Still At It

It is still a work in progress, and MCM is still at it. He has been working on the outside for a few days trying to get the side of my house back on and looking fine. I took this picture before the sun is up to show you that I have windows. Yea! Actually, it still looks like this in the kitchen, but I did hang something over them last night as live in the city, not the country. I don't like feeling like I'm letting the world see into my house at night.

I think this morning is going to bring on the sanding. There is nothing as bad as that sanding dust. It is so fine, and it goes everywhere. IT will be just like a cloud hovering in the kitchen. We will put a fan in the window to try to create an exhaust for it. I did that when MCM was sanding in October in the living and dining rooms. It really helped to just push some of it out. Oh... I'll be sure to take pictures. It might be a 'must see' event.

I'm rather anxious to get this process over as will mean that priming the walls and painting will be happening. I haven't let this slip to MCM yet, but I intend to get in there and do some painting. I can, and I would love for him to move on to cabinet building. After all, he can only do one thing at a time.

Changing the subject just a tad... I had an e-mail from a friend who is checking the progress on my blog. She said they are going to have a kitchen remodel in a bit, and I was starting to make her nervous about it. She then said they were picking out cabinets and flooring, and all that good stuff. I had to laugh as wondered why she is so nervous. At least they are picking out what they want ahead of time. My wonderful carpenter called on a Friday and started on a Monday. I've picked out things as I go. I didn't know what to do about cabinets. At least my friend said they are picking some out. That pretty much means they are not going to refinish, repaint, or reuse what they have. That is one BIG decision made. I think I grappled with that one for days, and almost had to turn to drink for it. Just kidding.... about the drink.

I've been trying to take a picture of my color palette, but it is hard to do that and have it turn out in true colors. I'll keep trying and perhaps can post that one of these days soon. I know you are just drying to see it. That is another thing that has just evolved. I seem to be fixing that as I go. Then I looked in the living room at a piece of metal art that I bought last summer. Believe it or not, it has the colors of the palette I'm now using.

It is time to post and get to fixing myself for the day. I don't know why I'm going to bother cleaning up for the day. If sanding dust is on the agenda, I may look like a little white cloud soon.

He Had To Say It

If I can blame someone, I'm going to start with MCM, and I may even change his name from Master Carpenter Man or Majorly Capable Man to Mouthy Carpenter Man. I told him to quit talking. I told him not to say THAT, but he kept on and on and on. I even threatened to staple his lips together, but he thought I was kidding and just kept saying THAT.

It was just one of those days when things kept going wrong. It was little things one at a time that seemed to compound, and Mouthy wasn't helping at all. Early in the day, he shook his head and said, 'What else could go wrong?' Yep, THAT is what he said. 'What else could go wrong?' The look of horror on my face should have been his clue. I understand that words are powerful and I try to keep ominous words at bay. However, he doesn't seem to share my ideas of NOT voicing some things. So... Mouthy just kept saying it. I think the more animated that I became about him stopping, the more he laughed at me and said THAT.

I noticed the water wasn't hot when I got ready to jump into the morning shower. It was NOT hot! I jumped in anyway and jumped out about as quickly. It was a run through shower.

I waited until MCM arrived and told him that lighting hot water tank pilots was Men's Work and he jumped right in to the solving problem mode. That's what men do. It took me a minute to convince him that a match wasn't needed. I knew I was in trouble then. I'm not saying that he didn't know how to light the hot water tank pilot, I'm just saying that he got into solving problem mode with gusto and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I should have just gone into the other room and waited.

After trying to light the tank and it just not cooperating, I decided to follow the last advice that I'd found in the manual. I'd secretly been reading the manual. I'm a reader. MCM is a doer. I decided that I was going to have to call the plumber. It turns out after a few more things that didn't go right, that I was blessed to buy a brand new hot water tank. I, of course, blamed it on Mouthy. I really should have stapled his lips. Of course, I'm KIDDING!

I really do like to find some positive in all things... if possible. I decided that I'm glad this happened BEFORE I have nice new hardwood floors in the kitchen. I would have been worse than a mother hen if I'd had to supervise dragging out a hot water tank on a brand new floor. So, all is well, and Mouthy is forgiven.

