Little Things

After a few days away from the Love Shack snuggling my grandson and seeing friends, I came home to a fully operating hot tub, and a lot of progress on the wood floor! Hubby is an amazing man! We are in awe of how this beautiful floor is transforming the house. We loved it before, but now it is stupendous!

Wanted to share my little project. I think it turned out really nice! OK, I realize it is nothing compared to all that Hubby is doing, but I do think it is really groovy. What do you think?

Sleepover

We spent our first night in the Love Shack! Hubby made the first of what I'm sure will be many roaring fires. This fireplace is really big and well built. There are pipes surrounding the fire box, and the heat pumps out quite nicely. Should keep the living and dining rooms toasty warm all winter.

 

Other big news (and if you know us you know this is BIG) we got a hot tub!!!!! Oh yea, thank you craigslist once again. The guy even delivered it for us, saving us $250. It will be a while till Hubby can get it wired in. First we will need some volunteers to come over and help him get it into place. But we have been dreaming of a long soak in hot water for 2 years!!!!

This just in......I gave the first tour of the Love Shack today! It was so cool and exciting to show off the Shack to like-minded "mod" folks like us! I had just pulled into the carport and noticed a man walking from his car with a camera. He asked if I would mind if he took a few pics of the house, saying that he and his wife just love it. I asked if they would like a tour and she jumped out of the car as excited (almost) as we were. I am so thankful for our friendly home and the opportunity to share! :)

So Close.....Yet still so far

The Love Shack is coming along. I on the other hand, am getting a bit impatient. But patience is a virtue and I am determined to be a virtuous woman.....dammit!
Hubby had yesterday off. We headed out about 7:00, and while he was putting in floor I ran some errands. Then we worked at the house until leaving for Grants Pass to check out a hot tub he found on craigslist. Oh my. All I can say is it was a wasted trip. Well, except for the beautiful drive and time spent with Hubby. Never a waste.
The living room floor is almost done. It was a bear getting the wood nailed down under the fireplace. Cool design, not so cool to work under. My husband is amazing. Truly. I have watched him over the last 32 years do basically anything and everything that needs to be done. I admire him so much!
Starting to move stuff from camper into Love Shack. Hubby wants to stay there tonight. I am not so anxious. He will most likely win.

Here are some pics of our (really his) progress. So far we love it.The floor is birch wood. Really beautiful, resembles maple. We chose a light wood because of the wood ceiling and also because the house has such a modern feel.

 Here is a shot of the ceiling. These ceilings are throughout the house and part of the mid-century modern architecture.

Another beautiful end to our work day.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

OK, so the past couple of days haven't been so great. A few setbacks, LOTS of frustrations, but finally I think we are back on track. Hubby is plugging along with the new floor. He can't get much done after work evenings because it gets dark so early and there is no good light in the living room.
I have almost wrapped up the trim painting. One more coat is needed, and that will be that.
In the midst of our frustrations, aches and pains.....there have been some bright spots. One of the brightest is our neighbor across the street. On Sunday she came to the door with her lovely daughter who had been baking cookies. They had a plate to share. Husband was pretty delighted while I could only drool because I am on some diet from hell.
While at the Love Shack this afternoon painting (what else?) I heard the door bell. Same neighbor with a plate of warm cinnamon apple bread. I almost kissed her but didn't want to scare her off. Oh, and I ate a doggone piece of bread. It was so worth it.

Here is a shot of one more bright spot. These views from our balcony really keep us going. Hubby can't wait to enjoy one with a cigar, a glass of wine, and of course me. Soon.......

COLOR!!!!

Husband had Friday "off" and almost killed me. Off to the house at 7:00AM......home at 8:00PM....paint, paint, paint! We discovered that the Love Shack loves COLOR. Drab colors just don't feel right on her. So we spiced things up and Hubby mixed things up, and we put it up on the walls. Up high on the walls, up the ladder, down the ladder. Still not finished painting. Will post pics soon. Until then, here is another modern appliance in my new kitchen. But I know what this one is!!

Floored

Wood flooring came in! I couldn't help Hubby carry in 38 boxes of it. Each box weighs about 38 pounds. And I can't help him install it. Mostly because he won't let me. But I CAN blog it. Oh yea. That's a LOT of flooring!
 Flooring in the entryway.........

 Flooring in the living room......

 Flooring in the dining room.......

Flooring in the truck. Little dog had a blast running in and out of the sliding glass door.....because she could.

 This is an outlet right smack in the middle of the dining room floor. Don't think we will keep it. Don't see a need. Do wish there were some floor outlets in the living room. Don't want to even ask Husband, he has so much on his plate already. Do love the birch wood flooring! It is gonna look great in the Love Shack! Tonight it is paint, paint and more paint!!!

Grunt......Groan......Sigh

Had to laugh last night. Husband was in the bedroom painting, I was scooting on the living room subfloor pulling carpet padding out of the staples then hammering them down. I could hear him sighing and moaning and caught myself doing the same with every scoot. We are learning that we are not as young (or in shape) as we used to be. So.....must.....take.....it.....slow. Frustrating for sure, but reality sometimes is. Check out our sweet dishwasher!
OK, now comes the question of the week. Can anyone tell me what this wooden thing-a-ma-jiggy is? It was hanging in the kitchen and at first I thought it must be to hold recipes while cooking, but there is no way to get anything to hang from it. It was installed with the cabinets, so it is very old and must have served a purpose. Anybody have an answer? Anybody?

