HSH: Renovation Update

The day was sunny and a bit warmer in Dublin today. It got up to into the low 50s.  Yesterday, the rebath guys came to hang the doors in the linen closet. Still waiting for the shower door to be installed. The electricians installed the last of the lighting fixtures yesterday. The ceiling fan light kit for the masterbedroom did not fit so we had to return it to Home Depot.  I am in the process of ordering a light kit directly from Hunter. I was bummed out the light kit did not fit the master bedroom ceiling fan. The office ceiling fan was installed with the correct light kit and looks fantastic. Check out the pictures of our new lighting fixtures.

Today, a friend of John's came by and installed heavy duty plywood to the kitchen floor to get it ready for laminate flooring. We plan to install porcelain tile at a later time. Tomorrow, we plan to go look at kitchen cabinets and laminate flooring.  If possible, with the remaining construction funds, we plan to get the plumbing done for the kitchen.  So later, when we buy the appliances, all we have to do is hook them up and we are good to go.

Tomorrow, the first coat of blue paint for the trim work in the bathroom will continue. The work is just about completed. We are just about We plan to apply two coats. Keep checking back for updates.

HSH: Renovation Update

Happy New Year Everyone!  I took a week reprieve from writing in my blog to do other things for a change.  This past week has been unusually cold for Dublin. Not only unusually cold at night, lows in the teens or low 20s but during the day in the 30s. There was a forecast for 50% chance of snow one day last week. I got humor in the fact that the locals were running to Piggly Wiggly stocking up on supplies like some blizzard was coming and was going to bury the town for days!

Most of the locals have probably never seen or experienced a real snow blizzard with white out conditions, 'black ice' and snow and snow drifts measured in feet, not inches!  I have experienced all that growing up in the mid-west and most recently back in 2004. Many of those experiences were nothing to laugh about.

When I lived in Atlanta, it took me 16 hrs when the drive is normally 8.5 hrs from my house to my mom's home in Indiana. The worst possible driving conditions in one day on the Christmas holiday had my nerves frazzled but I managed to keep my wits about me in order to get to Indiana without wrecking my car or having to abandon it.  My ice scraper broke, I ran out of ice melter, my windshield wipers and the nozzles that squirt the water to clean the windshield froze up.  Because the weather was so bad, every store, gas station and restaurant were closed. So every few minutes or so, I had to pull over to the side of the road to clean the windshield so I could see where I was going.

In the one day as I was traveling from Georgia through TN, KY and southern IN,  I experienced, light rain, drizzle, sleet, freezing rain, mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow and ending with blinding snow with white out conditions as I approached Louisville, KY and into southern Indiana. Cars and semis were abandoned on the side of the road, in the medians, the on and exit ramps all along I-65 northbound. This mess was on the national news. My oldest brother met me in Seymour, Ind to make sure I made the last leg of the trip home safely. I had about another 30-45 minutes of driving in those conditions to go. That was probably the worst winter driving experience I ever had.  So when you see on the news, all that snow, ice and accidents galore, be appreciative that Dublin most likely will never have to deal with those type of conditions but just a little cold so that you don't rub in the faces of your northern neighbors that you are sunning in 70 + degree weather or working in the yard in shorts and a t-shirt!

The record cold weather has not affected our comfort at the Capt Hardy Smith house. So glad we got that central air and heat installed. This time last year, we lived in one room with space heaters trying in vain to keep warm. Look how far we have come in one year. Central air/heat, electricity and a new bathroom! We went from living in the 19th century to the 21st century in a matter of months!

In the bathroom, the linen cabinet doors have been rebuilt and will be hung tomorrow afternoon. Four remaining lighting fixtures have yet to be hung, both ceiling fans in the master bedroom and office, the downstairs hall light and two additional lights for the bathroom. Once the electrician comes out to hang those lights, the linen doors hung and the shower doors replaced, everything will be done for that portion of our project. We still have some money left and plan to use what is left to begin work in the kitchen. The floor is our main concern then appliances (dishwasher, refrig, sink) and some cabinetry, if we can squeeze it in on the money we have left. We have until the 21st to book the work.

Because it has been so cold, I have had to lay blankets down on the floor in the master-bedroom every night to keep the cold from seeping through the hardwood floor. Remember the house sits up on flint rocks and there is no buffer between the floor and outside to keep us warm or cool. Because of the extreme cold, there have been noticeable minor cracking in the wood due to the temperature changes. The painting of the bathroom continues and the first coat of light blue should be completed by today or tonight.

