Progress Report:: Pandemic Progress

It's been difficult to motivate myself to write about our little ol' house over the past few months, what with all the world-changing phenomena that are on peoples' minds. What are our humble dreams compared to a devastating pandemic? Who cares about perfect paint or permitting deadlines when we are seeing a country plagued with racism, injustice, and a world full of brutality...

In our peaceful privileged corner of these woods, we are progressing on our handcrafted home. Warren has been working his normal hours at his job throughout the quarantine and then coming home to work tirelessly on the house, often until nine or ten in the evening or later. He works dusk to dawn on the weekends. Here in the Pacific Northwest, dusk to dawn is about sixteen hours during this time of year!

The house is coming right along! We just had our last house inspection before final inspection.

Warren completed the plumbing and electrical by himself with the assistance of several reference books and some help from his jack-of-all-trades dad. These projects were not straight-forward! Warren had to work around the timber frame and through the walls for every pipe and wire. We have no crawl space or attic, and as our floors are also ceilings in the main and upper story, there was no space there to run anything. Warren very cleverly was able to router some wires such that we have a few ceiling lights, but mostly it is all in the walls.

We hired a local company to do the insulation (Environmental Insulation and Contracting). A couple of old pros insulated the main and upper levels with regular foam insulation in a day and did a great thorough job. However, for the basement we had spray foam insulation installed and weren't terribly pleased with the work. The person who did it was very young, and we suspect it was the first time he'd ever done the job on his own. The kid came out twice after the initial installation to fix the job, and even after that some parts of the foam were bowed out such that Warren had to chip away at it before the drywall could be hung and other parts were so sparse that you could still see the concrete.

After the insulation was installed was when we decided to do our first major remodel. Upstairs the hallway's ceiling was 18 feet high. After the walls were filled with insulation we found that the hallway was very strange and kind of creepy! Despite being four feet wide and so high, it seemed confined. So Warren took a couple of days off to tear down a wall, put in a ceiling in the hallway, and add a loft to two of the bedrooms. It was well worth the effort! It gives you a better perspective on the beautiful timber framing of the ceiling and made the bedrooms so much larger.

We also added some interior windows because the rooms felt a little dark. We added windows above two of the bedroom doors and some windows overlooking the balcony. This was an easy change that made a big difference to the feel of the rooms.

A couple of neighbors and a family friend helped Warren hang the drywall. They gave us two full weekends of their time and expertise (and tools). We will pay it forward one day when they need help on their projects. The same family friend is currently doing the arduous task of mudding and taping the walls. Warren installed the last piece of drywall this past Sunday. The drywall has transformed the house; it is getting closer to being home!

We pre-painted some of the drywall that went behind tricky spots with braces and posts. Most of the house is white (Swiss Coffee by Behr), but we opted to go bold with color on the bedrooms and bathrooms. The colors look completely different once on the walls than they looked as tiny icons on the computer, and I might regret not just sticking with white... I was hoping a mellow yellow (Firefly Yellow) would brighten up the darkest room, but it is more of a shocking lemon yellow than the soft yellow I expected. The reddish-brown I chose for the other room (Amber) looks more like a orangish-yellow when applied to the walls. I'm going to stick with them though! The kids can always repaint the rooms one day if they so desire. I do like the colors in the bathroom (Woodland Sage) and master bedroom (Mushroom Gray).

I am proud of what Warren and I have accomplished with our own hands. I am trying to do what I can but feel powerless to really change the state of the world. However, here and now I can strive to contribute to the peace, love, and beauty of our small community. It's a small offering, but if everyone offered love instead of hate, all of our children could grow up in a better place.

BONUS:: TODDLER ACCOMPLISHMENTS (for the aunties)

Isla had her first birthday during this time. She walks, babbles, climbs, often poops in the potty, dances, knows a few signs, smiles readily and laughs often. She has eight teeth and a healthy reserve of fat to cushion her bottom when she falls. She says "mama," "dog," "kitty," "woof," and tries to say "chicken." She is a treasure.