WEEK 15 – better late than never!
Yup, my title was an irresistible homage to Flo-Rida and T-Pain. This week was all about floors. Hardwood and carpet installation mean we are ever so close to placing furniture. And you know what that means? Moving in time is just around the corner! Ok, we are still a couple weeks out…I’m being optimistic!
Our beautiful hickory hardwoods are currently camping out under a nice protective layer of red rosin paper. It’s a cheap, easy way of protecting everything from scratches as we race back and fourth between the garage and the bedrooms.
I took the liberty of snapping a few more shots while the contractors were still installing the wood. They are indeed beautiful!
As for the bedrooms my husband and I took to carpeting the space ourselves. Although we had installed carpet in the past we were super nervous about this installation. We chose a very nice quality carpet from the Carpet Garage; one that would hold up well to years of not only human use but pet use too. It’s not as dark as what some of these photos show; it’s more grey than brown.
I started the ball rolling by placing the carpet padding and tack strips throughout both bedrooms. The carpet was rolled out and cut in the Quonset so we’d have more manageable sized pieces. With the help of my son, we were able to squeak one roll through the hallway into the guest bedroom. The master bedroom however, that had to go in through the window because a roll that size was not going to make the hall corner.
In the end, the real trick was cutting and installing the fibers in the same direction and making sure our seaming was as close to perfect as we could muster. The rented carpet stretcher really helped tighten things up and various rented tools made the finish work a piece of cake.
In the end it looks wonderful and we came away with only a few cuts (courtesy of the carpet knife) and scrapes. The seams in a couple places are noticeable only if you vacuum in the opposite direction but thankfully those are in the closet.
As we enter into this next week, we plan to proceed with baseboard trim placement and any last minute electrical fixes. Final door fittings for both the room entries and the closets (rewind that, closet doors had to be ordered) need to be finished. Then…oh joy…seriously I’m thrilled…we get to move some furniture in!
A short blurb on the garden and animals, all is well. I’m still seeking duck females as my males are furiously trying to “get on” one another. They’ve even taken a particular liking to my small dog’s tail end. They see his tail wag and take it as flirtation…thankfully, Marley is a good sport about it.
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The garden is still producing like crazy. The tomatoes are coming on, cucumbers never left and neither did the green beans. I’ve folded my onion tops in preparation for harvest (many were starting to fold over on their own), cantaloupes are ripening, watermelons are getting big. We’ve enjoyed some sweet corn, okra is about to go nuts on my ass and the potatoes are finally withering and are nearly ready to harvest.
It’s so hard to believe summer will be coming to a close shortly. Small changes in some of the tree colors are already hinting that fall is just around the corner. Even the apples, in their glorious state of reddening, are telling me fall is impending. Queue the doom and gloom music folks. I love summer and this year, it went far too quickly.
Dirt On My Plate 