COUNTDOWN

I haven't blogged in quite a while when today I realized that, if all goes as planned, in exactly one year we will be on the road to Montana for our move to the Mountainview Hideaway! That's worth blogging about! The entire remodel on the house was completed last month. Our Contractor sealed up any exterior gaps, replaced bad boards and finished staining the upper level for us, all just in time because winter is coming to NW Montana. We had purchased some track lighting for him to install in the upstairs hallway and he will replace the storm door in the kitchen along with new wood door trim, since they had used the cheap alternative.

Springtime will see the detached garage being sealed up (like the house) and repainted plus we're having some work done on the stairs leading up to the room over the garage. This winter, Dave and I will start to research closet systems for the two master bedroom closets. I have begun my purging, beginning with my closet and now I am working on Fall and Christmas decorations. Dave wants to work up a plan of attack so we aren't overwhelmed as the day gets closer. We will probably take a smaller moving truck in April with a lot of stuff, mainly his very extensive Colorado dairy collection. Once we return, we can make repairs, paint ceilings and walls, etc. Inn September 2016, we will make another trip with everything else that we can spare. The plan is to live bare bones those last two months, sleeping on an air mattress, eating off paper plates, wearing a limited wardrobe and so on since we will be taking the car when we say goodbye to Texas that November.

During our last trip to the house this past September, we decided to apply polyurethane to the new posts and railings on the stairway. After sanding, and applying 3 coats, we were pleased with the outcome. Smooth AND a little bit shiny!

Out with the old....

In with the new!

The upstairs hallway turned out nicely too; add some of Dave's photography work and VOILA! Can't wait to see how this looks with the track lighting replacing what's there right now!

Before:

After!

FLOORED

When we considered the upstairs remodel we hadn't planned to change anything but the flooring, add the trim work and new wood doors. Once our Contractor began the project he suggested we remove the wainscot paneling and the wallpaper border and go with textured drywall in the hallway and landing. He has earned our complete trust and so we gave him the green light knowing we'd be pleased with the outcome. Dave didn't mind the paneling and liked the border whereas I was pretty indifferent. I was surprised at how much brighter this area turned out even with Brenda and I painting this area the light gray color that is dominant in the Master Bedroom and Bathroom.

BEFORE: At the top of the landing looking down the stairs.

At the top of the stairs on the landing, the furnace room door is barely visible on the right.

AFTER:The landing area with the new furnace door.

New furnace door.

BEFORE:

AFTER: Our contractor removed the light and wired us a new receptacle in the ceiling so we can install track lighting to showcase some of Dave's outstanding photography work. Our paint job is a work in progress. Once the stairs have been changed out, he will ad a log post at the top along with railing.

The new receptacle, this outdated fixture will be replaced with track lighting.

Brenda painting the upstairs hallway outside the bathroom and upstairs bedrooms. The light fixture over the master bedroom doorway is being replaced with one more up to date that will complement our remodel.

The new doors to the master bedroom, second bedroom which will be Dave's hobby room and the bathroom.

The second bedroom upstairs will be Dave's hobby room that will contain his vast Colorado Dairy collection. We've begun calling this room, "The Colorado Room". The previous owners had painted it this "horrific green" (I think that's what the swatch should have written on it!) and we knew that the color HAD TO GO!

The carpet wasn't too bad but it was nice to keep the hardwood flooring throughout the upstairs. Painting this room was a drastic improvement!

Beautiful new flooring and paint has transformed this room into a relaxing retreat! The unfinished closet still needs doors; in the meantime we have hung drapery panels to cover the opening.

Next project: painting the Pump House.

MASTER BEDROOM MAKEOVER!

One of the most anticipated remodeling projects was the installation of hardwood flooring upstairs. With the exception of the upstairs bathroom which is tiled, we decided to completely change the flooring which was a hodge-podge of carpeting. The master bedroom alone had two different kinds of carpet plus an attempt at wood floors, the second upstairs bedroom which is now Dave's hobby room had a different carpet as did the hallway, landing and stairs! During our October 2014 visit, we accompanied our Contractor to the local lumberyard and made our selection; we chose Blue Pine. The lumberyard does the whole shebang, from harvesting local trees, planing and delivery. We picked the texture we wanted, nothing smooth because we didn't want to slide around on it and went with a Medium Walnut stain cut 50% so it wasn't too dark. One look at the grain and character of the wood and we knew that the end result would be striking!

