Paint: All over but the shouting

Perhaps one more coat of paint is not the most exciting news to report...But it is about as much as we can pull off at the moment and in any case, this particular room was rather cathartic to colorize. We'd had this room hastily painted (along with the bathroom, which is now the only room which still needs color work) right before we moved in. Trouble is, we'd chosen a color which didn't ultimately fit into the whole Monadnock palette like we'd originally thought it would; plus, we didn't realize it was necessary to tell the guys they should paint the ceiling white, assuming that all rooms have white ceilings and so that should go without saying. Oops. So I remember vividly the first night sleeping in this house, in this room, with no drywall except here and in the bathroom, staring up at a ceiling which was as alarmingly yellow as the rest of the place. I'll be honest: Those first fifteen or thirty minutes were the only time since we've moved here when I've been truly scared. What am I doing here? I'm drowning in an ocean of cheap mustard. How the hell is this a home? Then the fear passed and it hasn't come back. Nevertheless, that's why finally getting around to redoing this corner of the castle has been, as I mentioned, cathartic.

My camera still inspires no confidence that it captures colors accurately, but here's a picture of roughly what we're dealing with. The "technical" name of this color is natural wheat, but if I were in charge of naming paints I'd call it coffee ice cream or the color of those shakes they have at Wendy's. Whatever the nomenclature, it's a huge step up from burning migraine yellow or what it might be like in the core of the sun or whatever the fuck it was before.

This marks the end of our painting odyssey...except for the bathroom. Which we're going to wait to play with until we find out just how much more (re)work needs to get done in there. (That's another can of worms for another day.) My original prediction, once we decided to paint by ourselves, was that it would take...some number of weeks longer than if we'd hired out the gig. It's turned into months. But I was talking about this house with some friends the other day and some words of wisdom escaped my lips which I was not prepared for: Projects of this magnitude, you don't plan. They plan you.

A cozy fire and yet more paint

Our first fire...unfinished fireplace be damned. What we'll do with this particular nook of the house is completely unknown, although something has to happen. (Notice the ancient smoke stain from some flue mishap of Sherene's dad's.) Tile it? Paint it? Mantle? Hearth? No clue how this will end up; for now, it's December and high time to light up a fake log.

We did some painting over Thanksgiving break, too. Pictures when the second coat is done, but for now picture the color of one of those chocolate shakes from Wendy's. Remember those? When I cracked open the paint can, I almost couldn't resist grabbing a spoon and tasting it, it reminded me so strongly of those delicious fast-food treats...

Long time no blog (empty backyard)

Owing to the last throes of the legal proceedings which have allowed us to keep the castle in the first place—but which threw one last financial monkey wrench into the works—we've only taken one step in the last several weeks. (Actually this happened over a month ago now. Whew! We need to get back to work on this place.) We finished getting everything torn out of the yard...professionally. No more of this inefficient hacking away with the wrong tools...That was fun and a fine way to start, but now witness the blank slate, wiped clean:

viewed from the NW corner of the lot

...from NE corner...

...from atop the gardeners' ladder, looking NW...

OK, so it's not exactly beautiful...but it's ready for action. What will happen out here?

Not shown: The considerable chunk of the big tree overhanging the roof which the gardeners trimmed back, thankfully. I'm not sure how much less debris we can actually expect to accumulate up there, given how huge she remains...but it's the thought that counts, right?

Grout hits the tile

Did I mention our new dude is fast? He told us he'd be done Monday. Finished in half the time.

Tile hits the floor

I have been eagerly anticipating this day for a while now...The previous post, by the way, featured a shot of this tile on the floor of the tile store. Here it is on our floor, by golly!

The whole job will be done at the end of Monday, barring any unforeseen stuff. This is a new team of contractors, who are so far giving us much less reason to think that the types of unforeseen stuff that plagued our last hired crew are going to continue to crop up.

Next steps are some new appliances, then countertops and cabinets, and a cool "bar" thing in the breakfast room which the new contractor designed (in about 30 seconds—dude is fast). The exact order in which these "chunks" of kitchen will appear is not yet clear, but in the coming weeks and months, the bulk of our penny-saving will be for the kitchen-laundry-breakfast area of the castle. Finally!

