Christmas Past 2020

Here we are a few days into the New Year again.  Every year I feel the same way, where did the previous year go?  Yes, even 2020 flew by even with all of the challenges it presented.

In December of 2019, we were still far from finished with the remodel of the hut, so we did not celebrate Christmas at all.  This year, we're still working on the last of the details for the house, and I decided to decorate quite a bit to make up for the year before, even though we had no family or friends gathering due to the pandemic.

I put up three Christmas trees this year, one in each bay window and one upstairs.  Of course, two of the trees were only three feet tall and the other one was a six-footer, so all told, it was the equivalent of one twelve-foot tree.  This was our first year with artificial trees, too.  I kind of like them; they don't have the lovely smell of a real tree, but I did bring in some pine branches from the Back Eight for fragrance.

Above, is the dining room bay window.  Below is the living room.

Another view of the dining room, below.  We were able to bring the stained glass lamps home from storage at Joel's house the first week in December.  I found an antique oak table on Marketplace and it fits very well in the room. 

We didn't have any substantial snow until after Christmas this year.  I guess, like everything else in 2020, it was unpredictable weather.

The remodel is winding down, thank goodness.  I have to chuckle now remembering back in December 2019 that we'd had hope to be back in the house by Christmas.  What dreamers we were.  The last of the woodwork was completed just before Halloween. 

In keeping with the Craftsman style of home that we were trying to mimic, we had the cabinet maker build a set of three room dividers, or colonnades, as they are known, between the front foyer and the dining room and the dining room and the kitchen.  

We needed to supply the stained glass for the cabinet doors.  We decided to do a design to tie in with the railings that Carl finished in October.  He drew up plans and went to work.

 

There he is posing with the window and his face mask after soldering was complete on Window #1.  Five more to go.

 

We still need to putty the stained glass and clean the window, but we couldn't resist sticking it in the cabinet for now.

Speaking of the railings, they were completed at the beginning of November.  (Carl's been retired since March 2019, but he has had no time to sit around, poor guy.)  The railings were a monumental challenge for Carl; though the design was simple, so I thought, it was actually difficult to make everything even and there was a lot of cutting, welding, grinding and do-overs before he had them the way he wanted.

There will be more about the actual railing construction to come, but it took months to get them completed, especially when I threw in the idea of adding stained glass rondels to each design.

One of many trial runs to see how we liked them.

Newel posts fresh from the supplier, with Carl's hat hanging from a clamp so no one ran into the pole sticking out.

More trial and error, back to the drawing board, above, and finally, below, the finished product.

The sunlight coming in the windows shines through the rondels and throws interesting patterns on the walls during the morning and afternoon.  As the angle of the sun changes with the seasons, so do the patterns.

We were very happy to have this job behind us.

So, Christmas 2020 is in the history books, and we are looking forward to a much better year to come.  

There's a whole new year ahead.

 

Remodeling Our Hut: Part 36 Stair Carpeting and Tractor Shenanigans

 The end of September is nearly here and it is high time I update the progress and lack of progress on the remodel. 

 

 Since it has been over a year since we started this adventure, we're sort of shame-faced we're not further along, but with us, every project takes more time than we originally thought it would.  Add Covid to the mix, and well, everything gets delayed.

 

Anyway, picking up where I left off in April 2020, we needed to have carpeting installed on the upstairs staircase. 

Carl had fought with rearranging the entire staircase in October 2019.  This is the only area of the house to be carpeted as every professional advised us wood steps would be beautiful, but also slippery and therefore dangerous.  Since I've already demonstrated my ability to descend staircases on my derriere more times than I care to count, yes, please, bring on the carpeting.

 

 I was able to order the carpeting right from home using our sample number and the carpet installer went to pick it up so we didn't have to leave the house at all.

Before the carpet could be installed, Carl had to figure out how to cover the formerly plastered wall with hardwood and add the step caps to the outside of each step. 

Lots of tedious work.

 

The carpet installer came in late April and we vacated the house while he worked here alone for the sake of social distancing.  When we came back home, though, we noticed a problem with the installation due to height differences between the riser and the additional wood trim, so the installer had to come back at a later date to do parts of the job over.

Finally, by May 4, the stair carpet was done.

By May 12, Carl was working on the staircase railings.  He had some complicated math to work out, so we put up a temporary handrail for the time being.

With Spring springing up all over the yard, we decided to put a halt to the indoor work and focus on the front garden landscaping.  Everything in the front yard had been torn out prior to the remodel, so it was dismal coming home to a big mess in the front yard.  And besides, the gardens themselves had been neglected for almost a year, and Mother Nature takes back her domain in no time when the gardener is a slacker.  Oh the weeds!

The Quarry Pond was at a nice level in early May, but the landscaping was full of weeds.  I really didn't know where to start, but decided it was high time to downsize a few more areas. 

The Quarry Bypass Trail with the split-rail zig-zag fence was something I really hated to part with, but I had no time to weed the area any longer, so I took out the fence and relocated the hostas to a shadier area near the Formal Garden stone wall.  Now that the plants are gone, I merely have to mow the area.

The hostas are much happier in the shade again.  

 Joel and Abby had been waiting to plant their lawn since they moved in to their new home in December of 2018.  Carl and I went up to help Joel rake up stones and plant grass seed May 23.

The next day, Sunday, May 24, Joel and I took two of our tractors and joined a neighborhood tractor parade of approximately 30 other tractor enthusiasts, going 20 miles around the area to drive by some neighbors who have been struggling with their health. 

Joel is parked in front of me and I followed him the entire route.

 

Everyone took a break at noon for a lunch at a local golf course where we ate outside.  I never thought I'd drive my dad's 1972 tractor and Joel's 1954 so far from home, but it was fun and worth it to see the smiles on the faces of the people waiting for us on their front lawns.  There's a feeling I can't explain when you see that many old tractors all together going down the road, it never fails to choke me up.  Joel and I left home with our tractors (top speed of about 18 mph) at 9AM, drove the 20-something miles and arrived back home at 3PM. 

 We all need a break from stress and worry during these times, and what could be better than a few hours driving across the countryside on an antique tractor waving to happy people?  

I know it's a day I will never forget.  :-)

 

We're Still Here

Summer is over and fall is upon us once again.  This year has been challenging in so many ways, but we're still here.

The hut remodel is still dragging on, we are getting down to the smaller details now, but there is still a lot to be done before the snow flies.  I've been absent from blogging due to lacking time to write as much as I'd like.  We've got the ongoing construction here and sadly, the demolition of my late mom's house at the moment, so it seems all we do is work, but I guess it keeps us out of trouble.  :-)

With a little luck, I hope to one day write a Hut Remodel post with the title, 'It's DONE!'  

 

It's coming soon.  (I hope.)