This weekend, Pop helped Tom move the scaffolding onto the stairs. As Thomas said, that scaffolding was more than worth the investment in it. With it on the stairs and a step ladder on it, we were able to hang the last of the drywall around the corner windows. Then we got the spot above our bathtub, after nearly setting sail for distant lands when we walked a piece of drywall across the property in the wind. There are three small places still to trim with drywall, but we're nearly done hanging it upstairs! Hooray!
I think Thomas might have been most satisfied with our progress Sunday clearing out all the small scraps of drywall. We loaded up the back of the truck with a bag of trash and a few big stacks of angled pieces and window cut-outs. All that clutter was just in the way.
I'll have to get a picture up of the south wall, as it really makes it look different with all the drywall up. We keep plodding along...
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Family Time
I was thrilled to take advantage of a cheap flight to Portland...just because. I tried to squeeze it in between work commitments, so it was a shorty, but certainly memorable.
After waking up to two inches of snow on the car early, early, early Tuesday morning last week, I managed to make it to the airport in a record six hours - the record for the longest trip to the airport. It was manageable on the highway, but I dared not stray onto the surface streets of snow and slickness - that's where all the accidents were. I landed in a surprisingly dry Portland.
Undeniably, this trip went fast. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with everyone, but I really enjoyed my time with everyone. Abba, Nick and I went to the mountains to get firewood to bring back to Portland. I was happy to practice hauling wood and took seriously the responsibility of keeping the fire going- I like to be warm.
Wednesday evening I got to surprise the Dieringers with a visit and totally upset their evening routine. It was great to visit and play with the kids. Thursday morning I got to see Amy again, though our planned walk was cancelled due to temps below freezing. Miki and the boys joined us, and it was great to see the kids play and share stories. Ollie and I made a batch of pumpkin bread, which he shared with GG and Uncle Niki.
Then the weather went from cold to cold and snowy. It accumulated quickly enough, and plans started shifting, as people were stranded and meetings were cancelled and school let out early. Gratefully, it wasn't enough to stop us from getting up the snowy hills to Auggie's for a delicious meal and some QT with Hannah. She just keeps growing and getting cuter and cuter.
By coincidence, my trip coincided with the funeral services for a wonderfully dear man I grew up sitting in front of at mass. Gene was a good friend of my grandparents, and I was privileged to be there for the services. It's only about once a year that all six in my family make it to church together, so what a testament to Gene that we were all there.
After plenty of snow time (which nearly lost me my wallet - but by the grace of God, it was back in my pocket before we left and in hand for the airport early the next morning), we bundled back up and headed back to Mom and Dad's for a rowdy family dinner.
After waking up to two inches of snow on the car early, early, early Tuesday morning last week, I managed to make it to the airport in a record six hours - the record for the longest trip to the airport. It was manageable on the highway, but I dared not stray onto the surface streets of snow and slickness - that's where all the accidents were. I landed in a surprisingly dry Portland.
Undeniably, this trip went fast. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with everyone, but I really enjoyed my time with everyone. Abba, Nick and I went to the mountains to get firewood to bring back to Portland. I was happy to practice hauling wood and took seriously the responsibility of keeping the fire going- I like to be warm.
There was some crunchy old snow at the Bear Hut, but Mt. Hood was radiant in the snow.
Wednesday evening I got to surprise the Dieringers with a visit and totally upset their evening routine. It was great to visit and play with the kids. Thursday morning I got to see Amy again, though our planned walk was cancelled due to temps below freezing. Miki and the boys joined us, and it was great to see the kids play and share stories. Ollie and I made a batch of pumpkin bread, which he shared with GG and Uncle Niki.
Then the weather went from cold to cold and snowy. It accumulated quickly enough, and plans started shifting, as people were stranded and meetings were cancelled and school let out early. Gratefully, it wasn't enough to stop us from getting up the snowy hills to Auggie's for a delicious meal and some QT with Hannah. She just keeps growing and getting cuter and cuter.
By coincidence, my trip coincided with the funeral services for a wonderfully dear man I grew up sitting in front of at mass. Gene was a good friend of my grandparents, and I was privileged to be there for the services. It's only about once a year that all six in my family make it to church together, so what a testament to Gene that we were all there.
Friday I played in the snow with Cole - pulling around on a saucer: "Faster, Aunt Tori; go faster - faster!"
Grandpa had the perfect size shovel for this rosy-cheeked boy to happily shovel the walk for his momma, though he did mix the yellow snow with all the good stuff.