Enjoy the pictures of the day from the Hardy Smith house. Keep checking back for updates as the renovation continues.

HSH Renovation Update

The day started out with rain then the sun came out. The clouds started rolling in for another bout of wet weather. It is in the mid 60s today. It is 51 degrees as I write this entry. The temperature is supposed to drop into the low 40s tonight and into the mid 20s tomorrow night and Saturday. I am so thankful for central heat. The re-bath guy came by to re-grout some of the tiles in the bathroom. The shower door that needs to be swapped out should be by next week. The wiring for the electric in back part of the house is done along with the installation of central air/heat, new stairs, a new attic. The restoration process is progressing well at the Capt Hardy Smith house.

Just when we thought we had the 'critter' situation under control, we now have another problem, RATS!  John went up into our 'new attic' in the back part of the house earlier this evening. As he was going about his business of laying plywood above the kitchen for additional storage, he saw a full grown RAT scurry across the floor. Once the euphoria of cooking our first REAL meal in the kitchen last night wore off, we are now faced with RATS!  I don't think the RATS are just in the back part of the house, but climbing inside the walls and above the ceiling in John's office which is located in the front part of the house. Well, I guess it is time to go buy some over-sized mouse or rat traps! As a backup, maybe a couple of feral cats will help control the mouse and rat population.  Rats and bats really creep me out, worse than mice! Squirrels I can deal with. What a way to ring in the new year at the Hardy Smith house!

Happy New Year everyone!

HSH Renovation Update

Cloudy day in Dublin today. The electricians completed the wiring in the back part of the house. All the lights and ceiling fans in the house are up and working except the downstairs hall light, two lights in the bathroom and the two ceiling fans, one for the master-bedroom and office. We should get those two ceiling fans installed sometime next week, hopefully. They were on special order. The electricians will install what remaining light fixtures we have and will return to install the ones we special ordered. The re-bath guys will come in and re-grout some of the tiles in the bathroom. There is a small bracket missing on one of the shelves in the freestanding cabinet and we are waiting on linen closet doors to be rebuilt. No ETA on that.  Painting will resume in the bathroom tomorrow. The GWTW room will continue to be emptied out and things put in their most appropriate places.

The Hardy Smith house is beginning to look more and more like a home everyday. The chandeliers in 'The Gone With The Wind' room and in the formal dining room are strikingly beautiful.  John put me in charge of picking out all the lighting fixtures. I took on the challenge with ease. I spent hours researching era specific themes and we settled on a informal, rustic feel with a hint of formality throughout the home which matches perfect with our busy, on the fly lifestyles.  John just said yeah or nay. He is very easy to work with no wonder we get along so well. We make a perfect team. 

Tomorrow, it is New Year's Eve and my sister's birthday. The start of a new decade is fast approaching. 2010 sounds so far into the future but it is less than 48 hours away. We plan to celebrate in a way most couples do not to mention the progress we have made in 2009 on the interior restoration efforts of the  Capt Hardy Smith house.  For your viewing pleasure,  some pictures I took today with most of the lighting fixtures up and on. Thanks for visiting my blog. Please return again for continual, ongoing improvements to the Hardy Smith house in 2010. Happy New Year!

HSH Renovation Update and the start of winter in Dublin, GA

Winter has arrived in Dublin, GA and in all of the northern hemisphere. Winter solstice as it is officially called, arrived on 12/21/09 at 12:47 PM EST, according on the NOAA.com website. To put it in laymans terms, winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. The nights are longer than days, the days are generally cooler because the sun is farthest away from us and cannot generate enough heat as it does during the summer months when the days are longer. If you look outside at high noon on a sunny day, like on a day like today, you will notice the sun does not reach the 12 o'clock position in the sky. The sun shines lowest in the sky, closest to the horizon than at any other time of the year. During the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, the sun at the same time, will be high directly overhead. Winters are generally milder the closer you are to the equator where the sun is stronger. That is my geography lession for today!

Back on solid ground, the renovation continues and is progressing smoothly at the Capt Hardy Smith house. New stairs with handrails were installed in the back part of the house. The job was completed today. John has spent a few hours today laying/securing plywood and cleaning the area to prepare it for storage. Look at the progress he has made today.

