TWO STEPS FORWARD, THREE BACK...

They are making great progress with our house and we are ALMOST there, but not quite.  A few snags have caused delays, but things are moving along in a most exciting way.  The floors are done and they finished the fireplace today--quite a change from our old red brick one.  And the floors look just lovely!

The kitchen now has a microwave and I could boil water because the sink also now has fixtures and water that will come out of the faucet.

The claw foot tub we rescued 15 years ago from my husband's aunt's backyard and had refinished is now installed in the hall bathroom.  Note the 1881 railroad rail installed above the tub--it is also an antique from my husband's family.  I can hardly wait to take a bath in that huge tube and sink all the way into the bubbles!

Our bedroom now has carpet and the bed is supposed to be delivered this afternoon.  Unfortunately, there are too many unfinished tasks and inspections to obtain a certificate of occupancy next week, so our move-in date has been moved from next week to another indefinite date. I was disappointed to hear that today.  Perhaps by Christmas??

Meanwhile I am trying to figure out how to get organized for Christmas.  Thankfully, one of my sweet daughter-in-laws has offered to host all of us (all 4 of my boys and families together???) for an early Thanksgiving on Wednesday.  That is so exciting!  I plan to take lots of pictures and will post a family update next week sometime.

SLOW WEEK!

Last weekend we met Son #1 and family at Uncle P's and the men played around with some machinery while we women shopped.  I got a good picture of the men in the family but the women thought it was way too hot and humid to even get out of the car for the picture.

This was a slow week for our house.  The electric, plumbing and a/c people put the finishing touches on their work in time for inspectors next Monday.  The roof people did a bit of work and the cornice people put more siding on the front of the house.  The front porch really looks nice now!

However, we did have a fair amount of rain this week and it slowed things down a bit and even the inspectors would not come if it is rainy.  Hopefully we will have more progress on the house next week.

The rain did not keep the fawns away.  These two were sitting on our lawn late yesterday afternoon. 

The cage beside the fawns protects a crape myrtle that the deer ate to the ground twice last year--I named the crape myrtle Lazarus because it came back each time.  Seems like those two little ones would like to have a taste!

Meanwhile, we are celebrating the 4th of July in our neighborhood.  This morning we had our annual parade and lots of the neighbors gathered on the driveway across the street for visiting, Mimosas, and picture-taking.

Some of the children in our neighborhood decorated the vehicle shown below last night and one of the dads drove them in the parade.  Looks like they were having a great time. 

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

IT'S COMING TOGETHER!

The progress on the house has been amazing this week.  Not all of the progress is visible in a picture but there has been a houseful of workers all week.  Our cul de sac is often lined with pickups and workers' cars.

The electricians came and finished all the wiring. The plumbers came and we even have water in the house--at least that is what they say, but it is hard to tell because we don't have any fixtures, sinks, toilets or other "water features" in yet. 

Today trim people worked on more siding,Tyvek covering for the porch, and exterior siding on the house. 

Each day things look a little better than the day before. 

Next week it is my understanding that the trim people will continue to do their work, we will wait for a few inspections and then the insulation people will come in and do their work before the sheet rock people begin.

Meanwhile, we are doing well in our neighbors' house but our dog is exhibiting signs of extreme agitation over all the changes in her life.  She is 14 years old and was already a bit senile before all these changes began.  The noise and people in our/her backyard was very disturbing to her, then a few thunderstorms caused her to dig out and run away.  Moving her to the yard across the street from our house (where we are staying) was just about the last straw for her.  She has spent part of her time trying to dig out and part of her time pacing the fence line.  She has not been eating well and sometimes acts very confused.  Funny thing is I can understand--I often feel exactly the same way--very confused!

PROGRESS BEING MADE

Workers have been busy at our house all this week.  Much of the progress is not too noticeable from the outside, but the electricians, plumbers, a/c men and cornice workers have been very busy on the inside and outside of the house.  We now have a front porch.  They worked on that today and put the little curved "eyebrow" on at the end.  The fellow who did it was so proud of it and came to get us to see if we liked it.  We gave our approval!

I was also surprised this afternoon to see that we had a bathtub in our upstairs bathroom--full of WATER!  They said they were testing the system for leaks.  I was excited to see that we now have a bathtub.

Next I found a chair in my "studio" ready for me to set up my easel and begin painting.  I just might do that in the morning if the workers are not there and while it is still cool.  However, the workers worked all day last Saturday and seemed to think they would come again this week.

