Dahlia House

Dahlia House
Taken in August 2013

Sunday, December 10, 2006

The oven is in!
Wow!
Brian cooked chicken and I cooked a roast and a cake! It is so wonderful to have an oven again. John Lampien came over and helped us get it in. It was just too heavy for the two of us.
And...the shower upstairs is ready to go except for the flex hose that had a hole in it. We ordered the new one and it is on it's way!
Making progress!!!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Still not a lot to say about what we have been working on. No major projects, as we have been on vacation and Brian's work schedule has been nuts. However we have managed to work on the following.
Had a garage sale
Insulation in office and closet area
Winterizing the yard
Re-organizing our bedroom
Sweeping up the ladybugs! Ick!

Oh, and we were hoping to have the oven in by now, but Home Depot gave us the wrong cabinet. We just picked up the new one, so maybe next week?

Had a funny thing happen.........Brian picked a box of apples and put them on the back porch and when I came into the kitchen that night, there was a deer munching away looking in the window at me. We both gave each other a start for sure!
Hope to get started on some bigger projects soon!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

We finished putting up the last of the siding outdoors, still a few pieces of trim board to go but so glad the siding is done.
We are also working on re-glazing and re-building the old front window. Really want to get it in before fall.
Doing lots of yard clean up too, and trying to keep ahead of the deer as they really are enjoying eating my dahlias and other plants. They have even been so bold as to come up on the porch for a nibble!!!! It is a love/hate relationship for sure!

Monday, September 04, 2006

We have either been working or gone, so not much to post, but Brian did get the hot water heater hooked up and we ran the dishwasher for the first time. NICE! It's hard to focus without a due date and a list of priorities! Ha! Guess we have to have another event here!!!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Here is a picture of the wedding. More to come on the web-site later this week!We have actually accomplished a few little things this week, despite having a 2 year old and a 10 year old here. Putting up the pot-rack in the kitchen, finishing the lattice on the gazebo and sealing the upstairs porch. Nice to get a few little things done. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Heather and Adam are married! Cannot believe how much we got done before the wedding. Heather and Em came down one more time and we finished painting the porch and railings, finished painting the front room, put out lot's of barkdust and playground chips for the kids play area that they named Camp Verbena. Also did a lot of other outdoor jobs. I finished setting up the dining room, living room and the upstairs bedroom....well actually all the rooms. The house has never looked better. Kevin brought us a load of driveway rock, so the driveway looked awesome too! Brian did a lot of work outside as well as in. the counter tops in the kitchen were finished just a few days before. They look great!
The day before and the day of the wedding are all a big blur! So many people pitched in to make it all happen. So many things had to wait until the last minute and there just wasn't enough hours in the day to do it all. But it happened and I need to thank so many people. I hesitate to list them as I don't want to miss anyone. So for those who take the time to read this...THANKS!

I will be posting some new pictures very soon!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

It has been another busy week. Jahn and Emily and their friend Jason were down over the weekend and they worked their butts off. Jason and Jahn built the deck and one set of stairs for the conservatory. It was so hot you could only work out there in the morning, too hot in the afternoon. Em and I worked on the pathway on the east side of the house. Put in bark dust and red rock. Just need a little more red rock and bark to finish it off. We also started painting the front deck railing. It is going to look really good once we get it finished. Brian had just had surgery so we just made him the gopher. Hard to keep him down! He was so frustrated that he could not help more. He did finish putting the BBQ together, it looks great! Em and I also cleaned out two big cupboards in the dining room and put stuff in the kitchen. Then the guys moved the cabinets outside. Lot's of room in the dining room now!
Then Monday Brian and I installed the door to the conservatory. WOW! It is so pretty! And lets so much light in on that side of the house. I got the small bathroom upstairs all painted, and started on the front bedroom. I am sooooooooo sick of painting! But back to it tomorrow! Still no counter tops, but Brian and I finished putting the island together and Dale Jacobsen came and hooked up the gas stove. Baby steps!
Lot's of cleaning and organizing to do too!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Well the sheet rock is up and textured in the front bedroom, small bathroom upstairs and our bathroom downstairs. It looks great! I painted for two days in the bathroom and got the ceiling and two walls painted, so we could move the washer and dryer back in place and get two cabinets up. Looks great!
I painted a small table...Brian poured the cement foundation for the conservatory stairs.
Heather and Colleen were here and we worked on all sorts of projects.
Got the conservatory out of the box! WOW! What a big project. Lot's of cardboard, but everything looks to be intact. The big crate it came in is now a playhouse for the grandkids....We named it Camp Verbena (that was Mary's middle name)
Cleaned off the back porch and got it swept and scrubbed and some furniture out of the garage to put on it.
Did lots of yard work, including a nice garden area in the east side of the house with steps going down to the Gazebo.
Brian worked on installing the fan in the kitchen, which was a comedy of errors! He had it in backwards first...ooooooo heard lot's of 4 letter words.....but it is in the right way now. It is never as easy as the instructions make it look!
The guy was here to start on our counter-tops. He got quite a bit done, and will be back once the rest of the material for the top gets here.
Lot's of other stuff too! Cleaned off the front porch, and scrubbed off lots of bird poop. Picked up garbage and loaded the pickup with one heck of a load to go to the dump.
We are getting there!!!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The sheet-rock guys have been here for 6 days now! What a difference. They will be back tomorrow to do one more coat and then Saturday to texture.
Brian and I have been working just about around the clock to get the kitchen cabinets in place. The counter tops start going in today.
I have even put food and dishes in some of the cabinets, trying to get the old ones in the dining room emptied so we can move them out of here! And the fridge is in! Now to get the rest of the appliances in there!

