tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81423852881806128402024-03-13T17:34:09.388-07:00The Pleasant TimesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger933125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-47501047124433704952023-09-09T17:46:00.003-07:002023-09-11T10:39:23.787-07:00Construction FatigueAfter a vacation, we came back to our mostly-done house and proceeded to...go back to regular jobs, school, everyday life like other people. We had been working to get through construction fatigue for a long time, but we finally succumbed. When a fellow told me long ago "don't move in until every last thing is done or you will have bare bulbs for years," he was right. You shouldn't moveLillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-81344464677870960662023-09-01T09:13:00.000-07:002023-09-01T09:13:03.818-07:00Oregon Road Trip We took a much-needed vacation after the occupancy inspection, and explored a corner of Oregon unfamiliar to us. We explored just a little bit of the Elkhorn, Wallowa, and Blue mountain areas. Cows out in the middle of nowhere. I think they were social distancing. Sumpter, Oregon had some interesting history, including this gigantic dredge. It is as big as a hotel!This thing Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-89568767558633176652023-08-22T17:34:00.002-07:002023-11-17T19:33:46.734-08:00FireworksThe fixes were quickly done and the inspector called again. Approved!Did we hug the inspector and all fall in the floor in tears of gratefulness? No. We just went about our normal day.I went and made dinner in the new kitchen. We got on the phone and bought an insurance policy. Insurance went into effect at midnight, they said.About suppertime a thunderstorm rolled in, lightning struck out Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-6084568347573899212023-08-15T12:04:00.003-07:002023-08-15T12:05:53.722-07:00Fix it and Call Again.Many a night I had lulled myself to sleep in the RV dreaming of that moment of the Occupancy Declaration from the county Building Inspector. We would cry, we would dance, we would clap, I would wring the Inspector's hand and tell him how much it meant to us. All the kids would hug each other. So I had a nervous but exciting flutter in my heart when we called for the "last" inspection. The Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-58511625702286163812023-08-12T09:10:00.001-07:002023-08-12T09:10:16.060-07:00Changing the View It was time to wrap this project up! Here the Tile Guy is installing some lights, for he was also the Electrician at this point. This and that were "wrapped up" to get ready for another inspection. This was one of the preparations! Railings on the porch are not in the blueprints, but it sure is CUTE! This project was another "temporary" install, in case Code called for it. Boy, was I Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-10148591197898780232023-08-11T14:44:00.005-07:002023-08-11T14:44:46.394-07:00 mutiny?A note I found on a construction task list. Every family has a comedian. Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-70085668714804255242023-08-10T15:30:00.002-07:002023-08-10T15:30:46.244-07:00Getting the kitchen to code finish. Seen on a drive: Do you see that old house out in a field? Old hotel maybe? It looks like someone set a dollhouse out there! Will our house be that old by the time we finish it?? In time the kitchen was "finished" as far as code was concerned, and even a bit farther, but it needn't be finished finished for the occupancy certificate. Lifting the fridge and freezer on a Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-81053412571379773232023-08-09T13:07:00.000-07:002023-08-09T13:07:12.354-07:00Local Scenery I really like where we live now. It may not look "beautiful" at first glance, but it is full of interest. Here are some pics from a spring walk to the neighborhood reservoir. On our way we pass the rocks you see above. Spring comes to our area a lot later than it does in the Willamette
Valley. While they are luxuriating in enough green to fill Ireland,
dotted with early Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-15580135202482862122023-08-07T17:22:00.001-07:002023-08-07T17:22:47.433-07:00The Countertop SagaIf one could only pull materials out of fancy pictures and paste them into the house! When it came to countertops, it turned out that we had expensive tastes. We crossed off the most expensive and explored products that were cheaper per square foot. More affordable choices had some undesirable quality or other. Tile was not an option anymore so we didn't have to go find any! Epoxy showed up Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-9800170730494608332023-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:002023-08-06T19:56:18.480-07:00A Side Trip One spring day, I took the children on a day-trip to southeastern
Oregon. The State Boiler Inspector was coming to hopefully put his
sticker of approval on our boiler. Although his task would not take as
long as our 8 hour loop, it was fun to pick a place that was "different"
to go to instead of just getting out of the house for an hour. Mountains we had not ever been to, Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-38238486115425476002023-08-05T17:26:00.002-07:002023-08-05T17:26:36.084-07:00Sundry Items A little update on how we were living when the snow melted. We had functional bathrooms, closet shelving, and a stove in the upcoming kitchen. Countertops were necessary for occupancy so it wasn't a "real" kitchen yet. I was still cooking our of the laundry room... yes, I had abandoned the RV kitchen forever! Since the kitchen is the heart of the home (where the food is), we all Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-1966917596082712142023-08-04T16:23:00.000-07:002023-08-04T16:23:19.850-07:00Custom VanityAnother fast-forward post! Several months of work went into this small area, because my boys learned to "jump in" and "jump out" of the various construction projects going on. Because things always fit on paper, and not in real life, we had to construct a custom vanity for the main bathroom. The space was a bit too narrow to install a ready-made one. This task fell to the Carpenter, who Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-88631063219410384932023-08-02T16:49:00.000-07:002023-08-02T16:49:05.416-07:00Tiled Retreat I am going to fast forward 6 months of work in this post! This is the Master Suite bathroom, which was supposed to have the
beloved antique Claw Foot Tub as the show-piece.π’ We ended up putting a
drop-in enameled steel tub instead, which I like very well. A change in tubs
