We are done! Well sort of.....

My last post was in December? It seems unreal that it's taken me so long to update the blog, but we've been super busy. Busy finishing the 2nd floor and the pieces of the 1st floor we had left until we finished upstairs. There was so much to do, it's been a blur of time for us to get it finished. Erik did the majority of the work. Drywalling, mudding, sanding, painting, hanging doors, trimming, tiling, flooring. We did have a good amount of help from our "Watertown Angel" Brian King, who came up several times to help with the big push for the tile in the bathroom and trim for the windows. Some highlights for the projects we had to deal with upstairs. The floors were beyond uneven- I believe from one end of the house to the other was off by 5" in places. Erik had to shim the floor nearly every 2 ft in order to lay the flooring out and have it work. Originally, there was linoleum throughout the upstairs which hid the problem, well sort of. Erik made it work to the best he could and was able to lay out the flooring. 

Our first room we finished was the bathroom. We stole some space from the larger of the bedrooms to make the bathroom a bit more spacious, it is a wonderful space now, that 2 people can share without ending up with someones elbow in their ear. The tile is probably our favorite part of the room. Erik tiled the entire wall behind the tub and toilet. It looks like wood. It is modern and warm. It reminds me of our honeymoon to Europe. There is only one hot air supply for the 2nd floor, so we added a panasonic  Whisper Warm to the bathroom, it vents the air, has a light and also heats the space. It seems to be the best solution to adding some heat to the room. Our bedroom was the next room to be finished and it is great to be living upstairs again. Bartlett is very happy to go upstairs to bed as well. We have a small window that we want to add to the dormer wall, but we are going to wait to do that for a bit.

The guest room is ready for visitors! However, in the next few weeks we aren't sure if you want to make a reservation anytime soon...as the last room we finished is for the baby! Who is soon to arrive in the next four weeks. 

Below are a few shots of the upstairs. 

Hall looking towards our bedroom.

A sneak peak into our bedroom. We added the small window next to the double hung. 

 A sneak peak into the bathroom, you can see the tile surrounding the tub looks like wood- but it's ceramic tile. It's awesome.

The guest room, so serene and peaceful for the next few weeks.

The baby room. 

And in a few short weeks, the real work will begin!!

Heart Wood in the HAUZ!

Now that the heat is on, literally, we can finally get going on the room. We've got everything coming in, on it's way or in the storage somewhere. On Friday we had the electricians in to finalize some lighting and receptacles. We also got our flooring. Erik and I spent a romantic valentine's day laying out the flooring in the space to acclimate for the next 3 weeks. Then once it reaches within 2% of the moisture ratio as the plywood, then you can install it. The blue tape outlines where the island will be, and the cabinets on the other sides. So exciting.

This photo is taken from the existing side of the house looking into where the new kitchen will be. Again, the blue tape outlines where the cabinets will be.

Here is our flooring. On Friday, the old guy from Bingham Lumber came up and brought the flooring. Erik and the old guy loaded each piece into the kitchen one at a time. It is camp grade Heart Pine. Which is the hardest of the softwoods. It' is so hard, since it taken from the "heart" of the tree. Many of America's mills and factories were built with heart pine, since it was valued for it's characteristics of being rot and insect resistant. They say that it is more stable than oak? I am not sure about that fact- but it sure is pretty.

This image above & below is the butcher block top. Today, the guy from Bingham Lumber brought the top up. It was laying in the back of his SUV and we carried it in together. It was super heavy. When I finally looked at the piece, I was almost crying it is so beautiful. The guys at Bingham did such a great job, picking the right pieces to construct the butcher block. It is so pretty. It is made from reclaimed heart pine. Which means it was originally a beam in an old mill or barn and cut down to take off the worn exterior and has a tight grain pattern. The newer wood doesn't have this character, but it is still beautiful.

The NeverEnding Wood Pile Ends

Before

March 25th, Erik begins cutting up the wood from the 4 trees removed. The pile was enormous.

August 9th, I move the last of the wood with the wheelhorse and stack it out back. Quickly running out of space, I moved some stacks and re-stack some of the stack in the shed.

After- where the wood pile was!

After

This stack is 2 deep on each side of the shed, and just as tall. Too bad we have to find some seasoned wood for this winter! If anyone would like to trade, please let me know.

it's Log, it's log, it's big, it's heavy it's wood. part deux

We have this last pile of wood to finally take care of. Erik's dad came up one day a few weeks ago to help out. Having hand split about 6-7 cords ourselves, our neighbor mentioned we could borrow his 25 ton wood splitter. We jumped at the chance. Considering most of the remaining wood was the crooks and corners that were so hard, it was impossible to get through them. So we had it for two weeks and every night we pecked away at the

never ending pile.

This is the day we decide to finish the pile off and finally return the splitter to our neighbor. Erik is driving the splitter to the pile in the front yard.

Splitter in position. With split wood in the background.

Erik getting ready to split some wood.

The LAST big stump!

The last piece. Erik puts it in the splitter.

This is all mine to haul and stack out back. At this point I want to trade it for something- so if anyone is interested in a cord (or 2) of red oak- I would like an undermount farmer's sink in white, or a LP tank, or 4 yards of river stone OR a massage, because my back hurts from looking at all this wood I have to lug!

My handy work. Stacks of wood behind the shed. Erik's dad started at the far corner and I have continued it toward the woods. (In the photo to the right.) Erik asked me what my talents were this week, and I think stacking wood is one of my better talents. Its like playing tetris.

It's Log, it's log, it's big, it's heavy it's wood.

What rolls down stairs

alone or in pairs,

and over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack,

And fits on your back?

It's log, log, log

It's log, it's log,

It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."

Everyone wants a log

You're gonna love it, log

Come on and get your log

Everyone needs a log

log log log

*whistle*
LOG FROM BLAMMO