Catch Up Time

Sorry, Dear Readers, that I have posted so infrequently, and not at all recently. The house remodel has provided so much rich material for blogging, that I am overwhelmed! Both by trying to decide what to write about first, and by dealing with everything that is coming up. Basically, I'm not sure what the House inspection was for, because it sure didn't find the problems with this house! And there are some MAJOR ones! They come up so quickly and then snowball out of control and, well, I guess I just need to take a really deep breath... of nitrous oxide.

Basically we are spending a lot of money to heat our driveway, to get rid of the snow, because no one is willing to plow it due to the very steep slope. We knew of this problem going in, thinking that we could handle one issue to solve.

The "Chimney" project has caused us to replace an entire 6"x12" beam that had dry rot all the way through AND our entire fireplace has to be torn out and rebuilt. Then they can build a new chimney and finally seal off the roof. Goodbye, beautiful wall of granite:-( We just can't afford to rebuild you.

Have I mentioned that the foundation of the house is sinking? Basically the concrete that holds the major support posts (Tim says they are called "piers") are shaped like bullets. That is perfect, if you want to auger deeper into the ground. But we DON'T WANT TO!!!!! So now we have to fix the foundation.

These are just some examples of the fun I am having.

And then there is sock wars. I would have had my socks all done and mailed off to Edinburgh to kill my target. Except for my big dumb mistake. Oh well, I'm not out of it yet. I'll post on all of this in detail eventually. After I get my hands on some valium.

Dyeing with the Fiberphiles

Last week the fiberphiles got together at Emily's place to dye some wool.



During the downtime, Kristin and Shibani went to check out Emily's Stash...


Now there has been some disscussion on whose stash is bigger, mine or Emily's. The word has been that Emily wins the stash contest. With her (somewhat) recently organized stash, I was able to get a better look. My stash is bigger than that! Well, not much bigger and it turns out She's got more in boxes. Hers is still bigger.

Back to dyeing: some of our results:

A Sweater for Jack

Tim's Parents are in town visiting us, and they brought a couple of sweaters. The sweaters had been a gift for Tim's Aunt and Uncle. They are really big and thick (the sweaters, not the relatives) so they (the relatives, not the sweaters) said they would not wear them and pawned the sweaters off on us. Well, we had the same issue with the sweaters. While I was off at lab, Tim had a light bulb moment and enlisted his mother for his secret plan. Upon my return, I asked where the guys were, and apparently was not given the entire answer. Then I found the forearm of one of those sweaters on the back of a chair, all by itself. I proceeded to question my Mother-in-Law more carefully and uncovered their plot. Here's what they were up to:




Why they were being sneaky about it, I have no idea. Tim was actually out getting some tape to for his mother to bind the rough cut edges of the sweater.

I introduce Jack, our 95lb great dane yellow lab mix. He should have been named Marmaduke. He is a big, strong whimp. Jack gets really cold in the harsh Seattle (indoor) winters. We often find him worshiping lying on the heating vents in our floors. I knit him a sweater last winter, but the measurements need some adjustment in future versions. Now, Jack has a new sweater, and Tim has a new career. First Tim is going to learn to sew. Then he will recycle people sweaters for dogs. He says he'll take the sewing machine to work and sew while waiting for flights. He plans to sell his sweaters online. Apparently "we" will also offer custom hand knit sweaters for dogs. In the summer, he will offer recycled T-shirts. Stay tuned as our online empire grows!

Art

When we met with our architect friends, back in August, we were given an assignment: buy art. We learned which walls ought to have a significant piece of art, and requirements for those pieces. This may appear bossy, or us docile, but neither of those is true! We also had an earlier assignment, before we met with them. In the earlier assignment, we were asked to get magazines with home architecture and style. We were to clip images of things we like, to help them get a good feel for our taste/style. During that process, Tim found a few pieces of art that he liked and clipped. Encouraged, because we all said, "Hey, that's cool," Tim hunted down and acquired one of those pieces.



Yes, that is a moose, made of thin pieces of wood all fitted together. Of course, it will look a lot better in a rustic house in the Mountains than it does in a quaint little 1929 house. And a darker paint color would help! Just in case you are wondering, the moose does not meet the description of any of the assigned pieces of art. It's a bonus piece!

Template fumbling

I am experimenting with my template, so please excuse the rough edges in the next few days.

Ta da...The Grand Stairwell!

Remember the great room? We need to update it. It was a bit dated.

And the dark stairwell?


Here is the architect sketch for what we plan to do to the stairwell. We are going to open up the stairwell and great room by removing part of the wall between them and a small bit of wall at the top of the stairs as well.


Tim has been very industrious in his demolition. He sent me these photos today to show me what he has done. I was delighted when I saw that he had opened up that wall! He has also removed the dark paneling. I think it is glorious! Now I'm looking forward to seeing the railing on the stairs opened up.




I am delighted by it! We are Tim is just interviewing General Contractors and requesting bids. The project hasn't really even started yet, and the house is already transformed! I am amazed by how much work he has done. He's been working nights, so he has a lot of time during the day, but this is above and beyond. Thanks Tim, for all your hard work, and for the pictures that let me see our house.

Giving in to the Urge

I've had enough of staying up until 2-3am analyzing my data. I don't know why I do it, because it is never enough for my advisor anyway. So, I'm going to try to enjoy life and take time for myself again. This afternoon I took a trip to the LYS (local yarn store, not Lysine) with the girls. I have been working very hard for many months to resist the urge to purchase some dyes, so I can dye my own yarn, fleece, roving etc. Ever since Emily had the Fiberphiles over to dye some yarn, I knew I was hooked. "You don't have time for this," I told myself. "You should spend the time in lab, finishing the PhD." I kept telling myself. Well, I gave in today. I could no longer resist. I bought 9 jars of Jacquard acid dyes and some squirt bottles for application. I can't wait to play with them this weekend.

I still plan on a post with house stuff. We got the plans from our friends (architects) on Wednesday. They are so great!