The New 'Typical Work Week'

Only one month ago, my typical work week still consisted of sitting down to a computer at 9am and remaining there, minus the occasional break for wandering, until 5pm. Now, in the midst of my 'summer of freedom' before grad school kicks in this coming September, a new work week looks rather different. By 8am, an hour before I'd normally start working, I am already 15 feet up in the air clinging to a ladder while I sand down the front of the farmhouse. Instead of ringing phones or city traffic noises, I hear the sound of the river following its course across the road, and the birds flitting about from tree to tree. By 9am I'm baking in the sun, and will continue to do so until 6:00pm when the sun finally goes down behind the mountain. My day will be filled with rotary sanders, hauling bricks or perhaps digging up large rocks to clear the thorn patch so it can be mowed down. By 8:30, we close up shop and head for the hotel, where we immediately pass out in a fit of exhaustion.

All in all, this work day suits me very well. I might actually prefer it to a day in an air conditioned office. Go figure!

For as insanely cold as Vermont can get in the winter, it apparently also knows how to get pretty hot! Last month, Tony and I spent the 16th through the 24th (minus a brief two day return to NYC) up at the farmhouse working from sunrise to sunset. Our company for that workathon was Antonio, a NJ carpenter that has done work for Tony's family before. We sweated our way through each day, but the warmer weather and longer days had us flying along in terms of progress. In that time we tackled quite a few different tasks, so I think it best to break the review down one by one. And what better place to start than with our least favorite word...

The Foundation

As it turns out, having an accomplished carpenter on the job can really speed things along. Who knew? The tagteam of Anthony and Antonio spent the entire week down in the basement, completing nearly all of the woodwork that needed to be re-done before a new brick wall could be laid down.  A&A went section by section, cutting out the old rotten support beams, putting in temporary supports, cutting new pieces to fit, and securing them. This process was, in the end, fairly excruciating thanks to the giant, rusted cast iron nails that still hold this house together so snuggly. The old gal simply did not want to give up her original beams, rotten or not.

Those rotten floor joists are outta here

By the end of the week, Tony and Antonio had replaced all but one rotten support beam. More damaged beams had been discovered as they went along, but they managed to take care of them all. Once all of the new beams were in place and were properly supported, they began the process of replacing all of the rotten floor joists in the bathroom, kitchen and library. At any given point, a wrong step in any of those rooms might have sent you on an express trip down to the basement floor. The house, still stubborn to give up its original structure, held tight to each and every floor joist that needed to be replaced. The fellas struggled downstairs, cutting each of the 20 + beams into 10 or so different pieces, and then pried each piece off of the ceiling above. The amazing attention to detail that was put into this house has made this whole process a nightmareish one, but we're thankful for it nonetheless! The quality of work Wales Cheney put into building this home is probably the only reason it's still standing.

We will be returning to VT this weekend and Tony (and possibly Antonio) will finish up the job in the basement. Then, we begin contacting masons to get in there and lay down new brick. Once that is all complete, never again shall we utter the word 'Foundation'!

Meanwhile...

The Exterior

In order to prevent there being too many cooks in the kitchen, I spent my week outside working on the yard and on the house itself. Mrs. D got the ball rolling during our last visit by sanding down the windows and painting them with primer. I picked up from there and kicked the painting process into high gear. Over the course of the week, I managed to sand down the entire porch area, including the porch beams, the second story above the porch and at least half of the front of the house. I was able to sand as far as my little ladder could reach, which was about half way up the second story windows. Before I can continue, we will need to bring in a much bigger (and much sturdier) ladder from NJ. The biggest problem I can anticipate is swatting away wasp nests and giant spider webs from the roof line without panicking and falling a few dozen feet. We're still formulating a plan on how to do that safely.

Once the porch was totally sanded, I painted the entire area with a plain white primer. This small step immediately improved the appearance of the front of the house. Well.... somewhat, anyway! It's amazing to see how a plain coat of fresh paint can already begin to bring out the beauty of this home. I am very convinced we're going to have a lovely house on our hands someday.

A white-washed porch!

For now, we must continue to sand sand sand before any painting can be done, and I can vouch for the fact that sanding down the house is not a pleasant job. As soon as the sander is placed on the old, chipping paint, it explodes off the house in a fury of dirt and paint chips. I spent an entire week lightly coated in a flattering yellow-green dust. As unsavory as the need for sanding is, it's a necessary evil that must be done. I plan on continuing along my path of dusty destruction this weekend, and I sincerely hope that two sides of the house will be sanded and ready for paint by mid-August. We'll see how my timeline actually pans out!

