working the weekend

Whew! That was a productive long weekend. Unfortunately we've arrived back to our boiler here leaking water all over the basement floor, so we have no hot water and I will have to deal with our landlord. This was something we knew would happen eventually and told our landlord that we needed a new boiler 18 months ago (when the guy who was supposed to service it wouldn't touch it because he was worried it would fall apart). So while I'm waiting to hear back from said landlord, I will share some photos taken over the weekend.

Looking from the dining room (sans red flowery fabric on the wall) into the kitchen- I must remember to take down that "Market "

sign.

Remi and Ella in the kitchen.

Rem showing his guns. This boy worked like a trooper this weekend. He and I did so much, and he did it without complaining even though some of the things we had to do were just horrid. He really impressed me.

Not sure why this photo is so misty, nor who took it, but it is the only photo I have of the EVIL nutcracker. Seriously, have you ever seen a nastier face on a nutcracker?? And the boys (including Matt) had great fun all weekend torturing Ella with it; moving it around so that she'd walk into a room and it would suddenly be there, or putting it right by her bed so she'd wake up with it staring at her.

Ok, but down to the work. This is the damaged window from the leak we had. We had our wonderful French Canadian Brothers in on Saturday morning to fix the leak from the outside. Turns out it was as simple as replacing the flashing over the window. There's no damage on the outside- but as you can see, quite a bit inside.

All the plaster around the window had to be taken back to the lath. There was so much mould and grossness. It may have already been leaking when the previous owners moved in, because they had put up sheet rock (plaster board) over the original plaster work. That meant we had to take off two layers. But underneath the sheet rock we found a bit of a treasure. Because of the dampness, all the layers of wallpaper (probably going back to the 1850s) were peeling, so you could see decorating tastes going back in history. I think I counted 6 or 7 different layers. I kept trying to take photos of them to capture the different patterns.

You can see the mould! The yellow flower you see there was oldest paper.

I thought it was fascinating.

Here's Rem up in the window ripping out some of the rotten wood at the top. I'm hoping the Frenchies can get in this week to build it all up again.

This is what it looked like finished. Unfortunately we broke one of the window panes that was cracked already. But we took out about 8 big garbage bags of plaster. Can't wait until it gets done and then I can get in there and finish that room. It is so gorgeous in the morning as light streams in through that window.

That took up all of Saturday afternoon. In the morning Remi, Ella and I had cleared everything left in the basement. SOOOOO many cans of paint, wood left down there going mouldy and just junk. That was the worst job of the weekend, but it means that we can get a slab laid so that we can get a new oil tank in so that we can get some oil delivered and have HEAT.

I did have a bit more time on Saturday to start patching holes in the wall where we'd ripped out the big cabinet last weekend, and to test some paint colours. This pink was driving me NUTS. It looks kind of terracotta at night, but let me assure you it was pink...

...See? Where they'd painted on this woodwork , it was all peeling off, so I got Kit and Ella to scrape it back as much as possible.

Then I primed all the walls in that room and rearranged the furniture. I'd have liked to start painting, but we needed to do other things yesterday, so that will have to wait until next weekend. I think I'm going to go with the colours that are by the chair there. The cream trim will have to wait. There is SO MUCH painted trim and doors in this house- I will have to get to them all eventually because they are either cream or pink or nasty green.

This is looking back into that little room from the bar room. We moved the purely decorative fireplace to the wall with the old chimney, and suddenly it doesn't look so terrible. But can you see what I mean about pink trim???

We moved a lot of furniture around this weekend. That little couch (I sprayed WD40 on it by accident, hence the wet spot- fortunately it's a removable cover) came from up in the purple room. We brought down the big teak dresser from the bathroom and that's now in the dining room. Matt also knocked out the shelving in the dining room, so that's getting closer too. Oscar spent two days stripping the hideous dark wall paper from the downstairs bathroom- it needs a bit more work, and then that too will be ready to paint.

And then yesterday, while we were sorting out the huge pile of rubbish that our caretaker is going to get rid of this week, I thought we may as well take down the hideous drop ceiling in the front room. Once again, Remi was right into it.

After we'd cleared away all the plaster and rubbish, de curtained the windows, and mopped the floors, this is what we were left with.

So lovely- I can't wait to have a new ceiling put in and to have a proper room there.
And here's a few photos taken from the door on Sunday morning when I let Honey out. It had dropped below freezing and the sun hadn't come up fully over the mountains yet (that side of the house is so sunny in the morning)- the frost on the grass looked so magical in the morning light. Honey was delighting burying her nose in the icy grass.

Oh (these photos are SO not in order). This fabric came from a $10 shower curtain I bought (American fabric shower curtain for my Aussie readers). I love the design. I cut it into 4 pieces hoping that it would roughly fit the two windows in the barn room.
TA DA! It fits PERFECTLY. So now all we need to do is get rid of the red and flowery wallpapers!! Fortunately the underneath of the rose comforter is stripy.
Oscar's blue room somewhat simplified.
Our room somewhat simplified.

My stockpile of pictures I've taken down from all over the house. Some I brought home to gesso and paint over. ALL of the paintings were put up with a nail in the wall! I'd love to hang picture rails in some of the rooms so that the walls aren't continually damaged.
And here's poor little Honey who kept trying to find a place out of the way (this is the yellow room BEFORE Remi and I cleared it all out). She doesn't like the bare floor boards, so she's always trying to find a place to curl up that's warmer. At one point she went down to the basement where one of those cans of paints had leaked yellow paint all over the floor in the basement. Matt was having a nap and I'd gone up to the shop. When I came back, there were yellow doggy foot prints ALL over the house. There wasn't a room she didn't go in. We got it off all the wooden floors, but I left it on the painted stairs- it will give me incentive to re do those sooner.
And here she is with our VT bear who I think she thinks of in the same way Ella thinks of the nutcracker. She has been known to bite him if he looks at her for too long.
And one of the funniest things- this chess table. It is used CONSTANTLY for either chess or checkers. I've never seen the kids play chess so much. All 4 of them. Every time I need to find them for a job, there they are playing chess. Who'da thunk?
So if you've made it through to the end, well done. All of this is partly a record for me as well. I sort of can't believe that we haven't even owned this house for 2 weeks. It feels longer. Like when you have a baby I guess. This week I have to get some paints, learn how to skim coat walls... oh and call back my landlord as I've been working on this post for nearly an hour and I still haven't heard from him.

Have a happy week! Hopefully I'll be back again with some makings.