Summer Party

So, in the middle of all of this renovation craziness, we decided we should have a party. Our theme was music we don't often play. We are a celtic group and that's what we normally do. So we shucked some corn and had a BBQ and dodged some rain drops and had a great time.

There were some wicked harmonies.

Lots of food (not just chips). Thanks everyone for brining such an eclectic mix of stuff to indulge in.

Fiddles were brandished.

Someone wanted to play on the swing....and someone else did.

But Arlene, you take the cake honey!

Not even a bit of rain could stop the fun. (And that says a lot considering the Summer we've been having). Thanks everyone for such a good time. Did anyone else get some picutres? Email me with them if you did!

Floored

I will never cease to be amazed at how

much more time it takes to do a renovation than you thought it would

much more it will cost

much you will learn

much you curse painters' tape for the lie that it is (again)

fast you can get in over your head

much every job is like an oddessy, complete with its own trip to Hades

many friends offer to help

many friends offer to bring alcohol

many times you will curse yourself

many times you will give thanks for your partner

many tears you might shed in the process

sweet victory can be.

We haven't had our victory yet, but I can smell it. It's close. But thusfar, I Am Floored.

Here is the dry-run on the sub-floor fit. Gives a good before and after.

Here is the sub-floor fited in the room. All the holes lined up beautifully. Bruce is a wizard with a measuring tape and a straight edge.

Will ya just look at that corner (and it goes under the trim at the door edge. I wept.I got to cut the vinyl. Very crafty albeit I was using tin snips. Hard Core Crafty.

Then we gave the vinyl a dry run and trimmed as required.

Then Bruce did a much better job than I did screwing the floor down. That blurry arm is movin'. He puttied the screw heads. Before putting in the glue for the flooring. We had a little lie down while it dried. Must keep up the energy for this kind of work.

This is what the floor looks like cemented in. We used highly specialized tools for this: a trowel that had teeth which measured 1/16 x 1/16 x 3/32s (I am not making this shit up) and a roller in the guise of...a fine bottle of red. Yes, it was good wine.

The Fuchsia's So Bright

Now before we get started here, have you ever tried to spell "fuchsia"? It still doesn't look right to me, but after looking it up and confirming in the dictionary, I feel pretty confident that I have it. I think.

Now, you may be wondering what I've been getting up to since last I checked in. Well I took some holidays...to work on the bathroom. The kids were off to visit a cottage with their dad, and I got busy at home without little hands to help me paint.

This is the beginning of the transformation of the Ugliest Bathroom in Carelton Place. (I have not done a survey, there may be uglier bathrooms, but dudes, see for yourselves and tell me my powder room isn't/wasn't ugly.)

I present Exhibt A.

This is the starting point.

Count them subfloors: 3 plus mould and tiles

Then there was the lovely wainscotting that the barker board was hiding.But you could stick your finger through it because of the dry-rot. So I replaced it with new wainscotting. Man, that stuff is slick. Oh I did photograph the original colour that I thought I'd shoot for again.

Look at that lovely, classy oxblood colouring. Matches the trim in the other parts of the house even. However, this is the colour I ended up with... put your sunglasses on.

Dont worry, it darkens up after 3 coats. To a nice merlot.

So, after 3 days of working my arm off, I have achieved 60% painted and partially floored powder room. The question now is, will there be a toilet and sink before the weekend (or Christmas)? These things do take time.

I'm back at it with a paintbrush tonight. Let's see how far I get.