Odds and Ends

A few other projects were tackled during our visit, thanks in part to a surprise housecrash by my lovely friends Meredith and Azhar Alami! These wonderful individuals put Jamaica, Vermont into Mapquest and embarked on a 4 hour drive without actually knowing the location of the house. They hoped that they would recognize the house just by sight, and thankfully it's not easy to confuse this house with too many other yellow/green Victorians. They brought with them not only jokes but the will to work, which is my favorite kind of farmhouse guest! Together, we knocked down the ceilings in the living room and front hallway, and also took on some landscaping work. Azhar managed to make more progress on my thorn patch landscaping project by cutting through the still untamed section of thorn and raspberry bushes. By clearing the land, he helped uncover more giant rocks that must be dug up and moved. Once this area has been cleared of boulders, we will be able to till the ground and put down grass seed. Finally, the overgrown thorn patch will be a thing of the past!

Chaos presides over the entrance hall as the ceiling is demo'd

The Conclusion...

Spending a whole week in Vermont allowed us to great a deal of work done on the house, but the extra time also let us make some great local discoveries. By stopping to chat with other builders and local folk, we got to know John of Okey Dokey Baking, a talented baker from NY now residing in Jamaica who is trying to make a name for himself at the Jamaica Farmers Market. We also met Nelson of Coleman Hills Lumber Mill. Nelson is one of those amazing farmers that is so in tune with the world around him, he can predict the yields from his maple trees just based on the direction of the winds each spring. His lumber mill and farm, magnificently situated at the top of the Green Mountains, is one of the prettiest farms you could ever hope to behold. Also, it is only 15 minutes from the house, as opposed to the Home Depot which is a 50 minute drive. All of the wood is cut to order, often with the bark still attached. Just a side note, but the cows that graze at this beautiful farm provide milk for Cabot Cheese. I now officially approve of all Cabot products. If they're getting their milk from these cows, then they are making some happy cheese!

Cows happily grazing while Tony is gazing

As beautiful as the weather is in Vermont at the moment, we're still well aware that fall is on its way. We have plenty to do on the house before the cold weather returns, so we plan on hauling ass the next month or so! We'll be returning for at least 3 days this coming week, and I have plans to spend the following week at the house solo, sanding the exterior without pause. Time is of the essence and we must get these projects done while the warm weather sticks around!

Click here to see a slideshow of our foundation transformation and a prettier exterior!

I believe it's safe to say that our foundation woes are nearing completion, and by this coming weekend the majority of our work should be done! Then, our TBD master mason will put up a new wall, and all can rest well knowing that the house will be sitting on study ground for another 100 years.

Another summer update is looming on the horizon. Stay tuned!

Melissa

Founding Fathers and Foundations

July 2011 has been 'all quiet on the blog front' thus far, but that changes today! We have finally emerged from a pile of house rubble and rotten beams, just in time to make an update or two before the month of July disappears into the ether. The good news is, we haven't had time for typing because we've been too busy demoing, and finally building things back up! This month we've spent nearly two weeks in total working away on a variety of issues up there. The main focus is, and continues to be, our dreaded foundation. We kicked off the month by spending our 4th of July holiday weekend up at the house, tag-teaming a handful of to-dos. Here's a little recap of what we accomplished...

Red, white and blue... and green!

For 4th of July weekend, we felt it was only appropriate to remember our country's fight for freedom by waging war ourselves. For three days, Dallaryan/Merkel forces attacked the farmhouse on all fronts, taking down rotten support beams, crumbling brick walls, and hideous green window trim, bringing the house a little closer to a fresh start. The outcome of this battle? Farmhouse - 1, thirty years of neglect - 0. We're winning the war on house restoration!

The main 'to-do' of the weekend continues to be our least favorite word... foundation. After three days of crow bar wielding, Tony and I had not left one shaky brick standing. We knocked down four separate brick walls and placed wood supports to fit throughout the entire area. This fun-filled process involved digging out a few feet of earth from each wall, prying the wall apart brick and brick, and hauling and restacking bricks in piles throughout the basement. Needless to say, by the end of each night we were pretty beat. Perhaps mason work is best left in the hands of masons.

