House Update

Work has begun on the house, and it's progressing SO nicely.  When I was over there yesterday, I was literally bouncing up and down with excitement.  It's not just 'a house we bought' now...it's really becoming our own home as repairs we've requested get done exactly the way (or even better than) we ask...

The wall is completed, separating Munch's room from the back addition.  This is a view from the back door...

 And here's the view into her room--the little wall sticking out marks how far her closet shelving will go, which I bought at the end of June using a coupon a friend gave me.  :)  The side with the window will become a reading nook.  It *just* fits the little circle rug we have in her room.  I'm delighted that our contractors were able to match the original trim...but now I'm in a quandary...do I paint over that lovely wood, or try to strip the painted trim on the rest of the walls...?

 

 The ugly open space under the window in Daddy's future office is beautifully patched, and our carpenter took the liberty of clearing out some of the junk we didn't need in that room too...

He cut the door that was in there down to size, including a small notch in the corner to match the roof slant, put some frame around the door jamb, hung the door...and found a mirror we didn't know we'd acquired!  We have to decide what to do with the glass on the door though...it'll add some nice light for Daddy, but he still would like his privacy. We also need to figure out a cheap, non-carpet flooring option...

As for the rest of the upstairs, the insulation is hung now, making this room already look sooo much better...and look over there to the right...there's a wall jutting out that didn't used to...

Because we now have a real stairwell!  Not just 'attic stairs'.  This was something we added to the list after the work started.  The bottom of the stairs used to be covered with ceiling, and that ceiling extended all the way to the exterior wall, close to where that window began.  Daddy's height did not agree with it at all, and since he'll be the primary user of these stairs, he insisted on at least getting an estimate for lessening the problem...and I'm so glad he did.

Because our contractor and his carpenter went one better than our ideas, for a very reasonable price--they tore the whole ceiling out, put in some new wall, moved the light that had been on the ceiling to the wall, and just opened the whole thing up.  I can totally see our future stairwell, once we've saved enough to do the dormer over it that we eventually want to do...it's a wonderful beginning.  Here's a bit of a panoramic view that I tried to stitch together, as taken from the corner by the window...you can see where the old drywall stops and the new begins...that's how much headspace we've received.  It makes a huge difference.

On top of the interior work, the stucco work has also begun, now that the rains from a week or so ago have stopped.  I have to say...Stucco repair is not pretty.  Not pretty at all...But the end result will be worth the current total ugliness...

The front...It looks a bit apocalyptic or something.  They've so far only done the first layer here, so it's very deeply grooved concrete splotches.  Most definitely not a high curbside appeal...

The side.  A couple of these spots have had a second layer at this point--dunno what rules they go by to say when the next layer can go on...but it'll all be done before too long, I hope.  Painting can't come soon enough!

Meanwhile, we are busily learning about yard upkeep.  We went over earlier this week for a second round of it.  We're still having lots of fun...very much 'making it our own.'  While Daddy mowed... 

The Munch and I settled down in the backyard with some new gardening tools I bought last week.  She loved the gloves, and wanted to show them off.  A dear friend of mine brought her 3 kids over to help out as well that evening, and we ended up getting quite a bit done.  While her daughter played with mine, her sons carted loads of weeds to the trash, and we grown-ups pulled, pried, dug, and hacked at the weeds with all our might.  We already need a new trowel...and really, a proper shovel...ah, well, we'll get there.

Here's the back of the house, de-vined and somewhat weeded...at least the big leafy whatever weeds are gone, the bindweed has been torn away from the siding, and I've cleared some of the nightshade from the side fence...There's a lot yet to be done.

My friend did an awesome job cutting away one of the two huge bush-weeds by the garage.  One more to go, but then we'll have to attack the base somehow to fully rid ourselves of them.  I am just not a fan of big uncontrollable plants...I'd much rather just have grass...although I do like the lilies, and will work on making those a bit more manageable...and a bit farther from the garage door...