Are we done yet?

I promise more picture are coming, but I left the camera at the house. We have been painting like crazy, and just have the hallways, livingroom and den left to paint. The guys aren't quite done working downstairs though, and I don't want to have to repaint everything downstairs again. We still have to lay linoleum in the bathroom, and put it back together, but it is painted. We are almost done the kitchen, but we have to change the plugs on the oven and range. They were origionally hardwired in, but that is against the electrical code. The counter is almost in (still needs a back splash). We then will have to stain and seal the counter top, and it will be done. Well, it still needs a new window, but that will wait till spring. All the little things never seem to end, but we will get there. I will post before and after pictures of each room as they are completely finished. I still have to do all the woodwork, but alot of them are close.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

As if this whole project isn't stressful enough, I broke my glasses on Thursday night. As I took them off, to get in the shower, I felt/heard a click (kinda both). Then the arm fell off in my hand. I called the optometrists office to see if they could order a new arm for me, but they said the model was probably discontinued. I guess they do that every 3 years. I had to go in to get a new eye exam. I got a sample pair of contacts, to see if I can wear them again (and because it was faster than glasses). I stopped wearing contacts a few years ago, because after getting a chemical burn in my eye, I kept getting eye infections. I haven't had one since the switch to glasses, so thought I would give it a try again. It all seems to have cleared up, and the contacts are fine. I have found that mascara gives me allergy type reactions in my eyes though (I learned this at Christmas). It seems to be an ongoing adventure as to what quirks my body develops next. I seem to struggle on occasion with fasting. It makes me light headed some months, and I have to break my fast early. What I thought was a latex allergy, turns out to be an allergy to the powder they line the gloves with. I just remind myself that my patriarchal blessing says my health will be one of my trials.

Another Discovery

We ripped up the old flooring in the halway this weekend too, and found more newspapers. These ones were dated April, 1939. Unfortunately, they all got wet at some point, so they are stuck to the floor. There is no way to save them. I did take some photos though so they won't be completely forgotten.

a lop-sided world

Well, the house adventure continues... We started to put in the cupboards we were given this week end. The challenge that arose was not fully realized until they were all connected. We knew that the floors were uneven, but decided to leave them, as they don't feel too bad. This meant shims to keep them level. The first cupboard starts on the floor, but the get gradually higher as you move along. The cupboards are kinda low, and I am not exactly short, so this is not a big dael. The larger challenge arose when we placed the original counter rop on just to get a real height idea. this brought us to the realization as to just how UNsquare my walls are. There is no way we could even use a little bit of the old counter. STRESS!! We then thought of all the different possible ways of making our own, as it would have to be custom built. For about the same cost of a standard pre-made counter, I will have solid 1 1/4" thick maple counters. Our friend knows a guy who installs hard wood floors in semi trailers. He was able to get us a deal, and get it delivered. We measured and cut it ourselves, and now just need to assemble the pieces. Then the holes for the sink and range can be cut. That just leaves routering the edges for a softer look, and screwing it all down (or up, as it is done frome the bottom). The end of next weekend should see me with an installed kitchen, and running water in both the kitchen and bathroom. We also will be totally ready to paint most of the rooms. I know I said I wanted to be ready for that by the end of this week-end, but the counter top trouble had to sorted out first. That is alright though, because paint goes on sale this Thursday. It just gives me an few more days to finalize colours. Oh yeah, the mud worked on the walls, so I will be ready to paint all the bed rooms, I have a couple of days of sanding though.

OH MY!

Well, it is quite the interesting adventure we are having. I was scraping some of the paint in the bedroom, so I could mud the cracks before painting. It is just peeling off in huge chunks. In some places the paint is 1/16" thick, and in other places it is only a couple layers thick. There are some areas that won't peel at all, then when I turn around it loosens and will peel off some more. I think I have gottenall the loose chunks now, but it is all I did ALL day. Tomorrow I am going to try to mud the walls and blend in the parts that don't peel. Maybe I won't be ready by the end of the week to paint that bedroom.

Cool discovery

When we pulled up the old linoleum in one of the bedrooms, we found 12 local news papers, and one Toronto Star from 1947. They were spread out under the floorin, so I took some time to sort them to see what I had (I guess that is the scrapbooker in me). They were all complete issues, and we are giving them to the local historical society. We spent a few hours reading them, and were fascinated by the old adds. There is also burlap under the linoleum in the bathroom. it is kind of neat to see what they did in the past, when decorating. The most common thing seems to be to just add another layer of linoleum. If the piece you have isn't big enough to cover the entire floor, paint the border to match the background.

Here it is!

Well, it looks better outside than in at the moment. The second picture is of the den. It had the plaster ripped off before we looked at it, but it allowed us to see that the main house is of cut stone. The bottom picture is of the living room. We have pulled off all the linoleum tiles, and are in the process of pulling up the ply wood that was under it. Beneath that is another layer of linoleum, a felt backing and finally wide pine plank tongue and groove floors. We are taking it all back to the wood floor, except maybe the bathroom. I am still undecided on that. I finally figured out the layout for my kitchen, so we had to have the electrical moved, and put up dry wall. By the weekend I should have some of the rooms ready to paint. The three bedrooms, the living room, the dining room and the upper and lower hallways. I just have to pick a paint colour for my room. By the end of next weekend, the kitchen will be ready too. That leaves the bathroom, den and family room. All need a fair bit of work, So the bathroom is first. The other two can be completed after we move in if necessary. The yellow colour on the wall is going to be the main colour in the living and dining rooms, with different accent colours for each that will be tied together in the den which will open into both rooms.