We've been home a few weeks now

No pictures today - I know, boring.  We moved home a few weeks ago and it's been wonderful.  There are still a few things that need to be done but the guys are on it and we know it'll be done soon.  It's been amazing cooking in my house again using gas.  I haven't used gas for cooking in almost 15 years.  A few days after we moved in we decided to make Boboli pizzas - we all had our favorite toppings and made our own pizzas.  And they all got cooked at the same time because we now have two ovens!  The microwave can even function as an oven - I used it the next day to crisp up the left over pizza and it was great.

The changes we made in the floor plan and the bathrooms have worked out better than we could hope.  It's hard to know exactly what things look like because there are boxes everywhere, but as far as we've gotten it's wonderful.  We've also been ruthless about selling/donating/tossing stuff.  The back of the van was filled with stuff for Value Village after the first 20 boxes were opened.  We've got another load as well as items for sale on craigslist.  I also finally burned/shredded my tax returns from the 80s and 90s!  Now the question is, what are we going to put in all the file cabinets we have?

So in addition to unpacking and moving stuff around we're moving into shearing season for the alpacas and llamas (that starts this coming Saturday) and the start of Farmers Market season (May 1st is opening day) and we're trying to get into some art shows this year.  I've got a bunch of fiber leftover from last year, taking a few months off from the fiber work can do that, plus what we're going to get this year so it's going to be very busy around here for a while.

I'll get pics posted soon -

Home Sweet Home

I'm coming to the end of the story of the house rebuild.  We've been home for over two weeks now.  We got our textiles last week and the furniture comes on Wednesday - we'll finally have someplace to put all the textiles.  There's some work left on the kitchen and details and clean up around the rest of the house, but we're home!  Here are some pictures to bring this up to date:

We can't wait for our furniture to arrive in another week.  The front room is so inviting, but without chairs there isn't much we can do with it.  We're definitely getting a new fire screen and we now have a ton of kindling thanks to all the trim.  We learned that our fireplace is actually very good at putting out the heat and we can't wait to put it to use.The front room is now wood floor instead of the combo of wood and carpet we had before.  At one point our crew was concerned about the fireplace, but Tim and I knew it would look okay and we think it looks great with the floors and walls

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We were hoping to use our original sink, but it was just that little bit too big.  So we ended up with a stainless sink that was similar in size and definitely fit the space.  The counter is granite, orange/black/grey and sparkly.

The kitchen is terribly cluttered right now, unfortunately there was a problem with the counter and the range - the front of the range where the controls are is just a bit too wide for the opening that was cut.  The granite crew was supposed to be back yesterday to fix it, but were a noshow.  Because the range is sticking out a bit we can't put the dishwasher in or get the drawer and cabinet to open properly.  So that's our excuse for not putting more stuff away tonight.

There are still quite a few things that need to be moved into the fiber room - shelves, fiber, setup tables, dry sink etc.  But the space is great and the lighting amazing!

We're Home!!!

We moved home on the 17th!  It would have been the 16th, but Edyk had a band concert.  There was one working toilet, one shower and that was it and I was in heaven!  The boys had their beds set up in our closet because their bedroom wasn't ready.  I think they really liked the idea of sleeping in the closet for some strange reason and were bummed when the carpets were laid down.  They now have their own bathroom and as of today, Tuesday the 23rd, everything works!

Tomorrow we're out of the house 'til Thursday because the second coat is going down on the downstairs wood floor.  Once that's done I'll take pics and possibly a short movie to show all the work and changes that are in place.

Jim, the bird, is at our neighbor's.  The girls will be at the groomers and Rorik is at "Aunt" Ginger's.  We'll be at another neighbor's apartment until Thursday and then it'll be the detail work.

I can't wait!

We're almost there -

The new paint job!

The new floor downstairs

We're just a few days away from being able to move back into the house.  The floor downstairs is unfinished in this picture.  It was supposed to be sanded today and the first coat goes on today or tomorrow.  Then the kitchen cabinets and appliances go in, then the second coat and then we move in finally!

We're working on moving out of the rental by Saturday even though the house won't be quite ready.  We'll either move into our neighbor's garage apartment for the final days or we'll be in a hotel about 20 miles away. Not the best setup, but only for a few more days!

There's also the possibility that we'll stay in the rental since it's not ready to go on the market - I love this not knowing!

Closer and Closer

My plan was to upload a bunch of pictures and label them to give everyone an idea of just how close we are to being finished.  The painting inside is almost complete, the front room needs one more coat and that will be it!  the doors and mill work are waiting to be stained and then put up, the appliances arrived on Thursday and look great.  The upstairs bathroom vanity also arrived on Thursday and looks better than it did on the website where I found it.  The kitchen cabinets showed up on Wednesday as scheduled and I can't wait until it's all installed.  The new front door should be ready this week and the claw foot bathtub for upstairs should also be done soon.  We're also having the outside painting done - this time it'll be yellow, blue and white.  Only the bay window will be blue, the rough cedar will be white and everything else will be yellow.  So far I think it looks really nice.

The plan now is to stain the doors and mill work today and tomorrow.  The wood for the flooring will be delivered and offloaded to acclimate for 24 hours.  I believe the installation will start on Tuesday.  While the wood is adjusting the carpets and vinyl will be installed in the downstairs bedrooms (carpet) and the bathroom, mudroom and my work room (vinyl).  I think we're also going to have vinyl installed in the laundry room - this room was redone mainly because it was impacted by the rest of the rebuild.

I think the cabinets are going into the kitchen on Monday and after the first coat of swedish finish on the wood floor the appliances will be installed.  The greenhouse window is ready for installation, but I'm not sure when that's going to happen.

The upstairs is complete except for the bathtub, sauna and the new electric fireplace (that we still have to get).  The sauna will be installed just outside the bedroom upstairs.  We'll have that delivered once everything else is complete to keep the mess and confusion to a minimum.  The dedicated outlet and circuit is all ready for it and apparently the installation is very straightforward - fortunately.

I think we have a few more things to pick out - the lights for the boys' rooms, the dining room light, towel racks, hooks etc for the bathrooms.

Getting Closer Everyday

The sheetrock is almost complete through the house.  This is the view into the kitchen.  The wood on the right side is where the opening for the new greenhouse window has been roughed in for framing.  Before the wood was in place the light was pouring into the kitchen.  The difference is quite dramatic.

We're planning on moving into the upstairs as soon as we're given the green flag.  The wood floor upstairs is getting it's final coat this weekend.  The bathroom vanity should arrive next week as well as the kitchen cabinets and appliances.  Depending on the timing for all of that and getting the downstairs wood floor installed and sealed will have a definite impact on when we move.  It wouldn't make sense to move in only to have to vacate a week later for the wood floor work - the smell from the sealant is bad enough that the house is virtually unliveable until it dissipates. 

Once again all my fiber work, except spinning, is on hold because the rental is back on the market and having my fiber all over the place is a mess.  So my focus until we get back in the house will be spinning.  Fortunately I have enough roving to stay busy and that will mean that much more hand spun for the market when it starts in May.