We can shower again

Actually, we were able to take showers Sunday evening which was the plan. J's plan was to be done Saturday, but he is an optimist, silly man. This was our weekend.

This is what we started with- old panels covering up old walls. Then we got down to older walls, and old wallpaper.

Behind that wallpaper is a curved wall, and our computer room is on the other side. The wall curves to allow a doorway into the living room, which wouldn't otherwise fit (the door that is), due to our chimney and heating vents. Pretty neat. I won't let J discuss removing that wall. 

The horsehair plaster is off the wall and we're ready to take out the old tub. In case anyone wonders, yes, there is real hair in that old plaster.

I think I mentioned that the tub is cast iron and weighs at least a couple hundred pounds? And that we have a really skinny bathroom?  

The inspector said we were good to go.

I would like to remind you that the dirt you see is debris that has rained down from the ceiling and walls, and not the normal state of affairs. 

With the aid of a handtruck, we got that through the living room and out the front door, where it is still sitting on our nice steps. J will get it to the scrap dealer later this week. He promised.

I started to sweep the floor after the tub was out and noticed a pattern to the dust. This was yucky- I had to get the yardstick because the size of this dead rodent skeleton needs to be seen to be believed.  The only good thing about this is that it is clearly ancient.  Imagine having that die under your tub, smelling it and having no way of getting rid of it!

J then did his plumbing magic and we replaced a bit of missing floor, and brought in the new stuff. 

Next weekend, we will finish off the upper walls and repaint.

Soon, we will redo the floor and install the new toilet, but we need to do some outdoor work too. We really didn't get to enjoy the sunny weekend we just had, although we enjoyed the sense of satisfaction we got from this job.

Weekend forecast

Busy, busy and more busy. We are planning to replace the bathtub and wall surround in our (one and only) bathroom this weekend. We have an old house and a tiny bathroom, so the tub alcove is just a bit smaller than standard.  I think we've found new stuff that will fit. J and I did replace the walls almost 15 years ago, but neither of us remember exactly what we found back there at that time. So we did some exploratory surgery.

This confirms that there is sheetrock back there, as well as boards to fill in the space between tub and studs. This probably means that we could have gotten the inch longer tub, but that would have made it wider as well. And we need to save every inch of floor space we can. If you notice, in the left of that picture is our door frame? The other side of the door is the end of the room. Thanks to my handy-dandy tape, I can tell you that is 38.5 inches.

And, I would like to point out that the rust is un-removable, not shoddy housekeeping. We installed a whole-house water conditioner since we have so much iron in our well water, but years of no conditioner has indelibly stained the tub.

We are picking up the materials we know we'll use today, and J plans a trip out tomorrow once we get the walls down and the tub out and know just what else we need.  Crossing our fingers that this has no nasty surprises for us and that we can shower by Sunday.

PS. This bathroom is one of the reasons I find those first-time home buyers on TV so laughable. They moan and groan about the size of their multiple baths, or that the master bath has just one sink or doesn't have granite. We had 4 kids, two of them girls, and one small bathroom. I grew up with one bathroom and 5 kids.  When the girls went to college, they couldn't believe how many kids never had to share a bath or bedroom before, and had no idea of common courtesies.

Anyways, this is way off track and I have to go. More pictures when we are done, she said optimistically.

Happy Birthday Shoeshine!

Shoeshine is 31 today. How did that happen?

I think turning 30 last year jarred him a little, then he had a pretty eventful year, what with Ladyslipper showing up this past March. Ladyslipper hit him harder than turning 30 did, that's for sure! He was able to spend a week with her this month and was happy that she accepted him right away, even if she seems to be giving him a "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?" look here.

He managed to teach her how to stick out her tongue before he left, but no pictures of that so far. I look forward to seeing this relationship grow. He is just starting to realize how much his life has changed- for the better.

Follow-up on Pictures

I forgot some updates yesterday. J spent some time stacking all the wood from our tree-felling party in March and wanted documentation. Thanks again to sibling #5 and her hubby!

Sending out the latest shed pictures in our family emails generated a lot of complimentary comments. Our favorite was from my uncle (who is only 3 years older than I, and was in J's class in high school) who is also a J:

"Ahhh Grasshoppa... when you can find any tool with your eyes closed...you may go out into the world and build..."

 

the Zen of Tools

by Master J.

 

" G. Damn it, Reb have you seen my duct tape (substitute hammer, adjustable wrench, etc. etc.)? Oh I think Anders had it last. Oh no, that's right, Grant stopped by yesterday, looking for some. Did you check in Maizie's room??

 

the Chaos Theory of Tools

by" another trip to the hardware store"-(uncle) J. O.

And to wind this up, I have to include a shot of my tools. I had to fight for this, as J didn't think it was a problem to trek out to his shed to get a hammer when all I wanted was to fix the loose nail in one lousy window shade bracket. This is the back of our cellar door, hidden from the public, but used frequently by me.

Even I get 3, count 'em, 3 tape measures! Plus a yard stick.