Once that is done, the 'Gone With The Wind' room and the back dining room will be emptied out and restoration can resume on those two rooms. Check out these pictures of the stairs and what the storage looks like above the rooms in the back part of the house. We probably just added another 500 or so square feet of usable space to the house. To give you a sense of perspective of the space, look at the picture with John in it. He stands 6 feet 2 inches. He has plenty of room to move around. For now, we plan to use it for storage. He is eager to finish laying the plywood so we can begin moving stuff up there. I always wanted to know, if you notice in the picture of John, there is a white circle just to his left, can anyone tell me what that is? Someone told me once that it is a spirit or something. The picture of John is looking at the room facing north and the other shot with the plywood and what looks like a window is facing south. Notice I took a picture of the dogs from the landing upstairs. They wanted to come up and check everything out but John and I have decided, no dogs in the attic, too dangerous. They can watch from a safe distance. Notice that Max is in front of Lady. Lady is the one with the long tail. Once I came down the stairs, they both followed me back to the front part of the house. Max is my bodyguard. When I was calling out to Lady, she was trying to find a way to come up the stairs but I came down. She was crying for me to come down. We are so in sync with each other. Lady is a wonderful companion.

John also purchased the ceiling lights yesteday and brought home all but three ceiling fans and all of the bathroom lights today. We are estimating that next monday, most of all the lights will be put up in the house. Will, from rebath came today to deliver the medicine cabinet I have been waiting on. It will be installed tomorrow. The hot and cold knobs for the pedestal sink and the chrome handle for the toilet were installed today too. Ronnie, the cabinet man, came to do measurements for the linen cabinet doors that will most likely be installed next week. There are some grout areas in the tile that are darker when they should be light throughout. There are some crooked tiles that need to be straigthened. Being that they are 1" hexagon tiles, it was a major job putting them in. It took two long days with two different mixes of grout which would most likely explain the color difference. The glass door with the chrome handle on the outside of the shower will also be installed tomorrow. So the work on the bathroom is winding down, FINALLY. 

One more shot of the upstairs attic in the back part of the house, on the side above the kitchen. Notice the chimney in the foreground and the exhaust vent on the background. The exhaust vent is where John found that squirrel nest a few weeks ago. Look how far back it goes. The last picture is where the last of the remaining squirrels and bats decided to hang out. Behind the chimney, there is bat poo everywhere and on the walls. John will be working on removing that hazardous poo in the next few days. The bats and squirrels most likely will not come back because of the lights and human activity. Sooo, I think all the bats in the entire house are finally gone!! Yeah!!

Before the men who built the stairs for John left today, they plan to give us a quote on doing the kitchen floor  and to lay some linoleum. Eventually, porcelain tile will be put down, but the linoleum is temporary because we need a working kitchen badly. Going out to eat and eating microwave stuff is getting old real fast. So hopefully, the work on the floor will begin within the next two weeks.

Tonight, while John was working in the back part of the house, I was putting up more white lights and evergreen garland on the outside of the house. Now, the front porch and stair railing is adorned with them and beautiful red bows for a finishing touch. That is all to report for today on activity at the Hardy Smith House. Keep reading my blog for continual updates on our restoration/renovation. Thanks for visiting my blog.

HSH Renovation Update

Another rainy, cold day in Dublin. Got out and ran errands. Just driving around town in the rain, alot of ponding on roads and yards. The ground is so saturated with rain from previous weather events that I did not even go and see what our ‘underground pool’ in the back part of the house looks like. The rain was resistant today, so pumping out the water would just re-accumulate. We had to endure two weekends of cold weather before the heating and air installation were complete. Now, that we have central heat, we are very comfortable and happy at the Capt. Hardy Smith house.

We went out for some pasta at Johnny's New York Pizza. The restaurant walls had familar poster pictures of ‘Gone With The Wind’ and ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. Please note:  'Gone With The Wind' and 'Wizard Of Oz' pictures on this page may have copyright protection and are for your enjoyment in viewing on this blog only. We finally found a place where I can get my pasta fix in Dublin. I was having pasta withdraw since moving here in April. The service and food were excellent. Since we don’t have a working kitchen yet, we go out alot for our meals.