I have to tell you that I told MCM some time ago that he was absolutely NOT allowed to put anything in my living room. I knew I couldn't protect the dining room from his mess, but I set boundaries and tried so hard to stick to them. However, as you can plainly see here, there is lumber that is inching, or footing, into the living room. There just is no hope.


For the most part, I have managed to keep the living room free from carpenter droppings. I have to have some place in my home that I can go and see things as they should be. I need just a small degree of normality somewhere. I think it is what keeps me sane.




I do have this happy little thing to report. The sheetrock is finally going up on the higher part of the ceiling. By the end of today, I'm thinking I'll see lots of sheetrock. It has been a long time coming due to those many small and big things that have had to be corrected. I'm going to do a little happy dance of joy when the sheetrock is in place. I think MCM may join me in that.

Still the Same Old Place

Yesterday things got ugly around here when MCM announced that he thought the old once used chimney that had remnants in the pantry and in the attic, should be removed. What a mess. He said that it had a tremendous amount of weight and really needed to be removed.

First he went in the attic and removed the part of the brick chimney that was there. He went up and down, up and down, up and down the ladder carrying the bricks in a bucket. I didn't volunteer to help. Poor him, smart me.

I couldn't get a good picture of the brick part in the pantry. This shot is after he had removed the outside concrete or whatever it was that encased the bricks. I stayed safely away, but stuck my camera in there and took a wild shot. You can see just the bottom of the brick stack that was there.

I do wonder about what the room looked like many years ago when there was a stove there that required venting with an old stove pipe and chimney.

MCM took the remaining sheetrock and lathes off the ceiling. It rained plaster and dirt around here.

He also removed the lathe from the walls. More plaster and dirt and general mess.

I'm sure you are enjoying this daily look at my poor pitiful kitchen. You can tell it is a kitchen if you look closely. See... MCM has left my little kitchen sink in functioning mode. I don't know how much longer it will be there, but it is nice to have it to wash my dishes. Any cooking I do is in my guest bedroom.

My assignment yesterday was to hammer down the nails in the lathe so MCM doesn't step on them when he unloads the trailer later. Then I carried them to a pile outside. I'll try to get a picture of the pile later as know you would just love that. The yard is getting worse and worse too, and it is almost time for MCM to dump the trailer again.

This picture shows a doorway to my pantry, which will be moves to the left a bit. MCM hates pocket doors, and he has removed that with glee. The other open space is where the remains of the chimney were removed.

MCM should be here shortly, and I haven't finished my work from yesterday. There is still plaster chunks on the floor. I did all I could yesterday, but I just couldn't finish the job. I was too too tired. I'm headed in there to stir the dirst and dust and carry the final mess to the trailer. Then I'll sweep with Brutus (MCM's shop vac). Hopefully, I'll get to mop and try to settle the dust down a bit.

I'm wondering how I got myself into this. I keep the end results in mind and know all will be well in the end.

It's All About The Small Things

MCM (Master Carpenter Man or Majorly Capable Man) was here again yesterday for hours and hours and hours. With the threat of rain for Monday at 70 percent, it would be nice to get this whole side of the house thing back in place. So he worked for hours and... oh, you know.

The first thing he did was assign me the painting of a very long board. He suggested I would need rubber gloves and needed something heavy to stir this whole thing up with... It was aluminum tar roofing paint. Tar sounded pretty bad to me. I can't say I was thrilled with my assignment, but I did it. It took forever to stir all the tar off the bottom and into the oil that was floating around on the top.

Good old MCM had left directions in pencil on the plank: Paint this side. Arrows drawn and the word 'edges' gave me another clue. I did as directed. Later in the day when he told me to go paint the other side, I asked why he hadn't just told me that in the first place. Men.

I did mention in the title that this is about the small things. I'd never make a good carpenter. I just wouldn't want to take the time to do all those small things, and, let's face it, I don't know about them anyway.

I love the fact that MCM makes lots of notes along the way. The first picture shows him writing something on the wall... probably numbers to remember or perhaps something like 'Put nails on this side.' Not really... I was just thinking back to his painting directions for me. I haven't gotten over that yet.

He also checks boards to make sure they are straight. He did this at the lumber yard as well, but rechecks when getting ready to use them. I'd probably forget to do that if I was a carpenter.

