We Have Arrived

Finished Brick in the evening hours

Plants in the front

Plants on the side

Silver Mound near our new downspouts 

Denver Daisies 

The brick finished during the day

Potted Perennials 

Closeups 

Closeups

For the first time in three years we can actually use our porch

The Golden Vicary will some day cover our utility vents

The Front Planted and watered

Well over the weekend we finished up all the brick siding and got a good deal of the landscaping done as well.  Amber found some excellent deals on shrubs and flowers and with the help of her parents (Dennis and Lois) transformed the otherwise terrible looking front into quite a nicely landscaped garden.  With the brick done the scaffolding got returned and we are more or less done with the place.  I say more or less because there are a few things we want to get done before the open house, and will be working on bits here and there for the next ten years, but we are ostensibly done, and it couldn't feel any better.  In fact I think that we are going to skip town for a few days over the fourth holiday and see some of the sites upper MI has to offer.  So other than the open house the big events of the renovation are done and Amber and I are looking forward to finding out what hobbies we used to/still like doing.  






#BobVila

Home Stretch of Home

Putting in the Mortar Joints

Extruding Mortar Joints

Striking Mortar Joint

Working on the second story

Putting on more Brick

More Jointing

Half the front finished 

As you can see the two week clean up is going to be needed 

3/4 of the back finished

Doug slabbed bricks out for the greater part of Sunday

Finishing up on the second tier of Scaffolding 

Matching brick Corners  

Waste brick

Dusty Jeans, Bricks and Chalk Line

Checkers posing 

Chess Posing 

Bright afternoon for the windows 

Getting art hung...finally

Amber filling woodwork

Amber Hand modeling the wood filler

Well the one thing that wood filling and brick work have in common is they are both apparently slow, difficult, and boring really really boring.  That being said Amber finished the wood fill this weekend and had enough time to give roller derby a shot.  I was not so lucky and the brick continues on, and on. You might find yourself asking isn't there a light at the end of the tunnel, and I can distinctively say for the first time with certainty a resounding...Yes!  It looks like the brick will take another two on the outset three days to finish which will give Amber and I about two weeks of rest were we can clean the house and clean up the grounds for the Open House (Which will be on Saturday 6-14-2012 from 9am -5pm ).  So after three years Home is truly in the home stretch.   

#BobVila

Finish Work

Bricking The Front

Bricking The Side

Bricking the Low Side

Bricking the Back

Bookshelf with books and things on it

Lamp Installed

The Living Room Is Starting To Look Like a Living Room

Mullions Added to Half Wall

Original Grate back in action

With the open house about a month and a half out we have been trying to tie up all the tasks that have been left hanging, and get things looking presentable.  With this we finally folded because of time and it looks like we might be having a few small pieces of work contracted out so we can effectively clean, organize and get the lawn into shape before the 14th.  That being said the progress still continues some days better than others, but that is the nature of all things.  Personally it was a pretty big victory to finally put up our artwork and books on the bookcase, it really had the effect of making at least one of the rooms feel like a home and not a project space.  What I think though I am looking forward to the most is being able to hang up pictures, which is actually kind of absurd if you really think about it.  The one thing that I am looking forward to the most punches nails through fresh paint and fixed drywall...  That being said it looks like we might actually pull this thing off and have some time to enjoy life this summer.
#bobvila

On With The Show

      We moved into the house over Thanksgiving on top of having both of our families and some friends coming for the holiday.  Despite having a great time with everyone who came I wouldn't recommend this level of stress for any body.  The meal and the move went off with out really any real problems though,  despite some hardships getting the bed up the stairwell.  Christmas and Hanukkah were less stressful with a few friends coming to town to visit and stay with us.  The goal was to get back in action after the new year, but it was so nice to not working on the house we decided to blend back in a few of our old hobbies (mainly brewing beer and cooking) instead of getting back to major projects.  That is not to say we haven't done anything around the house for three months, it has just been at a much slower pace, and a calmer nature.  We have more or less just been putting out fires here and there that come from new construction on old houses and making the rough edges disappear. So any given week there will be more cupboards here, or a new table there, or door knobs on the bathrooms.  Other than finishing up the detail work (hopefully we will have everything "done" by mid summer) things are going pretty well for us right now.  Amber has a great job working for the Center for Michigan and recently graduated from GVSU with a masters in public administration, and I am going back to grad school this fall at MSU to pursue a masters in business administration and was recently awarded "young engineer of the year", by MSPE.  The next projects are more dictated by the weather than anything else, we don't particularly want to do a lot of varnishing or painting when we cant have all the windows open, so instead we are planning to rough frame in some bedroom closets and some pantry storage.

      

Amber working at the counter

House Warming Gift from Dennis and Lois

Kitchen Island in use 

Winter snow storm 

Snow Storm

Cabin Fever 

Looking out the side window

Looking out the back window

Our back lot

Chess muppeting around

Dining table and chairs 

Entry way

Bathroom Door handles 

Chess Holding Down the furniture

Checkers 

All Lit up

Festive Assortment 

Chess holding down a different piece of furniture

Light shining in

Frame for upstairs closet 

Frame for upstairs closet 

Entry way

Brewing beer

Young engineer of the year

#BoBVila