The flooring arrived in December and the project began!

Before any work could be done however, our Contractor had to raise the support beam downstairs in the dining room. There had been a noticeable bow in the dining room ceiling and the master bedroom directly above was very uneven. During our October visit, he had removed the log post, pumped more concrete into the foundation and gradually raised the beam.

This photo from August 2012 when we purchased the house shows the log post that supports the beam above.

This photo from October 2014 shows the post has been removed and the hydraulics being used to raise the sagging ceiling.

This close up shows that he was able to reuse the log post, which has a lot of character and he has placed a "platform" underneath it.

Once the floor upstairs in the bedroom was more level, he was able to begin the transformation.

This "before" photo testifies to the three different types of flooring in the master bedroom. This is the "balcony room" in the master bedroom

The process...

The end result!

Looking into the "balcony room" with the antique vanity we brought up on this trip. We've also had new window and door casings installed, baseboards, ceiling trim and a new ceiling fan as well. The rug is a good fit but I will have to get add on blinds like I installed downstairs in the family room, to keep the sunlight from fading the rug and the furniture.

This side room in the master bedroom which we will use for our home office, had an unfinished closet.

New closet doors and trim finish the look nicely!

Before photo of the other closet in the master bedroom.

Both closets have matching doors now and the results are wonderful!

More hardwood flooring changes in my next post...

UPSTAIRS BATHROOM TRANSFORMATION

Several months back I had been looking on PINTEREST when I saw the transformation of kitchen and bathroom cabinetry. It got my wheels to turning and I mentioned it to Brenda as a possibility. As it turned out, she was familiar with the process having used it before on some vanities in their condos. Hanging on the wall above the vanity the owners had hung a cheap, white medicine cabinet and THEN attached the ceramic wall tile behind it! In the never ending "shake my head, what were they thinking" moments related to the previous owners I figured I had nothing to lose by using the "Rustoleum Transformation Kit" on it. Since the counter top and basin in the upstairs vanity had a gray swirl running through it and there is gray ceramic tile, flooring I decided to go with a medium gray for the vanity. The process is not complicated but requires several hours for drying in between the steps.

BEFORE: The upstairs vanity is white-washed with pink undertones and the medicine cabinet hangs above. The previous owners had painted this room, along with the 2nd upstairs bedroom this horrific green!

Summer 2013, Dave and I painted primer over the green and painted the bathroom a light gray to coordinate with the master bedroom and upstairs hallway.

DURING: Brenda removed all the drawers and doors and taped off the vanity; she is really knowledgeable on home improvement projects and decorating advice, what an asset!

AFTER: Brenda drilled holes and installed new hardware giving the vanity and mirror a more updated look that better fits our colors and decor. This is a drastic makeover!

I love the new look!

COME AND GONE

Time does indeed march on, at an ever-increasing pace it seems! Another springtime trip to the Mountainview Hideaway is in the books and the countdown has begun for the next trip which will be in July. I left on April 16th and drove to Denver to meet my best friend Brenda who was flying from St Louis; she has a very busy schedule and had several upcoming commitments so we had a tight window for our annual work trip. The drive to Denver is only *13 hours from here and while I would've enjoyed her company, I figured this would give us more time at the house instead of on the road. I loathe driving interstate 25 from Pueblo to Denver so I took an alternate route through the Oklahoma Panhandle and eastern Colorado which was less stressful; as it turned out I would have more than enough stress, behind the wheel. I had been watching a weather system that had been moving through the Rockies a day or two before the trip and I estimated that I would be coming up right behind it, I wasn't however, counting on it to stall over the mountains!

At Limon, Colorado I began to drive into a rain/snow mixture but arrived at the Denver airport two hours before Brenda's flight; giving me more than enough time to gas up the van, eat dinner and relax. As I sat looking out the window, the rain and snow mixture gave way to snow; big, wet flakes that began to accumulate.

As I checked and rechecked Brenda's flight information the end result was the same, her flight was delayed due to the weather. I had hoped we could make it north of Cheyenne by day's end but that notion was beginning to slip away right before my eyes. I altered my expectations and figured we would stop in Cheyenne for the night. Once it showed her flight had landed, I started driving over to the concourse in this unfamiliar airport. The snow was really beginning to come down; in my opinion, the airport is not very user friendly in the first place and then add to it, a spring blizzard and my stress level began to increase! After being honked at by security to move on from where I was waiting, it took another ten minutes to circle back around and get to the pick up area. Eventually we connected and we started making our way through this intense white out blizzard!

