Just finished caulking, sealing and putting a coat of primer on the outside of the front window. We had put some caulk on it last week, but it rained hard that night and washed it all away allowing water to leak inside. We have had a few days of sunny weather so cleaned off the rest of the old stuff and did it again. Should work this time! Lot's of sun to get it dry!
Brian also did some trim work in our bedroom so not too many little details left and that room will be done!
I have been busy painting a new (to us) nightstand for our bedroom. It should be ready to go in place tomorrow.

The front window is back in place! Yea! Still some work to do to finish insulating and get the trim up, but what a difference already! Darrel and Roberta happened to stop by just as we were about to do it, and it was so nice to have their help! It is doing nothing but raining, so it will be a while before we can finish the outside work, but work continues inside.

We have been lucky in October so far and have had such a beautiful weather month. Have been able to work outdoors most days. As a result we got a lot more yard work done including putting in new steps down to the Gazebo and doing some landscaping and planting grass in that area. Also transplanted another of the Barberry to the side of the house.
I finished putting the last coats of paint on the front window and just today did the last of the detailing. It is now ready to go back in place. Brian has re-built most of the inner frame work as it was pretty rotten! It is also painted and ready to go. But unfortunately the rain has arrived so will have to wait until a decent day to get it in. What a difference it will make.
Chuck came down and did the final inspection. So we are done with the items needed to be completed to get the building permit finalized. So good to have that item checked off our list.
Also finished scraping, sanding and painting the rest of the front porch. Got the steps done back in August, but now it is a completed job! Wooo Hooo! Good to use that word! Every project here seems to get to the "almost done" phase and then we move on to the next one. Nice to have something actually completed!

Ack! Here it is almost the end of September already. Still no time to update the website....will do that some dark and stormy day. Right now we are madly rushing to get the last little things done so the building inspector can come down and sign off on the building permit. The last two things were the earthquake straps for the hotwater heater, and the wired-in smoke alarms. Brian did the straps a few months ago but just finished the wiring and installation of the smoke alarms a few days ago. Will be so nice to have Chuck down here to sign off on the last of the work he has to see.
In the last few weeks we have also put up the siding and trim on the outside of the conservatory, painted the base of it, and Brian finished the outside stairs and railings. It looks just great!
Brian also added two lights in the attic, and I finished glazing the front window panes. That was a job that really took up a lot of my time this summer, from scraping, gluing and painting to finding a new matching pane, (cause I broke one) to the actual glazing job itself. The only thing left to do is put on a few coats of paint and then we can get it put back up in the front of the house where it belongs. Will have to get some family help for that project.
Now that the weather is iffy we will again turn to the inside jobs, and there are too many of those to list. The first big project will be to get our bathroom done! (at least it better be)

Amazing how fast this summer has gone by. We have been so busy that there has been no time to update the website or blog. So here goes:
We are in our bedroom (YEA) and it is almost done, just some trim to put up and then to decorate. Feels so good to have a lot of closet space and not be living out of totes anymore! Brian did a great job of putting the bed together, but we didn't realize how tall it would be, so he had to build us a couple of steps to get up into it!
We had a little work party over the 4th of July weekend, and really got a lot done. Here's a quick list.
Expanded our garden area by extending the fence so we can plant even more veggies and flowers next year. It has been nice to have some fresh veggies, herbs and fruit.
Tore down all the rest of the old wall board and ceiling tile in the living room and dining room.
Worked on restoring the front window
Planted some Barberry bushes
Other projects we have been busy with:
Finished the floor and did more trim work in the conservatory and actually moved furniture in there. It looks great!
Built the steps and railing outside the conservatory
Added more red rock, brick and steps to the side area
Added a few more flower beds around the gazebo and under a couple of trees
Planted lots of flowers and shrubs
Cleaned, scraped, sanded and painted the front steps (thanks Colleen for all the hard work sanding!) also replaced one rotten board.
We had a lot of company this summer, from Ireland and Switzerland, and of course our family from Seattle. Had grandkids here for most of the summer, so I am surprised we got anything done.
Fall is almost upon us and we have a lot to do before the weather turns. We will see how it goes!

The floor is done in the bedroom and the wardrobe is up! Most of the baseboard is down as is the crown molding. We ran out of both so will pick up more at Lowes this Friday. The bed is just about all painted and ready to set up. Brian needs to do a little more cutting to make it work. We hope to get moved in there over the weekend! Yippee!
Have been working outside a lot since the weather has been good. Changing some of the flower beds and paths. It is looking good!

Just finished updating the website, and adding new info and pictures. Since I did that we have continued to work on the bedroom, getting the crown molding up, and other trim pieces. I also fixed the sheet rock and put up wallpaper on one wall in the kitchen. We have also picked out the flooring for the conservatory, so the next few weeks should be dedicated to the flooring in the bedroom and conservatory. How fun! (so I say now before I spend a week on my knees!)

More pictures to come as we continue......

We have made a lot of progress in the past few months.
KITCHEN
Installed a new plate cupboard in the kitchen
A new shelf for the microwave
BEDROOM
Finished repairing floor
Finished insulating and caulking around windows
Ceiling tile in the bedroom is up and painted
Walls are sheet rocked, wallpapered and painted
Installed the rest of the bead board and painted it
Trim around windows and doors is all sanded and repainted
Finished off the closet and wallpapered
Sanded and painted the drawers for the bed
Sanded and painted the display case for the bedroom
DINING ROOM
Tore off all the old tiles and linoleum
Took down the old wallboard (thanks to Emily and crew)
Took down the old ceiling tiles

Cleaned out the garage & hauled a huge load to the dump (thanks to Heather & fam)

Put up shelving and cupboards in the big garage

We really want to get back into our bedroom so have been putting most of our energy towards that goal. Next comes the flooring!

We had our first nice day of spring yesterday so we were able to work out in the yard and even got part of our vegetable garden planted. Lot's of weeding and yard maintenance too.

Hopefully I will find the time soon to add new pictures and text to the website.

Looking back at 2007, and despite the setbacks, I can see that we really did make some big strides. The conservatory was one of them. It is almost finished, just some more trim and the flooring needs to be done, and then.....I can move furniture in there and actually do some decorating. We have taken care of the leaks and the only thing left to do on the outside is the siding and lattice. WOW!
Other than that we have our bedroom started. Most of the sheetrock is up, the subfloor and insulation are done and next comes the ceiling tile.
We also got the pantry built in the kitchen. It really makes a big difference. We can store so much in there that it makes a lot of room in the rest of the cupboards. I have been busy rearranging them to make things easier to get at.
We got the fence up around the secret garden area and even got a few trees and bushes planted. Cleaned and organized the garage...(but all we did was fill up the empty spaces with more stuff!)
A new updated water-system was put in and made a big difference in the water quality.
I have started working on my office and storage closet. I wanted to start the year out being able to find the desk and the floor. It needs more work, but it is a start.
Most of the rest of the work has been maintenence, but it's all part of the process.