Friday, Early AM

I haven't been on my blog much lately, because my computer has been 'out of whack', and Steve won't fix it.
I'm going to hire someone to come and fix it.
Steve and I both have become so disillusioned with the very slow progress at Creekside, so we decided to have everyone (except Janie) take this past week off.  We figured Janie and I could clean, sort, and catch up with the work that the men are doing.
We haven't really done as much as we had wished for, gut we have made a lot of progress.
Janie brought a neighbor friend of hers to help with the heavy lifting, and he has been a lot of help.
Steve has mostly conscripted him to re-hang doors and trim windows, and he's doing really good work.  He's a disabled veteran from the Vietnam war, and has some mental and psychological problems (he can't be around many people at the same time), but his work is good.
He got the kitchen and cellar doors straightened out and level, and has trimmed the dining room windows, and he's only worked two days.  Most of our time is spent looking for various pieces of lumber and the assorted tools he needs.  He's warming up to us, and we're glad to have him.
Janie and I were talking with him yesterday afternoon, and someone mentioned that there were so many Baptists around here.  He said that he had once been one, but was not now.  When I asked what he is now, he said he was Apostolic.  He REALLY warmed to me when I told him I was once Apostolic, myself.  Now we have more common ground to talk on.
It's been cold, so Steve loaded a truck with fire wood and brought it to Creekside one day this week.  That wood stove has made a tremendous change in the comfort level.  We've tightened up that house so much, but it's still needing some more work, and it's a lot of square footage to heat.  It seems like someone is always having to put some wood in the stove.  It's supposed to be a bit warmer today and the next few days, so there will be a little less work.
Janie and I have finished the floor in the upstairs sunroom, and it's turned out beautifully.  We still have the closet to floor, but it's a small area.  We used engineered flooring, which is like thin plywood that has a wood finish on it.  You have to put it down board by board, but it makes a very pretty floor.  We took so long to get it done because we're constantly inturrupted by other projects and trips for supplies.
We discovered during the job that I had bought the wrong kind of adhesive.  I always use latex base, because of the easy clean-up.  But this time, I had got five gallons of mineral base.  By the time we discovered my mistake, Janie had sat on the lid (upside down) and stuck it to the seat of her pants.  We got it everywhere that we didn't want it.  Clean up was a chore, but we got it all cleaned up and got back to work.  We are both really proud of the floor.
Mary Douglass came by yesterday afternoon, and she is pleased that we're getting so much done.  She's always said that Creekside would work me to death.  It's not finished yet, so there's still a chance.
Steve said that Clarence Singleton was by to see me yesterday.  He must be feeling better.  He's had a terrible time with a former hip injury lately, and I worry about him and his well-being.  I've tried to assure him that he's always welcome, and I'm sorry I missed him.  Janie and I were out getting supplies.
Yesterday was a clear, crisp day, not too cold.  If it weren't for all the mud, it would be a good time for yard work. 
In spite of the work we're getting done at Creekside, there's still a LOT more to do.
Steve is currently running the water lines to the new water heater which will serve the west end of the house.  There are two baths there.  The old water heater, which was in the house when we bought it, will serve the east area, which will have two baths, the kitchen, and the laundry area.
Both are quick-recovery.  The house was formerly served by only one water heater, and I'll bet there were a few cool showers.  The new idea for two water heaters will eliminate running the water for a while to get it hot.  I guess I'll get to go under the house to insulate the pipes.  He's used pex, which is supposed to be cutting edge in water lines nowadays.
Janie and I are trying to come up with ideas to re-do the downstairs sun-room bath.  It's a truely awkward room, with lots of wasted space, and it just doesn't 'flow'.  The walls are concrete, which is very limiting, with tall windows, which is frustrating.  It also now has the door facing a major living area, which I don't like.  I'd rather have a small hallway with perhaps a closet at the end.  We are thinking it over before we jump into it.
I offered Steve my sun room package that's been setting out in the back yard for a year to use to replace the back porch.  I think it would be valuable space, and definately good for solar gain.  It's all metal and glass, except for the floor, and it would be lots cheaper and less work than a stick-built room or porch.  It's twelve by 32, so it would add a lot of year-round living space, and tremendous value to the house.  It has it's own air conditioning and heating unit.  Sometimes it's hard to get him to see the logic in my ideas.
I saw a little couple yesterday in Jefferson City that live here, and they are (like myself) addicted to yard sales, Goodwills, and re-sale stores.  The man said he has some building materials, and he always thinks of me first.  He has sold me lots of useful items in the past, and he's really low in his prices, so I was glad to bump into them.  Janie said to turn her onto any I didn't want.
Janie and Pete are getting ready to change their siding and put up an outbuilding, and she's avidly collecting any building materials she can get her hands on.  I gave them a set of roof trusses for Christmas, and I told her we could go through some lumber I have stashed away to see if there might be anything she could use.  I've already promised her some facia stone.  I don't have enough to do much with, but she's going to use it under her eat-in counter in her kitchen.  There's enough for that.  We love invisioning all our improvements together.  Her husband, Pete, is disabled with some heart issues, but he putters around the house for her, and comes up with some fantastic ideas.  He (like both of us) hates waste, and he will re-wire, put in handles, paint, and re-work just about anything until he's got it useful again.  He restores antique cars, and he's a perfectionist with finishes and moving parts.  They are a really neat couple.
Steve and I didn't do anything special for Christmas or New Year's.  Both days, we worked at Creekside alone.  I like it when we're there alone working.  He's usually off somewhere else, but I hear his noises.  There's not so much confusion when it's only us.
We usually wind up working alone late at night when everyone else is gone for the day.  It feels cozy.