September.... already.....

..the summer has flown.....

And, yet, they say, (those 'they' guys yet again!!  Who the heck are 'they' anyway?) usually it takes about 2 more months til completion from when the drywall sanding is complete.... it is not yet complete...

The taper did his bit during the past week, along with some sanding..but apparently, now another dude comes to do final sanding.   Oh, man....that dust is everywhere.  And, I mean... EVERY.WHERE!  I do know how it goes, believe me; I'm not naive ..... we've done this before.  However, when Mr. BV and I did our own renos...it definitely was not this messy.  Of course, I guess I also have to admit, it was not as extensive as this either ... .well, it was in respect to the detail in each area, but, we also only did one room at a time..and kept it confined because we were trying to salvage every other area of our happy little home.  Nothing being confined or salvaged this time...even the finished bathroom is suffering big time..... I hope those cleaning ladies promised at the end can work miracles.

Doesn't it already look like there is colour?  Did you know there is a lovely soft grey colour that is exactly the colour of unfinished drywall?   It was one of the colours I had chosen for two rooms....hmmmm..... tossed that idea.  Now I've gone to Russian Olive..... quite green ...... with blueish grey undertones... let's see how that looks after the primer coat, to which they add colour.  "They" (the contractors and painters) say that "most" home owners change their minds after the primer coat.... wow.... that's a lot!!

Guess we'll see............................

Then...hardwood guys come to check damage, and fix, feather and otherwise repair things before the casings and baseboards go on..... .... then... cupboards installed ......then....... well, as I said.... another 2 months or thereabouts....

Mr. BV is already getting antsy and saying things like....I just want my life back.....hmmmmm....and I thought I had no patience.  He even was going to 'settle' for some less than professional rock cutting on the very front of the house..... not so me....I was outspoken right away...he was embarrassed by honesty and threatened to send me to Portugal.  Hey Maria.....I may be coming back to visit !!   ...sooner than planned.   Hahahahhahahhah........

Porto, here we come!

And...on that note, I'm now going to bake him some lemony blueberry muffins just to show him what he'll be missing while I'm gone for the duration of the renovation ...  hahahah....I really should pack a bag big enough for two months and head out.....

having warped fun....

You have to laugh at something when you are forced to live in the basement... which is getting more overstuffed by the day with contents from each cupboard that is removed down here as well... for changing over water tanks and furnaces too...and, which was already overstuffed with everything from the main floor of your house...  cooking in an electric frying pan, microwave and BBQ.  Making sure you are dressed in case some plumber or electrician bounces down the steps and charges straight into the laundry room where you do everything .... I did scare one guy by yelling that I was naked  ..hahhaha... ohhhh..... the look on his sweet, innocent face....I'll laugh at that for years and get some mileage in the telling too.  I was fully clothed.  Our laundry room is our 'main' room down here....for cooking, cleaning and it even has a toilet.... thank goodness.  But, some days...plumbing days .... even I have to use the porta potty...now that we have a new one after the other one sprung a leak.  I watched the guy unload it...no wonder they leak.  Two of them fell right off his truck when he was shoving things around.....

Oh, and...our gas/plumbing failed the inspection on Friday.... the poor plumber was shaken and embarrassed, until he found out it was not his work that had failed...but, gas fittings from our last big reno.... 15 years ago.  Great....... we've had a small leak for all those years... but, only under the extreme pressure they use to test the lines.   And..it is higher pressure than anybody used in previous renovations 25 pounds... which is much more than ever is needed or used regularly.  It is not a safety issue ... whew....!  just a "code" issue...as usual.

The damn codes are making me crazy.  Get this one.... there MUST be an electrical outlet within 3 feet of your front door?  HUH??> Why??  nobody can tell me.  But...it's CODE!.... so, we have to put a big ugly electrical outlet ...right in the middle of my beautiful new stone on the wall.  Okay fine then..... I made the stone guy stain the surround gray stoney block black so it blends into the dark stone around it ... , and I am going to buy a black cover or spray paint one black so I can't notice it too....the buggers.  Code.  Pagh!

Had some more fun at some neighbours expense again yesterday.  I'm not sure what part of "gutted" people have absolutely not been understanding...but, when they walk in......I guess they finally get it.  They must think I exaggerate.

Jaws drop.... there is audible gasping....  eyes widen in horror...  at the mess my lovely, once pristine hardwood is in....  yeh, they finally get it then.......

Oh, sure, there was some protection put down...almost grudgingly .....in only some places..... and they regularly assure us they never usually put down anything....

it didn't help anyway.... there is always an idiot handy to undo whatever was done to protect something isn't there? .....

I've also been assured the hardwood guy is a magician.  Well, even a magician couldn't just wave a wand and fix this....he will have to take out about 16 pieces of Chicasaw to feather in the mess made with a skill saw whose user obviously had no skills whatsoever ..... the guard supposedly 'failed'.... hmmmm...somebody is lucky his foot wasn't in the way of that runaway.....

...see??   told ya.....gutted..... yep...nothing but empty....with some new drywall now...and the first coat of tape and mud.....

..mud, slop... you name it .....

sure it has to be refinished...but really?..... couldn't we have made things a bit easier on the poor hardwood guy?  I wonder if he is ever shocked by the before and after.  When he came to estimate the refinishing it sure as he** didn't look like this.

Yes, we did widen doorways......

.. and enlarge closets......

.. and of course, change kitchen cabinets....

...... but, really?? ..........