipe.  So now we have to empty a drip pan every day. He tried clamping it, but it still leaks.  In fact I think his fix made it leak more.  It looks like he may need to shut down the furnace and drain the lines to repair it.  What a great time of year for no heat...
   
   [caption id="attachment_598" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Leaking Pipe"][/caption]


2. During a particularly heavy sideways driving rain storm we discovered that we have a leak.  Because the back wall is torn apart we could see the rain dripping down the inside of the wall.  This means yet another delay as he has to fix the flashing where the old porch (aka playroom) attaches to the main house.  There is no end to the fun.


3. We ripped out all the old wiring and many, many junction boxes buried in the ceiling and walls, not to mention a live wire that disappeared into the dining room ceiling and didn't go to anything.  So while the new wiring is roughed in and inspected we have to wait until the wall board is up to connect it.  Basically we now have no power in that room.  Not sure when we will be back on the grid (see #1 and #2)...and yes Virginia, this is affecting progress on the bathroom.
   
   [caption id="attachment_601" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The current state of the bathroom"][/caption]

Here are some quotes for you...

T:  "So, what do you want for Christmas this year?"

Me:  "A floor in the bathroom"

T:  "No...really."

I did not get one.

Me: "I need to take down the Christmas tree soon."

R: "If you leave it up the mice won't chew it."

After getting pulled over for speeding...and finding out my license had expired (another reason I hate January birthdays - don't worry he did let me go straight to the registry to get it renewed):

R:  "Mom, can we go slow this time?"

Jack bought Rory a Christmas present this year with his own money.  Rory was dying to know what it was, but Jack would not tell him anything because he wanted it to be a surprise.  Rory was trying to wheedle some clues out of him and finally came up with this:

R: This isn't a question about the present.

J: Okay.

R: Where did you buy the present?

J: ???!!!

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.



Here's an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,500 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 25 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Hoarder Among Us

With the fast approaching holidays, the need to reclaim order around the house is becoming more pressing.  Stuck at home on Friday with a sick kid I decided to try to tame the chaos.  Things were going well, laundry was put away, sheets changed, cobwebs vacuumed off the ceilings until I hit my four-year old's room and faced the drawer.

When you are four, the drawer is a special place to store treasures.  It is a big pull-out drawer under the bunk bed on wheels.  When you are an adult the drawer represents something entirely different.  Mostly I avoid the drawer.  I know it is there and I have a sense of what is in there, but as longs as it is shut it is easy to ignore.  The problem was, it was becoming difficult to close...

So, Mom tackled the drawer, and yes, Mom won.  Here is what I found there:

1. About 50 cardboard toilet paper rolls squirreled away from the bathroom


2. 8 sticks


3. 2 acorns


4. a plastic egg


5. Very large pile of artwork, craft projects and paper with scribbles (aka more art)


6. plastic Sutter Home Chardonnay bottle (?!)


7. Miscellaneous assortment of small toys, silly bands, etc.


8. 1 whoopee cushion


9. 1 yellow plastic Lei


10. 3 feathers

Once I was done and order was again established I realized that when a certain small someone opened the nice, neat drawer there were certain to be repercussions.  I decided a confession was in order under the guise of making more space for Christmas.  Thankfully the purging was met with approval.

[slideshow]

Before and (almost) After - Front

Can you spot the difference between these two photographs?

[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="September 2010 - house hidden by shrubbery"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_561" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="December 2011"][/caption]

Hint:  Windows, Walkway, attic vent, tree/bushes...

To answer your questions...

1. Yes it's primer to be painted this spring.  I was going to paint it back to its original white, but everyone seems to like the contrast and the way the trim stands out with the tan.

2. Please don't even talk to me about why the top is gray and the bottom is tan...

3. We will be re-roofing over the door and window and scraping and painting the trim this spring.

4. Yes, I promise to hide the footings with lattice and plant some shrubs!

In case you can't see it, Tristan hung up my plaque.

[caption id="attachment_565" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Newhall Farm Circa 1900"][/caption]

Holidays Under Renovation

Can you believe it is December 1st?  Aside from a freak Nor Easter in October, the weather has been down right balmy by New England standards.  We are lucky too because not only is the front not finished, but the office is all torn apart down to the studs.  I am hoping the insulation fairy will have it buttoned up before the real cold weather begins, but I wouldn't want to rush things...

I have been getting some questions lately along the tune of "how do you live like that"?  So I thought I would provide you with some tips for Enjoying the Holidays while living in a construction zone.

Tip #1 - Take cleaning right off your to-do list.  Chances are as soon as you've got the place spotless someone will decide to saw up something or rip down something and coat everything with dust and sawdust.

Tip #2 - Invest in a blindfold and walk around the house.  After you bump into a few sheets of blueboard, trip over a ripped up floor and knock over some fixtures you will be so grateful to have your eyesight back that you might not notice the mess (for a day or two).

Tip #3 - Stop entertaining.  Better yet, deadbolt the doors and shut the lights out even when you are home.  This will discourage even the pop-in visitors and that way no one will ask any questions.

Tip #4 - Go on vacation.  When you can't have a conversation with your spouse without arguing and your life has become a giant to-do list... it's time to take a break.  Preferably somewhere else!

Tip #5- Ignore #3 and have a big party.  It's a way for you to give back - give guests a parting gift of appreciation for their own homes that they aren't living your life.  Priceless.

Tip #6- Imbibe lots of Spiked Eggnog

Tip #7- Try not to work with power tools while practicing #6.

Tip #8- Focus on those less fortunate (war, famine, disease) and you will realize how insignificant your renovation project is in the big scheme of things.

Tip #9- Always look backwards, never ahead.  Focus on what you have done.  Invite over friends that will say "Wow, you've really done a lot since I've been here!"   Never think about all that is left to finish or how many years lie ahead of you to get there...

Tip #10- Don't stop believing that in the end it will have all been worth it.  Did I mention the eggnog?