Finishing this sucked. Worming the three inch pipe around floor joists and footings took a lot of choice words and creative arm positioning underneath the house. I like plumbing in a lot of ways it is fun, but it can be incredibly hard work.
After finishing the plumbing I didn’t call it a night I went right to work closing up the holes I had made in both the bathroom and the kitchen. Then I went straight to tearing away that shitty linoleum. Unfortunately who ever put it down did it right. It took me two hours to get all the linoleum and glue off the floor.
And hey ho tile down and holes in walls patched. So all that is left is to grout and install the toilet. And then about 100 other items on my list of things to do before I can start my trek to Seattle.
It all sucks. Doing this work alone with Zanne and Izzy a country away I am ready to tear the whole place apart and walk away, instead I drink and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I am not sure that I would place Buffy in my art category, lets call it exceptional pop culture, but whatever it is it is changing my world right now.
One year ago today Zanne and Izzy were in Seattle and I was working on the house. It has come a long way since last year. I have had a crazy ride with this place. The night this shot was taken the weather report said clear sky’s but at about 12 midnight I heard thunder and spent the next two hours watching lighting dance about 10 miles away. Fortunately It never came near me. Had it I would have been in a world of hurt with 2/3’s of the house open to elements I could have kissed it all goodbye.
I finished the roofing today. All shingles are nailed now I just need to do siding and trim and the outside will be finished. And here is another rain story. Before I had finished this little cripple roof I had some tarps affixed to the walls creating a semblance of a roof. I woke up at about 2 AM hearing a torrential downpour. I get out of bed to see how much water is coming through the tarp. They were holding really well a few drips but nothing of consequence I turn off the light and head back upstairs when I hear crash and water. The rain must have been pooling and tore the tarp away from the ledger I connected it with. So there I am butt naked 2 in the morning running around on roof rafters in a downpour nailing the tarp back into place. After that I spent about a half an hour sucking up water with my shop vac. At about three I go back to bed only to find Zanne sound asleep, neither she or Izzy were awakened by my late night rain dance.
Zanne and Izzy are now in Seattle. I am cruising along to get myself on my way. It is a little overwhelming the amount of stuff I have set up for myself to get done in the next month. Every day I just get up do a little, go to work and do a little more when I come home. This is my second day and I was puttering around until just after nine. I am sure the days will only get longer.
I just returned from Boston where I dropped Izzy and Zanne off at Logan airport. They are probably somewhere over Michigan right now en route to Seattle. Before we left Izzy and I went to the back yard and she said goodbye to everything: her sand pile, the apple tree she loves to climb and all her toys strewn over the yard. Zanne was teary eyed as we left and she and Iz said good bye to the house. Izzy fell right to sleep in the car and slept most of the car ride to Boston. Once at the airport she was giddy with excitement and told me not to be sad because she will write me letters to make me happy. At the gate she said she would miss me and we hugged and kissed goodbye, but all the while she kept looking down the ramp toward the gate with anticipation. She was ready to dive into the mass of humanity to see what was on the other side. She is so my daughter. I watched them walk down the ramp to security and Izzy would turn around every few feet to blow me a kiss. I would blow one back and she would jump up to grab it. I stood there until they were lost to my eyes in the sea of travelers.
Sheetrock makes it all look so finished. Shit I only wish. I have piles of work left to do: finish the bathroom, put in the floors, connect all the new panel heaters, finish the mudroom and the list just goes on and on. Today was a sad day because I am not going to see Izzy for over a month. So much happens in a month when they are this age. At the same time with she and Zanne gone I can focus on finishing all the projects. I have many a 16 hour day ahead. I hope all the work I have done to this house all the blood, sweat and F$%%^&%^^& pays off.
While on the way to Boston tonight Zanne caught a bumper sticker that said “Not all who wander are lost.” She looked at me smiled. It is true I do tend to wander, this move will be my 15th major move since I left high school, but I never feel lost, just sometimes trapped.
Separate church from state!!!
I have been really busy of late trying to finish my renovation and get my ass off to Seattle. So busy in fact that I had forgotten about being an artist. Well I was featured in an online mag, DIY City Mag, this past week and it reminded me that that is the first and foremost aspect of who I am. Moving back to Seattle will help me to focus. I am not one who likes to live in isolation, rural living doesn’t agree with me. I thrive on being surrounded by people even if I do not want to talk to them. I like to watch and be watched. This feature is not so much about the work I make as how I find the inspiration for the work. It is exciting and fun. Check out the mag.
I took this shot the day my sheet rock arrived. All the insulation is finished all rough inspections were done I was ready to fly. I used a combination of insulation in the house mainly because a lot of it I got for great prices, in some cases free. Most of it is reflective rigid foam which is the most effective insulation but a serious pain in the ass to install. It will be a worm place in a cold house come this winter and I will not be here to enjoy the comfort. Ha some other sap can deal with the 5 below zero and snow.
Zanne took this shot while I was waterproofing the shower enclosure. I am not taking any short cuts in my renovation just because I am selling the house. I am doing everything as though I were going to be the one living here for the next fifty years. I just feel like that is the right thing to do. And it seems to be the thing that most people don’t do. Everything is like a rental apartment – slap some paint on it and make it look presentable who cares if it looks like shit in six months. I do.
Izzy always helps daddy when he is working.
Actually the end is somewhat close. This picture was taken the day sheet rock arrived. I have been moving so slowly over the past winter and when the rock arrived I just had to start. There is such a sense of closure when rock goes up. It really is a room!!!
Izzy was fascinated as she watched the guy maneuver the boom, with 27 sheets of rock on it, to the edge of her second floor bedroom window. In about 15 minutes it was all inside. I blew off work…to work. Most of it I was able to do myself but Terrence came over and helped with the ceiling. A piece of 5/8″ 4′x12′ sheet rock is not something you hang on a ceiling by yourself, unless you have a lift. The nice thing about big sheets like that is they go up real fast. We hung the whole ceiling in about an hour and a half.
I finished the first coat of mud today and am so excited to keep moving. Zanne and Izzy are off to Seattle on the 19th. Once they are gone I can spend my days focusing on finishing. Zanne is in NYC this week working for the company she has taken a job with out in Seattle. Textiles-Textiles that is Zanne’s thing. Izzy and I have found lots to do. She has her preschool and then we go to the playground and then come home and eat and play in the back yard. Well Izzy plays I mow the lawn, work on the gutters, trim the bushes, etc. All the while taking breaks to build sand castles.
