Fruits of Labor

Second post for the day so you can see what was accomplished .....(you can't quite see what the electrician did!) 

The support has been put in for the far wall beside the fireplace (the pipe needed to go right through a support beam).... a support beam was put in and now the wall is gone that was between the dining room/living room entry.... it has been opened up some!  It is gonna look really different!

the last cut to remove the last stud

ta daaaa it is opened up!!!

Mark looking at the open space leading into what will be our family room

looking from within the new family room

can you see the hearth for the fireplace ???  also bookcases are being built on each side!!!

Today at this Old House

Today at our house the electrician and carpenter are here and Mark is here part of the day.... so things are a happening .....   Here are some pics of what it looks like at the moment!  Lots of things have to happen this week in order for the drywalling to start in one week.

Ron the Carpenter

picture from the family room looking towards the front door

Part of this wall will disapear

Ron putting up a support beam ... see the hearth for the fireplace...

Mark coming through the front door

the electrician (yes the picture is blurred) in what will be the dining room!

Options on Chandeliers

Yes, I know this is my 3rd post for the day.... but our internet was down for 4 days with the rewiring we had going on.... but I no longer have cords going across the floor in the craft/office room!!!  What do you think about this?  I love this chandelier from Lowe's

BUT I could revamp this one for FREE!! Opinions please!  (It is hanging in the basement)  I was thinking if I did redo this to paint it either Black, Silver or Cream color it has all the crystals to it.... possibly need to rewire it but my Handy Dandy husband knows how to do that!  His late mother in law owned a lamp shop many years ago and he used to rewire lamps all the time!

So what do you think ? Should I buy the gorgeous new one or redo this antique????

REMODELING UPDATE

Here is what is a happening at this old house....

Electrician comes back tomorrow to finish wiring.....

The Trusses will be installed tomorrow where the walls are coming out.....

Mark is still working on removing the plaster/lathe and insulation......

The plumber is coming sometime this week to put the plumbing in the "room between"  ( I don't know what to call this room it is between the house and the apartment!) for the washing machine and he also will install a water line for the refrigerator/icemaker with a filter!

The drywallers will come on September 7th

The fireplaces will be installed on September 14th

Then the fun will begin.... painting and new flooring throughout the downstairs.... we are hoping to sand the wood floors in the dining, living and family rooms.... and lay ceramic tile everywhere else!

OH Yeah and the master bedroom is still in a mess..... we have closets that are framed in but the rest is on hold because of the time frame in the downstairs.... when we reach a point that WE cannot do anything else downstairs we will start finishing our room.... who knows maybe I will actually be moved by the end of October?

Oh and Dumpster #2 is full! We still need another one to finish up with the carpet!

What I do when I am bored!

Yes,  we are in the middle yes,the middle of remodeling and what am I doing?  Well when I am bored because there isn't anything I can do.... or if I get aggravated.... like the other day the guy (I have no idea who he was the lumber yard sent him) was here to see what kind of load bearing trusses we needed for our walls we are removing and he asked us if we knew what kind of roof we had, I said it is a "peak roof" he said are you sure it isn't a hip roof? I said no I know what a hip roof is and this is a "peak" he looked at me like yeah right this dumb broad is trying to tell me what kind of roof is on this house so he went and looked for himself..... I was right... I knew what kind of roof it is because my house in Robinson has a hip roof....  I hate it when men think you are stupid just because of your gender!  (I bet he couldn't figure out how to make these!)  So I headed upstairs and made some head bands!  (that was more fun anyway!)   So here is the fruit of my labor!  Won't all of my little girlies look cute in these?  I am now addicted to making them!

All about the walls!

Here you will find pictures of the walls that Mark and Robert have been working on to get all of the plaster and lathe off of!  It WILL be nice when it is all finished.... it will, it will, it will!!!  It is such a mess right now but I know that in no time it will be done...  Today the fireplace people came to measure to make sure an insert will fit into the old fireplace and to measure for one in the family room... In doing all this we have also decided to eliminate a couple of walls a Truss? guy came to see what we needed to carry the load... and tomorrow the electrician comes and our insulation we ordered will be here also!  We will have a busy weekend ahead of us to get this all done so the drywalling can begin on Monday!!!

Click on the picture above and below and you will see a couple of areas we are going to open up!

As you look at the above picture the arched doorway is going to be closed in but the wall is going to disapear that goes into the kitchen and to the left

This is as you come down the stairway the tall guys would hit their heads and now it is gone!!!

