Post Christmas, pre-New Year

Hello!  Like everyone else I know, I have been distracted by the holidays. But work continued at the house, some of it photo-worthy, some not.

But here are some moments for you.


On December 20th, I hosted the crew for barbeque "on the grounds". It was warm enough to set up tables outside.

 

 

 

 

Moving right along

Brrrrr!  It's cold! But the construction continues, inside and out. Here are a few photos of the progress.

Here's the progress on the new outside entrance:

And, the new windows have arrived and are being installed. Photos of this are not too dramatic, I know.

And, the new letters have arrived for the mailbox!  Jerry installed them today. Please forgive the partial shots here, but I really don't want my address out here on the Internet. If you know me well enough, you already know where it is or you can ask me!

 

 

Also, Eric the Electrician (sounds like he's from Sesame Street, doesn't it?) has installed the boxes where my wall-mounted televisions will go.  And, in the den, some extra insulation will be put in between the den wall where the television will hang and the guest bedroom wall behind it.

I took all these photos this morning, so I'm sure some more work on the porch entrance is visible now. Weather permitting, I'll try to get some more photos this weekend!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

 

Good morning!

Not too much to report today, but I have a few photos to catch up on things in previous posts.

Insulation: the house had NO insulation in the outside walls - wonder why? Even the house I grew up in that it is at least 20 years older than this one has insulation. Anyway, it does NOW.  The procedure is to put holes in the walls between all the studs and blow it in with a big hose. The insulation itself is white and looks sort of like the fibers in quilt batting. It's very soft and fluffy. Except in that one spot in the kitchen where the guys had to smush it into the wall for some reason.

Turn your PC sideways for this one ---

I have rotated this in Picasa and by using the Snipping Tool and the photo is correctly rotated in both programs. But when I move it over to the blog it reverts to the sideways orientation. I apologize for that --- I have no clue what I am doing wrong.

Anyway -- that is the insulation story.

And, now -- here are the appliances -- well, everything but the stove.

Note -- The photo of the refrigerator was originally photographed sideways, just like the insulation shot, above. I performed the exact same steps on the refrigerator shot as for the insulation one, but for some reason that remains a mystery, THIS photo turned itself over just as nice as you please. Sheesh.

I still have to select a stove/oven thing. I want one of those Duel Fuel things that has a gas cooktop and an electric/convection oven, but they are really expensive and I'm having a hard time justifying that outlay. Fortunately I do not have to make a decision right this very minute, so I will think about that further. At the least I am going to TRY a unit with gas burners, but I will no doubt set myself on fire within a month.

Apparently I have some kind of fascination with heavy equipment and trucks, etc. (Who knew?) So I take photos of the big rigs and the bobcats and such that come to the house. The other day a huge flat-bed 18-wheeler came to deliver supplies for the porch construction. There was a little (well, relatively speaking) forklift thing right on the back of the trailer to unload and deliver the items right where they are needed. Here is the pictorial on that.

I would think that very few big trucks come into the neighborhood, other than garbage trucks or a  moving van now and again.

 

And here is the forklift. (No, I didn't get to drive that, either.)

 



 

And here are the supplies, all neatly stacked at the end of the driveway,

 

 

Right now I need to take a minute to acknowledge my new neighbors (the back part of their house is visible in above photo) who are patient and kind beyond belief. Hats off to Betty and Bill! All the clattering and banging around all day and they tell me that it doesn't bother them! Granted, the daytime noise is generally on the side of their house where their bedrooms are, and their living areas where they are during most of the day are on the opposite side from this photo. I appreciate them more than can be expressed. They are dear, dear people and I am blessed that I have landed -- and will land -- next to them.

 

Signing off now -- have a good day!

Progress to report, but nothing visible

Today Jerry and I went on a field trip to Lowe's and -- tah-dah!  I "finished" the powder room.

That is, all the items are selected! Everything from the tile on the floor to the mirror over the sink! The rest of the work is installation, which, mercifully, is NOT MY PROBLEM.

I have also selected nice tile for the guest room (Jack-and-Jill) bathroom and a new sliding glass door.

I will meet with a decorator later this week to try to get a handle on window treatments (a top priority) and to begin to coordinate what I have already with what I am going to need in the new place. I also need to think about paint colors. So many decisions!

Other things going on at the house are footings for the new back entry porch and continuing electrical and plumbing work.

I know it's only been a week, and today it is pouring rain, but I think the house looks a lot better without that pine tree in the front yard.

That's all for now. Thanks for following along!

