Another chilly weekend in the cozy farm house...

It's a good thing that this house gets cozy and warm because it's cold outside!  While we actually have less snow on the ground than Boston does, it's very very cold!  Last weekend it got down to -20 at night.  Yes there's a negative sign in front of that 20!  It is now a balmy 27 degrees--a little more reasonable.

This weekend, Justin has started a plumbing project.  He's changing the major supply line pipes to be bigger so that we can have more than a trickle of water pressure.  I'm still amazed that he knows how to do all of this stuff.  What a catch!

Last week, Justin started some drawings, marking the official beginning to some big changes.  Our first two big projects are to re-do the bathroom/shower and finish the entry way room that I already plastered.

Looking into the bathroom, where Justin is drawing.  It's these two rooms that will be first on the list.

Panorama of the bathroom:  Imagine the washer and dryer out of there and a new tiled shower.  Oh yeah, and no wood paneling.

I'll finish plastering the wall, paint and add a chair rail.  We'll pull up the carpets, add some built-in bookcases and get some new furniture!

Panorama of the entryway room.  (Kitchen is on the right).

To give you a better sense of the house.  If you enter in from the old front door, that is now an enclosed porch, you see this first, with a room to the left and parlor to the right.

Justin takes a break from his work to draw and color.

While Justin was doing all of this, I took down crown molding from the room we're working on, and also cleaned out a weird china cabinet to give us a coat closet.

Brrrr said the pipes.

Well, when I arrived, the worst possible thing happened....the cold water didn't turn on.  It has been so cold up here and we were concerned that the pipes would freeze, so we turned the well pump and water off, but when I turned them back on, it still didn't work...

Typically Justin would handle this type of thing, but this created a great opportunity to learn a little about pipes and plumbing.

After about an hour and a number of interventions: warming up the pipes, inspecting the entire web of pipes in the basement, checking for leaks, etc.. a chunk of ice must have dislodged, and the water started flowing.  Woo hoo!  Broken pipe averted... but, clearly, we needed a better solution.

I do recognize that this is no major plumbing feat, but for someone who has never really owned a house, even the little lessons are important.  Baby steps.

from Heidi to Justin date Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 9:35 AM subject insulation mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 9:35 AM (24 minutes ago)

Hi honey,

Well, when I took everything out from under the kitchen cupboard, the problem became more clear.  It's colder than an ice box in there!  The back wall has a direct draft that probably even freezes the soap that's stored in the back!!  I was going to put something in there to block the draft, like a towel.  I put the insulation on the pipes already but I'd be surprised if that wasn't where the problem was (with the draft). The crawl space felt just fine when I arrived so I don't think the cold is coming from there.

Do you have another idea for insulating back there under the sink?  Clearly, that fluffy itchy insulation isn't really used under the sink, but it needs something! I'll start with the towel for now.  Our little heater probably did no good since we aimed it at the wrong cupboard!

I can't staple insulation there can I?  Maybe I do need to get the pipe warmer at home depot today...

Love you,

Me

from Heidi to Justin date Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 9:54 AM subject follow up mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 9:54 AM (7 minutes ago)

ok, well, here's what I did...

I put a towel up against the back to fill the holes.  The draft is beyond the crawl space (further back) so I couldn't do anything from down there.

I put the towel back there, then put up a panel to trap the cold air behind the pipe.  It's not pretty, but I could already feel a difference in the pipes.

Here's a pic.  The paneling doesn't LOOK great, but it will work until we find a long term solution (i.e. a remodeled kitchen!).

Love you!

Me

My Solo Weekend

This weekend, I came up without Justin since he's in Sweden.  I made some solid progress on the evolving office/library/entryway room.  Last time we were up, I took down wallpaper.  This visit, I did a plaster skim-coat over everything since we're going to be using paint rather than wallpaper.  Check out the before and after!

Tools for the job.

Wallpaper.

Stripped wallpaper.

Skim coated plaster.

I also managed to put a few things on the mantel just to try out the idea of that being loaded with with lots of different framed pictures.  I kind of like it!  All of those items were found around the house.  Justin's opinion might be a bit different...but, like I said, I'm solo this weekend!  My design sense trumps all this weekend!

This is the "Before" of that same spot.  I hope you think it looks better!

I moved all of the rocking chairs into one location during the plastering.  I just felt like they were all standing at the ready!  "Attention!  Rocking Chairs!..  We don't have enough old people to sit in all of you!  So...At ease."

A little snow.  Brrr.  That Barn looks cold!

Justin Begins "Raising the Roof," well, the floor.

More to come on this massive project to keep the floors stable and level.

Flag raising and a visit from friends...

Arthur and Sherry came by.  Sherry made us each a pair of mittens.  Mine are multi-colored to match any outfit.  Justin's are "working mittens" with access to thumb AND index finger.  Brilliant!

Justin puts up the flag.

Heidi's First Project

 Heidi's first project is to take down this old wallpaper and wood paneling (probably about 20 years old), see what's underneath and get the room ready for new paint.  This weekend involved a tedious process of scraping to reveal very old, patchy plaster.  Next week I'll do a skim coat of join compound as a first step toward painting.  Here are this weekend's before and after pics.  Some wood paneling had crumbling plaster underneath, so that's staying up until we come up with a plan--most likely that spot will need to be drywalled at this point.  Next thing to go is that light/fan!