After plenty of snow time (which nearly lost me my wallet - but by the grace of God, it was back in my pocket before we left and in hand for the airport early the next morning), we bundled back up and headed back to Mom and Dad's for a rowdy family dinner.
Sweet Drew checking out his cousin. He had a great nap and was in a great mood.
Hannah giving herself the finger. She was happy to be the center of attention.
The snow kept falling on Friday, and I was hopeful/anxious about my flight being delayed or cancelled. It actually left on time and landed early Saturday morning. It was another full, full day of travel, though I enjoyed a pizza lunch with a couple friends on my way out of town. Poor Tom was left in the lurch, as I had forgotten my cell phone in Portland and couldn't call to say where I was. Ultimately, I found a pay phone to let him know I'd be home soon. (Can you believe a pay phone costs $1.00 now?!?!) And around 8 pm I pulled in to home, grateful to be back in Tom's arms.
Pee
How did it get to be halfway through February??!?!
The house took a back burner last weekend, as Tom and I converged from opposite directions later on Saturday and were pretty tired on Sunday. But the first weekend of the month was very exciting. I PEED! TWICE! My niece asked me if there was a parade to celebrate. Clearly, she doesn't appreciate the excitement that running water and flushing drains can have on a person.
In addition to finishing this plumbing feat, I finished up some drywall trim around our bedroom door and just about finished the texturing in our bedroom. There was a spot where Tom replaced some crappy tape that cracked off, so I still need to hit that spot. Hopefully this weekend I can get a primer up.
We also worked on Saturday afternoon to create a fake glue-lam (code word for when you glue several pieces of wood together to create a bigger piece of wood). After assembling it, Thomas trimmed it on Sunday to a nice beam for the peak of our ceiling. It will be way cool when it is hung, but first we had to finish putting up the ceiling on one side to meet it. That was less fun, especially when someone hammered his fingernail into the tip of his finger and made a bloody mess.
Hooray! The month started out pretty great, all casualties aside.
The house took a back burner last weekend, as Tom and I converged from opposite directions later on Saturday and were pretty tired on Sunday. But the first weekend of the month was very exciting. I PEED! TWICE! My niece asked me if there was a parade to celebrate. Clearly, she doesn't appreciate the excitement that running water and flushing drains can have on a person.
In addition to finishing this plumbing feat, I finished up some drywall trim around our bedroom door and just about finished the texturing in our bedroom. There was a spot where Tom replaced some crappy tape that cracked off, so I still need to hit that spot. Hopefully this weekend I can get a primer up.
We also worked on Saturday afternoon to create a fake glue-lam (code word for when you glue several pieces of wood together to create a bigger piece of wood). After assembling it, Thomas trimmed it on Sunday to a nice beam for the peak of our ceiling. It will be way cool when it is hung, but first we had to finish putting up the ceiling on one side to meet it. That was less fun, especially when someone hammered his fingernail into the tip of his finger and made a bloody mess.
Hooray! The month started out pretty great, all casualties aside.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
If the Trailer's a Rockin'...
...there's a good chance we're grumpy. Not what one might expect, I know. The winds picked up last night something fierce! And "fierce" might be an understatement. We are eager for our home to be habitable, as the single-wide trailer is not too immune to wind. Being set an angle - NW to SE, it catches the wind in a terrible way, and all night the rocking, the flexing of a metal roof and siding and skirting, the shuddering. Even the blinds were clacking against the walls and window with the gusts. Needless to say, not our best night of sleep.
This morning I could not be soothed, just had to get up early, and get my show on the road. My trip to the bathroom felt like walking on a boat - the swaying bit. And when I looked across the room into a hanging mirror, it was tilting back and forth. What will always strike me as funny in these times is how the water in the toilet sloshes back and forth from the air blowing down the air vent. How crazy! I got to work just before 7:30 am - passed the bus on its way to the first bus stop! And it's a good thing, too. I was much better prepared for the two hour power outage with a pot of hot tea made and the office warmed up (before the cool down without heat).
What a day, what a day! If only the forecasts for snow this weekend are true...we could use the moisture big time! And a happy shout out to Mom and Pop for loaning me a key to the house after I locked myself out Tuesday afternoon.