While we were showing a friend our house Bossy Mama and our neighborhood does came with their four babies and paraded back and forth in front of our living room window--showing off their youngsters for us to admire.  Bossy Mama came right up to the window to make sure we saw them out there!

Bossy Mama and her crew are definitely NOT shy!

HOUSE IS WRAPPED!

Last week we had a stairway to nowhere and this week it leads to our marvelous attic above our kitchen and dining room.

This week the framers finished the outside of our upstairs and put on most of the roof decking. The picture below shows the attic storage space with most of the roof decking in place.

This morning I came home from exercising and found that the upstairs of our house had been wrapped with Tyvek and men were installing windows upstairs.

The front:

And the back:

Next week our builder says they will work on electrical and plumbing. Things are really moving along nicely!

GOING UP!

On Monday our lumber was delivered for our house remodeling and there has been a bee hive of activity ever since with very talented men who have made our house grow UP in just two days.

On Tuesday the framers got right to work and the walls of the new additions began to go up.

Today the roof came off and they cut away the part where the second story will be.

I went to the dentist about midday and returned to find that we had a stairway to nowhere—but it shows where the second floor will be—probably by tomorrow or Friday.

On the stairway with me is our wonderful builder showing me what the upstairs will look like. This continues to be an exciting adventure!

POURING THE SLABS

Yesterday they poured the slabs for our new additions to the house.

They made our front porch a bit larger.

They added our master bath and bedroom.

And they extended our kitchen and laundry room.

It was an exciting day to see so much progress being made. Next week they begin framing up our new rooms. I can hardly wait!

REMODEL WELL UNDER WAY

Our remodeling is well under way. The first week consisted of gutting our house. By the end of that first week we had a completely “see-through house” that my nephew called a “holey” house.

The first week they also put up the forms for our additions out back and the new front porch.

This week the plumbers worked on the plumbing and the men finished the forms for our additions. We should have poured concrete today but it rained off and on (slightly) all day and they rescheduled for Tuesday.

My husband had many consultations with our very patient builder.

Meanwhile, we are camping out at a friend’s house while she is out of town and living out of our boxes and suitcases.

LOST ITEMS

Today was a day of trying to locate all those items that got lost in the quick transition from our house on Monday. We looked for hubby's medicine, the box with the recent electric bill so we could get the electricity turned off, our underwear, and my box of earrings. We have located all but my earrings. I may be relegated to wearing the same earrings for the next five months--OR, buying some new ones??

Much progress was made on the house today as they moved inside with the demolition needed there. It was sad to watch my tiny, snug, cozy bathroom disappear to make room for a larger master bath. I just could not stay there very long today for two reasons: first, it was sad and second, it was DIRTY, DUSTY and HOT! We had our first 90+ day with humidity and LOTS of mosquitoes. Not pleasant.

I have been taking lots of pictures and I will add them to my remodeling saga soon but am still borrowing computers and do not have my own access to the internet yet.

REMODELING--FINALLY!

Monday morning our builder arrived at our door and told us that the demolition team was on its way and wanted to know how soon we could be out of our house. We called the mover and he came late Monday night to get our furniture and remaining boxes. During the day a procession of neighbors were in and out helping with the packing, organizing and feeding of our very busy day!

Many, many thanks to good neighbor, Cheryl, who masterminded much of the organizing and packing that happened so quickly that day--amidst all the banging and jack-hammering outside.

Yesterday was amazing. As the sidewalks, patio and brick disappeared from the outside of our house, the forms went up for our new addition. There were swarms of workers, Bobcats, dump trucks and diesel pickups there all day!

Meanwhile, Hubby and I are still looking for all those lost articles that may or may not surface in the next few weeks. Ah, the joys of remodeling.

JUST TOO BUSY!!

Seems like I have too many balls that I am trying to juggle at once right now.

We are meeting several times a week with our builder to finalize plans for the remodel of our house; I am STILL sorting and packing; I am trying to finalize the remaining details of settling Mother's estate; and I am busy with several writing groups and church responsibilities. In addition to all that, two of our neighbors have been sick so several of us in the neighborhood have rallied to help feed their families. I have only contributed food once this week but I have been the "reporter" for the neighborhood and I am trying to keep everyone informed through e-mail.

I think I need juggling lessons!

IN COWTOWN

I came to Fort Worth with my husband and I am enjoying the city while he goes to meetings. We are staying in a newly renovated hotel with incredible, huge photographs that are the artwork in the lobby, the hallways and in our room. Below is a photograph of spurs that is over the toilet in the bathroom. I would love to paint those spurs with all of that wonderful scroll work on them!

