Hearth & Stove was able to complete the gas installs for the second and third floor rooms today, and I'm really happy with the results!
Here is a link to the pictures.
In the second floor office, all they had to do was install the black metal surround that had to be custom made.
The third floor bedroom coal basket had to be completely installed and required a run back to the shop to get an adapter. It fits perfectly! I ordered a screen from Lowe's that I'll pick up tomorrow, though, because Jalapeno almost stuck his tail in the fire already - which would have been the second time. He did it before at Don's house several years ago.
While Jim was working on that, the other two were up on the roof cementing the chimney crown again and taking down the scaffolding. I am mostly thankful that this entire project got completed with no one hurting himself on the roof or in the many trips up and down the ladder with heavy equipment.
It was a great crew for this project! The guys were all really fun, loved Jalapeno, and were genuinely interested in my house projects and the progress made over each of their visits. I definitely recommend Heath & Stove!
Time for some reading and a rest with the animals! This week I had very early starts every day and am feeling pretty tired. I'm looking forward to a light day tomorrow.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Fireplaces and More Transformation
I was very excited to have dinner last night with my friends, Kate and Mike. They braved Friday night 76 traffic to come up from West Chester, and we had a delicious dinner and great conversation at Fork.
One thing I told them is that my life feels lately like a Darren Aronofsky film. If you've experienced his films, you know how he has that great and visual way of depicting the passage of routine time in fast moving sequences and sounds. For example - in Requiem for a Dream, there is the spoon-sizzle-sigh-dilated pupils-pop. In Pi, there is the wake up - restate my assumptions. Mine is more like alarm-gym-pets-MFL-work-after work drink-advance goals from white boards-remember dinner-recorded news-what meetings are tomorrow, rinse, repeat. Routine isn't bad, but I do much better when I'm executing on a plan, and I've lost sight into my next serious life move.
The good thing about me is that I'm not a wallow-er. I find something productive to fill my time and energy until it becomes clear what's next. The time is going to pass regardless... might as well have something to show for it at the end. The bad thing about me (one of the many) is that its a bit of a struggle and I'm not very happy during those phases of life.
The productive things I've decided to focus on during this period to last some unknown period of time is transforming the house into a creative, beautiful, and usable space... one not only for me but that I can share with the people close to me in my life. I've also committed to learning guitar and continuing to study Spanish.
Regarding the house projects:
Since my last post, I've continued to focus on getting the spaces in the house situated in a way that flows well for use and overall feel. I'm really very happy with how things are working right now. The spaces are more beautiful, more useful, and overall just more "Kendra." This transformation involved a lot of rearranging, re-design, and the purchase of a few key pieces of furniture that have been on my list for awhile. I ordered a real desk for my office that is actually a large dining room table, but I think it is perfect as a desk. It is a statement piece for the room. My mom came up Thursday (I took a few days off of work this week) and helped me put it together. She is always a rock star - almost 68 years old and maybe 5'1" and hauling 185 pound desks around like nothing. I also bought a mirror for my bedroom that I've wanted for over 5 years and had it delivered today. The mirror wasn't super expensive, it is just big, and I knew I'd need to hire someone to deliver it and help me get it upstairs, so the logistics kept postponing it. I finally just decided to get it done Friday. It really adds to the room. (There are so many interesting things in the room, that they are competing for focal point).
In addition Hearth & Stove came again on Saturday - rescheduled from Thursday's rain out. They had planned to finish up everything, but they hit a snag with the second floor install, so they'll have to return next Saturday to finish up. The snag they hit was that once they opened up that part of the chimney, they saw that it was filled in several feet with cinder blocks, slate, and other debris. They went back to the shop and got a sledge hammer and big pipes to bust that stuff out. I was nervous for several hours, hoping the falling debris wasn't going to damage the liner that was already installed for my first floor fireplace, but it all worked out. They got it done!!! It just took all day. As of right now, I have a hooked up and working vented gas fireplace in my office on the second floor. They took the measurements for the final surround and will bring that back when done to install it for a finished look. We were also able to verify that the custom made coal basket fits the third floor fireplace perfectly. So, it will all come together!
I'm venturing into some simple and basic electrical work and so I put a Home Depot order for pickup for the things I'll need - circuit tester, circuit finder, switches, wire strippers, electrical tape, etc. My electrical box is all updated and circuit breakers, but it is not labeled at all. To date, the only way I've been able to identify which circuit goes to which switch or outlet is by accidentally tripping it and then writing it down. So, I got a tool to help me identify that a better way so I can create a key. I also got enough supplies to allow me to relocate and replace a few outlets that I want to move into the floor. There is a good chance that the crew I hired to do the first floor fireplace surround will help me do that anyway, but I wanted to have the supplies on hand. Don taught me how to do the basics of wiring, so I think I can do it myself, but I'm a little nervous. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Finally, I'm on the book for mid-October to get the tile surround installed for my wood burning fireplace and the carpenter will come after that to modify the surrounding panels and trim it all up. Both Jason and Nate are awesome, and I'm excited to work with them on the project.