Here we go checking if things are square. MCM is a man of details.

Speaking of small things, which is what we are speaking about.... see that lovely green thing in the picture... I know you've been wondering about that. It is a huge tub inverted over my kitchen skink and faucets to protect them. MCM knows the value of my having a sink, so he's not removed it yet. I know this can't last forever. At some point, it is going to have to go. In the meantime, it is a small piece of comfort to have my sink.






Oh, yes... things must be level too. By the way, I tried to get MCM to move the wall of the house out a bit and just add on to the kitchen. He said he would need a permit and just kept working. It was Saturday, and he knew he couldn't get a permit. Well... it would be nice to enlarge the kitchen. It really doesn't need it, but I just thought it was an idea.







I just took this picture from the inside this morning. The wood looks so much better than when he first started this Big Trouble fix. He isn't finished, as you can tell. However, he is getting there. Once again, I'm certainly thankful for his gift of carpentry.

Termite Damage

This is my kitchen at the moment. It is an open air version. Thankfully, yesterday was a rather warm day for February. Today promises to be another nice one, and I'm hoping MCM manages to get lots more done on this problem.

This certainly isn't what I had in mind when I set out to do a little updating on the kitchen, but it is what it is.

MCM worked yesterday replacing the board that sits on the foundation. Actually, he is going to have to take all the framing down and replace it. It is a tad tricky when you consider that the roof is suppose to rest on all of this. I don't think either of us has figured out why the roof is still in place.
Just look at this. No, MCM hasn't shaved any of this away... It has been like that. It is eaten away and just hanging in space. Lovely, really.

I don't know if any of this damage has been done recently. It may have been like this for a long time. I did call our town pest control company as wanted the owner to come look at this. You can bet I'm going to have some kind of treatment plan going when it is time to do such things.

He was trying to find where all of it started, but so much had been disturbed that he really couldn't identify anything at this point.

Just look at this! Can you believe my house is still standing?! Actually, I'm certainly hoping that there are no other areas like this. I don't think there are, but it certainly gives one pause for thought.

When you've looked at this sad picture long enough, just scroll down for the next lovely number.










This one is interesting as you can hold it up to the light and see through all those ridges. MCM pointed that out to me. I heard a lot of comments from him about how challenging this whole thing is at the moment. I rather agree with him.



If you are looking at these pictures and thinking 'Eeewww', then you might get your pest control phone number and place it somewhere to consider in the future. I have never seen any evidence of them, and I certainly never knew anything like this lurked behind my kitchen wall.

The pest control owner left my yard saying 'Bless her heart, bless her heart.' I know that's bad.




Poor MCM had to break the awfulness of this whole ordeal with a little humor. I guess he went to his happy place with a little guitar music. I don't blame him. He was the one trying to figure out how to remodel this mess. I told him that he should watch HGTV and they would show him how to do it in thirty minutes or less. He laughed. I'm just glad he can still laugh.

Open Air View

Remember that sneaky idea about what MCM would do to repair the damaged board at the top of my wall....remember? Well... I mentioned that he said something about taking off the siding. This is the picture I took just before the windows were also removed. I think it might get a tad breezy in here.

Actually, I asked if there was some way that I could just fill it all in with glass and sport a kind of Alpine look... floor to ceiling windows. He is thinking it over.

I'm thinking this is a wonderful thing to do to one's home in winter. Of course, he put some boards over it for tonight as I protested at having it left open. He will be working on this big project for a couple of days. Ah, the joys of owning a home and thinking you might remodel a bit. Crazy person. I just wanted a little updating in my kitchen. Wow! I'm certainly getting updating.

Oh, NO!

Yesterday was a shopping adventure in Nearby Big City... lots of things to look at for the kitchen: Tile, flooring, fabric. It was a good day.

Then I arrived back home to see what had gone on in my absence.

At first look, I saw that MCM had taken all the sheetrock off the walls in the higher ceiling part of the kitchen. So far... so good. It certainly looked strange, but things were okay, and I would adjust.


