Happy Holidays!

First let me start by wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I took the week before Christmas off to get the house together before the holidays. I had a long list of "To Dos" and managed to get just about all of them done.

In the last post I mentioned that I was saving up for a tall skinny stainless steel fridge. Well, the harvest gold number that was out in the sun room off the kitchen met it's demise the weekend before Christmas--just after I went grocery shopping, of course. It either defrosted everything or froze it all. So, back to Sears to find something quickly. Luckily, I found a nice black fridge that goes with my new stove. They were able to deliver it the next day and it all just worked out well. It's a bit large for the space but the kitchen layout is a bit awkward for the placement of a 30" stove and fridge. It'll do but at some point, way down the road, I'll have to figure that one out.

I painted the living room my favorite color--robin's egg blue and the kitchen white, so as not to overpower the house with BLUE. I was starting to question my color choice but now that the curtains are up things have toned down a bit and I really like it. It brightened up the space and really makes the trim and the floor stand out (notice I didn't say "pop."--that HGTV expression makes me crazy).

It looks like home now. The furnishings still need a little bit of work but that's not my biggest priority right now.

One question that I've been getting a lot is "Are you warm enough?"  I am happy to report that yes, in fact, I am quite cozy. As I mentioned earlier, I had a propane heater installed. The woodstove was repaired the day before Christmas Eve, and the insulation around the skirting of the house has been a huge help. Plastic on the windows--also a must.

These pictures were obviously taken before the snow flew. I also have plastic and haybales up around the skirting of the house. Yup, it's got that VT feel to it.

The attic is nice and cold which means that the insulation is working well. I'm not using the attic at all this winter so I've turned the unused stairwell into a much needed coat closet temporarily.

Cannot wait till the house is jacked up and leveled out this spring!! Then I'll be getting into doing the floor in the utility room and the house will be easier to seal up for the winter. I'm afraid I may need to get a new door. I love the current front door but it doesn't keep the cold out very well. When I find a new door, I'll move that one to the utility room. I want to keep it somewhere in the house and I think that would be the best place.

Next on my list--
The hallway (paint the walls and replace the light fixture);
The bathroom--paint the floor with deck paint to somewhat protect the subfloor--which is what the floor is now--from moisture. I can't put in a new floor anywhere until the house is squared up. The intended floor was tile but I think that I'll have to go with something that is not as cold. Maybe I'll carry the knotty pine floors through to the bathroom.

Eventually, I'll expand the bathroom a bit into the utility room but the more pressing matter is having the water pressure adjusted. I get a little trickle of water when the pressure goes down. I run the sink until the jet pump comes on--yup, gotta get that fixed soon!

The bedroom  I want to take my time and make it a really lovely room, restful and cozy, so I'll tackle that after the bathroom.

The utility room This will be the last room since I need to do some reorganizing and culling in there. But I do want to paint it sooner rather than later.

Well, I've got lots of plans for the long winter ahead . . .

Catching up

So, it's been a while since I posted anything. I'll try to catch up a bit.
Before I moved in, I did several things:
I bought a new stove-my first grown-up, new appliance purchase. I got a great deal on a black and stainless steel gas stove during the Sears black Friday sales. I would have kept the old stove to get me through the winter but the oven didn't work and there was little chance of fixing it.

Now, I just have to find a skinny fridge. The stove is 30 inches which is larger than what was there before. For the time being, the older fridge that came with the house is on the porch just off the kitchen. A little inconvenient (okay, a lot inconvenient-especially when it's below zero) but I have my eye on a skinny fridge by GE that would be perfect for the space and I'll need to save up for it.

BEFORE

AFTER:

I love it!!

The blue and red tubing draping down behind the stove is Pex tubing.

Which brings me to my next big project prior to moving in--bringing most of the plumbing inside the house.

Before, the plumbing ran under the house to the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink. The toilet and the shower ran inside the walls since the jet pump is on the other side of the wall from them. I got handyman, Carl Lingren to run the lines inside and we connected them with these nifty snap in connectors. The lines run through the walls to the bathroom where the go along the ceiling until they drop down to the sink. The same goes for the lines that run to the kitchen but in the kitchen there are soffit cabinets and we ran the lines throuh those. There was very little saudering to do--only where there were some funky connections to simplify. Usually your plumbing runs in the walls. That will eventually be the case with my house. One usually doesn't go on and on about the plumbing in a house but I'm just so very happy to have the water lines indoors with less chance of freezing. Here are some pictures of the Pex lines in other parts of the house. Pex--you are my new best friend!

More soon . . .

I've been busy . . .

and so, have not had time to post. So, a brief update--
Heater---check
Water---check (I shocked the well and now my house smells like a pool and I bring in drinking water but that's temporary. Also the flow was a bit impeded by sediment. It hadn't been used in a while.) Thanks Carl!
Roof leak--covered till spring    Thanks Carl, Ethan & Russ
Insulation---check             Thanks Mike and Ethan
I have amazing friends! 
Saturday I moved in and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be in my home. Thanks for dinner on Saturday Mindy, that was such a treat!  It totally has its quirks--ones that you don't notice until you are living in the space. But my head is full of ideas, even if my wallet is a bit light. I have a huge list of projects and I can't wait to get started. First--put away all the stuff I accumulated in the last 2 years. It's not a lot but it's more than I had before! Then, spruce up with a bit of paint and some Christmas decorations. I'll post pictures this weekend--left my camera at home.

Digging ditches

Not today. It's cold and rainy today with a bit of sleet and freezing rain thrown in for good measure. Ah, autumn in Vermont.  It was so great to walk in to my house today, except for the aroma of dead mouse.
Nothing a little airing out won't get rid of. I'd rather have the mice than the coyote who was making his home in my garage!

I met with the propane guys today to see how I can heat this little place. First on the list is to cut down a little birch sapling that's growing out of the steps to the glassed in porch and the little pine that's there as well. I might be able to use it as a Christmas tree. Reuse and recycle.

I'm also supposed to dig a ditch for the propane line by next week. But not today! Hopefully this weekend. A little heat will be nice so I can get going on the inside. I think I'm going to go with an Empire heater that puts out about 35,000 BTU. I'm going with the Empire as opposed to the Rinnai because the Empire doesn't need electricity for the thermostat. Very important for this area since our power goes out often. I think I'm putting in a smaller Empire that puts out 15,000 BTUs for the bedroom just to make sure that all is warm. Off to work!

I just bought a house!!

On Thursday, I bought my first home on my own. I used to own a house back in the late 80s with my ex husband. But since the divorce in the early 90s, I've been a renter. Now I finally have my own place and I can't wait to get started on the work!

I'm also scared out of my mind. I bought this place for very little money, as is, knowing that there would be lots of work to do over time. But, the price was right, the location is ideal for me, the house has lots of potential, and I've never been one to do things the easy way. So, I've jumped in with both feet.

Built in the early 1980s, or thereabouts, this cottage was handbuilt and has it's quirks. For various reasons, I did not get a full home inspection until the day after I bought it. It was an "as is" sale and so was not required and it's owner financed as well. But I didn't jump in blindly. I had a couple of contractors out to check it over and kick the tires, so to speak. I knew the To Do list would be long.

And so my journey begins . . .