4-Wheelin' Fun!

Handy Husband surprised the boys when they came home from their month-long stay at their dad's with a 4-Wheeler! They were SO excited!

 



Furry Friday

 

 

 

 

New Roof, Day 3 (FINAL DAY!)

 

By noon, only the front and back porches were left to be shingled.

 

 

By 5:30, the entire roof was DONE!

 

I am so happy with the new roof! It looks beautiful!

 

 



Wordless Wednesday

New Roof, Day 2

Another day of great progress!

The entire east side of the upper roof and the addition roof are done.

Didn't take long to tear off the west side of the upper roof and re-deck it.

The attic room/kitchen roof is stripped and ready for decking. Some leaky spots will require a little bit of repair work- but it's not drastic.

This was the corner that had the big "hole" in it. It is now completely repaired and looks great!

Soffit vents were put into the 70's addition (game room/master bedroom area).

 

The entire south side of the "attic room/kitchen" roof is shingled now, and they've begun to install the plastic sheeting over the decking on the back of the upper roof.

 

Not quite half-way done with the shingles on the north side of the attic room/kitchen roof. They will probably have this section done by the time they quit working today. I can't believe how fast they work!  

 

Check out Day 3 for more updates!

 

 

New Roof, Day 1

We are on our way to having a new roof! After the rain delayed the start of the job by a few days, the crew arrived bright and early this morning to begin tear-off. Warning: this post is image heavy, as I updated it throughout the day to show the progress.

 

This is the last picture I will have of my beautiful old chimneys. I agreed to the removal of them simply because I DO realize that they would always be a leak liability. Also, the mortar between the bricks was so crumbly and missing in places, they really needed to go. Rest assured though, true to my genes, I have saved them and will re-use them in a future project!

Removing the chimneys.

All that is left of my chimneys. These bricks will find a new home, most likely in landscaping, somewhere on the farm.

 

All asphalt and shake shingles are now removed from this part of the roof.

With the entire front side's shingles removed, you can now see daylight through the hole in the backside of the roof.

Laying the decking.

There were numerous nests found within the soffits.

While new decking is being laid on the upper roof, they begin work removing what looks like just two layers of asphalt shingles from the 70's addition.

I can't wait to see how it all looks tomorrow!

 

 

They made really good progress today, considering that this was not just a simple, straight-forward, re-shingling. By the end of the day, they got all of this side of the 70s addition shingled, and about half of the front side of the upper story. The upper story is VERY steep, so it was pretty slow going. They also repaired or replaced any rotten soffit and fascia boards that needed it,

and installed soffit vents.

 

Be sure to check out Day 2 for more updates to the roofing project! 

 



Staying Cool: Chicken-Style

Though the temperatures are dropping for the most part, we still occasionally have days that get up into the mid-90s. So, finding chickens cooling themselves in dirt-holes that they've dug is still an ordinary sight around here. This hen found a nice spot at the base of a tree. 

Floor Love

I am SO in love with our Parlor floor. After moving everything but the piano out of the parlor yesterday, we put three coats of polyurethane on it. I absolutely LOVE how it looks!

 

 

Here it is "before". We had decided to leave it as-is. No sanding or stripping of any of the old finish. It was all so worn down and dull, but had a few areas where you could see a different shade of old stain.

 

We used Varathane Floor Finish in oil-based gloss.  

 

The whole process was so exciting to watch! I loved seeing all the rich colors show through.  

All the old blemishes and color-variances show up, just exactly like I wanted. This is an old farm-house, and has been lived in and loved for many many years. I didn't want to strip all that away. It is just one of the beautiful reasons why I love old houses... they have character. 

 

All together we put three coats on. In three days-time we'll be able to move the piano and do that area. I love seeing how this room is being transformed into something beautiful! Below is a shot without the camera flash.