Tag Archives: maine

I’m calling it progress. I have to…

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New sub floor sections have been laid.

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And the old china hutch has gone to our farming neighbor…

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Not for fertilizer storage as I predicted, but to house a mineral and fossil collection.

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Which almost didn’t happen as they lost their grip going out the door.

😳

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Parts of the old sub floor didn’t need to be replaced…

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But they did need to be sanded down to a level surface.

Sooo much sanding.

Sooo much dust.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten does not like the noise or the mess.

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But he does like having his own personal viewing platform when work is done for the day.

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It’s the gift that keeps on giving…

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As you know we started the home renovation projects last summer…. and by now? I fully intended to be done, feet up and comfortably seated on our new furniture.

Meanwhile back at Casa River –

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten explores the changes…

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And while our contractor is prepping the floor…

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My husband was roped into cutting in the ceiling paint along the edges of the wall.

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Taking up the damaged sub floor sections, the contractor discovered tar paper …

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And one seriously, not even close to level, major hump in the middle of the room.

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Of course he did.

It’s our God forsaken cursed house after all.

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At this point? If he dug up a blackened corpse in a coffin covered in satanic symbols…

I’d just see it as explanation.

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That hutch is heavy, it’s easier to paint around than move.

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The new flooring?

It’s currently clogging up my kitchen.

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Easy to install?

Clearly it doesn’t know who it’s dealing with…

🥴

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Random rambling

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Because my life is nothing if not random.

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Call me crazy but aren’t pickled cucumbers just… pickles?

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Required Lord Dudley Mountcatten photo.

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I’m really enjoying the weird and wonderful things people find at thrift stores FB page… and would totally have bought one of these for the man cave. Feed me Seymour!

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No climate change my *ss.

Ice fishing is big business up here but everyone is wondering how much longer they can survive without the actual ice.

😰

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Saw this the other day and saved it for future reference. Posting here in case anyone else wonders what those all flashing thingamagigs represent.

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I don’t know what this is, but I want one.

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Ceiling repair of the repair, and the plastic barrier that didn’t bar a determined Dudley.

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Project #7 (8? … 9?… whatever, I’ve lost interest in counting at this point) began with dust protecting plastic being draped.

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Once a mini plastic walled room was in place, work on the ceiling began. I wasn’t looking for perfect at this stage, but I was hoping for better.

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After a mind numbing amount of scraping and dusty, lung clogging sanding…

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A smooth surface was ready for texture.

Our poor contractor tries hard to please and he didn’t want to screw it up by applying too much product, so he set the nozzle to fine and let it dry. It wasn’t close to a match so he sprayed it again. And again. And again. Forced to let it dry in between shots.

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Finally, at the end of the day when he was about to run out of daylight…

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With my husband holding a light so he could see where he was spraying….the optimum amount was reached.

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As usual Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not like the temporary plastic barrier.

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He stared it down, but it didn’t move.

Knowing he gets scolded if he tries to rip his way in, he opted for a more subtle approach.

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The old ‘throw your catnip mouse at the wall and see if breaks through’ maneuver.

He gave up for a while because he knew I was watching but as soon as I left the room?

I heard scratching.

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No mere sheet of plastic will keep Lord Dudley from making his appointed rounds.

🥴

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Anything but the scratchy!

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Prepping for our next renovation project… ceiling repair/paint and new flooring… meant emptying the room.

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After stripping it to bare bones, I realized Lord Dudley Mountcatten was not pleased.

Because along with everything else that had to be moved? His scratching post would have to be temporarily relocated as well.

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His Lordship is very attached to said post….

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And did not easily relinquish his grip.

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Oh, the things you find….

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Since work will be starting in the living/dining room and we have a new dining room set on order… it was time to clean out the old china hutch and get rid of the old table and chairs.

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Our contractor wanted the chairs, so out they went.

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The table, which was so horribly faded I thought no one would want it…. went to the farm across the street. With a brand new tablecloth to cover the discoloration.

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That left cleaning out the hutch which hadn’t been done in at least a decade.

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Lord Dudley wanted to help…. but didn’t.

Aside from dozens of candles, placemats, dishes, cups, saucers, platters, chargers, crystal decanters, napkin rings, extra cutlery, knives, holiday tablecloths and a soup tureen …. I discovered the family silver.

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Which all needed to be needed polished.

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And of course…. because this my china hutch?

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There was alcohol.

😉

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So…

Does anyone want a china cabinet?

🥴

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Next project, though not quite a new one.

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Bedroom windows complete, work moved back to the living room.

Remember when we redid the beam?

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And replaced all the stained and damaged ceiling?

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It looked so much better..

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But it wasn’t perfect.

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There was a clear line of demarcation between the old popcorn and the new.

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And though the stains had been Kilz’ed, primed and painted… they didn’t match either.

At the time our contractor had other customers waiting for work, and knowing that we’d be replacing the floor at some point…. we opted to wait to fix the line and repaint the whole ceiling then.

Then is now.

You know something will go wrong.

Stay tuned….

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I think it lasted about 3 minutes.

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Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about organization.

After four months, our bedroom is finally back together.

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Furniture is in place and windows are awaiting treatment.

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It’s amazing how much you miss nightstands until they’re gone.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was pleased his world was back in order…

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Too bad it only lasted a few minutes.

Because as soon as the bedroom was put back in order, the living room was emptied in preparation for the next project.

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So now the den is crammed full…

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The spare bedroom has chairs, tables and paintings.

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And the office floor has odds and ends.

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His Lordship is no longer pleased…

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But he’s doesn’t let it interrupt his nap either.

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I can hardly believe it..

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We ordered them in July.

Installation started in October.

And a mere 4 months later they’re finished.

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Installed and trimmed.

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And the trim was a royal pain in the *ss because all the sills are joined.

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But they’re done!

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At least from the inside. There’s still a ladder outside because all the siding has to be reworked due to the different size rough openings.

But it’s progress… and that’s been a long time coming.

🥴

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The Lorax was right!

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Like all children, I loved the wild and wacky world of Dr. Seuss.

As an adult, I had a greater appreciation for the creative art and a better understanding of the underlying messages.

My favorite? The Lorax. A sad tale of environmental destruction…. he spoke for the trees but no one was listening. 😰

So imagine my surprise when I read this article the other day.

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Fascinating.

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Read on…

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The truffula trees!

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They’re real!

💕

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