Postponed Due to Weather

 Unfortunately day 91 was delayed due to loss of power from yet another bout of raging winds.  I feel like these types of weather events are getting to be commonplace - this is what?  The third time we've lost power due to wind in the past few months?  I'll be happy when I can afford to buy a generator.  The electrician wired for a portable generator; a model 12,000 watts or larger will keep the mini split, refrigerator, water pump, and a few outlets going.  I originally wanted a whole house automatic generator, but it was just too expensive all around.  

Since we're still working from home and we were dead in the water without power, Mom and I tried to do a little work outside.  I amended my tomato pots with compost which, with the 40+ MPH wind gusts, was a bit of a challenge.  I managed, though!  We had planned to take the rest of the frost blankets and tarps off the beds and pots but it was just too windy to handle them.  It's supposed to be a fairly warm week, so I'll get to it soon.  Despite the cold and wind, it was still nice to be in the garden.

strawberries and thyme

 

Power was back by late afternoon, so the following day became day 91.  My cabinets are up!

 

 He still needs to put up the crown molding and kickplates, and I need to buy knobs and pulls.  I also have settle on a hood vent.  It's a weird space, because it's on an angle, and I do want a chimney style vent.  I'll also have to pick out the butcher block for the countertops; who knew there were so many styles?  It's crazy!  I'm itching to get working on my kitchen island, too, but right now the contractor is set up in the garage so he can cut molding.  I'll have to busy myself with yard chores, I guess.

Cabinet Briefing

 Day 90 - the cabinets are here!

It doesn't look like a lot of storage, but bear in mind this is a relatively small kitchen; 10 feet by 10 feet.  I didn't want a lot of wall cabinets, either.  I've opted instead for open shelving over the sink area.  

The contractor installed the flooring in the mudroom today, too.

It was a gloomy, overcast, wet, depressing day yesterday.  I was impressed with how bright it was in the new spaces despite the lack of sunshine. 

Luckily Saturday was a nice spring day and we were able to get some work done around the yards and gardens.  The daffodils I planted around the mulberry tree continue to poke through the ground, and the tulips I planted at the gate of the vegetable garden have made it through the winter.  I uncovered my strawberries and they're all looking great.  The creeping thyme I planted with them as a ground covering mulch is looking very healthy, as well.  My horseradish is starting to come up, and the peonies are emerging from their winter slumber.  I've been working on planning my crop rotation in the raised beds, and I started my jalapeno peppers in a little window sill sized greenhouse.  I'm trying really hard to follow a common sense plan to seed starting this year.  Usually I am overeager and start seeds much too early, and wind up with leggy plants that I have no room to house.  Someday I'll have a proper greenhouse and won't need to worry about space, but for now I need to rein it in a little.  Spring fever, it gets me every time.

An Unexpected Surprise

Flooring is the big push right now, and for days 88 and 89 that's all the contractor worked on.  Cabinets are coming Friday, and he doesn't want to put flooring down in the kitchen area until he sees the cabinets in all their glory.

Bizzy inspects the flooring.

Yes, from this angle it looks pretty good, human.

On day 88 a van showed up and the driver claimed he was there to install a garage door opener.  Now, I had been told that the garage ceiling was too low to accommodate such a luxury, so I was resigned to my manual door.  Surprise!  The contractor spoke with the garage door people and found that there was actually enough room for a small opener...and apparently there was room in the budget, as well.  

The back is open so we can put light bulbs in there...can you imagine?  Not only does this garage sorcery open and close the door, it also lights up the garage.  I've never had one of these gizmos before, so I'm feeling very much like a princess.  👸

On the land front, a week of super warm weather has melted much of the snow.

The ground is still fairly wet in places, so there are continued mud issues.  We're supposed to have rain and possibly snow in the next few days, then temps will cool down to more traditional spring levels for a while.  Mom's crocus and daffodils are pushing through all over the place, though, so spring is definitely gaining a foothold.  I planted a good amount of daffodils around the mulberry tree, and can't wait to see how many made it through the winter.  If most of them did, it should make for quite a pretty display.

Let There Be Light!

 The electricians were back on days 85 and 86 installing pot lights, outlets, and switches.  My kitchen/dining room area looks like a landing strip.

All of these lights are on dimmer switches.  They're nothing like the giant button style dimmers I'm used to; these are tiny nubs next to the switch.

The garage is well lit, too!  I'm so excited to be able to have a year round work space.

 

My bedroom ceiling fan and the center mount light for the media room were also installed, as well the outside porch lights.  They'll be back in a few weeks to finish up the rest of the lights/outlets.  

On day 87 the Heat Guy was back, and he hooked up the mini split.  They're running as I type, keeping the house warm for floor installation.  The contractor finished flooring the bathroom, hall, bedroom, and closets.  I can't wait to see the main living area all done...maybe by the end of the week?  Fingers crossed.

