It's beginning to look a lot like...?

At an office lunch today, the topic came up, as it often does... "how's the house coming?"

For a moment, I panicked. I couldn't remember if I had even updated the blog since we had moved in. I am relieved and pleasantly surprised that I at least got that far! However, given that it was nearly 7 months ago, I decided it was time once again to sit down and post an update.

Cathead Bay

Overall, we enjoyed a beautiful summer up here. We tried to take advantage of living in such a beautiful place by getting to the beach as much as possible, and fitting in hikes nearby on the evenings and weekends.

That said, the work on the house and farm is far from complete. We spent a lot of time during the nicer weather months working on outdoor projects including getting the little barn and fencing ready for horses.

To start, we hauled out 13 wheelbarrows full of rock  that formed the old floor/foundation and removed an additional 7 loads of porcupine poop to try to get a smooth base for new concrete. Ben also cut out rotten sections of the beams that form the base of the building and re-built them. Finding the build date of 1899 was a cool reminder of how much work went into creating this place originally.

Hauling out loads of porci poop

Built in 1899

New floor, walls, doors, etc!

As always, Ben did an awesome job building a safe, secure space for my horse, Made. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough at first... Many of you will have heard that the first few weeks of having her here were a little rough. The short story is that I brought home a pony friend for her, they got in a fight, and my Made, took off in the middle of the night. Though it was an awful, traumatic experience, I was once again grateful to live in such a supportive community. People from miles away came out to help me find her. We did, and she was fine.

Made and Ralphie

Besides that, Ben and Paul finished this lovely front porch, including the barrier free approach. They also built a nice back deck off the apartment earlier in the summer!

Scary use of ladders & scaffolding to reach the top!

Ben has been plugging away since late summer on the siding. We have been lucky in that our weather has been unusually mild, so even though it is nearly Christmas, we've been able to continue working outdoors! The siding is priority #1 as long as he can keep going on it. Once the weather takes a turn for the worst, however, he may move indoors to a few more finishing touches in the apartment or start moving walls in the old house... you know, just for fun;)

Happy Holidays!

Elsie walking to the bus on the first
day of Kindergarten.

Home

It's hard to believe we're headed toward Memorial Day weekend - and the last time I updated the blog was February - oops! Well, we've been a little busy, and didn't have internet service until this week...

So, here's the update:

Since the last post, things actually seemed to come together pretty quickly. Ben's parents spent a lot of time here to help - THANK YOU! We couldn't have done it without them. I went back to work from maternity leave full time in February, so Ben's mom watched the kids while the guys finished the house.

As close as it seemed, there were still numerous construction/code items to wrap up in order to receive our (temporary) occupancy permit. For instance, hand rails, guard rails (no they're not the same), final mechanical, electrical, and plumbing inspections, etc. Alas, we were successful!

We went with cork flooring

 






Here's what it took:
+15,000 lbs of drywall
+900 lbs of mud
+54 gal of paint
+104 outlets/switches/lights
+1,400 sf flooring
+6 gal of urethane
+340 lf of door casing
+1 set of custom oak stairs (using lumber from the old Pavlis farm)
+18 "regular" stairs
+kitchen cabinets
+2 toilets, 4 sinks
+some other stuff... (money, sleep, etc...)

Not bad for two guys part time over three months!

Fridge on a ladder

When it was time to move appliances in, Paul and Ben used the ingenuity you'd expect...

The original Frigidaire made it back into the house, in almost the exact spot it came from!

We were able to move into the apartment space just in time for Elsie's 5th birthday! She was actually born on Easter Sunday, and since it was so close this year, we celebrated Easter and her birthday together again.

Elsie packed "only the essentials"
for the move:)

My mom brought a fabulous brunch, both sets of grandparents and Liz, Greg, Megan, and Mitchell were here. We had a wonderful celebration and relished being in our new home.

Nana Teahen decorated this fabulous cake

Grandparents watch Elsie try out her new knee pads!

Delicious Easter Bunny

Since then, we've been trying desperately to find some "free" time. Whether to relax (try to catch up on long lost sleep!?), catch up on regular maintenance items, continue unpacking, or to work on any of the long, long list of home and outdoor projects.

first campfire of the season!

Next on the list: a deck out the back door of the apartment and siding - both required for our final occupancy permit. At the same time, I'm eager to work on a pasture for my horse and some landscaping. I can see its shaping up to be a relaxing summer... ha!

So, lots more to come, but we're loving life here and glad to finally call it "home." Ya'll are welcome to visit anytime you're in the neighborhood:)

The Light at the End of the (first) Tunnel

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel! (Ben says it's a dim light;)

Drywall is almost done!

Our friend Brook has been hard at work on the drywall in the new addition. It is really starting to look like a house now and finish work has begun.

December was actually more mild weather-wise which has made everything a bit easier than it would have been with 3' of snow to fight with.

I've had to return to work after a wonderful maternity leave. We are fortunate that Ben's parents have been able to come up to stay and help with kids and construction.

The new mudroom!

Cool old Frigidaire in the "Vulture Shack"
before we tore it down.

Over the past two weeks, Ben and his dad have been able to get the breezeway "mud room" all done (except trim)! I think we'll even be able to move the old Frigidaire
back into this space, almost exactly the same spot we took it out of.

To see the original structure that we've replaced with the new breezeway, check out this old blog post.

Picked up this perfect little toilet
at Odom's.

It is so exciting to see things getting done and beginning to look livable! Perhaps most exciting is that we now have a functional toilet in the house - Goodbye porta-potty! I should note, however, that Security Sanitation has been excellent to work with. Of all the vendors we've had as part of this project, they might just be the most reliable and efficient. Highly recommended.

New porch lights...will look better with siding;)

While we will still have a long road ahead to renovate the farmhouse, we are eager to get into this apartment space, and begin our new lives in Northport. As we head into February, I'm already thinking about the spring and looking forward to planting flowers, vegetables, and uprooting some more Autumn Olive!