meant a change in blueprints (as usual). Although the front of this tub-holding structure is now covered "Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-15501546596405304572023-08-01T11:06:00.001-07:002023-08-01T11:06:27.091-07:00RailingsI need to hurry up and finish this series, because I have some brand new developments to show you as of this week! But all things in order, so on with the story...First, a couple photos to cool you down. Yes, we were in winter-time construction again, but at least we were inside the house working. Amidst discussions and research on countertops, we had an exciting new development! Bye Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-70076077240603861782023-07-21T14:38:00.000-07:002023-07-21T14:38:04.790-07:00Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2023 I am away from my home computer where I keep all my construction
photos, so how about something different? I'm going to have to entertain you this week
with some pics from this year's Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (lucky you!). This is the largest outdoor quilt show in the world, with over a
thousand quilts scattered throughout the town. The quilts are a mix of
traditional, modern, Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-54997819622994362622023-07-07T13:30:00.001-07:002023-07-07T13:30:00.133-07:00DIY countertops?Do you think that picking out countertops would be the fun and easy part of this house build?ππππTrust me, I did my research. I will spare you the details!No, it wasn't going to be marble or soapstone or slate. Sigh. Yes, it was going to be a DIY project. One of my temporary kitchensOur options left were wood, stainless steel and...tile. (Thankfully we closed the door on DIY Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-6154137087987784452023-07-05T10:49:00.001-07:002023-07-05T10:49:00.138-07:00The Stove SagaDo you have the idea firmly in your mind by now that we spent days, nay, weeks of our lives on research during this house build? Anyone else in the world would simply go and buy a stove at an appliance store. Well, I tried that too. The Stove SagaOur "one chance" to have a brand new kitchen was our "one chance" to have NEW appliances. And of course, we wanted appliances that would not Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-42973544458585366492023-07-04T10:49:00.003-07:002023-07-04T10:49:19.741-07:00Kitchen Cabinets Part 2 Having retained our in-house carpenter, the kitchen cabinet building continued. Once all those boxes were built and in place, they were joined together and faced over with a lovely hardwood strip of wood to hide the join (we built the house of mostly fir, so I learned to appreciate those skinny strips of expensive hardwood!).All this time we were taking any available surface we could for Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-37369950474154386002023-06-14T15:11:00.006-07:002023-06-14T15:11:00.135-07:00Kitchen Cabinets part 1 For this project, we hired a real professional cabinet maker to work with our son. That way we could do a custom kitchen but cut costs a bit. It was a blessing throughout this house build to find pros who were happy and willing to help us learn.Cabinet bases. Our in-house carpenter working on the cabinet backing. The pesky corner cabinet. I decided against a lazy Susan corner Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-34474826358629587162023-06-10T14:52:00.013-07:002023-06-10T14:52:00.134-07:00Sorta Moved In... Let me wrap up the year of Construction photos I have been posting... it has taken me so long to blog all this that I am quite behind!There came a point at the end of that year where the major structure was done, wall board up, flooring up, electricity and plumbing mostly done. Most of the light fixtures were in, smoke alarms installed. We lacked built-ins, floor trim, shelving, and some Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-27395574988449709102023-06-07T14:24:00.007-07:002023-06-07T14:24:00.140-07:00Another Crazy IdeaWhile floors were being tiled, kitchen cabinets planned out, and work deadlines were being met, time marched on. It was yet another winter and another Christmas was coming soon. My husband and I went to the Big City to get some presents for the children. We shouldn't have done it. We "enable" each other when we do Christmas shopping together. This time turned out to be the worst "Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-10134653058217879162023-06-03T14:24:00.000-07:002023-06-03T14:24:05.064-07:00Master Bath HexagonsUpstairs in the master suite, we went fancy. We chose a hexagon tile for a vintage look, throwing another "learning curve" at our handy tile-guy.First, the Tile Guy had to level the space. Then, he had to fit the tile. The little tiles come on a mesh, but there are all kinds of spaces to work around and special shapes that need to be cut. There is always a "dry run" that you have to do Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-76253230161674821572023-05-27T08:00:00.000-07:002023-05-27T08:00:00.153-07:00The Shower Wall Saga This is one story I dislike recalling. It certainly was not a pleasant time for all, especially since it will be forever linked in my memory with botched dental work. Early on in the construction, I had visited another town and picked up a few boxes of tile, trim pieces, etc. for this bathroom. We decided to do a subway tile half-wall and I think we were going to take it in tor the Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-91041636881959760852023-05-24T07:54:00.001-07:002023-05-24T07:54:00.142-07:00Life During Construction (Or, Build A Shop FIRST) A giant white board taped to the fridge was helpful to keep our tasks and progress in front of usIf we were asked the top ten pieces of advice we would give to anyone attempting a house-building DIY, "Build a shop first" would be one on the list. Construction would be so much easier if a shop is on the premises, and if a family is involved (and perhaps living in an RV on site) make itLillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8142385288180612840.post-55526886671548283902023-05-20T07:52:00.087-07:002023-05-20T07:52:00.135-07:00Tile for Durability and to Beat the HeatI hope I am not repeating a post, but I don't think I have blogged about the tile job. We put full confidence in this fellow, our in-house Tile Guy. He educated himself on all the intricacies of this task, and went to it with fervor. After our Tile Guy practiced on some small spaces with large tile, he took on a large space with small tile. Each kind has its own challenges, and each Lillibethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11857189417720272826noreply@blogger.com1