Hole-in-the-wall

We did it, we chopped another doorway in the wall between the kitchen and dining room.

The doorway is pretty nice.... it makes the kitchen much brighter and is a nice shortcut...  though it's not a vast improvement like some of the other changes we've made. I'm hoping it will inspire Eric to let us redo the rest of the kitchen post-haste!

Kitchen Phase 1 part b is complete! Now parts c-z and then Phases 3-10.... *sigh*

Over the Weekend: Stair Demolition

Since we're getting new siding (and boarding up our current back door for a new sliding one), the old concrete stairs had to go.

Eric was super excited to use a jackhammer.

But sometime between hour three and six, jackhammering ceased to be fun.

Poor guy. It was a loooot of work. Sometimes I wish I had manlier muscles so I could help with things like this. 

I took this picture this morning. We've hauled a bit of the bigger pieces back to the alley (waiting for a truck to magically appear and take them away) but the smaller ones we will probably sneakily distribute into the back dumpsters.

Step one of our backyard makeover (almost) complete!

Weekend Project

Eric has begun the (very controversial) task of converting my type chest into a usable piece of furniture. It will look the same on the outside, but instead of many narrow compartments that are only useful for type, it will have full, deep drawers. I'm definitely torn that we are destroying this gorgeous piece of history, but I have a feeling that it would end up on the curb if Eric weren't allowed to make this all-important change. I'm going to love the chest's usefulness when it's finished.... I just hope I don't regret it in 30 years when Antiques Roadshow comes to town.

Michelin Men!

I already showed our completed basement, but I don't think I showed enough photos of the process....

Bahaha! That is a good looking man! He's so tall the XL barely fits...

Check out the cat about to glom onto my arm in 3, 2, 1....

Easter Weekend

This weekend was so much fun! I love not working! :)

Eric and I had Friday off and, since it was sleeting out, we pulled up the carpet in the back bedroom. I love ripping up the carpet in this house. The hardwood is so gorgeous, it's like tearing into a really great present. Another birthday present! 

A.G. really likes when we work on the house. He finds all kinds of new places to play.

Joe arrived just as we were finishing the back room, so we hung out with him before putting him on rock removal duty the following day.

You would not believe how many rocks there on are this side of the house. We didn't even come close to finishing this up; we kept finding roots upon roots of trees that had been hacked down, and more and more layers of rock and weed barrier. All this FINALLY convinced Eric (for reals this time), that this area is a mess and that we need to get rid of everything and start over with grass. FINALLY. It's going to take a while, though.
After we had some lunch, Joe took a nap while Eric and I made our garden!

Eric's version of American Gothic

We really wanted a garden this year, but the soil in the back of our yard is much too rocky and dry for anything to grow. So we built some boxes, stained them, lined them with weed barrier, and filled them with dirt. Voila! A garden! We were really excited when we finished, then realized that we had just completed some really classy cat toilets. We'll have to fence them in somehow. Maybe with the fencing we're removing from the side of the house....?

Sneak Peak

I  haven't posted in a while because I was hoping that our bathroom project would be done quickly and I could post it all at once. Well, that hasn't happened. Eric had to work a couple of weekends and we decided to go to Denver suddenly, so that killed three weekends of work time which has dramatically extended our timeline. However, the last few days have been very productive. Here is our bathroom before the weekend:

Eric had finished the plumbing and framing and set the tub.

Here is our bathroom after the weekend:

Not the best pictures, but the point is that the backer board is up and patching the walls is coming along nicely.

Eric took Friday off and put the fan in that morning; I got off work early and we spent HOURS wandering around Home Depot, and then went home and Eric spent hours putting up backer-board while I feebly attempted to patch holes in the walls.

This is the work Eric has done so far (not counting demolition):
plumb tub
plumb shower
frame walls
place tub
install drain
install fan
put up backer-board
mud walls
sand walls
mud walls
sand walls

This is what I have contributed:
occasionally hand Eric tools
mud walls
sand walls
make enchiladas
perfect circle stencils (which my computer made)

Fortunately our love is not works-based.

Let's look at progress pictures again.

I am getting really excited. And every time I walk in the bathroom (to hand Eric a tool and then quickly exit) I get more and more so. It is looking like a bathroom! Or at least a room with walls! It is nearly to the point where I get to make it pretty! I hope I don't screw it up after all of Eric's hard work.

Here is what we have left to do:
one more day of sanding/mudding
level floor
seal shower with water-proofing stuff
tile floor
tile shower
paint
place toilet
place vanity
pick out & hang light
pick out & hang mirror
buy shower curtain rod
hang shower curtain (and then convince Eric to let me get a new one)
hang art?
buy spider plant (obviously the most important step)

Wow. When I write it down it seems like a lot. Tiling is going to take for-ev-errrrrrr. Eric assures me, however, that we are close to the finish line. My next post should show a completed, beautiful bathroom! Fingers crossed.

No more excuses, trees, or tile

If you've ever been to our house, you'll notice that we aren't quite....organized yet. Partly because we don't have furniture in which to put many of our belongings (read: Brianna's art supplies, papers, and half-completed projects), and partly because we've been storing some things for friends of ours. Well, this weekend, our friends picked up their belongings and, as a result.....we still aren't quite organized. Eric was great and got the garage in order (yay for both cars now being inside!) but I haven't held up my end of the cleaning efforts. I have no more excuses though, so hopefully I'll get it in gear soon.

Perhaps a bit cheesy that I'm posting a picture of our garage, but seriously, look at that!

Our two car garage now holds two cars!

We also spent time chopping down trees this weekend. Eric finally came around to my point of view that we need to raze all our overgrown trees and bushes. This will take ages at our current rate of one tree per weekend, but even the few we've removed so far have made a huge difference.

In our tree removal efforts, Eric and I have very different roles. I chop them down to the roots and haul the branches to the dumpster while he has the hard part - digging out the roots. Sometimes I feel bad that I can't do more in renovating the house so when I find a project that I am able to help with, I like to get right on it! For example, Sunday morning before church I woke up and started chipping away tile in preparation for the bathroom makeover. Yesssss! One step closer to making it great!

Before I began, I was a little worried about damaging the bathtub, but after seeing the exact same one in a giant heap of junk at the recycling center, I decided that it did not so much matter.

Ah, Home {& Advice Followed}

The last two weeks have been busy ones in the Brindle household. The week before last my parents brought us furniture (more on that to follow), our cat had a near death experience (a real one this time), and we headed to Kalispell for a family reunion.....of which I will not speak.

I must say it's good to be home. Especially because....dun dun dun....our bedroom is finally coming together!!! When Eric's parents visited last, Kristi suggested that we should tackle one room at a time, and, since I'd been wanting to start on our bedroom for a while, my parents' visit was the perfect opportunity to begin. Eric ripped out the built-ins Tuesday night and my parents and I spent the rest of the week painting, patching holes, and moving furniture. It was great to have help and even better to finally have a sanctuary in which to escape the clutter of projects contained in the rest of the house.

Eric working away, removing the built-ins

The cat got a little too helpful....so he got put under the laundry basket

No more built-ins!

My dad is THE BEST edge painter. THE BEST.

Mum painting away

Taking a break

On Day 2 Mum hemmed the curtains

then we finished up painting...

moved furniture around....

....took another break....

And then headed to Kalispell

Where we played lots of Koob

 

...hung out with the niece & nephew...

... and played some redneck horseshoes.

Hung out with the fam a little more...

...then headed home...the long way.....through Glacier

Eric's first time in Glacier with the sun shining

The long way home included a drive through Judith Gap. The windmills were pretty incredible!

Now that we're back home, it's time to accessorize!