Then I noticed Kleenex and my wine bottle sitting on the counter by the sink and a BIG note left sitting in the sink. I started reading, and the day became a little skewed. Oh, NO! This is not good! Really! NOT GOOD! MCM wouldn't leave me a note like this lightly. He wanted me to seriously consider the gravity of the situation.


I followed the top arrow to the ceiling and saw that the main horizontal board at the top of the wall... the one everything rests on... is in BAD shape. It looks like termites, or something else has damaged it badly.. BADLY!







I don't think you can really get a good idea from this picture, but it looks really bad in real life... my life.

I called MCM and whined into his answering machine. I just wanted him to tell me that he could fix it. I just needed to know that, and I needed to hear it from his own lips.

He called back later. I really didn't want to bother him. I just asked if he could fix it. He said that he could, but he is going to have to take the siding off the house to get to it. I told him that we would just have to do what needed to be done.

I've been thinking about that. Of course, my first thought was the vinyl siding that I have on the house. It really won't be a problem to take that off. Then it pretty much dawned on me that he means 'take the SIDING OFF the house! Oh, NO! It is winter! Burr!!! I wonder how long the siding will have to be OFF the house. I wonder how quickly MCM can repair it and put the siding back ON the house.

At this point, I have no answers. I'm waiting for MCM to appear and give me the news. I hope there is some good news mixed in with the bad. I could use a little good news.

One thing I will say in the positive: I'm so thankful for this majorly capable man and the confidence that he is both willing and able to make all this right again. He has proved himself to me before, and I'm counting him as a blessing!

Shattered Silence

It didn't take long for that blessed peace and quiet to be shattered into oblivion. It happened the moment MCM came onto the scene.

Don't get me wrong. I was glad to see him. He was here to begin working again toward making my kitchen a thing of beauty. It must happen.

The first thing he did was reach for the saw. Beware of man with saw... It can be a dangerous thing. He began sawing the top off the counter. Yes, he did.


Then he started poking around on the floor and found a soft spot. Actually, there was a little problem in the wall too. So... let's make a bigger hole in the floor. Keep that saw moving right along. Saw, man, saw.

It turned out that before he was finished cutting away part of the floor, I could see all the way to the ground. I suggested he just go for it and turn it into a basement. He didn't think so. He said I'd have a hard time getting to the basement if I had to crawl under the cabinet to get there. Practical man.

At the end of the day, the hole was repaired, more of the cabinet was removed, tile under the windows was removed, and the wall adjusted so it is now nice and straight again.

MCM actually started out with the idea of sheetrock, but that didn't happen. I have hopes for tomorrow. I'm sure he does too. You've just got to love all the things that need fixing when you are dealing with an older home.

I'm writing this post at the end of the day and am about to head to bed. It will be ready to spring onto the screen in the morning, and you will see all that has kept me going today.

I have to have my morning coffee to prepare for another day of this exciting kitchen remodel mess. It will be pretty someday. I've been told that. Repeatedly. Really. It will be.

Silence is Golden

The sweet silence of the weekend is past. Although I do love seeing the progress each day in the kitchen, hearing the noises that go with all that work, and knowing that someday it will look so fine, I will admit to enjoying the silence.

The tools have remained where MCM left them when he disappeared. I've learned to step over and around the mess, even in the dark. There is no way to contain the drippings in the kitchen. They are in the dining room and hallway as well. I'm not counting the boxes and kitchen appliances hanging out in the guest bedroom. I've set the living room and my bedroom as off limits for work drippings. Not there!! I've told MCM that... very firmly told him. I noticed a few boards sticking into the living room area from the dining room. I complained.. a little. I have to admit that they were very long boards.

I managed to dust the furniture that had gotten to the 'write your name in the dust' stage. My nose was protesting the whole dust issue, so had to deal with it. I even managed to mop the kitchen floor, which I will call my 'exercise in futility'. My excuse: It will help settle the dust. It really didn't improve the kitchen floor. It is going to be replaced, so I haven't worried too much about it.

I'm sitting here sipping my morning coffee and thinking that all this sweet silence will soon be replaced with work in progress noises again. That's good. Really. I'm ready. I imagine MCM will be ready as well. I hope he had a wonderful weekend and will be happily back to work in a couple of hours. That gives me time to finish sipping this coffee and thinking about the week ahead. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.