You What?

No work got done on the Love Shack yesterday due to that sad event last night. BUT......Husband did call me to ask if I would meet a guy at the house who was delivering a cord of firewood. WHAT? YOU BOUGHT A CORD OF FIREWOOD WITHOUT ASKING ME?

Yes, we have a fireplace. And yes, I enjoy a crackling fire on winter evenings. Yet there are so many other more pressing (at least to me) needs (such as a bed) that I guess I figured we could get by the rest of this season with some presto logs. Husband thought differently. He said I will thank him later when I am sitting by the fire with a glass of wine. I hope so. I also hope we won't be sleeping on the floor. I am getting too old for this.......

Distracted

We started the day with good intentions, determined to get the bedrooms painted. Arrived at the Love Shack early, with McBreakfast in our bellies. Husband set up our bedroom to paint while I began washing out kitchen cabinets which I soon learned was really not needed as my white rag was remaining just as white as when I started. Thank you, Gloria, for your high housekeeping standards. I hope I can live up to them.
We began painting. I was cutting in around the floor and door, Craig doing roller work. Then some interesting fellas came to pick up the carpet and pad. (Thank you, craigslist.) They took it all, even took it downstairs so that Hubby didn't have to lift a finger. Still he somehow managed to tweak his back, carrying paint.
Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law called and my amazing grandson was "talking" to me. My heart was melting. Soon afterward, Hubby said "My back is kinda hurting. Maybe we should drive up to get all the tools out of storage that I will need to do the floor" which also meant I would get to snuggle with my brilliant grandson so we put our brushes in water and headed out. Some distractions are worth it.
The nice neighbors across the street came over to meet us as we were leaving.

Back to the Love Shack by 9:30. Hubby unloaded the tools from the car. I ran upstairs to check out the partially painted bedroom. Looks great. Neighbor on other side came over to meet us. Craig, meet Craig. Maybe we can remember his name. Home by 10:00. Duck game Monday, taking the night off. Thought I would show you a picture of our back bedrooms. Go Ducks!!!

Free Carpet?

Today we didn't get as much done as we had anticipated. It started off well. We got a great deal on some birch wood flooring. We weren't really sure if we would be able to do the floors (living room and dining room) right now, because money is tight. But the deal was made and we are happy. New floor should arrive on Tuesday, take about a week to acclimate, and then husband will be upping his ibuprofen intake.
So, we ordered the floor and headed back to the Love Shack to start ripping up the carpet. (Who puts carpet in a dining room anyway?) We discovered more old tile under the carpet. It was pretty cool, really. I bet it made quite a statement back in the day.
Hubby was pulling up carpet, I was pulling up staples, and hubby's phone was ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Before we left this morning, he suggested I post an ad on craigslist (his home away from home) for free carpet. I asked who in the heck would want some old faded carpeting? He assured me that it would be a hot item. He was right. A nice couple will be picking it up tomorrow at 11:00. If they don't show up we have many back up numbers. Good-bye old carpet.
I took the lovely wallpaper off in the master bathroom. (Who puts wallpaper up anyway? Not a fan.)
We took a break to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and eventual sunset. Incredible. Feels like I'm in a tree house!!
Then it was time to mix up some paint. We haven't paid full price for paint in years. We buy up all the "oops" paint we can find, then husband custom mixes it. Today he was mixing in between fielding free carpet phone calls. He couldn't quite hit on the right shade to please wife, so we decided to call it a day.
Oh, we met the neighbors! They came by to welcome us with a list of names and phone numbers from the neighborhood watch. Nice people. They are really into gardening and assured us we have a beautiful yard  come spring. I didn't have the heart to tell them we hope to put in a pool. They told us that the previous owners of the house had it custom built. God bless them, we sure love it!!!

Please Pass The Ibuprofen

We got the keys to our 1953 mostly original mid-century modern home night before last. That first night we went with good intentions (to get started working) but mostly just walked around, poking into every cupboard, drawer and closet bursting out with the occasional "I love my new house!!!" Not much else got done.
Yesterday we had a plan. Get this house prepped for paint. I got the old drapes taken down in living room and dining room. Man, those things were heavy. And faded. And there were a lot of dead flies attached to them. Ick. But down they came and already it is better.
I discovered the accent tiles in the main bathroom shower are super groovy.
Husband found some old linoleum square tile beneath the bright blue (I mean bright cobalt blue) carpet in guest room. We decided to take up old carpet and live with bare floor for a while. Husband found linoleum tiles continued down the hallway to back two bedrooms. May as well tear up faded old green carpet in hall as well. While husband took up carpet, I pulled out carpet staples. Many, many carpet staples. Then he took up the carpet tack strips and we found the old shank nails that were used leaving pretty good sized holes around the perimeter of the room. Off to Lowes for wood putty. Found a good color, and I began to fill the holes. Lots of holes.

Husband got walls repaired and ready for paint. Then he pried me up off the floor where I feared I would be stuck forever. Tomorrow is a new day. More staples. More holes. More new house fun!