Westminster Confessions

Mark has done a fantastic job of describing the new neighborhood we will be moving into. So, I’ll describe a few of the projects that are filling my days and weekends.

For right now the division of labor for work projects is this:

• Mark–outside stuff (he’s fully embracing the Adamic task of “tilling the ground” and also has a new understanding of the curse of “thorns and thistles”)
• Karyn–inside stuff (my mother taught me that I could tackle anything I put my mind to–I love a challenge).

So, Mark and his crews have moved lots (and lots) of building materials and other “things” that were in the yard to the back of the yard. They have also removed dead trees, cut down tons of brush, moved fences, weeded plants that defy description, braved thorns, and taken down Christmas tree lights. They have also trimmed trees, cleaned out gutters, pruned mercilessly, and improved the ecosystem of our little fishpond (which is in the front yard). We have about two dozen goldfish. So far I can only consistently identify one of them. His name is Fred. Suggestions for other goldfish names are welcome.

Here’s a picture of Mark sitting down on the job–weeding. But usually he is walking from the front yard to the back yard and back again. Most of the time the wheelbarrows were hauling massive amounts of yard waste and heavy pieces of equipment that needed to be relocated.

Those curtains in the downstairs windows will be replaced with lace.

While Mark has been busy outside, I have been working inside. Tearing up rugs, prepping walls for paint, patching sheetrock, patching plaster walls, prepping a subflooring for the floating laminate floor I will install next week, painting, priming, more painting, removing various built-in shelves and wall paneling. This weekend we have some skilled workers coming to help with trimming out windows and various other interior wall projects (some sheetrock needs to be hung, molding everywhere, door trim, etc). We also will replace a tile wall in the kitchen, recaulk lots of bathroom stuff, and the room I will use for my studio/study will need lots of TLC. I feel like I go to Lowe’s daily. I am wearing out my one pair of painter’s/carpenter’s pants and hope I can find another pair! But I am really starting to “see” more of the hard work moving toward a finished product.

I am so grateful for all the folks who have come by to help us out. Our friends have cleaned out rooms, hauled away trash, moved wood piles, painted, vacuumed, pulled staples out of wood floors (left after the padding was removed), and much, much more. Thank you everyone! Some moments deserve particular recognition… like the our friends finding these propellers in the yard.

I still need to figure out some of the paint colors and what to do with the wood floor in the kitchen/dining room (the wood in the kitchen was painted white, but it is worn, so it either needs to be painted again or sanded down and refinished).

Here’s a sample of what some of the colors looked like BEFORE we started work:

I love the fact that we will have a woodstove (inserted into the living room fireplace). The living room has very geometrically installed wood paneling (that is a creative understatement) which we are trying to work with to complement our Adirondack rustic living room furniture. Ikea has been a source of inspiration for other rooms.

As we finish rooms we will post more of the “after” photos. We are really looking forward to the end of the summer and beginning of the WTS semester so that we can have everyone over for a big open house.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 at 10:21 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.