Tomorrow, the stairs for the storage in the back part of the house will be built. A competing home improvement store will secure the last part our of lighting needs. That competing store is not located in Dublin. Once we secure the purchase of the last of our lighting/ceiling fan fixtures, the electrician can install all the fixtures we have in the next few days. The Capt. Hardy Smith House will really light up. I am so excited. What a transformation this house is undergoing. Once we get to a point where the house is ready to welcome visitors, a Open House will be announced. Thank you in advance for your patience.

We went to the local ‘Piggly Wiggly’ store tonight. I remember ‘Piggly Wiggly’ from the 70s. When I first moved to Dublin, I told John, I got to buy a ‘Piggly Wiggly’ t-shirt. I liked my first t-shirt so much I had to buy another one. I plan to turn heads by wearing it where people never heard of it. A great conversation starter :) John purchased a 4 bottle pack of ‘Frostie’ rootbeer. I have never heard of it before. Truly unique. A bit of  'yesteryear' is still thriving in this wonderful little town for all generations for enjoy. 

One more thing, I was in a northern suburb of Atlanta a couple of weeks ago to take care of some lingering business from when I moved down to Dublin in April. Anyway, as I was driving along, I did a double take of a car parked at some artsy craft place that was going out of business, I believe. I have actually been in there before and they had pretty cool stuff. If you were driving down the road, this car would probably lure you into inattention and cause accident or a chain reaction pileup. Check out these pictures. I don't think I would want to be behind this car on the house due to flying debris coming from all directions like projectiles.

It is getting late and time to retire. Thanks for reading my blog today. Continue to visit for what I am up and with the house.

HSH Renovation Update

A beautiful, sunny day in Dublin today. The sun has, for the first time in days, come out, after raining so much. It is much cooler though. It is 51 degrees now. John joined the Dublin/Laurens County Chamber of Commerce today.

Will, from rebath, came out to talk to us about our remaining concerns that need to be done to the bathroom. Hopefully, everything that they need to do will be completed within the next couple of days. The local home improvement store is holding up the rest of our renovation project, so we will be begin the process of looking elsewhere for the quality materials we need to move the process along. Will was kind to give us some names and places in town to check out.

Did some more laundry. It is so nice to not have to go to the laundry mat anymore. What a pleasure to do laundry when I want to. I took a few more pictures of the house with the Christmas lights on. A couple of different vantage points.

I decided to take another picture of the stairs with all the lights. The one I took had a nice Christmas glow and feel to it.

I am enjoying taking pictures of this beautiful home. Tomorrow, will be another day. Christmas is getting closer but no chance of snow here in Dublin. The last time it snowed and it stuck to the ground was back in 2002, way before I knew Dublin even existed. I was just living my little existence in Alpharetta and working. Change is good. The slower pace, the small town atmosphere that I grew up with and the people. People are what make a town. Enjoy the pictures and keep checking my blog for my usual updates on the house and things around town.

HSH Interior Renovation Update

For the past few days, I believe we are going on day 4 now, it has been raining or the threat of rain. An area in the back part of the house had to be pumped out because it flooded due to the constant deluge of rain we have received. Mother Nature has decided that we need even more rain today and tomorrow too. Again, the back part of the house will be pumped out. When the rainwater has no where to go, that area floods and does not drain on its own. The flooding does not happen to often though. John has a great little water pump that sucks out the water of that entire area in a matter of maybe an hour or so. Well, the little pump will be working double and triple duty to keep the area dry this go around.

John has one more day of teaching then he will be done for the semester. He will have a 3 week reprieve, then teaching resumes in conjunction with tax season. With Christmas a little over a week away, our plans for getting away are not concrete yet. We have been keeping busy with the house. Among John's many talents, he enjoys acting. He played Dr Stahlbaum in the Dublin production of  'The Nutcracker'. It was a tremendous success this year as in years past. Being this was John's first time in a non-speaking musical, I was extremely proud of his performance. The acting, dancing and costumes were first class. Two professional ballet dancers came to do certain parts of the show. Very entertaining. The backdrop in the first scene was a painting created by local artists of John's materal grandmothers birth home. Another reason to be proud. I went with John saturday night, after the first showing, to meet some of the cast members of the show. Very enjoyable. Mr and Mrs Griffin Lovett, the current owners of John's grandmother's birth home, local newspaper and other businesses around town, were at the party and I spoke to them briefly.

Jamie, from rebath, came today to finish building the linen cabinet/closet. There are some cosmetic flaws to the work that need to be corrected before we are 100% satisfied.

