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.