Some weeks it feels like a lot of work without much to show for it, and then there are weeks like this one. Yes, it's been a lot of work, but this week it feels like we have a lot to show! That's a good feeling. I should clarify....it's a good feeling inside....warm and fuzzy. Not such a great feeling outside. Physically, we are beat. I think we both feel every ounce of effort we put in.
This morning I told Bill to start at his head and tell me everything that hurts on his body. It was a long list. He hurts mostly in his arms and hands (more work on ceilings) He described it like a lactic acid build-up in his arms and hands. Also has a slightly tweaked knee and ankle from a near fall on the stairs while carrying a miter saw....that was a scary moment, but we are grateful it was only a NEAR-fall.
My list starts with what I call "tennis elbow" from too much time with a paint roller in my hand. Then my back hurts, my knee is also a little tweaked (maybe from holding Bill up on his near-fall on the stairs holding the other end of a miter saw), but I have to say, the biggest pain I have right now is my butt. Sorry to be graphic, but I took a spill doing yard work yesterday and landed on my bum. It probably wouldn't have been anything major, but my butt happened to land on the stump of a bush that we had chopped down. A pointy, jagged stump. The bruise on my bum is epic. I won't post a photo.....just trust me. I thought it might put a stop to my bike riding for the next week, but we took a test ride this afternoon and I'm happy to report that said bruise will not effect my biking abilities. I now know that the sitting part of my undercarriage and the biking part of my undercarriage are two separate areas. Biking is fine....sitting through Stake Conference on a hard metal chair, however,...not so fine.
Ok, now for the actual project....
We started the week by installing..what we hope...is our last outside door. When we bought the house one thing we noticed was that each and every door leading to the outside was warped and didn't close properly. The back double doors were being held closed by one of those "hook and eye" fasteners that you would see like maybe on a toy chest? Haha. Great security. The front doors were so warped that for the longest time we would "Lock up" the house at night by putting a paint can in front of the door. I only share that secret now as we are happy to report that each outside door has an actual handle that fits into an actual door jam with a lock and key. That, my friends, is progress.
With the other two doors we have had the help of our friend and mentor Todd Whetten to guide us through the project, but with last door we wanted to tackle it on our own. Bill did an awesome job of framing it in, getting the door to fit perfectly. 99 percent of the job we did great! The 1% we didn't quite master is the balancing the door correctly for a smooth open and close. We just couldn't get it to be smooth! It opened and closed just fine, but was rubbing a little and we weren't getting the seal we would have liked to see, so we called Todd. He came over that evening, and it only took him about 10 minutes to get that door swinging like butter. He knew all the tips and tricks, and we learned a few new things by just watching him work for 10 minutes. It's pretty inspiring to watch a master at work.
The next few days we spent working on the master ceiling. I had a design in my mind, and we made it a reality. We used the tongue in groove slats, then installed wood beams going the opposite direction to highlight the vault in the ceiling. It was a lot of work.
After we installed the tongue in groove, we ripped our own custom-sized beams
We were on ladders most of the week with our arms above our heads. I was really worried about getting the beams installed with just the two of us. In fact, earlier in the week we were trying to install the 13 foot trim piece that goes along the base of the ceiling and just didn't have enough hands to hold it in place while someone nailed it in. But, lucky for us, our neighbors, the Chittenden's stopped by. They have stopped by before, and every time they do we manage to use their help in some small way. This time we had them holding the trim in place while we nailed it in. We were grateful for their timely visit. It helped a lot. But, like I said, I was worried about getting the wood beams up and nailing them in place with just the two of us...but we did it! With some good thinking ahead by Bill, and some creative beam holding with my head, we were able to get everything screwed into place on our own.
After all the raw wood was installed it was time to paint. The paint sprayer that Bill purchased at the very beginning of the project was put to good use and if we had any qualms about spending the money to get a good one, it paid itself off with this project. It took one coat of primer and about 3 coats of paint.
In between those costs of paint Bill and Ethan got on ladders and used 11 tubes of caulk and 5 gallons of paint to fill in all the gaps and nail holes. We think we've already gone through a total of 35 of paint already!
They did a great job and I love the finished product. I'll get to stare at it every night before I fall asleep. 😀
While Bill was painting and caulking, I got a chance to put some actual color on walls! The paint sprayer is perfect for ceilings and base coats, but for the actual color it's back to paint brushes and rollers. I started in the entry way next to the new front door. I was really anxious to see what the new color would look like next to the big iron door and was also excited to be able to pull off the plastic that was covering the door, protecting it from spraying paint. Getting the real color on the walls made it feel like we were actually going to have a livable house soon! (Not really because no kitchen, no flooring...but hey...give me my moment)
I was able to get the entire entry, living and hallway done and got a small start on the master bedroom. I still need to go back and do second coats on some of it, but I feel like good progress was made.
Saturday snuck up on us quickly this week! We had saved all the yard work that has been piling up and getting over-grown with the sunny weather this week for Saturday. A strategic move on our part because we knew Ethan had nowhere to hide 😁. Let me tell you...Having both houses right now has been a little indulgent and Ive been so lucky to have a nice clean house to go home to after a long day in a construction zone, but having two yards to clean up after and two huge lawns to mow in rainy spring weather is a little much!! We started the day bright and early by getting the house cleaned up and ready for showing. Then we started in our original yard. Not difficult work, but lots of mowing and raking. Then, just like a typical day this spring, the skies opened up on us and poured for about 15 minutes while we were finishing up.
We decided to go work at the project house while the rain was coming down. Bill and Ethan finished up the ceiling while I painted. Then we went to lunch. After lunch the sun was out again so we went outside at the project house and attempted to tackle the yard. Ethan did all the mowing while Bill and I trimmed and weeded. Bill also fixed the back yard faucet (completely broken off), then I was able to hook up the hose to the power washer and give the back patio a good cleaning. Never have I ever seen a patio that dirty. Every time it would rain the mud on the patio would splash onto our brand new doors and cover them with a layer of mud. I was tired of seeing that. So now we have a shiny clean back patio and two new doors that will hopefully stay clean as well.
Then we started in on the stumps. Bill and Ethan hooked up a chain to the Toyota Sequoia and busted out the first of the stubborn stumps. It worked pretty well on the stumps we could get access to, but the others were too far away for the truck to be able to pull. We pulled out some shovels and Ethan's huge muscles and were able to get out most of them that way. It's official...Ethan is now the strongest member of the family. He was yanking out stumps that Bill and I couldn't budge. This is when the unfortunate stump-in-the-bum incident took place. I had the shovel wedged under a stump and put all my weight on it trying to lever it out when the shovel slipped out and I hit the ground...well, not really the ground....I impaled myself on the stump next to me. So, my week ended with a literal pain in the butt. 😀
Saturday evening was spent at our church's stake Conference meeting...two hours in a hard metal chair. And again Sunday morning meeting....another two hours in a hard metal chair. The meetings were great, though, with wonderful messages to keep our spirits going through another week. I love hearing the message of the gospel each week. See? It's that spiritual high verses physical low thing again. I sense a theme here...
Butt pain aside, we had a really awesome week! It was satisfying to see the completion of a few projects and the beginning of a few more. All of which are making some big visual changes inside the house. Progress feels good!....warm and fuzzy on the inside...not so much on the outside. 😀