Ilean is DONE! - Aluminum Acres - December 19, 2011



How True!

Well, I have been working my little keester off and of course Norm is probably going to try and take the credit for all of my efforts, but either way Ilean is done! Complete! Finished! Ready to party in! WooWhoo! Let me say this, even though Norm wants the credit, it really is Jules that should get it all. What vision! How someone can see past what is and see in their mind what can be is a special gift.

I can NOW show you the pictures and tell you about all that I, I mean we, went through.

Ilean challenged us at nearly every turn. She tried her best to get us to quit and throw in the towel, but we wouldn't let her give up. She said she was tired and just wanted to be left alone to die. We said no way. As you know, turning a pig's ear into a silk purse, although a commendable goal, is not possible. However, COVERING a pig's ear with silk works!

Here is Ilean in her new found glory... and of course the photos of what we started with for comparison.



The outside wasn't as scary as the inside, but it was unsettling none the less.

At least the neighbors like what we have done.

One of the issues that Ilean threw at us was when HALF of the electric in the house went out. Ilean had an old fuse box that lost power to one whole side. We tracked the power break to the pole outside. The power cord was like a giant extension cord. It was buried in the dirt! No pipe, nothing to protect it, just buried in the dirt.

You guessed it, up it comes, like someone who doesn't pay their final installment for a funeral.  A new conduit from the house to the pole, new power cable, breakers on the pole and a new circuit breaker box and circuit breakers inside, instead of screw in fuses.

It was a good thing Jason stopped by. I was trying to tell Norm how to replace the circuit box, because I couldn't reach and Jason just told both of us to "step aside" and he did the rest. I handed him tools and supervised.

  

 The new circuit breakers.

Nice.

Then it was back to the list of things to do...with the hopes that Ilean would quit adding to it and wanting us to just give up on her.

 What next? Ah, the goiter room. 

 Remember this? The room we were going to remove? Well, its actually attached with a rusted out roller system! To remove it would have been a MAJOR rebuilding of the entire remaining side of the house. Floor, walls, roof, everything!

The mantra of "embrace the Ilean of it" sounded for the first time. Which in other words was, 'nothing we can do about it but tear the place down and start from scratch. Might as well go with it.' 

I think it turned out ok.

Norm is still unhappy about some of the trim though. The goiter's floors and walls are not straight, nor level. Drop some water on the new flooring by the wall and you can wipe up the puddle near the center of the room. But, new flooring, new ceiling, a few new studs, new wall panels, new trim, new window, and of course paint made it acceptable.

The living room wasn't too bad. A few license plates covering old heat ducts, walls that moved when leaned against, carpeting glued to the floor, and a litany of ills too nasty to mention.

 A little beer and a lot of swearing later........

Well the silk flew in here. Paint, flooring, trim, the usual. The small end table next to the couch was a "find" in the house when we got it. See what I mean about Jules' talent of seeing what is and seeing past it to what it can be?

Moving on, the kitchen.

From this....

To this!

Flooring, paint, trim, new light over the sink, new sink & faucet, new drain pipes, stove & fridge, a custom shelf & trim, & new drawer pulls.

The cabinet doors were removed to discourage unwanted winter marauders. Evidence of their being there before we bought the property strongly encouraged us to "get ahead" of the problem immediately. The green hutch is a combination of two items, the top was a 6' tall shelf unit found at the house and the bottom was a $10 dresser bought at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. A bit of creative cutting, a few screws, some paint and you have a new hutch. (That is actually the bottom part of the shelf unit, turned upside down before being married to the dresser.)


Next, the hallway.

Not a lot to do here. Ha! This too was challenging. We found another license plate covering a hole by the furnace.

I think the paint really brightens the place up. Happy colors. This is the last area that the floating floor was installed.



The one room that I neglected to get before pictures in was the small bedroom. This room was originally planned to be a den/office area for Norm. He always wanted one. Travis and grandchildren needing a place to play dictated otherwise.

It is now Travis and Brock's room.

In February, Travis & Brock will have to start sharing it with Brock's new sibling. Depending on if the new arrival is a girl or boy will determine the color fate of the stove.

The powder room.

Funny, I didn't see any gun powder or talc anywhere in there!

Nautical themed wallpaper, over panelling, faux brick behind the throne, what a mess!

Here is baldy fixing the hole where the burned out ceiling fan vent used to be located. Sorry, follicle challenged.

We do at least work well together, sometimes.

New wainscoting for the walls, new trim of course, new holders, new sink, reused mirror found within the house, new curtains (shower & window), new flooring, resurfaced and painted counter top. We removed the cabinet doors and added the curtain. In winter closed in pipes tend to get cold and freeze. The curtain keeps the pipes open to room temps. 

