Window work

We mainly got the lift so that we could replace shingles that were blown off the roof by previous storms. Although I had to wait for the shingles to arrive, now I need to wait for a better weather day to replace the shingles. So we decided to tackle some other projects we wanted to get done with the lift. Our windows are in desperate need of some TLC. There were large gaps between the window trim and the bricks. We have been filling those gaps with spray insulation foam to reduce cold airflow during the winter and to keep bats from finding ways to enter the house.

After spraying foam insulation into the gaps I added additional trim to close the gaps between the existing trim and the bricks. The windows were then caulked and painted with a bonding primer.

(You can tell which ones were primed- they are the crisper white ones).

There are times when my first design needs to be redone. Several years ago we put windows in the greenhouse off of the kitchen. My first design looked crappy but I could not reach the windows by ladder or scaffolding, so with the lift here I am redoing the design. In the future, I will be able to maintain the windows from the inside of the greenhouse (or sunroom).

(Note: the boards are not part of the design. This was my attempt to close the opening before a major storm hit last night. I was in the lift when the winds and rain descended. Needless to say, I got wet.)

The forces of nature

I remember as a child I would lay on my parents' front lawn and look at the clouds. I was fascinated by the various shapes the clouds would make.  I still find cloud formations to be interesting, but sometimes there is a price to be paid for the privilege of having such fascinating clouds. Several weeks ago I noticed these ominous clouds hanging over North Central Missouri College (NCMC) which is a block from our house.

We are halfway through our monthly rental of the lift. So far we have had 10 rain days out of our first 14 days (I'm hoping the next 14 days will be better, but the forecast is not in our favor). It makes working outside a bit difficult since we have to work around thunderstorms and major downpours. Still, we keep moving forward.

Moving forward

We have a lift being delivered this week. We will be making repairs on the outside of the house for the next month. I will be posting pictures of our progress.

A New Beginning

We had this chair in the parlor that was upholstered with a striped bluish-grey fabric. Because the fabric was old and worn we covered it with a blanket. Chris removed the old striped fabric and the various layers of fabric that were under the striped fabric.

She covered the chair with a floral fabric. It adds a colorful touch to the parlor.

More on the parlor

To finish the parlor we added some columns and carpeting. (I love columns!)

We found two old wood columns in a lean-to shed on our property. (I love it when we can repurpose old items).

To give the columns a more elegant look we ordered two Roman Corinthian style capitals.

Then came the work of sanding, priming and painting the columns a glossy white color. (The capitals were also primed and painted a glossy white).

As you can see the columns did not reach floor to ceiling so I needed to build a pedestal for each column. I first started with the floor and top base for each pedestal.

The rest of the pedestal was assembled and the bases were attached.

The pedestal was caulked and imperfections in the wood were puttied. Paintable wallpaper was applied to the hardboard sides and the entire pedestal was painted a glossy white.

With the pedestals built, the next step was to assemble the columns. (I'm grateful for scaffolding).

But we were not quite finished with the columns before the carpet layers came.

After the carpet was installed we finished the parlor.

Chris is the decorator but I had to add my own flair to the parlor. Chris loves elephants so I could not resist purchasing an elephant table for her. I found this table from Design Toscano.