We're still here.....

We're still here.  So why haven't I posted?  Mostly because it is just boring stuff that I have already covered many times.  How many clever ways can I say....we're stripping...I'm stripping.....or still stripping? 

Also my laptop or Internet connection keeps resetting and it makes uploading photos almost impossible and what is a post without the obligatory photo or two.

So here is a round up of what we have been up to...............

Finished cedar shingles on the east kitchen exterior wall.

Installed PVC gutter and downspout on a small area on the second floor.  This is a test spot and if we like how it performs this winter and spring we will install it on the remainder of the house.  So far we like the look and how it is performing in snow, rain, and ice.  The installation went fairly smoothly and the cost was fairly reasonable.

We organized our scrap/reclaimed lumber (which we have a ton or two) in the barn.  This tidied up the driveway area and the work room.

We installed the wine cooler in the kitchen.  90% complete.

We removed a non original, shoddy built spice cabinet in the kitchen and replaced with wide tongue and groove paneling to match the rest of the kitchen.

We installed base board in the family room/library.  Originally they had a little 1X2 inch piece of pine and it looked out of scale with the very wide tongue and groove paneling.  We made our own base board using a 6 inch wide tongue and groove board with the tongue removed.  I then sanded the top to round it over on one edge to match the trim around the windows.  This wide base board helped to hide numerous wood patches we made in the paneling where the previous owners ran new electrical wires.  They just left holes everywhere including all their OOPS! wrong cavity holes.  We will add base shoe after the floor is stained.

We replaced the white plastic outlet covers with wood covers that will be painted when we paint the tongue and groove paneling.

We brought in the new Thermador double ovens that were stored in the barn.  This was quite the chore because of the width and height of the oven unit. It was difficult getting the unit into the house despite the 40 inch wide front door.  Once it was in the house we had to remove the crate and narrow the pallet a little to get the unit into the kitchen.  Actual installation will be this week.

R has been removing the remaining plaster in the butler pantry which we will use as the laundry room.  He has one wall and the ceiling to finish.  The butler pantry had two doors....one from the dining room and one going into the kitchen.  We removed the dining room door and studded it out.  We will have the plaster guy plaster it in when we have him come and fix the bad spots in the plaster.

Speaking of plaster......while R removes plaster, I am using a heat gun to remove the paint from the plaster in the dining room.  Say WHAT???  Yup. I was reading a book about restoring plaster.  It was thrilling.  I was on the edge of my seat.  I can't wait for the movie version.  I kid, no really it was very informative.  Seems that a lot of the cracks you see are just cracks in the paint.  Once you get too many layers of paint it will crack.  Plus, you have layers of many types of paint one of which is lead paint.  I also wanted to rid the house of as much lead paint as I can because of the liability of lead paint in a resale.  The first floor will be lead free once the paint is removed from the walls in the dining room, living room, and hallway.  The kitchen, family room, sun room, and back entry were never painted and all the trim and doors have already been stripped.  The laundry room will have the plaster removed and bead board paneling installed.  That will just leave the upstairs to remove the paint.

So far paint removal goes slow but good.  Only two actual cracks have showed up in the plaster with all the others being just cracks in the paint layer.  We might have the plaster guy skim coat the dining room.  It has a pebble finish and I would really like a smooth finish for these walls.

We have also been busy getting ready to open an antique booth on March 1st at Collette's in Burton.  This will be a joint venture with my sister and niece (when she returns from MO in March/April).  I have scored some great furniture deals this winter.  Retro furniture is so big right now.  I bought a Heywood Wakefield buffet and wish bone table to go with a dog biscuit chair that I already own.  These will go into the antique booth along with a solid oak small dresser that I purchased for 10 bucks.  I was going to use it in my bathroom to store towels.  When I purchased it off of Craigslist it was painted flat white with bright blue drawers so I stripped it with the intention of repainting it white.  Once I stripped the ugly paint off, I found beautiful solid oak with the original skeleton key lock and ball bearing roller feet.  It's just too pretty to paint.

Here in lower Michigan we received our second shovelable snow a couple of days ago.  We recently purchased a snow blower and it is working like a charm sitting in the garage scaring the snow away.

In the next couple of weeks we will have a window guy come and measure the windows that we have to replace.  Before anyone gets on their high horse, these are NON original windows that along with being non original are also the wrong style, ugly, and in bad condition.  We will be replacing with wood double hung 6 over 6 windows in the original style.  This should set us back a pretty penny but will make a big difference in returning the house to it's original look.