It's Not Pink

My lovely mom read the post about the lack of progress in the downstairs bathroom and volunteered to come over and paint it for us.

I had been gushing about the lovely pink color I picked out to everyone for weeks.
But it turns out it's not pink.

We don't really know what color it is. It's not really an orange or tan. Or a purple or blue. And it's definitely not pink.

Tim loves it. He thinks it's a very Victorian color. I'm just disappointed. I had really gotten my hopes up for this pink.

Back on Track

Thanks for the "Ctrl+F5" tip Greg! It was genius.
I believe last I left off the stairway was being stripped.

This shot was taken from the basement stairwell. There had previously been rows of 2x4s nailed up that covered the back of the stair panels.

Tim tore those out and numbered all of the panels that were able to come out so he could put them back in place again.

Also we lucked out. All but one of the panels that appeared to be missing had just fallen behind other panels. We had the missing panel reproduced. We got it to match pretty well, and we're not going to worry because the couch we have picked out will hide it anyway.

With the house open to the basement like this I had nightmares of the skunk that lives down there coming up the stairs and through one of the holes for a little visit. Ah, the joys of owning an old home.

Here's the stairway completely stripped...

and as it sits now.

The banister and panels are completely refinished. We are waiting to do the stair treads when we do the floor. We figure we'll want a stronger finished on those treads with the little one one the way.

Help!

I've lost my editor's toolbar in the create menu on Blogger. Does anyone know how to correct this or how I get in contact with someone from Blogger about this?

A Request from Dale

Tim told me Dale requested a before and after photo of the woodwork. The pieces are door trim from the living room. They are quarter sawn oak from what we can tell.

The piece on the left is the "after" and the piece on the right is the "before". I know, it's kind of backwards, but Tim took the picture, not me.

But you just don't get the full effect of the difference until you touch the finish.

Here's Dale in his workshop/our living room working on the stairway panels.

Stairway Under Way

Tim started stripping the foyer stairway. He's trying out a "new to us" product, a furniture refinisher. He's been very happy with how it takes the old finish out of hard to clear areas like the carved details and dental molding with just a spray bottle.
Tim used the furniture refinisher for all of the posts too.
See doesn't it clean out that dental molding nicely?
This photo shows the stairs stripped as well. He used our old stand by Dad's paint stripper for these easier to strip flat surfaces.

Why Must Something So Cute

be so darn expensive?

It says "little helper"

It even has little matching socks... hehehe.

A Compromise for Price

Ok so this isn't the greatest photo in the world, but I've discovered it's very difficult to photograph light switches.

The electricians were here and everything is now wired except for a few upstairs bedrooms, the downstairs bath, and the dining room. The under the cabinet lighting is in and getting heavy use, and the radiant floor heat in the kitchen is defiantly a splurge I'm very please we went with. Yes, I now classify it as a need not a want.

Originally downstairs we had planned on going with the replica push button light switches. But as the bills piled higher and higher we realized that they were going to have to be a "later" installation.

So we talked and decided that this house would have probably had the plastic molded switch plates anyway. We asked our electrician if you could still purchase those, and of course you couldn't. However, he did have a bunch of boxes of them in storage that he hasn't been able to get rid of for years, and he'd give them to us for free. Yea!

He had enough to do the main rooms downstairs and the hallway upstairs. I think they turned out pretty decent. But I still dream of the day when I can push for lighting not flick.

Stellen Sie sich der Herausforderung!

At least that's what the living room wall paper's web site says. It's amazing I was able to navigate it and find a photo of my sample (just kidding there was a little flag button that you pushed for a rough English translation).

I love saying the paper is from Germany (and it is) because it makes it sound so much more impressive than what really happened. We went to Sherwin Williams and picked it out one weekend. In fact, I don't even think I combed my hair for the "trip".

The rolls that showed up are actually much lighter than what the above sample and the sample in the store showed. I'm not really happy about this, but I've told you this before.

You Can Actually Walk Through the Room

Since Dale has taken a few truck loads of woodwork home to his shop to work on our foyer has become less of a hazard.

Check out this posting from July to see the various stages of foyer walkablity.

Another Round of Woodwork

Tim and Dale split up the woodwork for the living room (actually, I'm willing to bet Dale has most of it), and Tim's been busily refinishing that.

We just have to get the woodwork that's still in place around the run of three windows and see if we can remove the pocket doors. If we can't we'll have to refinish them in place also. Then it's off to the local hardware store to rent a floor sander.

Tim thinks we'll be moving furniture into the room in a week. My bet is a month. Anyone want to start a pool?

