A few weeks after I returned from Seattle, Jared and I made a deal with Glenn about having everything done and out of the house by the 26th. Well that just flew past us laughing as it went. I swear I could hear it saying, "Haha, your house isn't done yet!" And after lots of planning and re planning, I think I can say we should be done by THIS week.
Also mostly completed was the door to window project. I've adjusted fairly well to the absence of what used to be our main traffic door. However, pretty much everyone else has not. Even Ullr goes to the window sometimes. As amusing as that can be, I'm glad that we got rid of the door. With the new back door, this entryway was just not necessary, so arranging furniture in this room would have been nothing short of a nightmare.
Finally, we have made a good bit of progress on our master bath! Though the Rabbits were not supposed to be on this project, the new crew was pushed out due to Pete's attitude and refusal to work at all if we were going to take this away from him. Lovely! However, with Jack and Pete working (mostly Jack), this bathroom is on its way to being usable.
The plumbing was finished last week, and the water resistant cement board was put up by the weekend. Jared tried to sell me on the color, but I wasn't having the hunter green with patches of white as my bathroom color. I've yet to even think of colors for this room. That is one of the fun parts of this whole process. Picking out colors is always fun!
By last night, this is what the bathroom looked like. The tile was laid, and the vanity was put in. Though petit, this bathroom will be a nice addition to the house. Jared also got his first lesson in tiling, and went on to tile the laundry room in the same night.
The toilet still has to be put in, and they still need to grout, put up the shower walls, and install the doors to the shower. The counter top and sink will be installed when the counter arrives, but we are so close to having a fully usable bathroom!
We've also got a paint-ready laundry closet. I know the picture isn't that fascinating, but it gives you some reference. As I said before, Jared laid the tile in there all by himself! Even though this whole process of living through a reno is not exactly a cakewalk, Jared is loving the learning process that has come with it. With his construction based background, I'm glad he's had a chance to see what really goes in to a major renovation like this.
Of course, the Rabbits will only be here for a little while longer, and then it's down to Jared and I to finish the house. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd still be renovating this late in the year. We've also got company coming for Thanksgiving. Jared's mom and her boyfriend are driving down to stay with us for the week of Thanksgiving, and we are slightly worried that we won't have everything done by then. We're trying to be realistic about what we can get done by then, but as our list to the left shows, there's a lot to do. But wasting no time, we've already started on the first item on the list...
Even though our lot is just under an acre, we did NOT fence in the entire thing. Leaving most of the jungle on the outside of the fence, we were only left with this tree and surrounding brush to maintain. The tree itself is perfect and provides a great amount of shade, but the brush that surrounded and choked the tree was full of thorns and and was becoming a problem.
Jared has already done a fair bit of work around this tree, and every time we work on it, it looks better and better. After pulling out several bushes, fallen tree limbs, and lots of thorny vines, there is one deeply rooted bush that will NOT budge. Jared even used thick chains and a Dodge Ram with a hemi to try to uproot the beast to no avail. Hopefully we can find some way to remove the brush, as it has been overtaking the tree and honestly is kind of ugly.
This vine had been growing climbing the tree for who knows how long, but it's nearly 80 ft span had to come down. That poor tree has had so many bushes and vines climbing it, I'm surprised it's in as good of shape as it is.
It such a good looking tree, I would be very upset to lose it, but I have seen some spots on the leaves, so it could be sick. I'm hoping that by removing the brush and vines surround it, we help it get better. Also, I took this picture on Sunday. This is what our Fall colors look like!
Underneath all the brush, we found this little terra cotta pot. Clearly someone tried to beautify this yard once upon a time. There's no telling how old the pot is, since the previous owners didn't live here. The giant cement block on which the pot is sitting is also underneath the tree. Jared has plans to move the block, but I'm certain he would need super human strength to do so.
Our little kitties have just about had it with their confinement in one room. I'm taking comfort in the knowledge that it won't have to be for much longer, but Loki here just has to have his taste of freedom for a little while. We let him roam the house for an evening. Freya, however, was much too scared to even leave the room (big surprise). Very soon, Loki and Freya will be able to roam the whole house!
As we approach the end of this reno, I'm itching to paint and hang trim and buy furniture. Hopefully we'll have a successful Thanksgiving. I've never hosted a Thanksgiving by myself before, so this should be an experience! Also, even though the Rabbits are going to be done and out of our hare (haha), Jared and I still have plenty of work to do in this house. As I've heard from everyone who owns a house, you're never done improving your house. Ever. I'm just hoping we get it to a presentable state before the mother-in-law arrives!
No comments:
Post a Comment