I Love New York Travel

THIS.

I got the dining room all done, thanks in great part to some wonderful helpers. Next is the upstairs bath and bedrooms, and the kitchen. I’m waiting on the plumbing. Once that’s done, we can insulate and close the walls.

I CANNOT WAIT TO GET THE WALLS UP!!!

This has been one of the hardest times in my life. The renovation has been very difficult (well, the renovation has been OK, but being without the kitchen, and having the house in a constant state of disorder and chaos has been really rough on us)… but the other things slamming us at the same time make it very stressful. One of the unintended side beneits is that I am getting back in shape, building my muscle tone again and shedding a few pounds. Hard work can be more effective than top rated diet pills, did you know that? Plus, I think the stress of the summer has attributed to it.

Anyway. Work work work. So many things to do…

Found this little surprise in the wall, when I removed the old 70s style medicine cabinet from the bathroom wall. Unbelievable, really. For one, junction boxes hidden inside walls is illegal. Two, it’s unsafe. Three, THIS is a hazardous, horrifying mess. Wow. If you need prrof that God exists and He is merciful, here it is.

We’re renovating the kitchen and dining room, as well as repairing the electrical and plumbing and heating systems. LOTS of work. It’s consumed my life right now. I eat, breathe, and sleep plaster and lathe, rough framing, PVC pipe vent systems, electrical code, and flooring. It’s exhausting. Initially, it was all like a treasure hunt: who knew what timeless old treasues we’d find in the studs?? But all we found were half-eaten walnuts, some dead rodents, and a few old grocery lists and newspaper waddings from the 70s. Oh well. Disappointing, yes. I wasn’t expecting gold bars or even refurbished fitness equipment, mind you. But a little note or some greenbacks from the original builder would have been nice. :D

Anyway, we’re removing horrors like the one in the photo. Whew.

See this cat?! This is why we locked her upstairs while we gutted the downstairs. She is TOO curious! She hated being upstairs while we were down. I hated it, too, actually. She’s a good kitty, much like a little dog in that she always has to be where I am. It was difficult for us both to be locked away from each other.

After we ripped out some furnace ducts, she discovered the hole and tried to creep through it. It’s a 10 foot drop to the floor below, though! I guess she was desperate.

She’s downstairs now, wandering among the ruins that were once my kitchen and dining room. It’s a desolate place right now. No lights, no walls, no ceiling, no nothing!! I’m delving into learning about gas heaters and such. We’ve decided to get rid of our filthy forced air heating system (good news for me!). I don’t think a forced air system should ever be installed in an old house. The ducts- which we had cleaned two years ago– were FILLED and caked with disgusting dirt and dust. And to think that we breathed all that in! I’m mortified, really. Out goes the furnace with its filthy, snaky ducting system. If I could give a furnace duct review like one gives colon cleanse reviews, I’d say that forced air heating is a really crappy system.