This morning I could not be soothed, just had to get up early, and get my show on the road. My trip to the bathroom felt like walking on a boat - the swaying bit. And when I looked across the room into a hanging mirror, it was tilting back and forth. What will always strike me as funny in these times is how the water in the toilet sloshes back and forth from the air blowing down the air vent. How crazy! I got to work just before 7:30 am - passed the bus on its way to the first bus stop! And it's a good thing, too. I was much better prepared for the two hour power outage with a pot of hot tea made and the office warmed up (before the cool down without heat).
What a day, what a day! If only the forecasts for snow this weekend are true...we could use the moisture big time! And a happy shout out to Mom and Pop for loaning me a key to the house after I locked myself out Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Working Hard
Tom, Pop, and I have made great strides this month in the house - especially since we took most of Tom's birthday weekend off of homework and spent time on trailer/shop work. We did have a three day of work last weekend, though we started strong and ended pretty tired.
The toilets are installed, no thanks to me. One isn't connected to the water line yet, but both tubs have been connected to the water line and drain. Thomas also installed the cabinet, sink, and faucet in our bathroom. It needs to be connected to the drain still. But the bathroom plumbing is largely done. I may have slowed us down a little when I knocked the bolt for the toilet into the drain. Though it could easily be replaced, Thomas pointed out that it isn't the kind of thing you want hanging out in your line once operational. Oh yeah! To my credit I did suggest a magnet right away, which was the method it was retrieved, just not right away.
Thomas installed the backer board around our tub, and we got the shower and tub plumbing hooked up through it. I filled in a few gaps with the drywall we had in the house. There is just a wee-wee bit left to do on the main floor, but we'll need to truck the drywall in from the horse barn. Thomas worked on taping the seams in our bedroom, so I can get to work texturing it. In the meantime I oiled the bathroom, hall, and bedroom ceilings with lemon oil. It smelled so good. I still had to sand the hall ceiling before I could oil it, and it reminded me of the fun I have to look forward to sanding the main living area - yikes! At least it can be done with the rolling scaffolding, which is much faster than moving and climbing up and down the ladder often.
Moving right along - on schedule, who knows?
The toilets are installed, no thanks to me. One isn't connected to the water line yet, but both tubs have been connected to the water line and drain. Thomas also installed the cabinet, sink, and faucet in our bathroom. It needs to be connected to the drain still. But the bathroom plumbing is largely done. I may have slowed us down a little when I knocked the bolt for the toilet into the drain. Though it could easily be replaced, Thomas pointed out that it isn't the kind of thing you want hanging out in your line once operational. Oh yeah! To my credit I did suggest a magnet right away, which was the method it was retrieved, just not right away.
Thomas installed the backer board around our tub, and we got the shower and tub plumbing hooked up through it. I filled in a few gaps with the drywall we had in the house. There is just a wee-wee bit left to do on the main floor, but we'll need to truck the drywall in from the horse barn. Thomas worked on taping the seams in our bedroom, so I can get to work texturing it. In the meantime I oiled the bathroom, hall, and bedroom ceilings with lemon oil. It smelled so good. I still had to sand the hall ceiling before I could oil it, and it reminded me of the fun I have to look forward to sanding the main living area - yikes! At least it can be done with the rolling scaffolding, which is much faster than moving and climbing up and down the ladder often.
Moving right along - on schedule, who knows?
Tom's Birthday
January is flying by! And speaking of flying, this morning I had the pleasure of seeing not just one bald eagle in the tree by the lake, nor just two bald eagles, but two baldies and a golden eagle. How awesome!
Since I stayed late in town tonight to attend an evening service, I thought I best take advantage of a few free moments to update this thing, especially since my most recent pictures are already so old, though not as old as Tom! He celebrated a birthday - that was fun and exciting. He rolled his eyes when he found I took his pillow - the new one he picked out for his birthday after Christmas and couldn't wait to use - off the bed and wrapped it in a box to take to the party. But at least he stayed out of the house long enough for me to set up a little treasure hunt of treats for him, which I may have had more fun setting up than he had figuring out the clues. The grand gala was a low-key evening together with the family for cake and ice cream at his parents' house.
The past three years I have made German Chocolate Cake - his request. I usually make the coconut-y frosting homemade without the pecans, though it wasn't till this year that Thomas pointed out that mine does not look the right color. Lo and behold, the recipe I use fails to mention toasting the coconut first, which I noticed is step one of every other recipe. My first step in the whole to-do was to google "Star Wars Birthday Cake". I wanted to do something fun, something more exciting than the layer cake I've done the same way the past few years, but there was absolutely nothing I could pull off from the images I saw, save for writing "May the Force Be with You" in colored frosting on top. Then I just looked at images of "German Chocolate Cake", which yielded some interesting pictures of cake. Scrolling down and down, I saw my challenge - a cake roll.
