March 26, 2008

stretching





it's interesting how a new project, new surroundings, new job, new anything ... a change in our daily routine helps to see life differently, see ourselves differently. the interesting piece is not exactly seeing the resistance but "feeling" it in the body and what that does then to our mental state. we have experienced how it changes the desire for food and the amount of hours one sleeps and it enters the dream state and does all sorts of weird things!

taking the walls down a few weeks ago was the hardest change for me ... seeing the walls of this 100 year old house come down. mind you the room is only 5 x 7 which is probably more the size of someones closet then bathroom. even so I felt it in my body in so many ways.

dad has had to stretch himself to do parts of this job he hasn't ever taken on. and when I heard him say about three different times he wasn't going to repair the floor ... someone else could, I knew he just sealed the deal (as he would say) for himself! for me watching him it has been joyful and a bit stressful ... you can montior how he is doing by counting how many times he says "GOD DAMIT". sleep finally came for him last night after getting his head around patching the hole in the floor. working from above and below in the basement, while making sure the plumber can come back and finish up the install for the tub water lines. and finally this morning installing insulation so the carpenter can start the dry wall tomorrow.

in the pictures above you can see the electrician has been here and did a bit of re-wiring for the new sconce that will go over the medicine cabinet. the medicine cabinet will inset in the wall, similar to the older style that fits the house. the plumber was here and re-routed the sink drain, set up lines for the pedestal sink and new toilet. about an hour ago the claw tub was delivered via portland and rejuvenation hardware.

lets see ... that leaves ... walls, door, floor, paint and a bit of trim. we will report any as things move forward.

a toast and a bow to .... stretching.

March 18, 2008

afternoon light

















more and more afternoons with light streaming into the house. it catches our attention around tea time and slows the day down. the gift is really given to us from the old maple that isn't standing any longer. loses and gifts, gifts and loses ... on and on.

nothing new to report on the "redo" in bathroom except we are close to taking the reins ourselves.
its an interesting process taking others advise, others giving advise and all the trust and expectation issues that go along with that. its been two weeks since we took the room apart and the contractor says they "might" be able to start on it in another ... two weeks! instead the electrician and the plumber are arriving this week to help move us along. wish us well with the carpenter.

any signs of spring in your worlds?

March 13, 2008

first return

the medicine cabinet arrived yesterday in its over sized packaging ... the cabinet turned out to be "over sized" for our space. we will take a little drive to portland this weekend to return it. found the right size "online" and am hoping for the best.

still waiting on contractor and a few return calls to others folks we hope can help out with this project, in the meantime it allows us to change our minds on hardware choices ... a million times!

as you can see the sun is shining, between rain showers. the heating stove is still needed but the daffodils are in bloom and the tree buds are fattening. dad took a break from interior design decisions and pruned the old pear tree which will pop its blooms any day soon.

we miss each of you.

March 9, 2008

who's idea was this??


the walls are down! the plaster in the dumpster and the lath sitting in the neighbors yard to be recycled into another old house. the "fabric" wall paper was discovered on the south wall of the room. not covering it fully but maybe left as a reminder of times past. interesting part about it is that it was under the lath/plaster wall. so the wall we took down must have been put up some time later (maybe when lath/plaster technology came about?). next we take up the old wood flooring that is under the vinyl and hopefully we hear from the contractor this week ... or we create a plan B?
we took a rest day today, a sunday drive of sorts ... ended up at the finley wildlife refuge. spotted our first pair of ducks, ringed neck and hooded merganser (male and female). the sure sign of spring is truly here ... 3 large turkey vultures floating over head.


March 6, 2008

rye grass in the bathroom



after 7 1/2 years of talking about it we have started taking the bathroom apart. thoughts regarding the timing was "its this years house project" but once we started pulling off the tile we could see the damage on the old lath and plaster walls. so what felt like the next thing to do on the list is now "a must do on the list". the old lath and plaster walls are all coming down except the ceiling, the tub as you can see is on its way out today and by this weekend the old flooring will be off. we are waiting on a bid from the contractor and this morning we ordered the tub (claw tub) and shower combo. after choosing the color "rye grass" by sherwin williams paints for the outside of the tub, little did I realize we weren't losing the old green tub but just replacing it with a new one! now if I can keep Dad from making a strawberry planter out of it ....