Today is hot and very muggy. A good day to have a huge hole in the wall of the house! The kitchen window came out this morning, just after breakfast. It is an original window, single pane, not pre-manufactured, built with the house. We are saving the pieces, as I love the little kitchen window, but realize it is not practical for a heated home. Former owners of the house destroyed the storm window, which would cost more than a new window to replace, as it would need to be custom made. The new window will be cute too, and it will be energy-efficient, and the screen will keep the bugs out in the summer.
Attila will be busy for the next few days, working to insulate, caulk, and trim the new windows. And just for me, he has added window sills to the new windows. I love window sills.
While Attila was busy with the kitchen window replacement, I gathered up the dirty laundry and headed off to the laundromat. I managed to wash all the clothes and towels in two loads, simultaneously, minimizing my time in the hot, moist atmosphere of the laundromat. I brought the wet laundry home and hung it up to dry in the stiff breeze. We have a rope strung the length of the back of the house, supported by the beams of the verandah.
When Attila is undertaking a large renovation project in this little house, chaos ensues! The kitchen needed to be cleared for the window replacements, and in this tiny house temporarily stored objects in the living room loom very large. Passageways narrow, access to items becomes complicated, as one must move several objects to unearth the desired item. This chaos has been a regular element of our vacations since 2010, this is our fifth renovation vacation!
We have also decided to upgrade the heating system, it is time. Lares is in the trade, so he has found us a very good deal on a heat pump, It should reduce our heating costs, and offer summer cooling and dehumidifying as well. Lares will do the installation, with Attila’s help. The heat pump will not be here for another week and half, so Attila will need to arrange a two day “weekend” to spend here at the little house, to work with Lares on the installation. I estimate that we will recoup our investment within five years, perhaps sooner.
This seems to be the year that we seriously increase the energy efficiency of the little house in the city. It wasn’t in the plan, no indeed. These opportunities just popped up this week. Life is full of twists and turns!
Tomorrow we will have been here for one week, and it has turned out to be quite a renovation vacation, in spite of the fact that we were determined to visit parks and go hiking during this year’s vacation! Attila is as happy as he ever is, taking his time with the window replacement, without a deadline, without rushing. We are both having a pleasant time. I think, that if I want to indulge in leisure activities, I had better figure out how to do it alone!
Terra dropped by this afternoon, during her “lunch” break at work. I enjoyed making her a sandwich, and having a bit of a chat. I remember how wonderful it felt to have my Mom make me a sandwich, it was a real treat! I think Terra feels the same way about it. It is a little thing really, but it sure feels good, for both of us.
Wow, Attila has been hard at it since this morning. It is 9:37 p.m. and he is still out there on the roof of the garage, installing the trim around the dining area window, and reattaching the awning. It is very dark, he uses his headlamp for light to work. The thunder is getting louder out there, the wind is picking up considerably, and lighting is getting closer and closer. He will not stop though, until he is forced to! The exterior won’t be finished tonight of course, but he wants it weather proof before the storm hits. Tomorrow the interior insulating and trim will be tackled.
I brought the dry laundry in from the line a few hours ago, so it is safely stowed away.
One advantage to the approaching storm, the air is much cooler! It has been a real stinker of a day!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
30°C
3:00 PM EDT Friday 5 September 2014
Pressure: 101.5 kPa
Tendency: falling
Visibility: 11 km
Temperature:30.0°C
Dewpoint: 21.2°C
Humidity: 54%
Wind: S 25 km/h
Humidex: 38°C
Quote
“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.”
Doris Lessing
“I remember how wonderful it felt to have my Mom make me a sandwich, it was a real treat!”
I had never thought of it this way, but it brought tears to my eyes, for of course it is absolutely true. Nothing felt quite so “right” as — well, as pretty much anything Mom cooked.
How are things going with the country house? There won’t be many opportunities to show us pictures of it before it’s sold. (Just putting a bug in your ear there, missy.)
I like the green. I like green, yes, but my grandparents’ cupboards were green and your city house has a similar feel. Perhaps popular styles at the time. Right down to the opening above the sink for the clock.
Don’t we all remember that green–my grandmother even had dishes in that shade. And the cornices-a 1950’s thing, as I recall.
Glad the improvements to the little house in the city seem to be coming along so nicely. How is Mist doing with all the disruption?
Hope you had everything closed up by the time the storm hit. I know it was quite the lightning fest around here, very dangerous!
One thing that drives me nuts is a husband who thinks he is immune from lightning and doesn’t come in when it is in the neighborhood! The minute I see lightning nearby, I am in the basement with the dogs, but Paul will not do it. It’s a guy thing I think. Near here, the other night’s wild thunder/lightning storm resulted in two girls who were on Crane’s Beach in Ipswich getting struck by lightning and they are in serious condition in hospital still. You don’t fool with Mother Nature!
Kate, I will have to get busy taking photos of the country house!
The green in the kitchen at the little house in the city is a close to the jadeite colour from the forties and fifties as I could find. My Grandmother’s kitchen was painted that colour, and for me the colour is like comfort food!
Wendy, Mist acclimatized to the little house in the city within the first ten minutes after arrival. She loves it at the little house. She has her favourite places to sleep, and hide, and finds having us both around all day, and night, suits her just fine.
She had a long trip down though. Our trip was longer than usual, traffic etc. and poor Mist lost control of her water. She was very quiet on the trip down, and I wonder if she wasn’t feeling mortified by her accident. Luckily the odour was not overpowering. We had her out of the cage first thing when we arrived, she was petted, fed, given water, shown her litter box, and coddled. I took the cage out to the back yard, to be cleaned thoroughly. Her recovery was quick though, ten minutes had her purring and laying claim to the choice sleeping spots.
Teri, we did get it all closed in and Attila was safe in the house by the time the storm hit. We didn’t have very much thunder and lightning, just lucky!
Bex, I am with you about the lightning and the power of Mother Nature. I once saw someone hit by lighting at a festival. They were playing frisbee in an open field during the thunder storm. We could see the fellows silhouette as he played, in the distance, and then the lightning snaked down and hit him. We never found out if he lived or died, but it might have gone either way.