The Heat is On (almost) and Other Stories

 Day 80 saw the return of the Heat Guy, and he installed the mini-split head units throughout the house.  One in the bedroom, one in the media room, one in the living room, and one in the dining room.  I've done a lot of reading on these systems and they're supposed to be amazingly energy efficient, and only at -20F do they begin to struggle.  These are heating and cooling units, with the added bonus of acting as dehumidifiers, too.  You can get the heads in floor units or wall units; I have the wall units, and they're relatively small. 

 Days 81 through 84 were full of window framing and the start of the flooring.  I wanted very basic, Shaker style casings and trim throughout the house.  

I was a little worried about how this color and style would look on a grand scale, but I'm liking it.  

In non-house news, happy spring equinox!  Mom and I are doing a gardening symposium put on by the UNH Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program.  

We've also been watching episodes of Gardener's World on Amazon Prime Video.  I do loves me some Monty Don!  If you are a garden design fanatic, I highly suggest his short lived series Big Dreams, Small Spaces.  It's very inspirational if you're just getting going on a garden, or if you like to watch home improvement type programs.  Ordinary people transform drab, unimpressive gardens or yards into the stuff dreams are made of through hard work and with a little guidance from Monty.  

I've been checking around the mulberry tree for any sign of the dozens of daffodil bulbs I planted last fall.  Nothing yet, but the ground hasn't quite warmed up; we still have nights in the 20s.   Mom's daffys are popping up around the house foundation, though.  Sooooooooooon.  I can't wait to get into the garden again!  I was going through some of my photos on my Ipernity site and man, I miss my landscapes.  I've created gardens at four different houses now.  I'm glad this is the last, and I'll be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor for years to come.  

And now, for something completely different...

 

My paper is here.

😁

putty and paint

Days 77, 78, and 79 entailed a little more mud, a little sanding, and a lot of paint.  

A lot of white paint.  

connecting room

dining room/living room

living room/dining room

bathroom and hallway

stairwell

mud room

garage into mud room

Meanwhile, on the outside, it's beginning to look a lot like mud season.  What a mess...

lower driveway

upper driveway

So.

Much.

Mud.

Between the mule's track system to be finished, new lawns to seed, fences to be installed, driveways to be reconfigured, walkways to be created and walkways to be replaced, there will be enough outdoor projects to keep me going through the next few years, I think.

stop, start, stop, start, stop, start

 This final push is probably the most frustrating; there are long periods of inactivity followed by a day or two of activity.  Drywall mud needs to dry and cure, which means hurry up and wait.

So for days 71 through 74 the contractor completed the exterior siding, finishing Mom's side of the house and replacing her old attic window.  It looks great.  The builder told me this was the first house he'd ever sided completely alone, so kudos to him.

He also put up my piece that is supposed to break up all that dead space on my peak; it's difficult to make out, but it's a metal piece with the phases of the moon and a honey bee cut out design.  After he put it up I was thinking it didn't look quite right, then the next day I realized that was because it's not meant to be up against the house, it's supposed to sit off the background just a little.  We'll address that at another time, but I think that adding some spacers will make it a little more dramatic, and easier to see the design.

The drywall crew returned for a day and a half, so days 75 and some of 76 were mud and tape days.  The heaters are going constantly, and the humidity is ridiculous in there.  It gave my first photo that Liz Taylor Closeup Haze...

kitchen

bedroom closet

stairwell

mud room

The entire house looks like that.  It's actually kind of pretty, like a repeating pattern.  Once the mudding is complete, it's on to the paint.  Everything is going to be white.  I'm a huge fan of the KISS principle; keep it simple, stupid.  White is easier to touch up and it allows me to easily change decor to achieve whatever look I might want.  Plus, I hate painting.  With a passion.  I don't ever want to have to repaint a room because I don't like the color anymore.

I've also picked out my cabinets (white, surprise!), which will be ready in a couple weeks.  I almost went with grey, but the color was too close to the flooring shade, and after an internet search of grey cabinets with butcher block countertops I was not impressed.  I definitely think white brings out the warmth of the wood.

In garden  news, Mom and I just watch the documentary Kiss the Ground, which I highly recommend if you're at all interested in soil conservation or just seeing how we can improve our farming techniques rather than destroy entire swaths of fertile ground.  It's pretty amazing.

I also ordered a packet of ornamental heirloom corn to plant.  I've never grown corn before, so this will be a good test.  I'm just growing it in hopes of getting even a few ears and some stalks for Mom to be able to use in her autumn decorations...we'll see.  If all goes well, maybe I'll try some sweet corn next year.  If it's half as successful as my onions were, it may become a staple.