Friday, July 07, 2006

Heather read the last entry and said I missed some stuff! We did SO much it was hard to remember it all!

Here goes:

Cleaned out the junk in the front entry way (wait a minute.......Junk?)
Detailed and cleaned off the stained glass window over the front door
Installed the new Dutch door (that was a big one you missed!)

The sheet-rockers are here now and things sure look different!
I will get to paint next week!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Wow, what a difference a week makes! Heather & Em came down last week and stayed thru the weekend. The boys came down and joined them on Friday night along with two other couples that are friends of Ems. I am just going to make a list of all the things we got done.

The Gazebo is off the cribbing and onto it's own foundation. WOW! This was a huge job. So glad it is done! Jahn and Adam and Emily were a big help!
The BBQ area is cleaned off and painted. Heather did most of it. It looks so clean!
Created a few more flowerbed areas
Cleaned up around the two garages
Moved the yard art into place
Stacked all the lumber in one location
Painted the fence pieces
Cut down beams in BBQ area
Installed one fence piece
Put more dryer felt and barkdust down in the secret garden area
Planted twenty barberry bushes across the front of the house.
Installed the upper cabinets in the kitchen (WOW, they look great!)
Worked in the small bathroom upstairs, tore out one wall, insulated and moved things
Adam and Brian started getting the shower installed. It is about 3/4 done.
Did some insulating in the big bathroom upstairs
Cleaned all the outdoor furniture
Mowed and watered lawns
Painted the picnic table
And lot's of other little jobs.
What a week!
More to do before the sheetrockers get here in two days!
Back to work!!!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

The big old water tank is GONE! We were so sure we could use it, but it just wasn't going to happen. So listed it on freecycle and they came and towed it away today!
Brian has been feeling better so we have been able to get a few things done. Slow but sure! He finished putting down all of the sub floor in the kitchen, and did a little bit more plumbing. I have been following behind painting and insulating and getting things moved and cleaned up so the sheetrockers can do their job. We are going to finish the kitchen ourselves, so we can get the floor down and start putting cabinets up. The time is flying by!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Heather and Zach came down for a few days and we got an amazing amount of projects done, considering that we were chasing a 2 year old around too!
Heather mowed and weed-eated just about the whole lawn. I spread some more dirt and grass seed, there are a few places that just don't want to grow! Then both of us cleaned off the big stump and weeded and barkdusted and really made it look nice! Got rocks put down along the new trees we planted too...it is really looking good!
Then we went up in the attic and put down some insulation and boards and moved all the seasonal stuff up in the attic. Wow! Finally some room to move! So nice to have some storage up there. Lot's more to go up there.
We have hired a guy to do some sheetrocking in a few of the rooms. We just don't have time to get it done before Heather and Adam's wedding. He will be here in a few weeks, so we need to get a lot of things ready and out of their way! Always something to do!!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

The ceiling in the kitchen is done! We finished it last week. It really looks nice! Since then we have been doing more yard work, painting and insulating. We also had a new electrical panel installed. Then Brian had another pancreatic attack, so we are going to get some help to finish some of the sheetrocking so we can get the cabinets up and the rooms painted. Just a little over 2 months until the wedding. EEK! We can do this!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Another week has gone by and we have been busy with all sorts of projects. More landscaping, more weed killing and grass watering. Starting to see a little bit of results. We are keeping Rodney busy hauling dirt, rock, sand and barkdust for us! And we are busy spreading it!
Got the last of the beadboard stained for the kitchen ceiling, should be able to get those boards up this week. Also sealed part of the black and white bathroom floor. Did some mudding and taping on the walls in there too. Want to get at least the sink and toilet ready before the wedding! So have to get the floor and the walls finished in those areas.
Colleen was here for the weekend and wanted to help with some jobs, but Brian and I had too much fun playing with the grandkids to do much work. Was nice to have a break!
The new carport came tonight and they had it set up in about an hour and a half. Gees, never saw anything go up so fast in my life! It is supposed to rain for the next week, so guess it will be inside jobs!