My Mother

This is my dear sweet mother who isn't doing so well.... She has lived in Assisted Living for the last 6 years...  Mom fell last week and they discovered some old and some new fractures in her spine.  Mom is 88 years old... My grandmother had 2 sets of boy and girl twins and the girls from both sets are the only living children left out of seven!  I have always said that my mother was a saint in my eyes.... She always tried to do what was right, she was a godly woman, she taught Sunday School and VBS for many years, she didn't just talk the talk she walked the walk... My mother never worked outside of the home..  she was always busy sewing and taking care of her family.   Upon coming home from school there was always cookies in the cookie jar!  (except in later years she would hide the jar when Gary would come unless she was ready to bake)  Mom always thought of others before herself and her greatest joys in life have always been her family... I was blessed to live near her when the girls were young and they would go to her house before and after school since she and Dad lived right across the street!  When my Dad passed away I didn't know how in the world she would survive but she did, so she was always sympathetic of me when I lost Gary and when she found out that I got married this past February she said she was happy for me because she knew what it was like to be alone, she said she was too old or she would!  She and Dad were just shy of being married 60 years.  She never cared much for pets, but somehow she became somewhat fond of my boston terrier, Dude! (although she always thought his name was Duke!) :)

She always told my kids "we don't have much money but we sure have a lot of love"~   In all of my years I don't think I have ever heard a curse word come from my mother's mouth!

So if you are reading this if you could say a prayer for my mother I would most appreciate it!

Some BEFORE pictures.....

This is what the Living Room and Dining Room look like at the moment.... other than shortly after taking the pictures "Ron" came and put in the new windows and Robert came and started tearing out the old plaster!  Can you hear the word Mess????

No I haven't done anything to the fireplace yet, those stripes are from glue that held the paneling on!

Seeing the big picture....

When it comes to remodeling, making something less attractive into something beautiful it is just something that I love to do.....  have done so to a number of houses my family has lived in over the years.... I have always been able to see a house,  sometimes in all of it's ugliness (girls remember the one house we bought in Van?) Gold Shag Carpeting, ugly, ugly ugly, paneling on every wall..... but somehow I looked past all of that and could envision what with a little handiwork, paint and love what could be done.   Don't you think God looks at each of us in the same way?  He looks into our hearts, no matter what we have done and can see past all of the ugliness and HE our Lord and Savior can envision what he can mold us into?

The Life's that God can change and has changed is more amazing than any paint, new floor or any cabinet that I can make!!!

All the time, money and effort we put into remodeling will not last forever, neither will our life here on earth!   Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” A “heart renovation” is an eternal renovation.

Do you know, that you know, that you know?

Today's Achievements!

Today the windows are done!!! Yes we have all new windows and they are awesome!!! YAY!!  Ron finished the windows and headed upstairs to start tearing out the walls to expand two closets in our room!  Ron also informed me we had a guest sunbathing in the front yard.... a four foot SNAKE  yuck I really do not care for snakes!  I have always said  the only good snake is a dead snake!!!!  I WILL be watching with a HOE in hand!!!   yeah yeah yeah I know they eat mice and rodents..... my husband already told me that... but I still don't like snakes!!!

YIKES I need to take some before pictures in the morning!!  Tomorrow the electrician comes to update a few things.... So things are a happening.... I will post some pictures tomorrow! If all goes as planned the drywalling will start next Monday!!!

Zoo

Friday evening we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to go to the ZOO we met Mark's oldest son Mike, his wife Jill and their adorable little boy Christian.... I had not been to the zoo since my girls were little..... It was a rather warm day, but many of the buildings had cool air blowing so that helped a lot!  Here are a few pics of our day at the Zoo!

Nancy and Mark taking silly pictures

Christian's elevator!

Jill, Christian and Mike

Jill and Mike

Christian (isn't he the cutest?)

Mark the proud Grandpa!

Jill, Christian and Mike ready for the Imax movie!

Do you think anyone will notice us sleeping with these glasses on?

Windmills

I am fascinated with the windmills you see alot now days along the highways!  As we were traveling to Omaha on Friday evening  along I-80 this is what we saw! 

Tearing out, putting in and fixing up!

When you are dealing with an old house (110 years old to be exact) you are always going to run into problems when remodeling!  We have all but two windows and our window replacement will be finished.  "Ron" got rained out on Friday so he will be back Monday to finish up on the windows.  Robert was knocking down the old plaster and came upon a problem with some water damage... so you will see some pictures of Mark peeking through a hole in the wall as he was repairing the outside for a "temporary" fix before a rainstorm!