The floor was especially challenging. It originally had linoleum. We put peel & stick tiles over it. Well, the original linoleum wasn't staying down and neither was the peel & stick tile. The room now has new linoleum. Jules convinced Norm that he could install it without messing it up. He didn't want to do it. I was waiting for him to mess up and have a melt down, but he managed to pull it off.

Looks nice. Especially since this was the second time in Norm's life that he installed linoleum! The first time was in the master bedroom. Without Jules' confidence in Norm's untested skills the floors in the bathroom & master bedroom would have never had linoleum!

Last, the Master bedroom....

Hideous, dark and dank. Really yucky carpeting. You know, the usual for Ilean in her original glory.

 

Well, no more!

New linoleum flooring, new light fixture, paint, trim, fixed the closet doors and of course this is the room with the new circuit breaker box.

The bed frame was a house find that had to be modified slightly to accommodate a new queen size mattress and box spring. The brass headboard and foot board are ReStore finds from two different beds and modified to attach to the old frame.

This little nook required special attention and accessories. Jules found some vintage suitcases. The one in the middle has already been somewhere I haven't, but always wanted to go.   Can you guess? Costa Rica!

What a lucky suitcase. If it could only talk or write a blog like me. Think of the stories it could tell.


That about wraps up the major things that we did.


Just in case you were thinking that I don't do any of the work and only take credit for Norm's efforts...



Kitchen sink plumbing





Not only do I supervise, hold lights and hand tools to whoever is working, I do the work too. Typically when Norm doesn't know how. I always help out wherever I can!

 

I'm especially proud of my work installing the kitchen sink.



New kitchen wainscoting back splash



  

My specialty though is painting.

My carpentry skills showed too. Now, Brock's and my room has a fantastic table. I built it and Jules painted it.  

 

 Who would have ever thought that you could paint a table to look like a tablecloth?

 

I did make a new friend too. Although she makes me a bit uncomfortable. She winks at me all the time and says I can have some of her cookies.

 

Well, that is it for now. I hope to give you the nickel tour some day.

Later,

Travis



Barb & Bob's Halloween Party - October 29, 2011



Joni, Jason & Brock
aka Betty, Barney & Bam Bam Rubble

Oh yeah, Halloween. Ghosts and goblins, costumes and candy, fun, family and frivolity.

Norm's sister (Barb) and her husband (Bob) have been having Halloween parties at their house for years. Each year it gets bigger and a bit crazier. This year was no exception.

It was a good thing that we arrived before dark. It would have completely spooked me to think I was walking into a backyard only to find out it was a cemetery!
I don't know who was in charge of burying all those people but they did a really bad job! There were bones and pieces everywhere.

This poor slob lost his body. He asked me if I could help him get reunited with the rest of his stuff. I didn't know what to tell him, mostly because there was so much stuff laying all around!

Look at this mess! Where do you start?

Its not like bones have serial numbers or anything. I just wished him luck and as I was walking away he started cussing at me. I thought about going back and punting him into the woods but decided he was frustrated so I just ignored him.

I started walking around and found out that it wasn't all rosy and cemetery like. They were actively trying to FILL the cemetery! I ran into Norm's brother Ed who said this guy was going to be the star of the show after dark. I didn't know what to say! How can a guy that has been hanged be the star of a show? He obviously couldn't recite his lines.

I knew Norm was weird but I think his siblings are a bit too weird for me.

I really couldn't take it so I climbed up to cut the rope. Norm & Ed said unless I was willing to join him I should simply climb down and walk away.

I did.

Seriously? I couldn't make up half of this stuff!

I figured the pictures would tell the story of how weird they really are.

Siamese twin Frankensteins....beheaded?

Really?

Where is the bar? I need a drink!

This was the pile next to the tree stump chopping block. I couldn't tell if the one on the bottom had tried to run at first so his feet were chopped off before his head. Considering that only his clothes were left I figured he had already been dumped off in the cemetery.

Not everything was scary. Instead of a regular hay ride they had a pumpkin coach driven by a ghost!

He said when he was still alive he made his living driving a stage coach for Wells Fargo in Nevada when I was a kid. But since the west had been tamed, and he died, it was getting harder and harder to find a good job driving, so he had to settle for Halloween gigs.

Brock was having fun running under this entryway and through the little castle building.

Brock and I had to stop running around for a minute and get our picture taken. We are such good friends that Brock will squish down a little so I don't feel so vertically challenged when we get our picture taken! He is so cool!

I stand on my tippy toes so he doesn't have to squish too much.

Time to eat! Well, at least eat a bunch of cookies before the big show.

Everything looked really neat after it got dark.

Then it was time....

This was taken right after the rope burned through.

That is Barb & Bob. I think they were Ozzy & Harriet.

Don't tell them I said this, but they won't need the costumes much longer! They are grandparents now too!

Unfortunately we had to leave shortly after the fire was started. Rosie needed to eat and get her shot.

It is always a good time seeing family, even if they are stranger than we are.





But that probably explains a lot,

Travis