Monday, May 19, 2008

Busy, busy, busy ....... Crazy!

I'm here and let me tell you the past week has been crazy busy. I had to get ready for some major renovations that we're doing this year. As I've probably mentioned a few times, my home is more then 150 years old and every year we tackle a room. This year it's our bedroom!

Stephen did cut out a piece of the wall to see what we would be up against. When you renovate an older home, you never know what surprises you'll encounter. As prepare as you are, you must make room for the unexpected and yes there were lots of unexpected.

My week was busy getting my sewing room prepared for a plaster/sheet rock dust invasion. You see, you must go through our bedroom to get to my sewing room, as it is the second floor of the kitchen/2 car garage addition we build more then six (6) years ago. So, all my sewing machines had to be stored and protected from that fine dust. I guess you can say I did a major clean up/cover up in there.

And if that wasn't enough, my Girl Scout troop had a "Night at the Museum" Friday at the New York State Museum in Albany. That's a three (3) hour drive. There were lots of preparations for that. We all had a great time! Of course, the kid in me was in full force and I joined in the dissecting of an owl pellet and rode the antique Carousel. What fun it was! They have quite a nice variety of exhibits. We slept with/in the Elk and Wolf section of the museum and sadly, they did not come alive. However, given that I was asleep, I cannot say with certainty that it was the case ;o). The only down side was the uncomfortable cement floor that was our bed. The good news, I survived!

This is what I came home too! The surprises that they encountered slowed down the process. Thankfully my dad and favourite brother (as he likes to be called), came over for the long Canadian weekend to help Stephen out.

Here's my brother Jacques hard at work. That is quite the man tool!

It removes the plaster from the brick wall. We have three (3) brick walls in our bedroom. What a task it was. The tool weighs 50 pounds and when you've got that baby up in the air, you can just imagine what it does to your arms!

There are two (2) major changes that we're making to the room's layout.

These were the stairs that led to the attic. They're totally useless in my opinion, as the addict is not big enough to make a room. I really don't know why they put stairs up. That section will now become a huge closet.

The other change is re-positioning the bedroom door so that my sewing room becomes a separate room. I will no longer bother DH when I sew late at night.

As of today, this is where we're at! That is quite the progress from Saturday. The walls are bare and some of the insulation is up! Gosh, you can still see dust (white circles)!

I am quite grateful for my father and brother's help. Without them we would not be where we're at demolition wise.

So, if you don't read much quilting news, you know why! I'm busy cleaning and taking care of the logistics of renovating. Stephen has the week off so I'll keep you informed of the progress.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh what a process. I had to have a roof replaced due to some flooding last Nov, in the time of our 9 yr drought in Victoria, Australia. And I soon remembered that the worst part of extensions were the plasterers and there dust.
I took a photo of one mess as I did not think it would ever clean up, but it did. I won half a days cleaning/dusting from the insurance company and help with putting things back. But even though I am two rooms away here, I still need to do a good demolish and dust and retidy in here.
Sometimes I think it should be a mandatory weekly task.
Good luck with it all.

swooze said...

Thanks for showing the pics. Very neat to see. What other rooms have you done and do you have before and after pics of them?

Vicki W said...

It's messy but exciting! Make sure they stay on deadline for the delivery of your APQS!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

I love all the dusty orbs in your pictures...either that or you live in a very very haunted house!
We're just getting to the other side of an extension build and despite all the care in the world there is a thin layer of dust on everything. I can't wait til Thursday...it will be all done then and I can start putting things back to normal. I hope you will keep us up to date on your changes...sounds very exciting especially since you will be able to sew without disturbing anyone!...oh the things we will do for a sewing space.

Unknown said...

It seems to me that the room gets bigger when they have finished taking the plaster of the walls!

Teresa said...

Have not been by since your seminar and I sure enjoyed catching up. Your applique lesson is very helpful! My hubby and I lived in an upstairs apartment in a very old house when we first married and got permission to paint. Little did we know there were 7 layers of wallpaper on the walls and 6 on the ceiling. When we finally got all the paper down, there were all kinds of holes in the ceiling where they kept moving the overhead light around and just papered over the hole, LOL...What a mess!

Mad about Craft said...

It will be beautiful when it's done and it will be lovely to have your bedroom and sewing room separate.

Love your work!

Red Geranium Cottage said...

OMG what a mess but when it's finished it's gonna be sooooo nice.

Wendy said...

There's always the unexpected in old houses. Ours is 96 years old and we come across the strangest things. You'll be so happy when the mess is gone and it's all done.

Anonymous said...

That room is going to look fantastic when it is finished ! It looks like it has a real nice feel to it.

Chookyblue...... said...

good luck with the reno's

Karrin Hurd said...

Good luck on your renovation. I don't envy of that, but it should be great once you are finished. Will your new quilting machine go in your sewing room?

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