Monday, May 15, 2006

Things are really moving along!
Last weekend, Emily and John were here and we got the Gazebo off the trailer. Now it is up in the air on cribbing. Next is to get a foundation down so we can get it on the base.
Ted was here and got the base built for the conservatory. Looks good. Brian and I are going to have to do a little more cement work before Ted comes back and builds the stairs.
Got the area beside the garage all cleaned out and Brian is working to get it all level for the new carport that he just had to have! It will be nice to put all the rolling stock under. (we seemed to accumulate a lot of it) Tractor, lawnmowers, Dr Trimmer etc....
Also got a load of bark dust and started working on creating flower beds and getting it spread around them. Planted a peony and re-planted an evergreen bush. Pulled so many weeds!!!
Still working on trying to get lawn to grow. Put more dirt and seed down and watered it like crazy. It is hot this week, so got to keep it moist.

Oh...one of the most important things we did, was charge the waterlines! We have water to all the new lines now and had only one leak! It was just one Brian forgot to glue! A big relief to have that done for sure!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Well vacation is over and Brian headed back to work yesterday, but boy we got a lot done in a week. We had more top soil delivered and spread some of it...a nice big pile left to work from as we plant bushes and trees and smooth out the rest of the lawn. Put more grass seed down too.
Also went down to the beach and brought up MANY buckets full of rocks to put around the base of the conservatory. Nice rock and it looks great! We will be getting a lot more of it for landscaping. And it's free!!!!
We also got the Gazebo moved back a bit from where it was and now it does not block the view at all. Still need to get it off the trailer...Hopefully soon! Brian smoothed out the area just below it and I planted more grass. Made a run to Longview and picked up all the lumber for the base of the conservatory. Ted will be here soon to build that for us. Cleaned off the back porch and around the base of it. Looking better for sure!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Well a good nights sleep works wonders! Today we had a load of top soil delivered and spread that around the side yard, both of us raking and shoveling to get it even. Then we got out the sprayers and sprayed ant killer, blackberry killer and weed and grass killer. We were trying to massacre everything in sight! Brian mowed and weed-eated the lawn too.
I also finished staining the vanity for the big bathroom upstairs and put base coats on the porch caps. The weather is being good to us, so we are trying to get a lot done outside. More to come tomorrow I hope!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

We had a two week vacation break but we are back at it. The kids came down both weekends we were gone and got so much done! THANKS! Got the arbor set up, and the yard cleaned up, and even some of the attic cleaned out...ick! And a lot more work done on the stairway. Nice to come home to see progress!
We started today by pouring the cement foundation for the conservatory. It was a HUGE job! We realized when we were about 1/3 done that we did not have enough concrete. So Brian stayed here and kept at it while I made a dash to Astoria to pick up 15 more bags. We ended up using 10 of them for a total of 44 bags! A long day....! Started at 10:30 ended at 7:30. Wonder if we will have the energy to do anything tomorrow???

Friday, April 14, 2006

Hey.... the weather was nice for a few days, so Brian got out on the tractor and leveled out the side yard some more. Got the grass seed in just before it started raining again. Also worked on my dahlia bed. Got it set up and the dahlia tubers ready to plant. Just need a nice day to get out there again. Even got a tree planted! Bought the Barberry bushes to put across the front of the property, will do that when we get home from vacation. Also picked out the paint for the rest of the kitchen.
I have started refinishing the vanity for the big bathroom upstairs. It is looking good with just one coat. Have to sand it and do the final coat tonight.
Finished staining the last of the bead board for the kitchen ceiling. Now to get it up.
Still having electrical issues, have had the electrician back again. We are going to have to trade out this old electrical panel for a new one. Everything in there is loose and we get sparking when the hotwater tank kicks on.
Started putting the sheetrock up in the kitchen today. I think we set a record for the longest amount of time to get one piece up. Sheesh. First we cut it the wrong size, and then we had to make all the cuts for the electrical outlets etc......it just went on and on. Nothing seemed to go right! But after 3 hours we have two great looking boards up and screwed in! It's a start!
Heather & Em will be down while we are gone, so we have a whole list of things for them to do. We will see what gets done!!!

