Another Room Finished - July 27, 2011

Well, almost.  The main bathroom is pretty darn close.  The baseboards still need to be done, and we have to replace one of the mirrors on the medicine cabinet that we broke, but otherwise it's looking pretty good.

We replaced the 1970's vintage light fixture and towel racks.

 

Lupe has just about finished the first phase of the front yard, and it's a huge improvement.  Our contractor plans to dig up the Japanese maple.  It's a nice specimen, but it just doesn't fit with what I want to do out there. Lupe is going to take a break for a bit until the siding is finished.  Then he'll start on the back yard.  The problem is our new windows and doors arrived yesterday, and they are leaning up against the side of the house.  We're worried that they might get damaged by branches going past and out the gate.

Now in Living Color - July 25, 2011

Today Ben got most of the ceilings and walls painted, so we're feeling more comfortable all the time.  The walls are not as colorful as they were in our last house, although I have added a little here and there.  We hung one of our paintings in the dining room and what a difference!

I finished painting the kitchen yesterday.  I still have a lot of touch-up work to do on the cabinets, but otherwise it looks pretty good.

Once all the painting is finished, the baseboards will be installed.

We've both been working at clearing overgrown plants, with David doing an awesome job in the front area.  But it's a huge job, so we've hired a wonderful young man named Lupe to do a lot of the work,  He started in the front today.  He has removed the mugo pine, the rhododendrons in front of the picture window, the junipers along the driveway, and part of the front hedge.  Tomorrow he'll return to do the back yard.  We're taking it in stages, so we can evaluate along the way.  We're already rethinking removing the pine trees.  The nastiest project is removing ivy both front and back, and Lupe is attacking it with a vengeance.

Making Progress - July 18, 2011

We're actually feeling hopeful that our new home will be liveable soon.  The floors are finished, although the baseboards have not been installed.  Ben continues to remove wallpaper.  The kitchen, dining room, hall, and bathroom are finished, as well as half of the office.  The only other room left to do is the master bath.  Then he will texture everything.  He thinks he'll be finished on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. 

I've painted part of the kitchen and all of the living room.  I'm finding it more difficult than I expected, and slower going.  We'll probably have the rest painted professionally.

The best part, though, is that we now have our new refrigerator and stove.

And we've been able to set up the living room and dining room so they're usable, which is a good thing, since it has started to rain and eating out on the deck would not be nearly as much fun as it was a few days ago.

Just to keep things interesting we've also had a plumber out.  He installed a new water heater last week and came back today to put in two new toilets.  The old one in the master bath had some sort of turbo boost and flushing it was truly a terrifying experience.

Back Home - July 14, 2011

We hurried home from Hood River with the idea that we'd start moving things into our new home today.  We rented a furniture dolly to help move our dressers, which are the only things we really couldn't manage on our own.  However, when we got here, it was a bit of a let down.  The floors are indeed done, but the kitchen and dining room are totally unusable.  We had hoped to get the refrigerator and stove in tomorrow morning, but now it won't be until at least Monday.  Here's what we found in the kitchen.

The situation is really our fault.  Thanks to a gentle reminder from Carrie, we realized that it really made sense to restore the wall behind the appliances before they arrived.  So Ben has been working on the walls, rather than the baseboards.  Boy, did he find some interesting wallpaper.  And you thought the old gold print was bad, check this layer underneath.  And it was even more garish in person.

But we did move our mattress in, and a few things in the living room, but that's it for now.

We think (hope!) that tomorrow Ben will finish the wall in the kitchen, at which time we can actually get in there.  I do have a microwave and a gas grill, so I may be able to cook.  Tonight we had toast for supper.  I plugged the toaster in outside on the patio. 

Once the kitchen is finished, Ben will work on wallpaper in several other areas.  As soon as those walls are done, I can start painting.  I've been working on colors and I think I'm close to a decision.

Fruit Loop - July 13, 2011

We went back on the road today, doing the Hood River County Fruit Loop. It's about a 35 mile loop from Hood River into the fruit growing region.  They grow cherries, apples, pear, and several kinds of berries.

The cherries were ripe, so we stopped and bought some Rainiers.  They were wonderful.

We bought a sandwich in Parkdale and ate at at the side of the road in an apple orchard.

 

The area is so beautiful, with rolling hills and Mt. Hood in the background. 

After our trip we stopped in town to walk a trail along Indian Creek, where we could see the old pipe that used to carry the town's water supply. 

But the best part of the whole day was a phone call we received to tell us our floors are finished.  Yay!!!  We're heading home tomorrow and hope to sleep in our own bed tomorrow night.