It's like jenga, but with bigger consequences



Once all of the walls were successfully knocked down and the house was securely supported on a few brave wood beams, we set about cutting out the rotten house supports. It seemed like this should be an easy process, since you could basically tap the beam with your hand and pieces would begin to fall, but unfortunately that was not the case. Rotten though they may be, each beam is securely in place with massive century-old cast iron nails. Prying teeth would probably be easier than prying a 7-inch wide piece of wood away from these walls. In the end, after hours and hours or work, we only managed to get a piece of one support beam off of the house. With 5 or so beams to go, the future was looking a bit scary...

In other news for the weekend, Mrs. Dallaryan and a visiting weekend warrior named Sergio set about completing a handful of cosmetic tasks, including sanding down the window trim in the front and finally painting over that terrifying green color with a white primer. They also began the cleaning up process of a massive growth of trees and bushes in the front yard. While Tony and I only managed to tear things apart downstairs, Mrs. D and co were making things slightly prettier in the world above. Seeing visible improvements to the house, small though they may be, gave us a much-needed morale boost!

Click here to see a slideshow of broken-down walls and fixed-up paint!

4th of July weekend was just the beginning of a really successful month of work at the house. In the coming days we'll put up a new post with plenty of captivating photos and mesmerizing stories from our July renovations. I'm sure you are sitting there, thinking to yourself ... 'Did they get all of the support beams replaced?'... 'Is the foundation finished?!'... 'Have they finally settled on a house color?!'... but unfortunately you will have to wait a few days to have these questions and more answered :)

Stay tuned for our July recap, and thanks for reading!

- Melissa

A 'Rocky' Start to Summer

Below zero temperatures? Ice forming inside the house? 4 foot snow drifts? All things of the past, my friends, because summer has arrived!!! Today is June 28th and we are officially one week into the summer season. These days, Jamaica is happily boasting temperatures in the 70s and 80s, and the regular summer showers have turned the drab, brown landscape into a greenery-filled wonderland. We can barely keep up with the grass, which seemingly grows to Serengeti length in our absence. After the winter we had, I will appreciate every day of this warm and sunny weather.

So, as you can tell, there has been some downtime with the blog! A month and a half of downtime, to be exact. In our blogging absence, we've spent two hard-working but successful weekends up at the farmhouse. Our first update will be about Memorial Day weekend, when Tony, Mairim, Alastair and Miriam rang in the summer with lawn mowers, wallpaper scrapers and faulty foundations. A little barbequing did occur as well. Yours truly was not present for that weekend, but was instead teaching art in the wonderful land of Kenya. No worries, though... Tony provided me with nightly email updates so I was still as good as present!

Forget the beach... we excavate for Memorial Day!

As promised in our last blog entry, 'big foundation repairs' was the name of the game during our next weekend at the house. Plumbing is not able to go in until the back foundation is repaired, and so the plan for the weekend was to bring in the excavators and their impressive excavating machine to have the back wall dug out, and then have the concrete pourer and his impressive concrete pouring machine pour us a new foundation wall in the back. Of course, as we learn time and time again, there might as not be a schedule during renovations of this scale. As Tony sadly described in his email to me, the excavator began digging until he got a good look at the back foundation wall, and put the brakes on the entire process. Apparently, the back wall was in was worse shape than we originally thought, and he worried the entire structure might be seriously compromised if he began removing the brick wall with the supports it had at that moment. With a mighty (and fairly expensive) excavating machine idling next to him, Tony was informed he'd have to run a series of supports throughout the basement before any brick walls could be removed. Otherwise, this lovely house could pull a tragic Humpty Dumpty during excavation. Just like that, the plans for the weekend were shot. Concrete guy, we never knew ye.

The excavation team... they came, they saw, they left.

The rest of Tony's weekend was less than picturesque. He spent the next few days down in the basement trying to figure out the best way to support this shaky section. Another excavator we'd met previously stopped by and offered Tony some enormously helpful pointers on the best way to support the structure, which Tony then began to carry out on his own. Free advice is always welcome advice! He was able to run a few more supports along the side wall and under the downstairs 'bathroom', which is the area with the most problems. Thankfully this room doesn't connect to the upstairs so it's poor foundation and sloping walls don't really affect the rest of the structure.

While Tony worked below ground, the rest of the Dallaryan/Standing crew worked on maintenance above ground. Mairim and Miriam showed their wallpaper removing skills and cleared the hallway and staircase walls of all of its old paper. This is a big help as we plan on trying to salvage those walls, since putting up new angled drywall along a steep staircase would be a feat slightly beyond our skill sets. While the ladies toiled away inside, Alastair christened our new sit-down mower, which my father was able to get for us for a mere $100. This bad-boy mower comes complete with headlights and attached mulcher... serious business, but the lawn proved to be serious in its own right. It took this professional racing fan two days just to do upkeep on the lawn, and he didn't even get to the entire property. Looks like we better find a way to add a few more hours to the day so we can fit in some mowing while we're up there on the weekends. The to-do list just keeps growing!