A short post today, with photos

Hello!  I have a couple of new things to add to the house renovation adventure.

First, here are photos of the furring strips that the guys installed in the den ceiling.

The drywall will be attached to these strips so the ceiling will be smooth and flat.

Here are a couple of photos of the hardwood floor installation that clearly show how they have pieced in the new wood with the original planks.

And here is a photo of the floor in the new master bedroom. There was a gap in the floor where a wall was removed.  Looks like that gap will be invisible!

That "stripe" is where the wall was. You can see how the repair is coming along.

Some additional work was done on the porch for the new back entrance. Not sure what...a big rectangle was dug out. I think it has something to do with the footings.

And this mud bog will be my slightly extended driveway - a bit longer and wide enough for two cars.

And here is a shot from the street end of the driveway.

 

One day I hope to have a carport. One day. Not soon.

December starts off strong

Hello again, everyone!

Lots to tell you now that Thanksgiving is behind us - Monday started off with a bang! And a big "Timberrrrrrrrrrrr" as well.

I must say, though, that electrician Eric and General contractor Jerry were BOTH at the house over the weekend. I guess banging around in MY house was preferable to hanging around their own houses with their relatives - ??  I am not going to get into that.

I will report, though, that over the weekend SOME PEOPLE (ahem --) came while Eric was there and toured the place. Ha!

Lots of dramatic things have occurred at the new place.  I'll start with the new back entrance.

 Jerry Snow on the scaffolding.

 New door; new entryway.

View from the kitchen.

 



Watch that first step -- it's a doozy!

 

The lack of an entrance to the house on the driveway side is a design puzzle to me. The house has a front door and a back door, exactly opposite to each other on the long sides of the house. So, to get your groceries in from your car (parked in the driveway, of course) you had to either drag them around through the front yard to the front door, go into the front foyer, pass through the den, and go across the den into the kitchen. If you used the back door you had to go around to the very back of the house, climb some steps into the screened porch, go through the sliding glass door, into the den and then into the kitchen. Made no sense to me.  The new back entrance will have a stoop and a little porch so you can just go directly into the kitchen.

 

Next is (are?) the hardwood floors. Dave and his brother Brian started on Monday. Hardwood exists throughout most of the house already. The crew is extending them from the den (where they have been living under wall-to-wall carpet) into the kitchen area. , Where walls were removed in other parts of the house, Dave and Brian are "weaving" new strips across that gap (second photo, below) so everything will look consistent. Once the floors are stained and refinished it will all look "Mah-veh-lous".

 

 



The new flooring and strips are made of white oak. (I had to ask.)


And, the OTHER big thing on Tuesday was - ta-dah! -- removal of the big pine tree in the front and at least six or seven stumps from all over the front and back yards.

To backtrack a bit, here is a shot of the house before the pine tree was removed.

And, here it is now, with that pine tree GONE.

I think it helps with the curb appeal, don't you?

The process of removing the tree and all those stumps was fascinating to me. Thanks to Bill's Tree Service and the guys on the crew, Salvadore, Ceasar, and Kyle. Kyle is the brave fellow who climbed the tree with a chainsaw, no less.  Every time he cut a section and dropped it to the ground, the tree would sway back and forth. Kyle is not only brave but has a strong stomach.

Bill's Tree Service

 



 

Stump grinder thing.

 



 

Stump grinder thing in action. This is an amazing

piece of machinery.

Chipper (or chopper?) that grinds up the wood.

 

 

 

 Guys feeding branches into the chipper. Voila! Mulch!

 

Kyle going up the tree.

 

The bobcat took the logs away and put them in the

bed of the truck.

The stump from the pine tree -- all gone now!

 

 

The bobcat looked like a little toy bulldozer. But Salvadore didn't let me drive it. Sigh. I probably would have owed them a new one, anyway. And several neighbors would no doubt have needed new mailboxes, as well.

 

Speaking of mailboxes (cute transition, no?) I have a NEW mailbox and a new post! Here is the pictorial for that.

 







 

 Sorry -- the rotate edit that worked just a few minutes ago decided not to work on this photo. Sheesh,

 

 

 Digging the hole

 ...and more digging!

 And here is the new mailbox!

Of course you want to see BOTH sides, right?

 

 

 

Numbers for the street address and street name have been ordered (thank you, Susun Coleman Miller, for helping me locate those) and will be stuck on there soon.

 

 

Okay! That's a LOT, and certainly ENOUGH for now. Thanks for following along with me. More adventures to come.

 

Signing off!