Monday, April 03, 2006

We have really been busy for the last few weeks. Heather and Adam were down. Heather worked on cleaning off bricks and scraping the old paint on the stairs. She is still recovering from knee surgery and had to do sit down projects. Adam helped Brian get the foundation for the conservatory laid out and was a big help in putting up more ceiling boards. Just about 1/4 of it left to do. We went to Portland and picked up the conservatory. Borrowed Henry's pick-up, ours would have never made it up the hill! So it is now sitting in a big crate in the trailer. After we get back from our vacation we will start on that project.
I picked out the paint and got the top 3 boards along the kitchen walls painted, that's all that will show above the cabinets. Nice brick red color. So anxious to get the cabinets in.
Also had the electrician back down to finish up a few things, nice to get some of the temporary wiring out of the way.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Emily, Colleen and families were down for the weekend and helped us bring in all the sheetrock, do some tractor work, move the old windows up to the barn and clean up the yard a bit. The girls moved a lot of the bricks around to the other side of the house where we will be building a walkway with them this summer. Brian and Jahn also got the other set of stairs in place, so we have two ways down to the beach now!
Then the last few days I finished sealing the chimney and then Brian and I put up about a third of the ceiling beadboard. It looks great! Heather and Adam are coming down this weekend to help too!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

WHOO HOO! We passed the inspection! The plumbing is approved and now we are going forward to finish the insulation and sheetrock! How awesome!!!! A Big step in the right direction!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Brian finished all the rough-in plumbing today.......Yippee! It has been such a big job! A kitchen and 3 bathrooms to plumb. Not an easy thing to do. It will be inspected on Thursday, so we shall see. Then we can get the sheetrock up. The cabinets are supposed to arrive next Monday so we have a lot to do in the kitchen to be ready for them.
I finished cleaning off all the old mortar on the chimney in the kitchen and it looks pretty good. Sealed the old mortar between the bricks, but still have to freshen up the old bricks themselves.
Have been giving the bead-board a coat of varathane before it goes up on the ceiling. Have about a third done so need to get going and finish them.
And of course we put up more insulation on the walls and ceiling!

Last week we finished putting up siding on the back porch and around the side of the house. Now the kitchen seems so much warmer. Getting there slowly but surely!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

This last week we went up to Seattle to Seattle Glass Block and picked up the base for the downstairs shower, and traded in the glass blocks we had for ones that were already put together in sections! This will make the job a lot easier. The company that makes the new shower base called Ready4Tile did a photo shoot using our base and in return we were upgraded to the pre-fab blocks! Not bad huh???
Our brother-in-law Jim also gave us some big sheets of insulation, we can really use that! Thank you Jim. So we came home with a full truck and trailer for sure!

I finished painting the closet, got it swept and mopped and then spent the better part of an afternoon putting together the new shelves. It will be so nice to get everything put away in there.....I might even be able to find the opposite side of my office!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

We have really been busy since the last post. Time is flying by and everything seems to take so long to do......so many steps to get each item done.
Brian has been under the house a lot working on the plumbing, just one more fixture to put in and it should be done.
I have continued insulating every little crack and crevice I find. Have done around all the windows in the living room, dining room, hallway and kitchen. Gees that is a scratchy job! But it does seem a bit warmer.
We worked together to get the sheetrock and green board up in the small bathroom upstairs and in the closet. I even mudded and taped in the closet, and will finish painting in there this week. Brian will build some shelves and then I can finally get this place organized a bit!
We ordered our Conservatory from England and it is on its way. So excited to get that!
Also spent a lot of time at Home Depot designing and getting our kitchen cabinets ordered! We are so pleased with the layout and looking forward to the challenge of putting them up. ???
Let's see what else??? Well the weather has finally dried up a bit and Brian has been able to get outside and level the ground for the conservatory, and do some clean up around the yard. He also went down on the beach and cut down some trees that were beginning to block our view.
We have done a lot of other little things, like re-wire some plug-ins, tear apart the wall in the front bedroom and remove soot and an old honeycomb! It was a mess!
We are really focusing on the kitchen as we need to be ready for the cabinets. More sheetrock to put up and the ceiling to finish by insulating and put up the beadboard!
Whew! That's a lot!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Have been busy! Got all the vinyl tile put down in the small bathroom upstairs. That was some job....a comedy of errors really! I did not do well at all with the glue! Got my foot stuck once and it then put my knee in it. Yuck. But it is done. We went to Home Depot and got the sheet rock and green board to put up so we can get the shower and toilet in. If it ever stops raining, we might be able to get it out of the trailer and up the stairs. More to come

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Well we have had another minor setback. Brian had another pancreatic attack and was hospitalized for a few days. He is back to work tomorrow, but his energy level is pretty low, so it will take some time to get back up to parr.

Before he got sick we were busy with the holidays and really did not get a lot done. Just little things here and there. I have quit my job in Cathlamet and now my full time job is this house. So tomorrow it's off to work I go!