Please Dear

Reverse psychology has always worked well with Tim. Unfortunately I forgot to use it this time.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY want the downstairs bathroom finished by the time the baby comes.

I plan on putting a changing table in here one the one long unused wall. Also, once the kid gets big enough that bath time on the kitchen counter is no longer feasible I'm going to have to break down an kneel in front of a tub. This tub would be so much easier to deal with than the clawfoot upstairs.

I made the mistake of explaining this to my husband. Who was at the time trying to decide what project to do next. After that discussion he cleared out the room and got the tile board on the floor.

Then it happened. He decided that the living room was much more of a priority. And so here the poor bathroom sits with out even a coat of primer for modesty.

Tim if you read this I really would like you to wait until hell freezes over to finish that down stairs bathroom. Please.

It's Just Like Christmas...

so maybe I should get those Christmas cards sent.

As I dig through piles and I discover all sorts of lovely things that I've forgotten we have. Like the above picture we got from Tim's mom awhile ago. It's now hanging in the hallway to his office. It's amazing how much one can come to appreciate a "finished" space.

The Pantry Has All the Doors and Drawers...

but not all the knobs.

Oh it's so exciting to have them up! And the light fixture is the first one we had purchased for this house. The three year wait so see it up and lit has been worth it.

I spent last week/weekend cramming lots of things into it. So once again we've had a significant reduction in the box pile. Yea!

Life in General

So I guess readers would like an up-date on not only the house but life in general.

I am feeling much better. My energy level, while not quite up to the usual Becky standards, is such that I now get out of bed at least a few hours before having to go to work. And I haven't had a bout of morning sickness for three weeks now. Yea!
We had an ultra sound at the beginning of the month and that was really neat. The baby wasn't as excited as we were because at the beginning it yawned, stuck its thumb in its mouth, and flipped its legs over its head for a little R&R.
I would post pictures of the nursery, but we don't actually have any nursery items yet. I really need to take a hint from the early appearance of Grace over at HIP and get my butt in gear.

Tim is doing well also. With the help of a wonderful doctor up at the Mayo clinic he was able to get his third class medical back as of last Friday. This means he can fly "privately" i.e. not for hire. I know it's not what he had hoped for, but everyone can't help but notice what a better mood he is in. Plus this doctor is also working to get him a special issuance of a second class medical i.e. fly for hire for smaller companies. If he gets it he would be the first in the country. The doctor thinks his changes are good, just that it might take a few tries. But his health has been outstanding. He's never had a low blood sugar episode and his long term sugar level is better than most healthy adults.
He currently braving the world of finding a job. In his entire career he's never had to apply or interview for a position, he had such a great reputation in the local flying community. So that whole process has been kind of a shock to him.

My car broke down a couple of days ago and got taken in for repairs. I discovered yesterday it has my camera charger in it so you'll have to be patient, and I'll get some pictures up of the pantry. Dale got the doors up and the knobs are in process. And I of course spent all weekend cramming them full of stuff.
In other exciting house news our living room wall paper is in. And guess what Mary (my sister the German major), it's German! Unfortunately it's quite a bit lighter than we had remembered too. But as my mother-in-law pointed out, it's going to be a dark room with the wrap around porch blocking all the windows so we will probably come to appreciate its light color.

So thank you everyone who has thought of us. I promise to try and be a better blogger. At least until the dirty diapers start.

I'm in Love

With my new cement board siding.

In the above picture you can see the old and new siding. Which is which you ask. Would you believe it's this hard to tell in real life too? Honest.

The right hand side is the new cement board and the left hand side is the old cedar.

We've got another great carpenter working with Dale on putting the stuff up for us. I don't know what we've done lately. Maybe it's the bad run of luck we've had in other areas of life, but we've had amazing carpenter karma. Actually it all started when I got pregnant. Is that the secret? People do say I'm glowing. Or has it just gotten around town that I'm pregnant, married to an unemployed guy, and living in, as Greg would say, a fuculent hell hole. Do I invoke pity? Hell! Does it matter?

On another note the picture above shows a little surprise we uncovered. The two different colors of wood shows where they raised the roof of the original house at some point.

Fan Mail

Got this note delivered to me yesterday.

I already had guilt because I haven't sent my Christmas cards yet.

A Little R&R

Last Christmas Tim gave me a gift certificate for the bed and breakfast in town. We were planning on using it when we refinished our floors. However, since that hasn't happened yet, and the thing has a year expiration date on it, we opted to just stay for no good reason. We were the only couple there that night and we had a lovely time exploring, sitting in front of one of the many fireplaces, and vegging out in front of the TV.

In fact, if you are still looking for that special Christmas something for that special old house-a-phile I think this would be a great idea. Especially if you are currently like us, camping with a mortgage.

