We have been planning our home re-modeling for the past couple years. This remodeling breaks down into two major projects. One major project is to built an attached garage with a mud room, pantry, laundry and 1/2 bath connecting it to our house. This past summer we began contracted to have our basement drainage re-done, brought in a lot of fill to begin that project. We are letting the fill settle for a year (or two or three) before building the garage.
The other major project is to remodel the interior of our house. This project includes:
- Using 1 of the 3 first floor bedrooms for a new, larger, more modern bathroom
- Expanding the size of our master bedroom
- Opening up the entrance way to the living room and installing pocket doors. Our living room faces south with a large (9′x6′) picture window. The view is nice and the solar gain is great during the winter. We want to allow this warmer air to circulate throughout the house.
- Opening up closets in foyer and Eric’s bedroom
- Along the way we will be moving electrical switches, power plugs, and telephone jacks
- Finally we are removing our cast iron steam radiators and installing a new hot water boiler and radiant heat for the 1st floor.
In the past few weeks we have been trying to move furniture, weed out books, clothes and nick-knacks. It will probably take a couple of months to complete the structural items to be followed by weeks of painting and wallpapering.
Last night Eric built a leprechaun trap. His plan was to capture a leprechaun and hold him captive until the leprechaun revealed the location of his pot of gold. The trap was checked frequently during the evening with no results.
However, an examination the next morning revealed some torn green cloth. Apparently, a leprechaun was trapped overnight but escaped. We are speculating that during the escape the leprechaun must have torn his coat and left some fabric.
Eric intends to continue his trapping efforts.
Our large snow pile and slope have been perfect for sledding. It has been the site of several Olympic competitions. Below Eric and Trevor build a jump to sled off.
Since the big snowstorm 10 days ago the days have been sunny with temperatures in the mid-30s, making for packy snow. These conditions are perfect for making runs and jumps. Below Eric and Trevor pack snow to build a jump.
The backyard olympic events included distance events but a participant favorite was the stunts categories: going over jumps with a leg in the air, falling off the sled and or catching big air. After about an hour the contestants are soaking wet and need to come in the house for refreshment.
Thursday night Kathryn went to play volleyball and Eric and I started a marathon Monopoly game. We set up on the dining room table which was more “cat proof” than other locations in the house. We played about 30 minutes, recorded our locations, stored our holdings and set it aside until Friday night when we resumed for another 30 minutes. Finally, on Saturday morning, after breakfast, Eric made the bold step of investing all his money into houses for Broadwalk and Park Place and neglecting all of his other properties. On the other hand, my strategy was to equally invest into houses on the yellow and green properties. Unfortunately, I landed on Park Place and didn’t have the requisite $1,00o+ for rent and I was wiped out. Eric was jubilant.
Friday Kathryn took Scout back to Beaver Meadow Veterinary to exam her torn ACL. Previously Dr. Colleen had been skeptical of healing as she had not seen one repair naturally in a large (>50lb) dog. We have kept Scout on house-rest for the past 45-60 days – not an easy task – and she has seemingly healed. We are now at the stage where Scout needs leash exercise (walking & trotting) on smooth surfaces. Not having a dog treadmill that means road walks. Kathryn took Scout on Friday evening. I took her out on Saturday and even did a little ill-advised jogging. I felt the consequences of running in my work boots on the following day. On Sunday I took Scout on a late afternoon 2.6 mile road walk – enjoyable in the sun.
Friday night we went to Floyd Fish Fry and then drove to Barneveld to sign Eric up to play Little League baseball. In years past Eric has been resistant to playing baseball, but apparently several of his pals are playing baseball, so now he wants in. Saturday afternoon we practiced a little pitch and catch and Eric did a little hitting using a plastic bat and a tennis ball.
Saturday & Sunday we moved furniture upstairs, culled our copious books, moved extraneous furniture to the barn and cleaned up the 2nd floor rec room in preparation of the living room remodeling.
Saturday morning Kathyrn, Eric and I took a short vacation to Ithaca. In the AM we visited the Museum of the Earth an earth science and natural history museum affiliated with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and Cornell University. We had lunch at the State Street Diner and in the afternoon we visited the Sciencenter. We played with the hydraulic, electrical and acoustic devices.
After the museum we went to have dinner with Kieran, his wife Victoria and their puppy Flavio.
Eric’s Tiger Cubs Den invited Michael Parker to learn about newspapers as part of their merit badges. Below Eric, Mitchell and Janero listen intently to Michael describe the process of getting news into the paper.
Saturday night the family of Alice Muller assembled to celebrate her 90th Birthday.
Over President’s Day Weekend Eric had Trevor come over for some ice skating and a sleep over. The flooded park in Holland Patent has rough ice and slopes quite a bit, but that didn’t deter them.
There was a lot of falling.
On Monday Kathryn, Eric, Margaret and Harrisen went XC skiing on the Egypt Hill Trails. There was a lot of falling there too. Below Harrisen and Eric enjoy their down-time. Eric ate a lot of snow.
Getting ready to tackle a hill.
And now the fun stuff!
Kathryn had been XC skiing across the road and encountered several new snowshoe trails. We asked our immediate neighbors about them, but no one claimed credit. So we decided to track them down. But 1st Chimchar decided to hijack my down vest for her amusement.
The snowshoe trail branched off our normal “Appliance Alley” trail. Going through the woods made for a pleasant hike.
We followed the trail until it intersected with an even more used snowshoe trail that lead to an old foundation and then it went down the north side of Pen Bonc Hill to Fraser Road.
On my return trip a ruffed grouse exploded from its resting place at the base of a little apple tree. From the looks of the droppings the grouse spent a lot of time resting there before scaring the crap out of me.
The week of 8 February I got stuck in WDC during a big snow storm. On Thursday 11th Eric’s 1st grade hosted a Valentine’s Day Concert. Unfortunately I missed it, but Kathryn took some pictures. The kids performed several songs a couple of dances.
