Time For A Birthday Party!

Hello dear friends, last weekend we hosted a party to celebrate my 65th birthday!  Some people suggested that we were crazy for having guests when we are part way through a major renovation and that is true.  But we decided to go ahead anyway!

Thank goodness my 2 sisters in law were on hand for most of the day to help us with our preparations.  They were very busy helping arrange outdoor furniture, getting the tent set up and helping to wrap the veranda to protect everyone from the promised wind and drizzle.  They were very efficient and managed to squeeze in a quick rest break on the dock.

We had set the date and invited friends and family a couple of months ago to give everyone lots of notice.  Then about 3 weeks ago we started watching the long term weather forecasts and spoke to our contractor about where we could expect to be with the renovations.  Our plan was to start our party at the lakehouse and then move to the main house for dinner.  Even though there is no power in the stone house the subfloor in the living room would be down and we thought we would set up tables, chairs and Edison lights in our gutted living room.  With all of the stone walls exposed we thought it would be a fun place to enjoy our food and conversation.  

Well, for various reasons our Plan B was no longer an option so we went with a Plan C and hoped for the best!

The weather forecast for Saturday called for winds gusting to 40 kph and off and on drizzle.  We purchased a tent and converted a sheep shearing platform into a make shift stage for the musicians that were playing for us.  Since we couldn't move our party inside we wrapped our veranda is big plastic sheeting to keep everyone dry,

As it turns out, the weather cooperated by staying dry which was a huge relief as we started out booking an emergency vet visit for Abby and then our tent blew over in the wind.  Our party started in the lake house around 5 with lots of beverages and appetizers.  Chaos ensued when our party was crashed by the big dog that lives next door.  We are not sure how he found the party but he did and wasted no time muscling into the lake house in an attempt to score food.  It is too bad we didnt think to take pictures of those few minutes of mayhem.

We set out glassware and plates so guests could help themselves.  I had polished my collection of vintage silver earlier in the week.  Time still got away from me so I didn't manage to get pictures of everything set up.

As always we had lots of food.  Since the weather at this time of year is mild we barbecued.  The menu included grilled shrimp, 2 kinds of chicken, 2 kinds of pork, peanut noodles and a Thai salad.  I always make too much food but am always afraid of not having enough.

The stunning cake was provided by my sister in law.  Everyone knows I love to garden so the cake was made to look like flowers in a bucket with a little hand fork surrounded by a hose.  Not only a work of art but the cake was delicious.

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We hired a local group of musicians and they were fantastic.  This is our first time having live music and it was so popular with our guests who sang and tapped along.

We all had a great time.

The clean up always takes me forever.  We love to host friends and family and it makes us so happy to see people relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Now it is back to life in a construction zone. 

Demolition Time Part 1

Hello dear friends, these are very busy times here at our farm!

  The demolition of the interior of the house is mostly complete and we have had to make some decisions in response to the unexpected (or should I say expected?) issues that are being uncovered as the interior of the house is being gutted.  I will share more information about those discussions in my next blog!

For now I would like to share some of the work that has happened to get the house ready for framing.

Here is a photo of our living room with the demolition started.  Most of the walls in our house were lathe and plaster.  The lathe is the strips of wood which were then covered in plaster.  The lathe was attached to nailing strips which were anchored into the stone of the house.  At the time that our house was built this would have been very typical construction.  The space between the lathe and stone wall was not insulated.  Since the stone wall is about 20 inches thick it would take the house some time to get cold in the winter but once it got cold it stayed cold!  Likewise, it takes a while for the stones to heat in the summer but once they do...the house stays hot!  Once our renovations are complete our house will be insulated which will moderate the temperatures year round.   And after years of resisting we are now inclined to have central air conditioning installed as part of the other work that will be done on the heating system.

While the demolition was taking place we typically had 4 or 5 workers here every day.  Removing the lathe and plaster is a very manual and messy process.  Some workers hammered away breaking the plaster to pieces and other workers swept up the debris and tossed it into a dumpster.  

We are not going to lie.  It was a big mess.  The contractor installed a temporary zippered doorway upstairs between the addition and the old house to minimize the dust entering the bedrooms on the second floor.   There is a French door between the living room in the old house and the kitchen in the addition but even with the door closed the dust went everywhere.

We are currently on our fourth dumpster.  When we created our long driveway we added 25 cedars that will eventually form a hedge.  At the time we didnt consider access for large vehicles!  We had to dig out 5 cedars which are now in a holding bed to allow the truck delivering the bin to gain access to the work area.  The trees will hopefully survive and we will be able to replant them in the spring.

As the old lathe and plaster walls were removed the stonework was revealed.  Fortunately everything is in good condition and no issues of concern were identified.