Regarding the continued education:
My dad has played guitar my entire life, so I thought of his old guitar when I decided to learn how to play. My mom said that at first he was a little hesitant because the guitar is 45 years old, but he got more excited as he got into polishing it and changing out the strings, etc. I love it! I need to get a new case, because the original one is falling apart and no longer has a handle, but I'm really honored and excited to learn on this guitar. (The case may be falling apart because I used to sit in it when I was a little girl, even though previous to that no one was even allowed to touch it)! I'll be the most old school person in class. Kate told me last night that she has some electronic thing to help her tune her strings... I have a pitch pipe my dad gave me ;-)
Despite all of life's typical uncertainty, this week and weekend has been a reminder for me that I am thankful for good people in the world. Many people in my life - strangers, friends, and family - have been willing to go the extra mile for me to help me with my projects. They have spent their time to help me, took extra time in deliveries while we removed every rail on the spiral staircase to get whatever I wanted to get up there, up there. They've been willing to help and saw my vision - whether forever or for an hour - and that is really awesome. Life is short, but it is also long enough to make real and significant connections with other people. We shouldn't get too bogged down in anything to forget that.
Here are some pictures of the most recent adventures.
One thing I told them is that my life feels lately like a Darren Aronofsky film. If you've experienced his films, you know how he has that great and visual way of depicting the passage of routine time in fast moving sequences and sounds. For example - in Requiem for a Dream, there is the spoon-sizzle-sigh-dilated pupils-pop. In Pi, there is the wake up - restate my assumptions. Mine is more like alarm-gym-pets-MFL-work-after work drink-advance goals from white boards-remember dinner-recorded news-what meetings are tomorrow, rinse, repeat. Routine isn't bad, but I do much better when I'm executing on a plan, and I've lost sight into my next serious life move.
The good thing about me is that I'm not a wallow-er. I find something productive to fill my time and energy until it becomes clear what's next. The time is going to pass regardless... might as well have something to show for it at the end. The bad thing about me (one of the many) is that its a bit of a struggle and I'm not very happy during those phases of life.
The productive things I've decided to focus on during this period to last some unknown period of time is transforming the house into a creative, beautiful, and usable space... one not only for me but that I can share with the people close to me in my life. I've also committed to learning guitar and continuing to study Spanish.
Regarding the house projects:
Since my last post, I've continued to focus on getting the spaces in the house situated in a way that flows well for use and overall feel. I'm really very happy with how things are working right now. The spaces are more beautiful, more useful, and overall just more "Kendra." This transformation involved a lot of rearranging, re-design, and the purchase of a few key pieces of furniture that have been on my list for awhile. I ordered a real desk for my office that is actually a large dining room table, but I think it is perfect as a desk. It is a statement piece for the room. My mom came up Thursday (I took a few days off of work this week) and helped me put it together. She is always a rock star - almost 68 years old and maybe 5'1" and hauling 185 pound desks around like nothing. I also bought a mirror for my bedroom that I've wanted for over 5 years and had it delivered today. The mirror wasn't super expensive, it is just big, and I knew I'd need to hire someone to deliver it and help me get it upstairs, so the logistics kept postponing it. I finally just decided to get it done Friday. It really adds to the room. (There are so many interesting things in the room, that they are competing for focal point).
In addition Hearth & Stove came again on Saturday - rescheduled from Thursday's rain out. They had planned to finish up everything, but they hit a snag with the second floor install, so they'll have to return next Saturday to finish up. The snag they hit was that once they opened up that part of the chimney, they saw that it was filled in several feet with cinder blocks, slate, and other debris. They went back to the shop and got a sledge hammer and big pipes to bust that stuff out. I was nervous for several hours, hoping the falling debris wasn't going to damage the liner that was already installed for my first floor fireplace, but it all worked out. They got it done!!! It just took all day. As of right now, I have a hooked up and working vented gas fireplace in my office on the second floor. They took the measurements for the final surround and will bring that back when done to install it for a finished look. We were also able to verify that the custom made coal basket fits the third floor fireplace perfectly. So, it will all come together!
I'm venturing into some simple and basic electrical work and so I put a Home Depot order for pickup for the things I'll need - circuit tester, circuit finder, switches, wire strippers, electrical tape, etc. My electrical box is all updated and circuit breakers, but it is not labeled at all. To date, the only way I've been able to identify which circuit goes to which switch or outlet is by accidentally tripping it and then writing it down. So, I got a tool to help me identify that a better way so I can create a key. I also got enough supplies to allow me to relocate and replace a few outlets that I want to move into the floor. There is a good chance that the crew I hired to do the first floor fireplace surround will help me do that anyway, but I wanted to have the supplies on hand. Don taught me how to do the basics of wiring, so I think I can do it myself, but I'm a little nervous. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Finally, I'm on the book for mid-October to get the tile surround installed for my wood burning fireplace and the carpenter will come after that to modify the surrounding panels and trim it all up. Both Jason and Nate are awesome, and I'm excited to work with them on the project.
Regarding the continued education:
My dad has played guitar my entire life, so I thought of his old guitar when I decided to learn how to play. My mom said that at first he was a little hesitant because the guitar is 45 years old, but he got more excited as he got into polishing it and changing out the strings, etc. I love it! I need to get a new case, because the original one is falling apart and no longer has a handle, but I'm really honored and excited to learn on this guitar. (The case may be falling apart because I used to sit in it when I was a little girl, even though previous to that no one was even allowed to touch it)! I'll be the most old school person in class. Kate told me last night that she has some electronic thing to help her tune her strings... I have a pitch pipe my dad gave me ;-)
Despite all of life's typical uncertainty, this week and weekend has been a reminder for me that I am thankful for good people in the world. Many people in my life - strangers, friends, and family - have been willing to go the extra mile for me to help me with my projects. They have spent their time to help me, took extra time in deliveries while we removed every rail on the spiral staircase to get whatever I wanted to get up there, up there. They've been willing to help and saw my vision - whether forever or for an hour - and that is really awesome. Life is short, but it is also long enough to make real and significant connections with other people. We shouldn't get too bogged down in anything to forget that.
Here are some pictures of the most recent adventures.
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