Hello RV

 

We were able to rent another RV, another Montana 5th wheel. It was not as long as the other but newer than the last one. It had been sitting a while, under a shelter, but had picked up a packrat in the storage bay which we had to evict. Fun times.

(I will always say "packrat" but technically it's a wood rat, I think.)

I cannot find a picture of the kitchen, which was quite a stylish one with a black countertop, although less roomy than the other Montana. The new RV made us feel like we had moved into a fancy hotel suite.

 This one had more furniture, which meant some shorter people could sleep up off the floor on a chair or two. We still had to have sleeping bags on the floor for the others. I felt bad that one of the boys opted to sleep on the kitchen floor to have more room! You always feel like the grandchildren will hear stories someday such as "When I was a kid, I slept on the kitchen floor..." and judge you.

Goodbye RV

 

Sorry for the delay, we had a hugely busy week last week! I hope I can get back to regular blogging soon!

 

In order to be able to live over here and build a house, we rented an RV and the owners generously allowed us to park it on-site. They hinted that we could buy it, but we didn't think we would need an RV for long, we were always sure that the house would be ready in a few short months. 

(Ha. We should have bought it.)

There came a day, a couple years later, when the owners needed it back, so we had to find another one to rent. 

In the middle of house-building, we had to move out of the RV. Totes of clothing and dishes went up to the house to mix with construction stuff. We cleaned and cleaned and replaced parts and did everything we could to fix up the ol' Montana fifth wheel to go back to its owners. And I cried a lot.

 

It really was "home sweet home" to us.

The owners called it the "taj majal" of RV's and I think they were right. It was very roomy. It even had an office!

And a "fireplace." 

 
It had a leather couch in the slide-out, but the other seating was removed which was perfect for our purposes.

 

 All the kids camped out in the roomy living room.

In subsequent RV's (yes, there were more than one) we had not had such a perfect kitchen as this one.

We will never ever forget the loan of this RV. Thank you thank you G&N!

The One I Didn't Want

 This is one of those posts that I feel guilty about putting my logo on. I am sure no one in this photo would think anything about this task was "pleasant!"

Yet more photos of a heavy, up-hill load. 

(I think I have documented just about everything they have brought up, minus a fridge and a piano. I missed the former and it was too dark for photos of the latter.)

But by the time my husband had it at the top, there was no way he was going to put his back into it any more. I'm sure the boys were glad to hear that resolution.

Work smarter, not harder.

The tub was lifted to the porch with a wench!

 Well okay, there was still a lot of back-work left!

I didn't want this tub. It is a Kohler and good quality, good price, but it is kind of  shallow for a bath, but overall it was the SHAPE!

The shape just was a bit creepy to me. Who in the design department thought that would make a good bathtub shape? Sure, there's room for the elbows, but it sure doesn't look inviting to take a soak in.  But it's installed in the first floor bathroom now and I have accepted it. Not everything will go they way you want it to in house-building!

Our Door Open to Friends

 I don't know what we would have done without our friends from the Far North popping in just when we needed them, and always bringing the carpenter of the family. He hung our door, and then adjusted things on it for us on subsequent visits.

I'm happy they always stopped by on their summer road trips. 

(I'm sure they started to wonder if we were keeping work in store just for them?)

Just a wee review on the handle: We bought a heavy-duty door handle through Direct Door Hardware; the Emtek "Orion." The look and feel of this handle go perfectly with our heavy door. It works pretty well, but the quick-release of the lock feature (in case of emergency) no longer functions as intended, so we need to take it off and see what is slipping.