A Day in Town - July 12, 2011

After driving all day yesterday, we decided to just hang around town today.  After breakfast we walked into town.  We browsed in a couple of book stores and scouted out a place for lunch and dinner.  The weather was off and on showers, but we always managed to be near someplace interesting to duck into when necessary. 

Hood River, because it's along the Columbia Gorge, is known for being very windy.  For that reason, it's a top spot for wind surfing and kite boarding.  This photo shows a couple of surfers out in the morning.

By early afternoon we had worn out our feet, so we returned to the B&B for a lazy couple of hours.  In the evening we walked back into town for dinner at Brian's Pourhouse.

Washngton - July 11, 2011

Today we took a drive up into Washington state, an area we had never explored.  We intended to go to Yakima, but we never got that far.  We found so many things to see along the way that we decided to turn back early. 

We crossed the Columbia at The Dalles and then went east along the river.  We took a side trip down to the tiny town of Wishram, which claimed to have a historic train.  We found it, but I couldn't get a good photo of it because it was behind a chain link fence and under a shelter.  So we got back on the highway headed for Maryhill. 

We had been told by several people to be sure to stop at the Maryhill Museum, which we did.  Maryhill Museum was originally planned to be the residence of entrepreneur Sam Hill, who bought 5,000 acres of land in 1907 along the Columbia and planned to start a Quaker agricultural community.  The town never materialized, so Hill turned the home into an art museum, which opened in 1940.  Along with a collection of paintings and Rodin sculptures, there is a large collection of Indian art and artifacts from the Lewis and Clark expedition and about 100 chess sets from around the world. 

In addition to being a lawyer, Hill was a road and monument builder.  Among his accomplishments are the scenic Columbia River Highway and the Peace Arch at the Canadian border.  The setting of the museum is really spectacular.

From Maryhill we went north on Highway 97 to Goldendale.  It isn't much of a town, but the scenery around it was pretty neat.  The town is surrounded by wheat fields and we had some wonderful views of Mt. Adams, the second tallest mountain in the Pacific Northwest, after Mt. Rainier.

From Goldendale we headed southwest along Highway 142.  It turns into a very narrow, but paved, twisty road along the Klickitat River.  It was a beautiful day and a very pleasant drive. 

We arrived back in Hood River in time for tea.  Later in the evening we had a wonderful dinner at Celilo in downtown Hood River.

Hood River - July 10, 2011

We left our old neighborhood for the last time this morning and headed out the Columbia Gorge.  It was a beautiful day, so the traffic, both car and bike, was really heavy.  We stopped at Cascade Locks to check out the river excursions.  We decided not to do one, but I took this photo of a sculpture of Lewis and Clark's Indian guide, Sacagawea.  It was a beautiful sculpture, depicting not only the guide but her infant on her back and Seaman, the dog who accompanied the explorers.

 In the afternoon we checked into the Inn at the Gorge in Hood River.  It's a  beautiful house just two blocks above the main street in town. 

We walked into town and had dinner at 3 Rivers Grill.  The streets are very steep and remind us a lot of Ashland.  We were able to walk off a lot of the bad stuff we had for dinner, including tiramisu for dessert!

Quiet Day - July 9, 2011

Today we spent the day at the new house doing more yard cleanup and installing a lot of our garden art.  I also did several loads of laundry for the first time there, thus verifying that both the washer and dryer do indeed work.

It was nice to be there when no one was making noise.  We walked down to Roth's market and bought lunch in the deli, then ate it on the deck.  Very nice.  We've had really nice weather, finally.  Lots of sun.

Today is our last day there for a few days.  Tomorrow morning we'll check out of Conrad and Diana's house and head for Hood River.  We expect to return on Thursday, at which time the floors should be finished (Yay!!)  Our new refrigerator and stove will be delivered on Friday and then it should really feel like home.

New Floor - July 8, 2011

The new floor is coming along nicely.  The hall, about half of our bedroom and 2/3 of the guest bedroom are done, along with a strip in the living room.  There are three guys working on it, Josh, his brother, and his father. 

 

While all this is going on inside, we've been working in the garden in back.  We're making good progress with the weeds and removing a lot of stuff that's gotten out of control.  Of course, we haven't even started on the ivy!

Here's my puny vegetable garden.

 

Some things are in pots on the deck. 

Subfloor Installed - July 6, 2001

Today Josh and crew began installing the plywood subfloor, to which the bamboo will be nailed.  And our boxes of flooring have arrived, so we could actually see large boards of it.  We really love it.  It's vertical grain and carbonized, which makes it a little darker than most other bamboo floors we've seen.  Vertical grain means the slices of bamboo, about 1/8" thick, are joined standing on edge, rather than lying flat. 

Here's the flooring in the dining room.