Click here to see a slideshow of Memorial Day in Vermont, DIY style!

Unfortunately, Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be a weekend of huge progress, but in the end it just presented us with more to do... like restoring an entire foundation ourselves. In attempting to find the silver lining to our foundation woes, we can at least say that we're now fully aware of all of the foundation issues, and they can be fixed before it's too late. It's better to fix the foundation now when everything is so unfinished, compared to years from now when everything else is finished inside. Having to jack up a house with new walls would lead to cracks forming everywhere, so once this foundation is fixed we can install our drywall knowing it will have plenty of crack-free years ahead. We just have to keep saying, "We think we can, we think we can..."

Finding the Foundation

My triumphant return to the farmhouse occurred the weekend after I arrived back home. After a few weeks in the Kenyan desert, Vermont's greenery was just what I needed to see! Unfortunately, the weather didn't choose to cooperate, and we spent two rainy (and chilly!) days getting down and dirty in the basement. Thoughts of summer pleasantries clouded our judgement, and so we had to go out and buy warmer clothing before we could get down to our 'weekend warrior' tasks. With our spirits high, we got down to the business of figuring out how to support the house effectively so we could knock down the old bricks and get new support walls going. After facing down a few gigantic spiders and a few hundred tiny ones, a plan was set in place.

Tony and I slowly began going along one of the shaky walls, jacking it up with a hydraulic car lift until everything was level. We then would cut a piece of wood to fit perfectly between the support beam and the stone wall. Once that was wedged in place, we'd move the car lift further down the wall, knock out the bricks, put in a new wood support, and so on and so forth. After 2 days, we had two walls totally knocked down and supported on wood beams. In between of all of this success was lots of digging outside in the mud, mainly to clear away the area around the stone support wall, hauling bricks from here to there and general unpleasant tasks, like climbing into tight dirt-filled spaces on our bellies. It was unpleasant and exhausting work but it was very necessary, and by Sunday evening we were feeling like two very accomplished young renovators.

Our foundation wall - so delightfully unsturdy!

During the weekend a few masons also stopped by to take a look at the foundation work and provide us with estimates. The prices they came back with made our bank accounts very sad, so at the moment we're really weighing our options. $10,000 handed over to a stranger or dedicating a few weeks to this project and spending the cost of a few bags of cement? We seem to be leaning towards the latter. We'll be heading up to VT next weekend for an extended Fourth of July stay, and plan on giving laying brick the old college try. After all, how do you learn something without doing it? A few tutorials and Tony and I might just become professional brick layers ourselves :)


Click here to see photos of shaky brickwork and foundation fixes!

Another update will follow next week! I see fireworks, sturdy brick walls and a few more muddy shoes in our future...

- Melissa

Demolition Derby

Sunny skies, breezes traveling through open windows, and falling plaster smacking you square in the face. Just another weekend at Dallaryan Acres!

With the long awaited spring season finally taking hold in Vermont, Tony and I spent the past weekend working our tails off in temperatures nearing 70 degrees. The sun beating down on us was truly a gift after the winter we suffered through up there. -1 degree days and ice formations on the inside of windows seemed a lifetime ago. Of course, the house is still pretty chilly after having its windows nailed shut for 30 years, but by the summer we hope to have at least one floor of windows operational. Bring on the warm air!

My initial hope for the weekend was to spend a pleasant weekend outside, digging up trees and replanting them along the property line, knocking down thorn bushes and tidying up the yard. With sunny skies and warm temperatures, it seemed like the ideal weekend. Of course, Tony provided me with a reality check and reminded me that we still have a slight bit of work to do on the inside, and making the property pretty isn't quite as urgent as having a heated place to stay by next winter. So... inside we went with crowbars in hand. The goal for this weekend was to demo the front room. After this weekend, I can truly say... I've had enough of demo. Too bad we have an entire floor left to do.

Inherited but unwanted antiques for sale!