A cake roll is baked on a big cookie sheet and rolled up with the frosting inside. There are many techniques, but none explicitly told me what I needed to know - that the cake has to be made with certain proportions (largely in the egg department) to stay together when it rolls. One recipe used a cake mix, but changed the balance of ingredients added to it instead of following the instructions on the box. Hindsight is 20-20. I used the cake box and its instruction up until the part where you pour it into cake pans. Upon removing it from the oven, I rolled it up in a towel -as instructed - to let it cool. When you unroll it to frost it, it will roll right back up. Problem for me is that it never unrolled. But the cats liked it.
The next day I stocked up on eggs, cake mix, evaporated milk, and anything else I might need in case it took multiple more attempts to pull it off. Unlike someone who commented on a recipe that failed her, I wasn't going to mash up the bake pieces and frosting and serve a lump of "German Chocolate Cow Pie". For attempt two I made the cake from scratch. The first trick is to whip the eggs up real well. Using my little hand mixer, everything was frothing up beautifully. UNTIL. The mixer went berserk, making a loud whining/scratching noise, which caught Tom's attention in the other room. I immediately turned it off, tried turning it on again, but found it wouldn't go away. Tom thought it might be a gear or something and suggested sieving the eggs to make sure no little plastic part fell in. Yeah right - he gave the eggs to the cats, and attempt three began with my good KitchenAide.
As they say, the third try is the charm. I got the cake whipped up fine, baked it with the coconut frosting on the bottom of the pan, rolled it up when it came out of the oven, and didn't risk unrolling it again.
TA DA:
I received the rectangular plate as a gift at Christmas, and in the moment when I thought how perfect it would be, I failed to see that it was really a shade small, but I didn't mind swiping the chocolate frosting that dribbled off the edge and onto the counter.
When flipping the cake out of the pan onto a towel for easy rolling, I opted to use cocoa powder instead of powder sugar. Then I softened some chocolate frosting to drizzle over the edge, added toasted pecans for those who would enjoy them (easy to pick off for those who couldn't) and a TV of candles.
I am eager to try a couple of other cakes in the cake roll family, particularly a flour-less chocolate cake. But after making the cake came the waiting to see if it was any good. The night of the party came, and the cake went. Maybe I should give myself a little more lead time for next year's dessert.
Since I stayed late in town tonight to attend an evening service, I thought I best take advantage of a few free moments to update this thing, especially since my most recent pictures are already so old, though not as old as Tom! He celebrated a birthday - that was fun and exciting. He rolled his eyes when he found I took his pillow - the new one he picked out for his birthday after Christmas and couldn't wait to use - off the bed and wrapped it in a box to take to the party. But at least he stayed out of the house long enough for me to set up a little treasure hunt of treats for him, which I may have had more fun setting up than he had figuring out the clues. The grand gala was a low-key evening together with the family for cake and ice cream at his parents' house.
The past three years I have made German Chocolate Cake - his request. I usually make the coconut-y frosting homemade without the pecans, though it wasn't till this year that Thomas pointed out that mine does not look the right color. Lo and behold, the recipe I use fails to mention toasting the coconut first, which I noticed is step one of every other recipe. My first step in the whole to-do was to google "Star Wars Birthday Cake". I wanted to do something fun, something more exciting than the layer cake I've done the same way the past few years, but there was absolutely nothing I could pull off from the images I saw, save for writing "May the Force Be with You" in colored frosting on top. Then I just looked at images of "German Chocolate Cake", which yielded some interesting pictures of cake. Scrolling down and down, I saw my challenge - a cake roll.
A cake roll is baked on a big cookie sheet and rolled up with the frosting inside. There are many techniques, but none explicitly told me what I needed to know - that the cake has to be made with certain proportions (largely in the egg department) to stay together when it rolls. One recipe used a cake mix, but changed the balance of ingredients added to it instead of following the instructions on the box. Hindsight is 20-20. I used the cake box and its instruction up until the part where you pour it into cake pans. Upon removing it from the oven, I rolled it up in a towel -as instructed - to let it cool. When you unroll it to frost it, it will roll right back up. Problem for me is that it never unrolled. But the cats liked it.
