Tag Archives: maine

It’s starting to look like a floor!

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Things are starting to come together on the flooring project.

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And I’m almost afraid to say this lest something horrible happen….

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But work is progressing smoothly.

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It’s going to take us a while to get used to this type of floor as we’ve had carpet in here since we moved in, but I’m liking it so far.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten’s jury is still out.

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Though he does enjoy the work table when our contractor goes out to the man cave/Barn Mahal for lunch.

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Progress!

👍

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Peeking behind the walls and some hideous vintage wallpaper…

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After cleaning and bleaching the black mold off the wallboard, our contractor wanted to make sure there wasn’t a larger problem lurking behind the wall and hauled out his spy camera.

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It’s a wonderfully nonevasive way to take a peek.

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And in a very unexpected turn of good luck in our usually cursed house…

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Everything looked fine.

No water damage, no mold. Yay!

Before the contractor started on something else, I had him remove an old useless thermostat left over from electric baseboard heat that was used in the ‘80’s.

Under that thermostat?

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Some really beautiful vintage wallpaper.

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Not!

But it does have all those wonderful 1970’s colors… olive green, gold and orange.

🤣

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A few more pieces of wood ripped out …

And then the reason our contractor loves charging us by the hour becomes clear.

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My husband, talking.

And talking. And talking. And talking.

Ka-Ching!

💰

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His Lordship?

Sleeping in the sun with a catnip mouse.

I wish my husband would do that, it would be so much cheaper.

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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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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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