Monday, January 30, 2012

Waylaid

I have not been this sick in forever. More than twelve hours of you don't wanna know kinda sick. Finally was able to eat a cracker yesterday and half a cup of soup. Ugh!

And, we are trying to finish strong. That was hard missing an entire day of working at the farm. J went up and finished trimming out the windows, removing old left behind plumbing in the crawl space, and finishing all the drywall repairs. Saturday all we did was clean the yard, as one of our inspections didn't quite pass. We removed two inches of dirt within 6 feet of the house. That was hell and I think we actually thought about quitting it all. Once it was done, all was well again. However, we still need the inspection follow up to be sure. Maybe that was what made me violently ill. Again, UGH!

We have a small list of remaining chores we are to finish before we can begin moving. Painting and refinishing the floors and putting in the new floor in the living room. We finally decided what floor. A pre-finished stained oak that is a pretty close match to the fir in the rest of the house. We will re-finish the fir to leave some original charm.

We almost spent our first night at the house this weekend. It has been to much of a construction zone until now. Frankly, glad I didn't, since I would have spent our first night there sleeping on the bathroom floor so as to be close to the porcelain god. I know, TMI.

Well, we are moving ever closer. One good thing. The seed order is placed. We are going to have one hell of a garden this year.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Time flies...

I can't believe I haven't posted for so long. More than two weeks. So much happens, then you can't think of what you have done in that time.

After my folks left i had a quick trip to DC for work. Then, back to work on the farm every available minute. Unfortunately, the camera is on the fritz, so no updated photos yet.

We removed the barn doors and we are getting ready to straighten the barn sometime in the next few weeks.

We had the FHA inspection and passed. Now just the lead paint follow up inspection and the rehab part of the mortgage will be wrapped up and everyone remaining who did some of the work will be paid.

New windows are hung, most are trimmed out in poplar wood, and almost all the painting is complete.

Today we decided how we will do the floors. Refinish the old hardwood and lay new hardwood in the living room. We'll see if that decision sticks, considering we have gone back and forth a zillion and one times.

I do have to limit my cruising through craig's list. Oh look, a free rooster, and baby goats for sale and look four kinds of ducks just $10 a piece, and a tractor. Dangerous site it is. I do think I found a score on new corrugated roofing for the barn from a rancher who is replacing his current barn roof with something else.

The only concern we really continue to have is downsizing. I am of the persuasion that whatever doesn't fit, if it isn't a necessity, gets re-used, recycled or sold. Screw storage. However, not sure how that will work. We just continue to have questions about where it will all go. I like the idea of the downsizing. I have always traveled light until now. It can feel quite oppressive having a lot of stuff. If it doesn't serve a purpose, then I don't want it. I love functional art, aside from some wall art and photos. Beautiful bowl on shelf  = dinner salad, old bake ware hanging on the wall = foraged fruit pie. Functional decor at it's finest.

I am also reading a book for work on procrastination. Fitting, seeing as I have yet to place the seed or the tree order. Maybe it will motivate me. Maybe.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Reminder...

Old houses are never square/plumb/whatever. Soooo.. things take a wee bit longer than one would anticipate.

With that said. 6 out of 11 windows are in. J has one more day off today, so maybe we can get that closer to 9. The kitchen and the dining room windows are going to be the hardest as they have the old trim. Beautiful wide boards square around the window. I love that. We will match that look around the house and with wideboards as the baseboard.

Closer. We are moving ever closer.

I wanted to move the chickens up there, so they have more space to move around. Although J saw a coyote nearby the other evening so it may be a while to make things predator proof. I figured I can go by the farm in the evening after work and put them inside. Then I realized, I would have to do the same in the morning to let them out. Not going to happen as I already have to leave the house at 5:50am to catch the vanpool to Denver. Adding a 30+ minute round trip to the mix is just not an option.

J keeps talking about getting a pot bellied pig as well. We are both itching. So, the gentle reminder for today is patience. Lots and lots of patience. Oodles of it for the new year.

So Trish, in response to your FB request, that is my word for the year. (I will speak for J on this one. We both could use a little - right Axl?)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

The simple things...

New Years Day. Here's to everyone to have a wonderful year filled with blessings. Each New Year J and I make a list. Something of a gratitude list of all of the things we accomplished this year, or the wonderful things that occurred. All the memorable things. This year the list will be long. Not just of things we obtained, like the new truck and the farm, but more the life we are building, the community it creates. The dreams that are being expressed. Even the ones we didn't know we had. This past year has been full of surprises and adventures.

It's been nice to have people comment on what we have accomplished with the new house. We continue to be amazed by what we can do together. It only gets better. Sometimes after a bit of grumbling and cussing, but yes, better.

And...

Ahhhh. We have a functioning bathroom. No more recon missions to find porta potties in the surrounding fields. I am sure the local farmers will be happy not to have rogue strangers using their portalet on the sly. And it is a lovely bathroom at that. While there are still some touch ups and trim work to complete, the overall effect is evident. And yes, I have my tub. Some touch up work is needed from moving the monster from the barn to the house, but otherwise, amazing.
 The reset of the fixtures look great as well, and there is more room than we anticipated. It feels downright spacious.
My parents also arrived yesterday. It's the first time they saw anything about the house. My Dad is amazed at the size of the property. My Mom says a lot of it reminds her of her Grandmother and Mother. My work is done, as that is my intent.

Dad and J headed to Home Depot to return a bunch of extra supplies. Nice little store credit as a result. Mom and I will run some errands, figure out what to do for dinner later on today, and then head to the farm so I can help J put some more windows in. I am proving to be quite the assistant, in that it took J to put in one window yesterday in the time it took us to install three. Trust me, I will bring that up when the opportunity presents. (wink)

Tuesday the forestry guy comes. I am so excited to get that rolling. I will be able to put in the tree order then and will need to place my seed order before all the unique varieties are sold out. It happens.

Here's to a sunny day in Colorado, without the 90 mile an hour gusts of yesterday. J had to fix some metal roofing that was flapping madly in the wind yesterday (worries me to death being on a ladder at all, never mind in a wind tunnel). The wind also blew out some of the plywood that was covering the barn windows. The windows are long gone, but soon to return. For now it has just been the boards. The windows from the house will either be used to build a greenhouse or cold frames.

We only have a few more things to complete, the windows being one of them, before we can call for a final inspection for the FHA loan. Once they inspect, and approve, they release the remainder of the rehab funds and we can pay off all the contractors that assisted us. That will be nice. Then we can have the pressure lift and focus on getting the finishes done.

Now, back to work!