Today we celebrated our 32nd anniversary by working at the Cheney Cottage. We got a lot done: Tom put up siding on the east side, and I worked on cleaning up plaster dust in the laundry, then stripped paint in the living room and all the way up the stairs.
But we had a little problem: Tom was cutting a piece of siding on the table saw, and it kicked back and hit him in the arm. It put a pretty deep hole in his arm, and he was bleeding like a stuck pig. But we remained calm, and bandaged his arm, and then he went over to Kaiser to get it checked out. (We just got the 66 Mercedes running, and since it's an automatic, he could drive himself over with no problem.)
The result: 5 stitches. He's actually feeling pretty good, even though his arm is sore, and we're still planning on going out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.
This week, the roofers are coming to finish the roof, so by the end of the week, the house will be completely waterproof - first time in years. I also spent some time today sorting all the pieces of the front porch, and have it all figured out. Hopefully, next week we can start building the porch, and then the house will be a lot easier to get into and out of.
With the porch in place, we can bring in the kitchen cabinets and the stove, and try to get the kitchen finished. We still will need counters, some kind of finished floor, and a refrigerator, plus an 18" dishwasher - but we're making progress there.
We'll also start seriously patching plaster. Now that the house is watertight, we can hang blueboard and start plastering, without worrying about it getting ruined.
The stripping paint goes on - the living room ceiling is about the only thing left to do - but there is still plenty of scrapping to do. And then we have to finish the woodwork. And install the bathroom fixtures. And the plumbing. And the heating system.
So, two weeks.
Still no financing - the banks are being unbelievable. I'm not sure how we are ever going to have an economic recovery if people can't get access to capital. The banks are making money hand over fist and sharing none of it with the people who are trying to invest.
But we're pushing on. This project is going to take longer than we ever thought. But we're not going anyplace. We will get the Cheney Cottage and Delaney House done!