Repeat Performance!

Once again the week flew by and a lot was accomplished at the house.  Steve and his nephew Oliver got the front sided and moved around to the west and covered the majority of that as well.  Steve also added a decorative trim to the top of one window on the front of the house to see if I liked it, which of course I did!  Down the road he will trim out all the windows that way.

Joel and Steve met with an engineer to discuss a new septic system, a leach field, and the vaulting of our upstairs ceiling.  All good!  We passed our perc test ; they mapped out where the septic may go; and the engineer is looking into our vaulting ideas.

Over the weekend Joel and I enjoyed our mugs of coffee as we once again cleaned up inside and out.  We rallied so much, though, that we surpassed our goals...On Saturday Joel removed three windows, tore apart the side porch and the side wall just behind the parlor.  He hauled down 30 bags of insulation from the Yoga room and threw them into our 7th dumpster.  While he was prying some molding off of a high peak on the west side of the house mid-day, he banged his head with the pinch bar and lacerated his forehead pretty good.  Off to the ER we went and he got 4 stitches.  Didn't slow him down though:)  We returned to the house and finished our projects until the sun set.  Back again on Sunday.  I shop vacuumed the entire upstairs again while Joel stripped nails from all the flooring wood.  I photographed and measured the kitchen space because I am meeting with a designer from Lowe's tomorrow to lay out a plan.  Joel removed all the remaining exterior trim work, loaded the dumpster up with stray wood and debris, and loaded up a trailer with wood that we want to save and reuse.

We are off to the south this coming week as we celebrate our anniversary with a bike tour and visit with our kids in fun places.  Joel and Steve will stay in touch, and I will post if anything super exciting happens!

Joel and I make a GREAT team!!

We accomplished so much at the house this weekend.  Working side by side for the better part of both days, Joel finished removing the last of the lathe and plaster on the back staircase while I started in the front upstairs rooms and swept and used the ShopVac to clean up all the dust, debris, and stray insulation.  We created quite a mound of filled-to-the-brim garbage bags! He caulked and put a second coat of paint on the side windows so Steve can round the corner and continue with the siding.  I took the wheelbarrow around the entire property and picked up nails, stones, and bits of wood.  It finally feels like we have reached ground zero on the inside.  There is very little left to remove.  Soon (well, relatively soon...) we can begin the interior rebuild!

                   Look how clean and ready to be made beautiful again the upstairs is! 

  

There was a flurry of activity in our front yard yesterday morning as the Lake Delta Half Marathon runners passed by.  We seem to be the halfway point of the race, and the volunteers had set up a water and orange slice station on our lawn.  We turned up our music nice and loud and took a moment to cheer the athletes on.  Who knows?  Maybe next year we will be out there pounding the pavement with the Roman Runners instead of pounding nails.

I stopped working halfway through the day yesterday so that I could get my parents up to enjoy the afternoon at the lake.  Several of our friends dropped by to say hello and check on our progress.  My caramel popcorn is a favorite of Karen's so I was happy when she and Mitch sat for a moment to enjoy a few bites.

I'm Back from North Carolina!

Feels great to be home, but I already miss the company of my fabulous girlfriends and the beauty of the ocean and the beach.  So blessed to have had the opportunity to get away and relax!  Now it is time to get back to the exciting business of the house.  Quite a bit happened while I was gone.  Both Joel and my dad kept me in the loop with updates and photos, which I appreciated.  Steve has been busy putting up the siding and it looks wonderful.  I love the sage and cream color combination and think my third color will really make things "pop" as they say on HGTV!  Joel continues to remove the remains of the high exterior molding...the pieces that Steve will rebuild and paint the mystery color soon.  He also dug out one more cellar well and put the second coat of paint on the window and corner trims once Steve got them in place.  Hopefully the entire front and two sides will be completed by early next week.  The plan is to then  work on leveling the middle part of the house and getting those windows and doors in before winter.  The mornings are starting off chilly so we know what is coming:)

I have heard from both Terri and Lyn who each sent me lovely pictures of the house and their family enjoying holidays and outdoor activities.  It is fun to see their brothers playing in the high snowbanks and all the children wading in the pond with their grandmother.  The house looked so elegant with the white picket fence and the shutters.  I certainly hope we can replicate the original beauty with our own style.

I will post again soon as things are speeding up.  Yesterday we met with the electrician and a team of plumbers who will all work with us to properly place receptacles and switches, sinks and toilets.  Now is the time to get the innards of the house all set.  I will leave you with the promised photo of our beautiful view of Lake Delta.  Thank you Joel for felling the trees and shrubs!

Don't Fence Us In!

Lately we have been spending some long days working at the house and feel guilty about leaving the boys at home.  Joel fashioned this containment area out of dune fencing which suffices for now.  I have to be in their field of vision, however, or Striker starts to whine!  Staying in their sight hasn't been a problem for the last three days, though, because I have set up a work station outside and have been diligently painting long pieces of PVC trim.  I think I have completed 20 so far but have MANY more to do.  These will be used around the windows and as corner finishing.

On Thursday Steve installed the first of our upstairs small awning windows.  I was anxious to see how it looked from both the outside and the interior.  The verdict is a thumbs up!  The small wall space in those rooms is difficult to work with, and we debated over many different window styles but opted to stay with the original design.  While he was framing out the window, Steve came across a perfect example of a mortise and tenon joint.  He brought me up to see and explain the theory behind "timberframing" or post and beam construction.  Pretty neat!

Joel has been working hard both inside and out.  He broke through the wall between the dining room and the den and recreated the original doorway.  He also took down a built-in cupboard in the dining room which gives us more space in the side entryway.  Between his debris and the ceiling tear-down mess that Larry, Brian, and Josh made, we filled our 7th dumpster in no time at all:)  Since the weather has been so beautiful, Joel has also been down in the gully area clearing out brush and cutting down small trees to enhance our view of the lake.  Success!  The water is peeking through the greenery big time.  I will post a picture of the vista next time.

We had several visitors yesterday.  My mom and dad stopped by in the afternoon to see our progress.  They knew that I was painting trim work, so they brought lawn chairs and stayed for a couple of hours to keep me company.  A pair of crazy cyclists (and I am not talking about the Tour de France kind!) motored by then turned around when they saw us toiling away.  Heather is a nurse who worked with Joel years ago.  She and her husband, Danny, had heard we purchased a big old house on the north side of the lake so they took a mid day ride to find us.  I love it when people pop in, so if anyone is out and about and wants to come say hello please do so!