Kitchen tile = mission accomplished

We could be slippin' across these gorgeous things in our socks as early as a week or two from now. Another quantum leap after a much-slowed process of door and window restoration and sporadic painting...(Neither of those projects are finished, by the way. These things take as long as they take, it turns out.)

Still paintin'

Yes, there is still paint to get on the walls. Today is a day off of school for me—and I hardly know why. (I think it's because my broke-ass district is doing some "furlough day" or something.) So why not slap a bit more up there?

The green room was already almost finished, just had to polish off the second coat that had remained incomplete because we'd run out of paint. And...first coat in the living room is done and drying. It's the same color as the dining room, but it doesn't look like it yet.

Name that tree, cont'd

Acacia melanoxylon! Also known as the Australian Blackwood.

As I suspected, it spreads underground through its root system, in addition to dropping those little seed pods all over the place. They are considered invasive around here, but it turns out their wood is also useful for tons of stuff, including guitar-making. Hmm...

Stalking: it's what cats do...

This cat hangs around our street all the time, wandering hither and thither. Also hangs out in our backyard under the big tree sometimes. No idea whether male or female—Time to decide on a name for it. "Big-Nose"?

Open yard...

Feel the space! Breathe the air! Walk around! It may not look like much, but it's at least not full of trash any more! Is my enthusiasm about the expanded dimensions of space here getting through clearly enough? Is it?

Green room underway

Can't get a good picture of what this color looks like on the walls...suffice it to say, it looks niccccce. (Got another coat to do later, though.)

What with the backyard cleanout and the new color up, it's been a pretty good weekend for Castle Monadnock.

Guts and glory, cont'd

Trash hauling begins! This was a step we'd been eagerly looking forward to making, but unsure about when exactly the proper moment to take it out might present itself. Halleluiah, the day has arrived. On Monday, we'll have a backyard.

Still to come this weekend: green room?

Back to work

With school back on, progress has slowed considerably. Last weekend, just did barely enough taping and cutting to prepare for more colors, which I'm only getting to on this luxurious three-day.

As usual, the colors coming off my iPhone camera are completely unreliable and in any case this is only a first coat, still wet and glistening...but at least it's another piece-o-progress! If I can get this dried and then do the last coat later tonight, I'll be well satisfied.

Its Gonna Be Bamboo

Charlie and I have decided to go with bamboo flooring for the house. Initially we wanted rosewood or oak but the beauty and value of bamboo cannot be beaten. We save $2000 with this choice—installation will be limited to the living room, dining room, and hallway. Kitchen tile is still up in the air.

Angel before and during...("after" still to come)

Angel window, August 30, 2009

Painted angel, August 27, 2010

And to put it in perspective: Tomorrow's our third wedding anniversary. I love Renie!

Now let's paint s'more.

Window restoration progress

The angel window is underway. Blue masking tape and cheap newsprint bathes the living room in a stained-glass lighting effect, which I find kind of amusing...

Bohemian Rhapsody

Five rooms to go. Guest room # 1: French Lavender, Guest room #2/office: Russian Sage, Master bedroom (a repaint): Natural Wheat, Bathroom (a repaint) : Fairfax

It won't be boring - we can promise you that.

Its About Quality Of Life

This is what I'm going to do with the space in the back - there are two rooms. This one's mine and the other belongs to Charles. I know I can't afford to have as much glass and wood back as in this picture, but it represents the overall vibe I am going for. What I most look forward to is hanging out with my homies or just chillin' back there during holidays and after work. I've earned it. Creating a tub room is not as arduous as it sounds - we've got a new contractor (yay!) - he'll have to insert plumbing from the house to the in-law, rebuild the roof, and walls. Not sure which tub I'm going to go with yet - any suggestions are welcomed. This room along with a red wood deck built to the right of the tub room will be completed no later than June 2011 - just in time for summer! I promise not to waste too much water.

Beyond ceilings

Eagerly Anticipating

This fridge that will arrive at Monadnock in the next couple of months. Inspired by Amy Crawford's cutie pie fridge -its stainless steel with french doors and a bottom freezer.