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Meanwhile...Back at the Ranch

10/21/2016

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Occasionally in the early hours prior to dawn and before the roosters have sounded their alarms, or late into the darkness of night when the owls are hooting and the sun has long descended...there is activity in the form of home improvement on the job site. Pretty much every day all day something is happening to move this project forward. I'm bringing you an update in mostly pictures today because a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

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Tearing down cabinets to make way for the new ones...going...
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...gone!!
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Wallpaper stripping...ugh! But really not so bad once you get your groove going!
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going...
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Uncovering old wallpaper to find...more wallpaper! Some places in the house there are literally three layers of paper spanning three decades of home improvements (if you wanna call it that!)
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These two crazy guys we hire for various projects (haha) always squeeze in a little fun! Who ya gonna call...naw, they're not ghost-busting, just crawling under the house
As the weather has been so gorgeous lately, I fetched my dad to let him come sit a spell this week. Every chance he can get out and every chance we can bring him over to see the progress, we try to make it happen. So today was my turn to bring him out to the job site, and I was more than happy to do so. This morning we were up almost as early as those roosters (but not quite), and we shared breakfast before heading out...not something I get to do much these days.

As much as I hate to admit it, there are more messes during a renovation than I care to think about. I don't know what it is about this fact but it is indeed a fact: Before things can be made beautiful, they must be made ugly...or messy...or uncomely or chaotic or -- you get the gist. ​Think about it, when you have your hair done you must endure the tangles, the prickly hair on your neck, the foils, the chemicals, the odors -- the mess (and when I colored my own hair, I always had the mess from splattering it everywhere to clean up as well)! When renovating, just when you're patting yourself on the back for keeping on top of the dust and the sweeping and the bagging of debris, you have to start all over again because there's a new mess. Sounds a little like life, right? But keeping your eye on the prize and picturing the endgame is definitely what gets you through.

This week we have drywall coming out and being replaced (new challenges), painting being completed on the outside, and new insulation being installed. We have repaired a hole in a bathroom floor where it had rotted out (another surprise), but now standing sturdy and strong is my brother-in-law's handy woodwork and a secure floor awaiting a beautiful new covering. My brother is steadily bringing all the electrical into the 21st century and installing our gorgeous lighting and, by sometime next week, the fruits of our labor will begin showing and this house will once again start to look like -- well, a house. I am simply giddy about having ceilings in and walls moved and finished and all sheetrock completed so that indoor painting can be done and beautiful hardwoods and cabinets can find their way into their new home.

But not without the massive sanding of drywall first. And very much like flour sifted to ensure a lump-free cake covers the kitchen counter or maybe even the entire kitchen, the drywall dust will get into every nook and cranny before it's over, and will surely and most definitely threaten to step on my very last nerve!

With broom in hand, I say Happy Wednesday, y'all! 
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In the belly of the whale
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Never loved a piece of freshly-installed plywood more!
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My brother supervising the moving of a wall
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I am amazed at how fast the throw-outs pile up
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The old going out...
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My dad supervising from his chair!
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Finally a container to take it all away!
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...the new coming in!
To make something like new or more useful or a bit better when others have pretty much given up on it is a source of great inspiration and satisfaction. It might be a house, a car, a piece of furniture...or it could even be a someone, and that is an effort worth making because it has eternal benefit...
​Make someone's day better today! 
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