We kicked Saturday off by hosting a very unsuccessful yard sale. We attempted to sell off the items left in the house that we didn't plan on keeping. We earned a few dollars, enough for a nice lunch, but certainly not enough to say, pay for a new foundation wall. Some of the items that were worse for the wear, including a very broken accordion, were given away for free. And amazingly, some items we couldn't even give away. People wouldn't take a box of old plates, but 6 months ago they helped themselves to a pile of stained old mattresses. Go figure. The 'sale' lasted two days, and while it wasn't a yard sale for the record books, it did allow us to clear out the front room to make space for demo. A win-win in the end. 

The two main objectives for the weekend were: demo front room, meet with masons for pricing on foundation work. While Tony met with a handful of masons and concrete men over the course of two days, I met with bruises and bumps at the hands of falling plaster and lathe that just didn't want to quit. This room truly put up a fight. We managed to get all of the plaster and lathe down, cleaned up and thrown into their respective piles, but not without taking a few hits first. During the demo process, I managed to knock off a large piece of plaster near the ceiling that dove straight for my face. My reaction time did me no favors. I also was smacked multiple times in the face by lathe that whipped outward as I attempted to pull it off the walls. I am truly considering bringing an old hockey helmet to wear next time I demo. It will be the final step in my descent to wholly unattractive restoration woman, although in the end it might save my face, or better yet, my life.

While we were demo'ing, Tony took the crowbar to the plaster surrounding the chimney, just to see how this mighty tool worked against the stubborn plaster. Within seconds we knew my hammer and chisel method was a joke by comparison. Not to say that the crowbar made this process a piece of cake, but after an hour of backbreaking crowbar swinging, the front of the chimney was totally free of plaster. Take that, Shake Weight! You've got nothing on the process of exposing brick. We were thrilled to see the chimney in such great shape. It's small moments like these that make what we're doing seem like a good idea. This room will be beautiful someday!

That exposed brick will look gorgeous against a finished wall someday!

The dark side of demolition showed itself in a water damaged area in the front right corner of the room. This section of water damage runs straight down from the master bedroom upstairs. After seeing what's become of the support beams in this corner of the room, it's safe to say there must have been one heck of a leak at some point, and it must have lasted for quite some time. Ideally, support beams don't crumble to the touch, but that is not the case for these poor fellows. Since it is impossible to remove them, new support beams will have to be 'sistered' to the wall and ceiling supports before dry wall goes up. A new and exciting process to explore! Judging from the multiple water-damaged sections of this house, it won't be the only time we have to provide the support beams with some support of their own.

Despite the house fighting back in every way it could, the end result of our weekend of work was worth it! We now have a totally demo'd front room, minus the ceiling, and a nearly demo'd library. With the plaster and lathe knocked down on the adjoining wall, you can now step from one room into the other without use of a doorway. This is only temporary, of course, but walking through the walls is fun while it lasts.

Click here to see photos of sunny days and disappearing walls!

Coming up, we face more demo and SERIOUS renovation work in the backyard. To have the house prepped for plumbing, which is supposed to potentially start in June, we first need to excavate the area around the back wall, support the house from underneath, have a cement wall poured, and put down a few layers of brick to match the rest of the house's foundation. All of this work has to be hired out, although the idea is floating around that we may attempt to excavate the area ourselves to save money. While professions use excavating machines, we might use a few strong people and some shovels. Will this idea pan out? Probably not, but we're contemplating it. 

Correcting the foundation means plumbing and heating can go in, a new kitchen floor can be laid down since all will be level, and drywall can also go up. It's a huge hurdle that needs to be cleared, and soon! Stay tuned for updates on this massive project. Who knows, the next slideshow might just feature us in over our heads, literally, digging out the back wall... or, you might see big construction machinery roaming about the back yard. Either way, it's a change of pace from the typical crowbar and exposed wall slideshows we've been putting up recently. Brace yourselves!

There's a sweet smell in the Vermont air these days. Is it wildflowers in bloom, or... progress?!

- Melissa

A Spring in our Step!

Spring has returned to Jamaica, Vermont! Well, technically, it's more like Mud Season, as it is aptly called up there, but at least the snow is gone! Rising temperatures and a consistent string of rainy days have helped melt the big white beast, and we no longer need to shovel for a half hour before we can pull up to the house. Mud season, we're so happy to see you.