This was our bedroom:


Here's some shots from the rest of the house:


Oooo! And if anyone needs any ideas for me, I LOVE this nativity set.

Work continues in the kitchen and pantry this week. There is SO MUCH wood work to be primed, painted, and hung.

The pantry's doors and drawers are finished. They just need to be hung and handles put on.

We're basically sitting around waiting for paint to dry. Here's a view of the pantry looking through the dining room pass through. The interior yellow is so much brighter in person. I'm disappointed it doesn't come through better in the photo. It's going to take another coat of the cream to get good enough coverage.

Dale has all of the bead board up and painted in the kitchen. There's pieces of cap missing here and there, but then we've pretty much finished up with woodwork in there. Well, at least until we get a little warmer weather to do the exterior doors and windows.

Welcome Back, Looking Good

Isn't funny how when you put certain parts of the house back it's like welcoming back an old friend who has been gone for way too long?

Welcome back kitchen bead board!

Kitchen Trim...So Close

The trim is up around the openings in the kitchen. We both made the comment after seeing this that we were starting to think this day would never come.
Of course, we still have a ways to go. The windows themselves need painting. The door to the south porch needs trimmed out and a coat of paint.
And we have A LOT of bead board to deal with.

Ok. I officially depressed myself.

While We Aren't Quite Ready to Host the Thanksgiving Feast...

We are getting closer thanks to Dale. I'm currently so smitten with him I'm thinking of calling him Wonder Dale. Well, maybe not actually to his face. I don't want him to think I'm making fun of him and leave.

Last week he finished up where I left off with the mudroom trim.

And made short work of the trim in the little hallway to the mudroom.

Em and family- note the base board. It's the stuff from your barn :)
Thanks again!

It's Been One Hell of a Fall

I'd like to start out by apologizing to everyone. I am so sorry for falling off the face of the "earth" with no warning or explanation. I just didn't really have the energy to share all of this until now.

I don't know if I ever officially shared this here, but Tim is a professional pilot. He went to college for it. He has just about every license the FAA provides. And what's really amazing is it all comes so natural to him. To him flying an aircraft of any type is as easy as walking down the street. What is strange is he's always known that he was going to be a pilot. His family tells stories of asking him what he was playing and he'd answer, "I'm Darryl Klink the spray pilot." It's still a mystery where he got the name.

Every year a professional pilot must get a flight physical. Tim went in for his early this fall. I went along, but waited in the waiting room. The whole thing took way to long and I made it through the waiting rooms selection of crappy magazines way to quickly. When Tim finally came out front he didn't speak to me, in fact he walked right by like I didn't exist. I knew something was very wrong. It seemed like forever at the nurses check-out. He was setting up more appointments for some scary unknown reason. Why wouldn't he look at me to let me know it was alright?

The next couple of weeks were a blur of doctor and nurse's appointments. To make a long story short Tim has Type I diabetes. His blood sugar level at that first doctors appointment was in the 300's, a normal person's 80-120. It had some how developed in the last year (the previous year's flight physical was completely normal), and as the doctors described the signs we began to wonder how we didn't catch it earlier.

So with one simple urine test a 10 year career is over. The FAA doesn't license pilots who are taking insulin due to the risk of low blood sugar. How does someone find a new "career" when they've already had the one they love? That's the question he's struggling with now. And I don't know how to fix it. I'm not used to that. I dive in with a list and a plan of attack to make it all better. But there is no where to dive and I can't make it better. I just want to give him my pancreas, but we'd probably need a weeks vacation time to get to one of those countries that would perform that kind of surgery. I used all of my vacation accompanying him to flight training schools this spring. (see we still have some what of a sense of humor)

But according to his specialist the out look is good. In 5-10 years a legal transplant or a prothesis of some sort is very likely to be an option. His only task is to keep himself healthy until one of these options becomes available. And he's doing a wonderful job of that. He was just telling me the other day that his one month level is at 97. And this entire time he's never had a low blood sugar episode. Take that stupid FAA.

In other news we have hired a friend of Tim's to help finish the house. Last week was his first week and he's doing a beautiful job. He works quickly and neatly. I had some real problems wrapping my head around the idea of someone helping with stuff we are "perfectly capable of doing ourselves." But Dale definitely won me over in the first week.

Plus, how much right to I have to complain when I'm not allowed to help because I'm pregnant. Yes, one week after we found out about Tim's diabetes we were very surprised (we had been trying for over a year) to discover I had my own health issues.

So I am 28 years old, pregnant, married to a guy with no job, and living in a house with holes in the floor/walls. Not exactly where I had pictured my life ending up. But you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world.