Progress

One bright light in this remodel has been our electrician. Dennis is absolutely wonderful; he's tidy, good tempered, patient, timely, non-smoking, and he has a good sense of aesthetics. He really thinks through the best function and appearance of every light switch, outlet, and lighting fixture. And he doesn't even fuss when I have him undo or change something!

We're having the entire upstairs rewired (or perhaps I should say wired, as there really isn't any "re" about it), as there was only one outlet and one wall switch for all three rooms and the hallway up there! Now, I have switches on every light, one or more outlets on every wall, GFCI plugs in the bathroom, sconce lights over the bed, service lights and plugs near all the mechanical systems, heavy duty junction boxes for ceilings fans on the deep front porch, hardwired interconnected smoke detectors, properly sized breakers, and a neatly labeled electrical panel. He also built the nifty little access door and service platform to the attic because I didn't trust the framers to cut into my almost-90-year-old wooden walls and get it right.

Thankful

One of the many reasons I love Thanksgiving so much is because it's the only time of year you can buy fresh cranberries in the store. Even as a picky eater in childhood, I have always loved cranberry sauce. The whole berry canned variety will do in a pinch, but my mom spoiled us with homemade and it is that which I truly prefer. A homemade batch is my yearly contribution to the Evans' family Thanksgiving table. I always make a double or triple batch so we can enjoy it before, during, and after the holiday!

It's basically the staple recipe on the bag of cranberries, with lots of my own variation. I substitute orange juice for half of the liquid, and I simmer cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves to infuse the water for the other half. I often stir in a tablespoon or so of brandy just after boiling the berries, too.

One of Jeff's favorite meals: tender turkeyloaf with pineapple glaze, candied sweet potatoes, spiced cranberry sauce, and a green veggie for good measure & pretty color!

Great Blue Heron

We've had a large avian visitor several days in a row now. He (or perhaps she) lands in the large expanse of side yard we idealistically call the West Meadow (I hope to plant a field of wildflowers there one of these days). He's quite gorgeous, and he just sits there or walks slowly through the tall grass. Once, I saw him stretch low and then swoop quickly at something, so we wonder if he's hunting. He's welcome to some of the mice around here!

To date...

It doesn't look like much yet, but here are the requested photos of the bathroom. The framing went up weeks ago, but all the effort so far has been in the little and hidden things, like the HVAC vent, electrical, plumbing rough ins, etc.

View from outside

View from bathroom doorway

View of future shower (on the left) and toilet (on the right)

View of vanity wall

Small Town Parade

Sunday was Veteran's Day, and our small town celebrated with a first ever local parade and dedication of the new county veteran's memorial. The parade lined up just down the block from us, so we could see the activity coalescing for about an hour while we worked on some painting and caulking out on the back roof. Then we got ourselves down and cleaned up and headed over to watch the festivities.

After the parade passed, we walked over to Veteran's Park and looked at the beautiful new granite memorial and statue. There was a very nice presentation with color guard, singing, presentations, and addresses. All in all, a very nice way to spend a gorgeous fall afternoon in our little town.









 

Bathroom Update

The bathroom is coming along. We have developed a plan to make a regular door and jamb work, so the pocketdoor problem has gone away (though the plan is not implemented yet, so there is still plenty of time for things to go awry). The room is fully dried in, as evidenced by several rains and no late night trips for the drip pan. So that's good news.

Now it's just constant decision-making. How many sconce lights? What height for the chandelier? Which lights on which switch? How far from the sidewall to place the toilet? What distance off the vanity for the outlets? Shower drain in the center or to the front? Center plumbing based on pan curb or not? Decorative tile accents or no? Bullnose wrapping the wall end, or just sheetrock? How large for the shower niches? Separate handshower or incorporated showerhead? 30" or 32" entrance door? Bath fan vented to the right or the left? HVAC duct turned horizontal or vertical? What size crown molding? Window casing mitered or built up with stool and apron?

It never ends, and I feel rather incapable of the task at times. I am a very visual person, and I have to mock things up. The problem is, I often have to make decisions now for something that is coming later. For example, the plumbers are coming tomorrow to rough in all the drains and supply lines. So I have to know where the tub is going. But since it's centered just in front of the window, I have to decide now about trim to know how much space to leave. That's just a tiny example, but it's the one I'm dealing with right now. Or will be as soon as I finish this post and get back to work!

Weekend Work

Jeff and I enjoyed a fairly laid-back weekend. We had a church chili supper Saturday evening and didn't get home until very late, so the extra hour we gained was spent in much needed sleep. But then we got busy.

I finally found time this week to put the final coats of Waterlox on the floors, so this weekend we moved a few furniture pieces back in. Until the finish has really cured, we don't dare bring the antique piano or a couple of the heavier items in, but just having the rooms straightened up a bit has helped the rest of the house not feel so disordered.

Dining room floors before

Dining room after refinishing

Before view in living room

After

Our other project was hanging the living room ceiling fan. Jeff prefers ceiling fans and I like attractive fixtures, so we were excited to find a version we both love.

Unattractive (but functional) fan

Stained glass Craftsman style fan

Potty Problems

I really want to keep perspective. My new bathroom is too small. Okay, it's smaller than I wanted. Truthfully, it's a decent size bath; I've had bedrooms that were smaller! It's really just the proportions that are off. The framers made it wider and shorter than it was designed to be (partly because of a legitimate concern and partly because of mis-communication from the contractor to the framers). But then it was badly compounded by the fact that no one told us, and we had to find out days later on our own when we were measuring the room. It's not the square footage loss that is the real problem, it's the fixture placement and layout. I very carefully designed the room for maximum function and aesthetics and already purchased key items, and now that's all been thrown for a loop.

Since it was already done and our contract said it couldn't be changed, we settled on a pocket door to save space and allow us to use the vanities I already bought. I had to go get the framing kit myself from a distant lumberyard (a multi-hour ordeal) because they needed it that morning. Then the framer, who knew we were using an original, vintage door from the house, never measured the height of said door (which is very non-standard, as you can imagine), and now the header and pocket framing are installed three inches too high. I can't swap it for another door that is standard height because the opening and cavity were framed for my specific door width. And the framing kit is fragile-looking to begin with, so we don't know if it will survive them tearing it out and cutting it down and re-installing it. 

We really don't trust the framer to do anything more with the door at this point. We wouldn't even need a pocket door if the room were the right size! As the saying goes: good, fast, cheap; pick two. Well, I think we only got one of those (if you don't know which one, just look back at the title of the last week's post)!

 I try to remember that at the end of all this, we will have a bathroom with shower, tub, and sinks. I just hope it has a door!