Demolition Day - July 5, 2011

When we arrived at the house at about 8:30, there were four trucks and one trailer parked there.  The demolition team of four had already removed the old avocado green shag carpet and were hacking away at the particle board underneath.  Our contractor, Jeff, and his helper, Ben, were also there.  Ben was on the roof installing an exhaust fan and Jeff had removed the second door in the master bath in preparation for replacing it with a wall.  The noise was awful, so we spent most of our time outside pulling weeds. The nicest part of all this is that without the carpet the house smells so much better!

David ran errands while I stayed to meet a couple who were coming to look at our old stove, which we had listed on Craigslist.  It dated back to 1996, but it was in excellent condition.  Unfortunately, it was electric, which I am unable and unwilling to cook on.  The couple, Don and Mary, who appeared to be around 80, arrived in a pickup truck.  They liked the stove and agreed to take it.  I asked them how they planned to move it, assuming they had a couple of strong young guys lined up to help.  But no, they had a dolly and planned to put it in the back of the truck.  So we strapped the stove on the dolly and moved it down the driveway, up the street, and into the parking lot next door.  Once we had it on the dolly it became apparent that both tires of the dolly were flat.  I offered them the use of our dolly, so we transferred the stove to ours.  My next question was how were they planning to get it on the truck.  Don had two 2x4s, which he positioned on the back of the truck.  They were not quite as wide as the tires on the dolly!  We lined up the stove with the boards and started up, with Don pulling and Mary and I pushing.  It immediately became apparent to me that this was the makings of a major disaster.  The stove was unstable on the dolly, never mind on the boards.  Just then I noticed that Jeff had returned, so I asked him if he could possibly lend a hand.  He got Ben and the two of them lifted the stove (as if it weighed nothing) up onto the truck.  I took my dolly and wished Don and Mary good luck getting the stove off at their end.  When David returned he enjoyed the story and was sorry he missed seeing the whole fiasco.  I've decided that when we sell the refrigerator, which we will do as soon as our new one arrives, I will make sure ahead of time that the buyer is prepared to move it without our help.

This photo shows where the refrigerator and stove will be and the new microwave shelf that Jeff built for us.  It had been a cabinet with two doors.

Moving Day 2 - July 3, 2011

In the morning we loaded up the last of the stuff (including a dozen tomato cages!), drove the truck to the new house, unloaded, and returned the truck, all by 9:00.  Then we went to Shari's for breakfast.

We spent the day cleaning the old house, getting it ready for the new owners.  In spite of both of us checking and double checking, we managed to leave a few things behind.  All my laundry stuff was still in the cupboard in the laundry room, and my newly-harvested garlic was still in the shed.  We contacted the new owners and they put everything out on the porch for us to pick up.  They won't be moving in until July 5, but they have been to the house already.

Since we are now homeless, we had planned to stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks until the new floors were installed.  But we lucked out.  Conrad and Diana left today for a week-long trip and offered us the use of their home while they are gone.  So we can stay there and cook our oatmeal every morning!

Moving Day - July 2, 2011

I've decided to use my blog to chronicle our move to our new house at 1174 Cunningham Lane.

Today was the big move.  Since we are having the floors done in the house, we decided the best plan would be to put everything in the garage for the time being.  We rented a 16 foot truck (all they had), of which $40 was paid by Coldwell Banker.  David picked up the truck at 9:00 and I went to the new house.  We hired our next door neighbor Arlyce's two grandsons, Jake and Travis, to help.  Both are college students home for the summer and unemployed.  We had taken some boxes of kitchen stuff to the house the day before, so I busied myself with unpacking them.  Around 11:00 David called to tell me to come home.  The truck was loaded but there were only two seats in the cab.  So I returned home and brought Jake back to the new house.

We had hoped to unload things systematically, but the best laid plans...  Most of the kitchen boxes went into the kitchen, and most of the boxes of books went into the living room, and most of the garden stuff went out in the back yard.  But everything else went into the garage wherever we would stack it or wedge it.

Just before 1:00 the truck was emptied, so we all went back to Arlyce's, where we had a nice hot lunch of chicken enchiladas.  As soon as we finished we were back at work.  The truck was again filled, with another trip made to the new house.

We finished unloading late in the afternoon.  At this point, we had all the big and heavy stuff moved.  What remained was lots of odd things, such as outdoor furniture and garden stuff.  We dismissed the boys and the two of us loaded the truck again.  At 6:00 we went to our other neighbors', Conrad and Diana, for a quick dinner.  Afterward, we drove the truck over and unloaded.  By the time we were finished, it was almost 10:00, so we went to bed in the empty old house on the airbed.

Here are a couple of "before" photos of the house.  Note the lovely 1972 avocado green shag carpet.

 

And here is our garage with all our earthly possessions in it, except books and kitchen stuff.