This past weekend, Tony, my parents and I returned to the farmhouse to find the lawn now accessible and temperatures hovering at a balmy 42 degrees. The main goals for these weekend warriors: insulate inside, clean up outside. Since first coming to the house in November, my motivated father has been itching to get to work on the lawn. While the previous owners mowed part of the lawn, a large portion of it was left to mother nature. This meant that years and years of dead leaves were forming into a dense, grass-killing blob on the side of the house, trees were starting to spring up too close to the structure, and the area where the barn once stood had been transformed into a thicket of tall thorns. As we stood in the backyard taking it all in, I realized the property needs practically as much work as the inside of the house. An overwhelming thought, indeed. To get the yard in order, we have the following laundry list. Brace yourself:

• Rake up all leaves and mulch them
• Clean debris out of the stream in the backyard
• Fill in multiple holes on the property with mulch
• Cut up and till a 400 sq ft thorn patch by hand
• Remove large boulders from lawn... somehow...
• Rent a Bobcat and level out a large raised piece of land, which was built to support a trailer on the property at some point
• Dig up 5 trees that have sprung up too close to the house and replant them along the property line to provide some privacy from our neighbor
• Hire a tree service to take down a few poorly placed trees, including a dead one dangerously close to our electric lines
• Trim down the handful of well and septic system pipes that are jutting up throughout the property
• Sort through and remove all junk piles

And that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Sounds good, right? But, as with all things concerning this house, we must take it one step at a time. For now, we are happy with the progress we made this weekend. Tony and my dad were able to rake up a huge portion of leaves which have been collecting along the left side of the house for eons and run them through the mulcher. It already looks 100% better along that side. 6 inches of compacted dead leaves really do take away from the look of a place. My dad, the unstoppable landscaper, also trimmed down some thorn bushes growing on a mound of dirt and rock, which will someday need to be leveled out with a rented backhoe, and mulched a large amount of dead tree limbs. He also organized all of the backyard debris by type, and used a leaf blower to get the leaves into more manageable piles to be mulched next time around. All in all, this side of the lawn already looks significantly better, but the work is far from over.

 The leaves are gone and it's looking fine!

Our most challenging lawn task will be the right side of the house. The ground where the barn once stood has now turned into an enormous thicket of thorn bushes. The snow has flattened out the thorn bushes for now, making the expansive size of this thicket all too visible. The area is easily 20 x 15 ft, if not more. To make things better, this area is also littered with a variety of rocks, ranging in size from boulder to watermelon. As we slowly clear the ground around these boulders, they will have to be moved (how, we have no idea) to another part of the lawn. Not to mention that moving the boulders could uncover any number of critters that have made a home in these mini rock quarries. This should make landscaping even more interesting. Once all of the thorns have been cut down, we will mulch everything and then rent a motorized till, so we can dig up the ground and put down grass seed. I can already see our summer months: a vision of digging, dirt and motorized lawn equipment.

Are the thorns no match for us, or are we no match for the thorns?

Meanwhile, good ole Susie Q and I got busy inside by demoing and prepping the 'library' for insulation. I began the familiar process of knocking down plaster, shoveling up plaster, lugging it outside via buckets, knocking down lathe, piling up lathe in other room, and sweeping down walls. Not to mention the time consuming task of digging out by hand all of the plaster and wood chips that have fallen in the small space between the baseboard trim and the outside wall during demo. Once these steps are completed, we are ready to cover up the windows with plastic and begin the spray foam insulation process. Sues strapped on a dust mask and jumped into the fray, helping me clean up fallen plaster and sweep down the walls. Through the course of the weekend, we were able to insulate the upstairs bathroom entirely, which Tony demo'd last year, and the majority of the library room. Unfortunately, we ran out of insulation a mere three panels away from completion, but that's ok by us. Once we demo the other front room downstairs and area around the front door, we will be able to insulate all 3 rooms at once and the insulation process for the entire first floor will be done!

Click here to see the beginnings of some serious yardwork outside, and lovely plaster piles inside!

We are now aiming to return to the house in 3 weeks time. To make more room downstairs, we have moved all of the furniture left in the house which we plan on keeping up into the attic. Everything else will be cleaned and marked for a garage sale to be held the same weekend. How nice it will be to clean out our space a little and make some cash doing it! Once the room is cleared, on with the demo and insulating.

With the snow now gone and warm weather approaching, I feel confident saying things are looking up! Progress will move much faster in the warmer weather, both outside and inside. The backyard will see some serious TLC, and once the entire downstairs is insulated, our electrician can run wiring for the whole floor and the plumbers can run pipes for heating. By next winter, we WILL have heat in that house. To take a page from Scarlett O'Hara, we'll never be cold again!

And you thought Scarlett was dedicated...

We've survived our first Vermont winter. Now, give us spring!

-  Melissa