It should come as no surprise that I don't exactly have a lot of practice driving in snow while living here in Texas. Ice storms find me holed up inside where it's safe and staying off the roads! I admit the snow was beautiful but it would have been more enjoyable if I were not driving "The Mothership" which was weighed down and loaded to the brim. It got to the point where my headlights weren't even lighting up the road in front of me, forcing me to exit and clean off the 3" of slush that had accumulated all over the front of the van. It was shortly after this that I made the executive decision to pull off the interstate and stop for the night! We had barely been able to drive forty miles since leaving Denver International Airport!

After getting a good night's sleep we awoke to snow still falling....seriously? We loaded up and headed out, northward bound on Interstate 25. We saw several snowplows but they were clearing on the southbound side meaning we were just slowly making our way on the uncleared roadway. There was a scary moment that sent me on the verge of hyperventilating when a semi decided to pass me, forcing me onto the shoulder and then being momentarily blinded as its slush covered the windshield. After composing myself I was able to thank the good Lord that we were safe and still on our way. By the time we hit Cheyenne, the snow was once again a rain and snow mixture and by the time we hit Casper, we were finally out of it!

Only 500 more miles to go!

To quote Helen Keller:

"Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing."

It seems that our adventure wasn't over just yet!

We were making really good time and I was beginning to think that we might still make it to the Mountainview Hideaway by day's end, albeit late that night. We had just crossed Homestake Pass and were roughly twenty miles west of Butte when I felt the van jerk. It continued to jerk and buck and I had no power steering: I drove it slowly until I crested a hill to where I could get a cell phone signal. I realized that we were going to have to get a tow truck and have it towed back to Butte. We had pulled off the interstate and drove to the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort and waited for Triple AAA to send out the truck. I was nervous seeing him tow the van behind us, all loaded down with furniture and stuff but I had the presence of mind to give thanks to God that I hadn't lost my ability to steer "The Mothership" while I was on the mountain pass! The driver got the van to the FORD dealership and then dropped us off at a hotel for the night. I normally would not take the van to a dealership but when you are stranded on a Friday night in an unfamiliar city, you do what seems to be the most logical. The next morning the hotel shuttled us over to the dealership so we could be the first ones in line once they opened at 8 AM. Apparently on Saturdays they have a skeleton crew working and it took them a couple of hours to tell me that in their estimation, the serpentine belt broke because the pulleys were rusted and had ground down the new belt we had our home town mechanic replace, just 1,500 miles ago...The pulleys should arrive by days end on Tuesday (via wagon train)...UGH!

I made the decision to rent a car, transfer our personal gear along with some of the boxes and high tail it to the house. Whilst rattling off our vehicle options I stopped her at a Subaru Forester. Dave and I are planning to replace the van next year with a brand new Subaru; we have had the Outback as a rental before so I figured this would give me an opportunity to test drive our other consideration. I ended up forgetting all the movies and my shoes in the van but in the long run, once we finally made it to the Mountainview Hideaway I was able to take a deep breath...we were finally here. I am confident in saying that Brenda and I met the criteria for Helen Keller's idea of life being an adventure!

Stay tuned for my next post on our work projects...

PURGING AND ANTIQUES

I have been helping my best friend pack up household items since they are putting their house on the market next month. In helping her, I have been energized to begin purging once again. I have already went through some of my Christmas and Fall decor, my dresser drawers, bathroom vanity and I will begin working on my closet this weekend. I try to stay on top of things but now, I find myself with a more discerning eye when I look at our stuff. Dave's parents were (in my opinion) borderline hoarders and he has the same gene flowing through his DNA. My Mom practiced retail therapy at an "EXPERT" level, so I myself, can get somewhat fixated on collecting things. When we got together, the potential for clutter has always been lurking, awaiting an opportune moment to rear its ugly head! I think about my Mom and her parents and how they lost everything during World War 2; leaving the Czech Republic with only what they could carry and I am ashamed and embarrassed about our excess! A post for another time...

I have a really nice collection of pink glass depression-ware and I've already been giving thought as to which pieces, I will pass down to my daughters. It's tempting to go ahead and transport the Curio Cabinet up to the house but I am concerned about how well it will travel in the van since the majority of it is comprised of glass; It's probably best to wait for the U-Haul truck next year.

