Things have been fairly quiet lately, and we've even managed to get a few things done!
By last Wednesday I finally had the first sign warning snowmobilers of regular road use on our "winter driveway" finished, so Tom and I headed up to put it up. As we were installing it, six snowmobilers drove by . . . and flipped us off. Ah, yes. That's okay - we're only trying to save your lives! But, in a very perverse way, I'm "glad" we're having this headache each winter. I say that because our new home and lifestyle will be so perfect (for us) that I was a bit worried. You know, things being "too" perfect? No one's that lucky! And, I was right: no one is. So, in the summer we have the mosquitoes. In the winter we have the . . . well, you know, those other, larger creatures that also make an annoying high-pitched whining sound and really bug the you-know-what out of you!
Tom got in a much-deserved day of downhill skiing last Friday (he says that you can't beat flying down a hill with Bruce Springsteen blaring on your iPod), and then we attended a friend's annual Inuit art opening at her gallery. And, as usual, we stayed long past the doors were locked drinking wine and raiding the employee refrig. Who says bagels and red wine don't go together?!
On Saturday we begged the help of 4 strong friends, including my dad, to help us first move and then install the two huge livingroom and diningroom windows up in the new house. So, why is it (Murphy's Law, I know) that when you are doing a project yourself, everything goes swimmingly? BUT, when you've enlisted the help of others - pulling them away from their Saturday afternoons on a very cold day when one has a bad cold - things go about as poorly as they could?!
E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E window we have installed so far (15 of them) has slipped RIGHT into the rough opening. Until these huge ones. I know we spent well over 1 1/2 hours trying to coax the first one into place. And, when I say "coax", let me explain that it meant taking the window back out (a couple of times), getting the saw to cut out part of the window frame (a couple of times), smashing and prying some of the extraneous window supports out, levering and prying with crowbars, and then BANGING away with a sledge against a 2x6 held to the outside of the window frame! Needless to say, this general contractor was a very tense and UNhappy camper.
But, all's well that ends well. No damage (well, very slight and fixable) happened to the uncooperative window, and the second beast went in like a charm - like the first one should have. Lift, slide in, check for level and square, and screw it! Oy. But, we could NOT have done it without our little crew. We will definitely owe them all dinner (or a few meals) looking out those windows once we're in and settled.
After breakfast in town with friends up for the weekend, we headed back up to the property yesterday afternoon to finish the work on the windows and do some clean up. Walking in "fresh" to see those windows and the views out them was really something!
Then, when we got home last night, Tom stripped down to his union suit (I know, not the most conventional work outfit) and attacked the bathroom! There's no holding him back! Keep in mind that we ripped out the original bathroom in this place not long after we moved in. Therefore (and ever since) we've been brushing our teeth and performing all toiletry-related tasks in the utility/bird room! Now, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how many (gulp) YEARS it's been, but last night I BRUSHED MY TEETH IN THE BATHROOM! And, this morning, Tom SHAVED IN THE BATHROOM! Unbelievable, huh?
The impetus to sell this place (and get it ship-shape for potential buyers) is what finally prompted us to pull the new sink, mirror, and lighting (that we've also had for too many years to remember) out from the back boat house . Why does it always take something like that to motivate us to finally do something we've been wanting to do for years?! Oh, well, it's done now, and I'll get the bathroom all "set up" in these next couple of days.
Running water in the sink in the bathroom: who knew?! ;)
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