The next day I stocked up on eggs, cake mix, evaporated milk, and anything else I might need in case it took multiple more attempts to pull it off. Unlike someone who commented on a recipe that failed her, I wasn't going to mash up the bake pieces and frosting and serve a lump of "German Chocolate Cow Pie". For attempt two I made the cake from scratch. The first trick is to whip the eggs up real well. Using my little hand mixer, everything was frothing up beautifully. UNTIL. The mixer went berserk, making a loud whining/scratching noise, which caught Tom's attention in the other room. I immediately turned it off, tried turning it on again, but found it wouldn't go away. Tom thought it might be a gear or something and suggested sieving the eggs to make sure no little plastic part fell in. Yeah right - he gave the eggs to the cats, and attempt three began with my good KitchenAide.
As they say, the third try is the charm. I got the cake whipped up fine, baked it with the coconut frosting on the bottom of the pan, rolled it up when it came out of the oven, and didn't risk unrolling it again.
TA DA:
I received the rectangular plate as a gift at Christmas, and in the moment when I thought how perfect it would be, I failed to see that it was really a shade small, but I didn't mind swiping the chocolate frosting that dribbled off the edge and onto the counter.
When flipping the cake out of the pan onto a towel for easy rolling, I opted to use cocoa powder instead of powder sugar. Then I softened some chocolate frosting to drizzle over the edge, added toasted pecans for those who would enjoy them (easy to pick off for those who couldn't) and a TV of candles.
I am eager to try a couple of other cakes in the cake roll family, particularly a flour-less chocolate cake. But after making the cake came the waiting to see if it was any good. The night of the party came, and the cake went. Maybe I should give myself a little more lead time for next year's dessert.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
On the Tenth and Eleventh Day of Christmas...
My true love gave me about ten hours of hard work and probably eleven plumbing joints connected. We spent some time sleeping in - only fair, but we also busted our buns getting TWO tubs installed. Of course, none of it would have been possible without Pop's help, too, and the skateboard.
Thomas picked up a new drain kit for the clawfoot tub on Friday, as the existing one wouldn't go back together completely. We mixed and matched a bit to keep some of the brass fittings. Keeping any of the brass meant a lot of work polishing, which kept me busy while the guys sorted things out. Once it was all together - after a couple trips to the nearest hardware store (aka Pop's house) and one to the next nearest hardware store - we wheeled it into place with Thomas's old skateboard. An amusing endeavor, especially as it was a narrow fit! The kicker was walking up the steps from the basement to see Thomas sitting in the tub. His comment: "Hey, give me some privacy; shut the door, will you?"
Pop headed off and left us to clean up. So we could close in the last of the wall in the adjacent bedroom, we also hung the mirror.
Saturday we were good and tired, but Sunday afternoon we rallied. Thomas had also picked up some lumber to frame in around the tub for our bathroom. It took a lot of banging around, but it's in, too! Pop and Tom worked out the drain and connected it up to the house drain while I hung a little more dry wall.
My true love needs a couple more elbows and some pipe, and then we will get the tubs fully plumbed, and I could take a bath without the buckets! I think I will wait!
Thomas picked up a new drain kit for the clawfoot tub on Friday, as the existing one wouldn't go back together completely. We mixed and matched a bit to keep some of the brass fittings. Keeping any of the brass meant a lot of work polishing, which kept me busy while the guys sorted things out. Once it was all together - after a couple trips to the nearest hardware store (aka Pop's house) and one to the next nearest hardware store - we wheeled it into place with Thomas's old skateboard. An amusing endeavor, especially as it was a narrow fit! The kicker was walking up the steps from the basement to see Thomas sitting in the tub. His comment: "Hey, give me some privacy; shut the door, will you?"
Looks pretty good in there - still some more work to do, but what a load off not to have to move that again!
Pop headed off and left us to clean up. So we could close in the last of the wall in the adjacent bedroom, we also hung the mirror.
Thomas created the frame for a plain-jane mirror out of some beautiful oriental wood.
Saturday we were good and tired, but Sunday afternoon we rallied. Thomas had also picked up some lumber to frame in around the tub for our bathroom. It took a lot of banging around, but it's in, too! Pop and Tom worked out the drain and connected it up to the house drain while I hung a little more dry wall.
Once again, Pop and I came from upstairs to see Thomas laying in the tub. This time his comment: "I could sleep in this thing." Yes, it is six feet long, so he could.
His follow-up comment later on: "If you carried in buckets of water, you take a bath."
My true love needs a couple more elbows and some pipe, and then we will get the tubs fully plumbed, and I could take a bath without the buckets! I think I will wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)