Now you see it, now you don't -- part 2

Now you see it, now you don't -- part 2

May 17th  -- Back by popular demand...

Now you see it,

Now you don't,

The pile of planter's mix soil is now officially in the raised beds, and all that remains by the back of the garage door is some mulch, which will be relocated after I get around to planting some shrubs.

Here are the raised beds, waiting for me to plant them!

:

In the mean time, I did get around to planting two blueberry bushes today

Tomorrow morning a new finish carpenter will come to work on replacing the shattered library door and if begin to work on setting the plumbing fixtures in the second upper-level bath.

Now you see it, now you don't....

Now you see it, now you don't.....

May 15th -- as the one-year mark is approaching, every bit of progress toward completion, no matter how big or small, is a reason to celebrate.

Now you see it:

Now you don't:

Yippie -- the portable toilet is gone!

May snowstorms bring.....

May snowstorms bring....

May 11 - 13th  -- The Mother's Day snow storm arrived as promised.  The wet snow started to stick to the newly budded leaves and blossoms.  Here is some snow on the lilac blooms, before I took a broom and went out to shake the snow off the trees.

There is a light dusting of snow on the raised beds...

But, the snow didn't stop Eric from returned to prep the floors and apply a coat of stain before he left for the day.  He told me to wait for about three hours before walking on the floors, and I could only walk on the floors with socks on my feet.


Here is the living room and a peak into the foyer...

Here is the view of the stained foyer from the stairs...

Here is the upstairs front bedroom/office:

Here is the upstairs sitting room:

Eric will be back tomorrow to apply the first two of three clear coats, with the final coat and buff to take place on Tuesday.

As predicted, the late spring snowstorm hit big time.  The temps plummeted to the mid-20s overnight, meaning that I had to drain the new sprinkler system, and the snow was wet, which meant I had to go outside at least 4 times over a 36-hour period to try to get the snow off the trees before the weight snapped branches.  The wind was nasty and although the storm brought much needed moisture, it cast a very wet blanket on the prior arrival of spring.

Here, the photos of the yard in the storm speak more than words:

However, the best part of the cold weather and the storm is that I've been enjoying the fireplaces!

Fortunately, the trees survived snowstorm and the lilac blooms did ok.

Eric came back today to apply the final clear coat and to finish the floors, which will have three coats of clear coat finish on top of the stain.  Tonight I can walk on the floors in my stocking feet and by tomorrow morning I can walk on the floors with shoes on.  By tomorrow afternoon I can begin moving furniture and I'll start by putting the desk back in my upstairs office

These photos really don't do justice to how amazing the floors look and what a great job Erci did.  Here is the living room:

 Here is the foyer:

 Here is the upper-level sitting room:

 And, here is the upper-level front bedroom/office:

With the building boom going strong, the contractor is having a difficult time getting the finish carpenter and the plumber back to finish the upper-level second bathroom and to replace the library door with the shattered glass.  He called this morning to tell me that he has found a craftsman who can do this work, and he will be here all day Sunday to finish up.

  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this guy is as good as the previous craftsmen and hope that this all works out. 

 If so, then it is a matter of getting the painters back to finish touch ups inside and outside.  There is still the issue of the refrigerator, which has taken on a story of its own and once resolved will receive its own exclusive blog post. Then I can begin the process of rediscovering all the stuff that has been stored in my garage for almost a year.  

In the mean time, the completion of this project is well in sight!