This morning I went to the Kimbell Museum and spent several long hours with my nose up close to the beautiful paintings studying the intricacies of their brushstrokes. I especially enjoy the artists of the 1500s and 1600s. Some of those paintings have detail that is just amazing!

My brother and I have been interested in sharing photographs of cloud formations for more than a year now. I was delighted to find several paintings of cloud formations by a Fort Worth artist and thought that I could paint several pictures like this one below!

I am also taking pictures and notes about how I DO NOT want my bathroom to be renovated. The lighting in this dark brown bathroom is so poor that I am not sure where my makeup went when I put it on this morning! There is one can light over the mirror and two very dull lighting fixtures on each side. There is even a lighted magnifying mirror, but none of them cast enough light in the stylish, but poorly lighted, dark brown bathroom. And the toilet paper holder requires a great deal of flexibility in reaching almost behind my back to grab the paper. I have two pages of notes for our builder on ways that I do not want my bathroom remodeled!

Tonight we went to the Museum of Modern Art for a dinner and had a tour of the art with a docent. It was very informative and the food was wonderful! I am so glad I had this respite from packing up our house and have learned so much about art on this trip.

PACKING, PACKING

I have been busy all week packing up things that I think we can live without the next 5-6 months. I am amazed at how many things that includes. Seems like I am cleaning out a LOT of stuff, but I am also packing a lot of stuff too. Maybe, when I UNpack all those boxes I will again discard some of the things that we are storing now.

Earlier in the week I was overwhelmed with boxes, but my dear husband carted a whole load of boxes off to be stored today. While he was gone I began building up my stack of packed boxes again. One thing I am sure of is that our house will look much larger as we move things out.

All of this is a bit unsettling as I dismantle this house that we have lived in for so long.

REMODELING FRENZY!

We got our first set of plans from the architect yesterday and that made things seem more real. I think I am entering a state of shock--or maybe it is just the cedar pollen that is getting to me??

I spent the morning with the builder looking at other houses and my head is swimming! A minute ago he was back here sat the house trying out the treatment that he wants to use on our brick. Every time I look out he is here measuring, just looking or trying something. He is really enthusiastic!

I am packing, making trips to Goodwill, looking at plans, packing, visiting houses, gathering ideas, packing, throwing things out, cleaning up. Whew! This remodeling is beginning to feel like real work! Gotta pick up speed on the packing because I am not making very much progress on that task.

SWITCHING GEARS

We have decided to remodel our 1950s style house that we have lived in for almost 40 years. Our plans began because nothing in our house is very accessible for the handicapped. My mother had trouble going up the two steps at every entry to the house. When I had both hip replacements I could not shower for a week because I could not climb into our tub-showers. We had friends over for dinner one night and it was very difficult getting his wheelchair up onto our front porch with the two steps even though she brought a folding ramp. And maneuvering the wheelchair down our hall into our bathroom was almost impossible.

About a month ago we began talking to a builder and decided to update one bathroom and take out the wall between the living room and den. The more we talked to the builder the more the project developed what our son says his company calls "scope creep." The scope of the project keeps creeping bigger and bigger. Yesterday my husband said our project has developed "scope leap" and now includes almost a whole house renovation.

The real crunch came when the builder said that we would have to move out of our house for the 4 months or so of remodeling. That sent me into a dither when I looked around at our accumulations over the years. We plan to pull a travel trailer into our backyard for the time we have to be out of the house, but I stayed awake all night trying to figure out how I was going to accomplish packing and storing all of our stuff. What would I need for the 4 months? Clothes for two seasons, a few dishes, my painting stuff (or would I have time or a place to paint??), bathroom items, computer (and how would I connect it to the Internet?). Would they disconnect our cable and my washer and dryer (probably)? So many questions and no organization forming in my mind. First of all, I did not know how much time I would have--today the builder said at least a month--WHEW! Yikes! Only a month??

A friend who does not live here suggested that I share some before and after pictures and keep a running report on my blog so that those who live away will know what is happening to us the next few months. An exciting adventure, but a bit overwhelming right now! Below are a few of the BEFORE pictures.

Our tiny den that is part of the den/kitchen area. We will take out the wall between den and living room (seen through the doorway).

My kitchen and kitchen table (which is now disguised as my art studio) and will need to be cleaned up before I serve supper. I will continue to post pictures as we progress through this project!