Roll the credits

People always ask if I do all the work on the house myself. Noooooo...not even close.
So it's time to recognize the people who did all the actual skilled work and fixed all the stuff I screwed up:


Rochelle Relyea: Pardon the lousy photo. Here's a better one:





International model-turned renovator (Maybe you've seen her on the cover of Elle. Really.) A great eye for design and cost-effective problem-solving. Her time is in high demand so I was fortunate to get some of it on very short notice.

Joe Penney: Lucky thing that Sara passed Joe's name along. He seems to know how to do everything, well. Installed windows, cabinets, flooring, doors and more. I don't think I could have completed this project without his help.

Canstar electric; John, Bill and Evan: Fast, John had great ideas for lighting and wiring options. Bill is very funny but can be hard to understand when he speaks English. Evan's a lovely young guy who seemed to spend a lot of time crawling in the crawl space.

David's Plumbing Service: Which is really Bob and Wayne. Why do plumbing companies always seem to have names that bear no relation to the plumbers themselves?

Kathryn Mulders: Nice job tiling the kitchen backsplash and shower surround.

There have been other great helpers, but I didn't want anyone to think I deserve the credit for all this work.

Before n' after

I had hoped Madeline would bring home the bacon in the office lottery pool so we wouldn't have to sell. But no luck, or not enough of it, anyway. So the sign is on the lawn, and people are tramping through, pronouncing it "too small" or saying they don't like crawl-space houses.
Funny how the houses in your price range are never what you're really looking for, whatever your price range is.

garage sale leftovers

Passed up this cute bed frame at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago, but lucky for me, so did everyone else. It was still there, waiting for me on the lawn, when I realized I needed something for the front room.

Myrtle

I heard someone calling me beyond the back fence and when I went over Myrtle introduced herself. She had been waiting to present me with a rose bush she had started for me. A welcoming present. She was disappointed to learn that I was not going to stay.
Myrtle's house is surrounded by terraced gardens. Vegetables in the corner nearest the fence line, lilacs and vines and her darling roses.
She thinks the one she gave me is called "American Peace". The flower is a lovely clear pink. I felt guilty and apologized repeatedly for failing to move in to the place, but I'm expecting the next owners will be the staying kind.

Here it is....

http://samsar.qti.net/vrebEpic/mldetail1.asp?ID=2ec4hn7&agcode=1713

Never done

It's almost ready but so many small details are nagging. Sanding and painting touch-ups. Installing bathroom towel bars, getting the pea gravel and bark mulch out of the driveway and into their places. Plants into the ground. Install the new garage window. Install new doorknobs. Caulking. Another coat of paint on the fireplace bricks. Hang mirror and pictures, bring furniture. Clean. Clean. Clean. It's probably good that it's not quite listed yet - maybe later today?

Meanwhile things are breaking down and disappearing. Losing the cellphone is a sure sign that things are reaching stress meltdown point. Both lawnmowers have cacked out; well, the newer one is making mysterious rattling noises and the other just quit. The computer went on the fritz. Even my watch has stopped keeping correct time. I've been too rushed and busy to deal with any of this. Haven't even had time to put down the paintbrush or shovel and take pictures. So I'll post some "not-quite-after" photos of the back door project and Bindweed Alley (or is it Allee?) without the "befores." You'll have to take my word that it was really really bad before.

Learning to crawl space/Goodbye Norma Jean

Took Friday off to deal with the crawl space. It was one of the remaining creepy scary things about the house that had to be exorcised. Have a welter of scraped patches along my spine to show for it. Also 3 yards of drain rock that was formerly in the driveway is now down below (with a lot of help from Tom and Johnny.) There is much more to do: Spreading the gravel over the ground, laying a plastic vapour barrier on the ground (or stapling it under the floor joists, which is the much more time-consuming but correct route). There are still a few metal ducts to remove from the old oil heating system, and bits of garbage, food wrappers, toys etc. to pick up. But it is looking and smelling a lot better.

The only good thing I found in the crawl space was an old picture of Marilyn Monroe, black and white, laminated on wood. I cleaned it up but it disappeared amid the growing jumble of building supplies in the garage. I have not found Jimmy Hoffa down there yet, but I'm not ruling it out.

I was going to include a photo of the crawl space, but this picture that Nellie took in the garden at Fallingdowne is much nicer.