WEEK 7
This week is all about forward movement and getting something close to being livable. I know I say this nearly every week but renovation takes time…lots and lots of time. Especially in my husband’s case, holding down a full time job and dealing with all the outside chores that come with owning a small homestead.
Mind you, I don’t sit around eating bon-bons all day but there is only so much I can complete on my own. Due to sheer lack of strength or know-how, I have my limits. In any case, let me break down for you what we have completed in summary of week 6 and kicking off week 7. Mostly, it involves drywall so don’t get too excited.
Baseboard heating has been pulled out of both upstairs bedrooms, the living room, dining area, kitchen and laundry room. The removal left quite an ugly area on the wall which had to be smoothed and coated in fresh mud. Sanding these areas have been my life’s focus over this past week. Coat after coat, after, coat, after, coat. You get the drift. Once the walls are smoothed to perfection I will be able to prime them so they are sealed and ready for paint.
We decided to take the guest bedroom one step farther this weekend and put texture up on the ceiling. As mentioned in a previous post, we needed to camouflage some serious (yet solid) ceiling seams. It was the best way to make things look better without having to redo everything. We may end up knocking the texture down just a little bit with a drywall sander but it’s not looking too bad.
In a moment full of promise, expectation and positivity, we picked up a few cans of paint while at Menards. Not just ceiling paint but the real deal, from our chosen color palette, wall paint. By the end of this week I’d love to see some color on our guest bedroom walls!
The master bedroom and connecting 1/2 bath are coming along as well. Our “architectural beam” is being finished off with drywall and mud. More baseboard removal and mudding are in process. In the bathroom, the false ceiling has been removed to prepare for a new, much higher ceiling (another 8 inches higher or so). Soon, a wall will be constructed to completely enclose this room off from the hallway.
And, now for the dirt! We had the pleasure of eating a garden fresh spinach salad with radishes last night. It was a great compliment to our steak and it gave us the encouragement we needed to give the garden a good weeding after dinner.
The ducks are thriving and love to show their quirkiness on the days I change their pond water. Perhaps they are just thankful I’m getting the dead mice out of their playground…yes, I have removed 2 drowned mice over the course of 1 week. Today’s pond cleaning yielded a small frog; alive, but unable to get out. I set it nearby to see if the ducks would be curious…and Odd, the white Pekin duck gobbled it right up!
Dirt On My Plate 