Woodwork Repair

There aren't many things more irritating in an old house restoration than repairing pet damage. Sigh. I spent Sunday stripping paint again. At least it went pretty quick this time.

Sadly, I think this is the end of the salvaged wood leftover from our remodel. I just love the old growth fir hiding under the paint.

Jeff managed to remove the woodwork in the living room. That damn bird chewed on every piece of wood she could reach. There are a couple pieces left with slight chew marks. We aren't going to replace them all; we'll just touch up the stain. Mia has been evicted from the living room.

Jeff is going to cut the wood and dry fit it then I'll stain it all before we install it. I'm also going to paint the wall before we put the wood back in. It should look good as new soon.

Plumbing Replaced

This project has moved really slow as we're pretty distracted and our contractors are pretty booked up. It can be fairly hard to get a contractor out when you're an individual who isn't likely to hire them again. It took about 4 weeks to get the plumber out but he came out and replaced all the plumbing.

Sadly, he had to open up a wall in the living room to get to the plumbing in there.

Once the electrician comes out next week, we're planning to insulate the floor and walls and get a subfloor down. Our tile guy is installing the wall board.

There was a bit of a miscommunication on the cabinetry order, so that may delay the job several more weeks. Honestly, at this rate, I think it could be late Spring before we have an operational bathroom up there again.

Oh, and look what we found in the living room. Mia is officially being evicted except for short visits when we have company. We've now moved her down to the basement family room/gaming lair cage, which is probably better anyway because we spend more time down there.

I'll replace the chewed pieces when I stain wood for the bathroom.

Sometimes Pets Suck

One of us forgot to latch Mia's birdcage . . .

Dang it. 

Living Room Ordered

Well, we made all the decisions for the living room. Everything is ordered and due in about a month. Now we just have to wait....

We ordered two loveseats and one cube chair.


Sharon agonized about the fabric some more. The lighter fabric really matches the different colors in the room and has a nice William Morris-feel to its design; it even has a pomegranate. It is also cheaper than the purple and available at our local fabric store. Seemed like the right decision...
Then Sharon found this rug at Overstock.com. It was less than $200, rather than the $1300 of the purple Lasenby rug. Seemed like a no-brainer.Sharon also ordered a bird cage this afternoon. We had the smaller "Designer Aviary" like this one in our last house, and we really liked it. The craftsmanship was excellent and it held up well against bird chewing. (They can't reach the wood from the inside.) We ordered the large classic oak bird cage with the cabinet.

Mia is Home

Thanks to my Dad—again—Mia is back up in Oregon. Yeah!

These are not the best pictures, unfortunately, but we'll get some better ones later.

Current pet tally: 1 spoiled dog, 1 double yellow headed amazon parrot, and 3 chickens! Still taking interviews for a rabbit, but we're not in a rush. I'll probably wait until next spring.

Oh, and my Dad figured out how to fix the furnace. The pilot light orifice was plugged. He took it all apart and got it cleared and we now have heat!!