Friday, May 29, 2009

spit-shine

The stone house was built into the side of a sloping bank, which makes the first floor smaller than one might imagine. It is the perfect size for an "in-law" apartment, though! It has one bedroom, a bright living room, an eat-in kitchen and a generous bathroom. The large deep-set windows look out over the yard and Grasse River. There is also an interior stairway with access to the fine gourmet cooking upstairs -which was a selling point.

My dear mom-in-law (affectionately called "Mumsie" by yours truly) will be moving into her new digs over the weekend. The previous tenant vacated this past Monday, and with his departure came a flurry of activity.

Hubby installed new baseboard for the hot water heat. We scrubbed and painted all walls. We shampooed the carpet. The kitchen cupboards are getting a face-lift, too.

I think it is looking spiffy. The main color (living room/kitchen) is a soft, soft green that makes the space light and inviting. It has been a continual source of amusement to me that it is called "Hee-Haw". Whatever.

We are looking forward to having Grandma Jean living close by again. She is excited about being able to walk to church . It should take her about fifteen minutes, with the short cut through the back green of the golf course!



Just up the stairs, I am testing paint colors in the sitting room/dining room. In some light, this is definitely blue. Then again, shifting to the other side of the room, it looks green. In the evening, it looks gray. I might keep it; I might not. The jury's still out.

Stop by and give your opinion. If you stay long enough, we will thrust a paint brush into your hand.

Monday, May 25, 2009

floors and views

I love this angle of the old stone home. From here, you can see the cedar-shake addition which comprises the present kitchen (multi-paned windows) and the family room (door entry). One can also see the gigantic, nonsensical fireplace and chimney that will eventually be removed from the premises.


The town dock/boat launch is across the street. This is the view from there.
...and this is the view from the front porch. Is it any wonder my family is concerned that I will never actually unpack and set up housekeeping?

The lure of the water is strong, I tell you.

That being very true, I assure you I have only been out with my kayak twice this season.


I have substituted smooth, broad strokes of the paddle for smooth, broad, polyurethane-laden strokes with a lamb's wool mop.

Don't feel sorry for me. All kinds of exercise are good for the soul.

I can also take up indoor skating now that our floors are so luxuriously smooth and shining. Come on over and give it whirl before the furniture gets in the way.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

sanding, washing, and re-finishing

First, the wood floors were sanded with a rented power-sander. Hubby did the honors.

Upstairs, the three bedrooms have narrow-board oak on the floor and they are very lovely, even though most likely installed in 1959. (At the top of the stairs, there is a 2x3 foot square of the original 1843 flooring. It is very wide, very scuffed, and very painted. It hints of what lurks under the oak flooring and speaks of "too much work to be worth it" to me.)

Downstairs, we have a wider board in the double living rooms/dining room. It has a red tint and beveled edges; quite unique. We are not sure of the type of wood. It is the original flooring and I love it.

After sanding, we let the dust settle for a few days. I armed myself with a giant shop-vac and tackled the next step of the job on Monday. All the floors were meticulously vacuumed and then wiped clean. Twice. Additionally, #1 Daughter helped me wash walls, trim, and baseboard just to eliminate our enemy, dust.

On Tuesday, I prepped for the poly by wiping down the floors once again. Then, with a long wooden pole with a pad of lamb's wool attached to the end, I dipped my "mop" into a paint tray full of oil-based satin finish poly, and started long, easy strokes, going with the grain.

The sunlight streaming through the windows, the warm yellow-red glow of the bare wood, the roar of the waterfalls, and the soft dull swish of the wool on the wood were my companions all afternoon. It was all very lovely until the headache hit.

Today, I did the same task all over again. This time, the prep was a pass with a dry-wall sander over ALL the floors followed by a wipe with a damp cloth. (Much rinsing and re-filling the bucket with fresh, clean water was called for. )The last pass with the poly-filled "magic wand" was administered by Hubby, as the fume-headache returned before the job was complete.

I strolled down the road to clear my head from the fumes. After a fantastic and restorative bowl of bean soup at 1942, I returned to find Hubby stretched out on the front porch, also looking for respite from the noxious polyurethane fumes.

As a reward for this effort, we have beautiful glowing floors throughout the house!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

one month

If one is too busy to write, then one is too busy. So very true.

We are moving into the stone house in one month, and the swirl of events around us has made it hard to sit still even for a minute.

Ana and I spent the afternoon at the properties yesterday; I was painting bedrooms at the stone house, she was raking glass and debris from the yard at the apartments up the road. She also came over and began removing paint drippings from floors (left from the previous tenants!). The plan is to at least have the bedrooms ready for our move by June 8th.

As for the main floor of the stone house, Bill has ripped apart the dividing wall between the two main rooms (dining room/living room) in order to see if we could install pocket doors. Nope. Too many wires/pipes hidden in the wall. At least now we know!

We have decided the enlarge the opening between the two rooms, though. That way, a piano recital, Christmas Party, or any other large gathering could be more integrated.

After the floors are sanded and refinished on the main floor, I can then paint. Hopefully this will happen before our move!

The supervisor of the bridge stopped by the properties to meet Bill yesterday. He is eager to rent apartments for the workers and Bill was eager to show him the possibilities. The apartments need to be ready by June 1st. This is one of those good news/bad news deals, as the push to ready the unfinished apartments seriously cuts into our moving preparations! But this is a huge blessing, as it will insure monthly income until November AND after then, finished apartments that are rental-ready.

There is only 24 hours to each day, so please pray for us (and especially my husband!) as we push ahead. Today is his birthday, so if you see the "Mayor of Madrid" around town, wish him a happy one!