Constructing Stuff

I spent today pulling up old carpet and preparing the upstairs of the house for the new Stainmaster.  My sister, her husband and my brother came by to help.  The carpet came right up, but the old padding was stapled into place and so we had the pleasure of prying out all the old staples.  It was actually a breeze, though, because we had so much help with the task.  Thank you, guys!

Here you can see the new half-bath with the new piping in place. 

Tomorrow the new fixtures should be installed.

Once the plumbing phase is done, the electric will be next.  Mac is still occupied with the fire block.  This involves installing heavy blocks of wood in all the spaces around the outer walls.

 If there were to be a fire this would slow the progress of the flames. 

Without it, a balloon frame wood house such as this would "go up like a tinder box", as they say.

What you see above is just a small example of what has been taking us so long to get the house ready. 

All the new light colored wood you see here is a brand new supporting skeleton for this old house.

Below you can see the framed out skylight in the master bedroom (my favorite thing in the whole upstairs!!! :)

It's "crunch-time" now and we are full steam ahead for April first!  Pray that we can be ready.

Dispatch From My Corner of the Northeast

This morning at approximately 6:30 am in southern New England, the Robins and Blackbirds arrived.  As I walked Rigby out for her morning constitutional, right before my bleary, sleep glazed eyes,  26 Robins landed in the Butter Nut tree next to Mac's barn.  They chirped and twittered softly as they fluttered about, stripping an old vine that was draped over the tree of dried up berries.  Shortly after, a dark cloud of Blackbirds undulated across the sky over our street and settled in a big Maple.

Dare I say it?  Winter is OVER !!!!!!  Joy, joy, joy!!!

Today is also the day that the FOR SALE sign went up here at Cat Bird Heaven.  It is getting down to the wire and our moving day is looming.  Still, there is a lot yet to be done at our new home.  Due to the unexpected damage to the frame from the fire,  Mac has found it necessary to rebuild the place from the inside, out.  Most of the frame work is now complete, the plumber has begun his work and the carpet has been ordered.  All we can do is as much as we can do and hope for the best.   I will post some photos tomorrow showing our progress.

bird silhouette picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net