The doors to the utility room were not latching when closed. That was repaired today. The washer and dryer are now in and working! I even did 6-7 loads of laundry. It took me two days but what the heck, it was worth it. No more laundry mat! Well, the washer and dryer fit into the area built for it, just barely, like by one inch! John had to cut into the wall and part of the trim on the doors, after I applied two coats of fresh, white paint, so the back of the hose connections would allow the washer to go in. As you can see, the washer had to go in first, then the dryer. John said, 'you don't want to look at the hole I made, it is not a pretty sight.' I hope no more critters come into the bathroom through that hole! Now, I can do laundry in the privacy of my own home, like a normal, modern person.

Also, a picture of our lovely shower, so we no longer have to go outside to turn on the hot water!

Most of the lighting fixtures have been purchased and ready to be hung. The electrician has to come back out to do that, hopefully this week. The remaining lights are the bathroom and ceiling fans that are missing the appropriate lighting kits. Once the light kits that fit them are found, then all of the remaining lights will be purchased. We are about ready to finalize our bid for the installation of kitchen cabinets, which includes basic kitchen appliances and ceiling fans for all rooms in the house. The installation of stairs in the back part of the house that will give us additional storage will begin soon, most likely after Christmas. In addition, in order for the kitchen to be functional, the plumbing needs to be done. The kitchen flooring will most likely be done after the new year as well. We anticipate the floor will be tiled, but much larger tiles will be used than the bathroom obviously.

So as I sit typing this entry to my blog today, I look out and see a foggy, soggy sky, with puddles of rainwater on the ground everywhere. At least it is in the 60s and not freezing. I am glad the mosquitoes are gone. Once we had those below freezing nights recently, that was the end of them. So keep checking my blog for updates to the house and what I have been doing lately.

HSH Interior Renovation Update

A beautiful, sunny, milder day in Dublin today. It got into the 60s. The central air and heat is completely done throughout the house and Paul came to pickup his final payment. The electric needs to be wired in the back part of the house. As for the bathroom, we have all functionality, that is all basic things are installed and working properly. The linen closet needs to be built/installed. We need some cosmetic things done, finish painting then install the washer/dryer, then I get in there and do some interior decorating :)

The first part of the day, running errands then the last part of the day will be spent on the bathroom most likely. It has been a pretty quiet day for the most part. Keep checking my blog for continual updates on the house.

Christmas Parade- 2009

A beautiful, sunny but very chilly day in Dublin today. Around 4pm, John and I walked across the street to watch the annual Dublin Christmas parade. It lasted about an hour and a half. Both sides of Bellevue in downtown Dublin were lined with onlookers eager to get a glimpse of what was to be an fun, entertaining afternoon. Once the sun went down, chill filled the air. It is supposed to drop to 29 degrees for the low tonight, the coldest temperature so far this season. Floats, marching bands, local politicians running for office, the local/state police and sheriff where there to show off their new fancy police cars. Various merchants were also among the festivities for todays event. Santa Claus made his appearance not once but twice!  There were goofy clowns, a very scaled down old VW bus with silver spinners that had a suspension that rocked back and forth. Mr. Pig from Piggly Wiggly came to visit the kids along with Cookie Monster (least looked like him to me). The horse that had the sunglasses with a Santa hat was a hoot and cute! Some pictures below for your enjoyment.

As for the house, we spent the day painting, priming and chaulking. The utility room has two coats of paint and is ready for the washer and dryer to be moved in! I need to do laundry in the worst way. No more laundry mat except for certain things that cannot fit in a standard size washer like comforters, blankets and so forth. The shelving has been installed so I can put laundry room stuff on it. It is pretty sturdy shelving unit with adjustable shelving so as our needs change we can change up how things are stored above the hot water heater and washer/dryer. We went for a hot meal then came back, walked the dogs and did some more work in the bathroom. The second coat of white paint has been applied to all areas of the bathroom except the tub area. That should be completed by tomorrow so the trimwork can start. The medicine cabinet/mirror that goes above the sink is on special order so we don't have that yet. Once the bathroom trimwork is finished, then back upstairs to repair the baseboards that had to be torn out for the electrical outlets to be installed and possibly a fresh coat of polyurethene for the floor.

Keep checking my blog for updates and thanks to those who have visited and provided feedback.