I had been on the prowl for an antique secretary and came across this one a few years ago while I was back home in St. Charles on a visit. It was another awesome find at an amazing price! I have a few pieces of pink glassware displayed in here as well but I also have our Wedding & 25th Anniversary keepsakes. along with a few pieces from Dave's side of the family stored in the upper portion. The bottom drawers hold cards, writing journals and other stationary supplies. Another piece of furniture that will wait for the final move.

I'm thinking about taking up the antique sewing machine but then I don't know where I'll keep all of my old photos in the meantime. They give me great pleasure so if I can't figure out a spot, it will just stay put for now.

On my last trip back to visit my dad in St Charles, he gave me the old cuckoo clock that my Mom brought to America with her shortly before I was born. It was a wedding gift from her parents and I remember the clock always gracing our home. Sadly after the devastating flood in 1993 that ravaged the Midwest and specifically their home, it's in horrific shape. I have researched its repair and I have possibly found someone in the Metroplex that specializes in cuckoo clocks. I plan to contact them in the coming week and set up an appointment to meet with them. I'm hoping it's not too far gone or that the cost to repair it, doesn't cost us an arm or a leg. If I could get it repaired and looking beautiful once again, it will make my heart so happy! I'll keep you posted!

NEW YEAR

We are now into January and it's exciting to be say, "We'll be retiring next year"; granted, it's November of next year but still...

Christmas 2014 has come and gone, decorations have been sorted and packed up, so now time to start thinking of my April trip. This will be my third April trip since we bought the house in August of 2012 and once again, I will load up the conversion van to overflowing and begin the LONG 1,800+ mile trip! I will take up some furniture, books and most, if not all of my crafting supplies. I've not had much opportunity to do my scrapbooking lately so I will go ahead and transition stuff up there. They will be stored off to the side until the workshop over the garage is remodeled the summer after we make our final move, transforming it into my studio. If money were no object, I would have loved to remodel the space over the garage into guest quarters, a sort of "bunkhouse"; but plumbing alone would have been a huge cost. I can't say I'm all that disappointed since I will have my very own creative space to feed my soul. While it's still two years off until it's remodeled, I've been pouring over ideas and doing some day dreaming...

The view from the driveway

These are the stairs leading up to my future "playroom"

Standing in the doorway and looking down the length of the room, window faces the driveway. The room measure 12x28 so I will have a great work area.

Standing at the opposite end of the room, looking back towards the door.

Last month, I went to the Square in McKinney, Texas about an hour's drive from here to have lunch with my best friend and to enjoy the Christmas decor. I stopped at an antique store where I struck up a conversation with the owner and we chatted about mounted animal heads, the Montana house and so forth. This shop was the kind we really like, a little bit of everything so you never know what kind of a treasure is awaiting you! (Unlike some of those foo foo ones where you look at the window and quickly deduce that this will not have anything of interest!) I wandered up the stairs and saw a beautiful antique vanity, really well built, in great shape and at a reasonable price. I've been wanting an antique vanity to use since the upstairs bathroom only has one sink and I am spoiled with having my own space. I mentioned it to Dave later that evening but never said anything more.

A few days later I told him that I might have to go back to that shop after the first of the year and see if it's still there. To which he responded, "Why don't we go this morning?" I was kind of stunned to be honest! I mean, it was not only a Saturday, but the Saturday BEFORE Christmas! We arrived at the shop and this time the owners husband was there; when Dave saw it upstairs he could tell why I had admired it. The owner came up and told us that it was from the Crouch Estate (a lot of McKinney history which I have researched) and they had bought the contents of the estate, including the chest, bed and nightstand. We turned around and when Dave saw the chest, HE was sold on it!!

These beautiful pieces were made for this lady when she was a young girl by her grandfather, who was a McKinney furniture maker. The contents of the estate were up for sale when this lady, now in her 90's, was moved into Assisted Living. While it's a bit sad, these pieces will be taken care of and cherished. If we hadn't already furnished the guest bedroom, we would have considered adding the bed and nightstand.

Dave and I went last weekend to McKinney and brought them home whereupon, I cleaned and conditioned them and will haul them up in April to the house. I love antiques but I also enjoy a personal connection. I will probably contact the Historical Society in McKinney to see if there are any photos of this lady when she was younger so I can put it with all of the information I have already discovered...