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!

PATTERNS!

Beautiful patterns from the wallpaper and marmoleum floors from as early as 1900.  I don't know that we'll keep it all, but they're a great illustration of the decorating sense of the time...

Justin's Visit

Justin came up by himself on January 3rd and 4th to clean up the upper barn and get the barn ready for the car.  Look! 

Weekend #1

Well, it's officially ours.  We have keys and everything!

There is no snow on the ground yet, so we were able to get a few things done around the outside as well as the inside.  We need to start taking pictures of the progress, but here are the things we did:

CLEANED.  I dusted, washed, and scrubbed anything I could get my hands on.  There were a few things left in the kitchen, so I washed all of those dishes.  Justin dug out a back staircase to the basement that was overgrown and trimmed back the bushes.  We dragged the branches down to the edge of the property!  So different from the city!

DE-CLUTTERED.  It was great that the previous owners left some basic furniture like a kitchen table, bed, and about 6 rocking chairs.  They also left lots of little knick knacks that I took off of the shelves.

EXPLORED.  We walked around in the barns and the house to try and figure out what, exactly, we had purchased!

WEATHERIZED.  We put insulation on all of the pipes so we don't have to worry about them freezing.  Justin patched some drafty holes in the roof around the chimney.  He also dug out a crawl space in the basement and re-insulated it and filled a large opening leading to the outside.  (Sounds simple, but was a lot of work!)

SECURED.  Justin installed new locks on everything.  Nice and secure!  We also put timers on the lights and put up some Christmas lights for that full-time lived-in look.

BOUGHT A WOOD STOVE.  We found a restored wood-burning parlor stove.  We are excited to get the chimney checked out and get it hooked up next time we go up.  The house is actually kept quite warm with the radiators, but the wood stove will be a great bonus.  The house has fireplaces, but they have been sealed up and have not been in use for quite a while--figuring out how to get them back in business will be a project for another winter.

ENJOYED THE KITCHEN! We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the great farm kitchen with the sun streaming in the window.  We dream of a day when that wall will be full of windows and the sun can come in even more!

TALKED.  On Sunday morning, Arthur and Sherry came by unannounced.  Once they were sitting at the table with a cup of coffee they talked to us for 45 minutes about Sherry being raised down the street, and spending time with her grandparents and uncle in our house!!  It was wild to sit at "our" table with people who had sat there many many many more times than we had!  Sherry's stories of walking the cows down the railroad tracks to the grazing fields, and Arthur falling out of the barn loft and breaking his arm were wonderful!  We'll have them over again soon.  They were really excited to finally see someone in the house after it had been empty for 4 years.

We met with someone who could plow our driveway...got that set up.

Talked for a while with the guy who sold us the stove.  That was fun too.

SHOPPED.  We now know where the closest Lowe's is.  I can drive there in my sleep now.  AND, it's in New Hampshire. No tax!  Woo hoo!

UNPACKED.  We brought up so much with us, and we left a lot of it there.  Hooray for more space in our apartment!

We're home in Seattle and Salt Lake for the holiday, so we'll be back in the house after the new year.  Thanks for reading my babble!