Now, I have to assume that, given the previous posts, you may have come to the conclusion that we are completely insane. Surely leaving family and familiarity, buying a huge acreage, moving, renovating and starting new jobs, is more than the average person really wants to take on in a single year. You couldn’t possibly want to add more stress to the situation, right?!! Oh no! You are so very wrong! Let’s add having company – lots of it – for the same weekend – to the mix!!! This is a terrific idea! In two weeks Chuck’s sister Angela and her good friend Jan, our youngest daughter Brittany along with Darren’s mom Trish will be here with us for a week.
Just so you are really clear on the totality of the situation, at this time, Fallon and Darren, and Chuck and I are all sharing the big house. Three bedrooms upstairs (only two of them have beds), Chuck and I in a bedroom in the basement and the house has ONE bathroom. The little house is completely torn apart and has zero bedrooms, zero bathrooms, and no kitchen. Eight adults – one toilet, one shower! We need to get that little house put together, and fast! In two weeks to be exact. We need running water, toilet, shower, and hopefully a kitchen in place! Who do we think we are? Good thing we like a challenge!
Drywall goes up – everywhere. Hallway and kitchen floor goes down. Fabulous job Darren!! Chuck and I get the grouting done. Putty and tape all the drywall and then sanding it all. Call the woodstove folks – time to get the stove placed since the floor is now done. Chuck and I work on getting the floor down in the bathroom, so that we can get started on the plumbing. Plumbing!!! OMG!!!! Not that I have ever reviewed a plumbing system but this certainly looked scary!! Stuff was going everywhere! I say stuff, because I don’t have a clue what everything does, but with help from our new neighbour – lots of help from our neighbour – we managed to get a good ways on that. Woodstove folks get to installing the stove – it’s gorgeous! Got the bathroom floor mostly complete, put up new drywall (some kind of water resistant stuff that weighs 4 million pounds), installed the bathtub. Still no water – but getting there. Call on the countertop – will it be ready before two weeks? – he will try! Sigh!
No time to stop now, order in the carpeting – it will be in next week of course. Will push for installation early the following week. Put together the bathroom vanity and countertop – praying for water shortly. Even if just to the toilet and the vanity!!! Please!!! Chuck and Darren start putting all the kitchen cabinets together and……. they are not all there! Crap! Back to the store where they tell us – we will have to order those in for you – they will be in next week…. oh for heaven’s sake! We don’t have another week!!! Finally we get all the cabinets completed and installed – thanks to the quick work of our resident woodworker! We need a stove ( we brought a fridge with us!) so they send me shopping. I don’t cook – did I mention that – but they send me to get the stove. So I buy the prettiest, most expensive one, because that has to be the best one right??? Besides, it was on sale at Sears and it was in the store – no need to order it! Score!
At this point we are about 5 days until our company arrives! We still have no water, no toilet, and we have not installed the appliances. Oh and it’s been 400 degrees this whole time as well…. fun times! But now is not the time to quit! Count down day 4 – after much grunting, groaning, and swearing THE WATER IS IN!!! Toilet is installed and working, sink in the bathroom vanity is working. Carpet guys come on count down day 3 and install our new carpet. We start lugging our furniture – finally – out of the carport of the big house and get some of it set up in the new place. The countertop folks arrive on count down day 2 to install – in it goes and so does the fridge and the stove that night. We get the shower head and taps installed on the bathtub – but no tile. We are determined to have another shower available – so we get inventive – we line the shower and the tub with the left over water barrier plastic and TUC tape it all around. Ta da! One more shower! Time to cut the lawn (hahahaha lawn) so that there are no bugs! On count down day 1 we unpack bedding, find our towels, put up a shower curtain and clean and clean.
Our company arrives on a beautiful sunny day and it is fantastic to see happy, familiar faces! And boy do we have some adventures while they are here! But that is for next time! For more pictures of the renovations to this point – please come visit the Owl’s Hollow Homestead facebook page!