out of the house

Tilden Swamp in the Pittsfield State Forest. We saw either a fox or a coyote on our way home--jury's still out, but leaning foxward.

the floors are done!

Here's that "before" picture again. And here's the "after":





































We're going for a hike in the Berkshires so we don't spend the whole day just staring at the floors.

thanks be to dan

I didn't jinx it. The painter, Dan, showed up this morning and began scraping. Here's proof:














It seems at some point the window trim was forest green, and at some point (perhaps at the same point) the body of the house was an electric sky blue. We've ruled both of those out as reasonable possibilities. As Ted said to Dan, "we're not that committed to historical accuracy."

as I type ...

Burke and Son Hardwood Flooring is working hard on our hardwood floors. At last, the hired contact workers are beginning to show up. It's enormously helpful to know, especially as the semester draws closer, that progress on the house can be made without us.

Take a good look at the "before" pictures:





































In other news (and I almost don't want to type this and jinx it ...) the house painter may well show up tomorrow to begin sanding the exterior. We've had an especially wet summer and he's been put well off schedule. (If you look back at these posts you'll notice one every month that claims excitedly "the painter is coming!")

Of course, he was going to come today, but it rained.

patio plans

We've roughed out an area for a patio--a 15' foot circle at the back of the house. The current plan is to get reclaimed brick from The ReStore and try to lay it ourselves.

rhodo rooted

Some nice weather encouraged us to move on to outdoor projects. In preparation for a patio, we moved a rhododendron that was growing too close to the back of the house.














At the side fence it should still get the dappled sunlight it requires and provide the back of the yard with a bit more privacy. We're trying to keep the woodland setting of the back yard ("woodland" currently translates to "overgrown," "chipmunk infested," and "skunk visited") and add a few evergreens for winter interest.


















Next to the rhododenron we'll move the only surviving shrub from the front lawn, a purple azalea. Between the weeping cherry, the mountian laurel, the rhododenron, and the azalea, next spring will be a spectacle of pink ... but we're working with what we've got.