Seeing our old house without any interior walls was fascinating.  When we built our addition part of the stone wall on the back of the house became an interior wall so we were able to incorporate it into the construction.  That is how we were able to create a stone wall in the dining room and kitchen and a partial stone wall in the master bedroom and guest bedroom.  For the purposes of this renovation however almost all of these stone walls are exterior walls so we will need to have insulation and interior walls framed and drywalled.

As the demolition progressed we were very excited to see what kind of "treasures" would be unearthed.  We were amused to see what the workers found. 

This tin of paste wax was found under the old kitchen.  The customer service team at SC Johnson was very helpful and advised us that this tin was part of a promotion that they had run in 1962!

A couple of workers thought that finding the marbles was hilarious.  They added to the collection as they found more between the floorboards.

A quick google search suggests that this colouring book could be from the early 1980s.

A miscellaneous collection of other treasures.

 

This is a collection of items that we found once our old kitchen cabinets were removed.  Perhaps we had mouse hoarders.  It is a little hard to explain how these items ended up under a built in cabinet...but they did.  We are wondering what they were going to do with the syringe.

Work has paused for a few days while we wait for the results of an engineering report on the old timbers that supported the first floor of the house.  Over the years it seems that some misguided work has compromised 7 of the timbers.   We are expecting a recommendation to remove the timbers and replace them with new joists.  Our contractor is preparing various options for us which we will review next week.  Hopefully this complication wont delay the completion of our renovations significantly.  

Thank you for visiting my blog and wishing everyone a great weekend!

The Story Of Our House Part 1

Hello dear friends, while we are waiting for the renovation work to start again I thought I would share a little bit about the story about how this became our house!

We purchased the farm in 1991 after having spent some time looking for a country property.  Our previous home was a semi detached house in town and while we liked it we wanted to have a bigger property.  There were also some health issues that were playing on our minds and we thought a move to the country where we would be able to raise some of our own food should be our new direction.  To this end we had a wish list that included an old stone house with character, lots of acreage, and it had to be within a reasonable commuting distance of work.  We looked at so many properties that were too big, too small, too run down or too expensive before finally settling on this one.

Fast forward to perhaps 5 years or so ago.  A lady that we don't know stopped to chat to my husband while he was working outside.  She said that she used to live in this house in the 1970s and that she had an old oil painting her mother had done of what was called "the doll house".  If she could find it she would give it to us, and here it is!  Isn't it charming?

The painting is dated 1978.  We bought the property only 13 years later but by then it had suffered from quite a lack of love.  There had been a change in owners and a change in financial situation and the house was showing many signs of neglect.  We were much younger then and youth combined with enthusiasm can be a wicked combination.  We fell in love with the property and were determined to fix it up.

When we thought of "fixing up" this old property we had no idea what we were getting into.  Some other time I will share more gory details!  But for the purposes of this story I will just say the house was small.  It did not have any insulation in the walls or attic.  The original windows were the old wavy bubbled glass which were lovely but allowed wind to come howling in.  Our pipes froze.  It was an overwhelming and expensive undertaking, and looking back I have no idea why we thought taking on this project was a good idea.

Over the years we have made several changes to the house and property.  We replaced all of the old windows with new custom made windows.  We replaced the front door and built a veranda on the front of the house and a covered porch on the back.

Eleven years ago we decided to have an addition built which more than doubled the size of the house.  By this time the front veranda was about 15 years old so we had it rebuilt and had it wrap around the side of the house.  We had a new roof and had the attic insulated.  The addition (on the right of the photo above) included a large dining room, a main floor bathroom with a shower and a large kitchen.  The second floor of the addition included a master bedroom with ensuite, a balcony, and a guest bedroom.  The addition addressed many of the issues that had become sticky points for us in the old house.

Some significant regrading was required while the addition was being built so we added a large stone wall.  We call this area our portico entry.  We were amazed at how much effort the stonemasons took in placing the stones on this part of the house.

We added a large deck that is accessed from our kitchen with two areas...a covered area with a dining set and an open area with a seating arrangement.

Many years ago I had read a blog about a house that had a balcony off of the master bedroom and the idea stuck in my mind.  We decided to add a 10 x 12 foot balcony to the second floor which  is accessed through French doors from the master bedroom and provides a view over a large part of our property.

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Two years ago we added a garage with a loft that provides a space for me to work on quilting projects.  For the first time in its' life my car was able to be parked inside.  :)

This is Rose Cottage which my husband built about 6 years ago.  We primarily use it to storage garden furniture over the winter although I do have some plans on how to use this building over the summer months.

Six years ago we decided to invest in having Lake Ophelia rehabilitated.  This was originally dug as a farm pond perhaps 25 years ago but over time bullrushes took over, the water level dropped, and the area became a hunting ground for the coyotes that would sometimes attack our sheep.  Lake Ophelia is named after a yellow lab that loved to sneak off for a swim.  It measures approximately 200 feet by 125 feet and is about 14 feet deep.  We added a ramp with a floating platform which is a great area for reflection and bird watching.

We also built a little lake house with a deck.  It is a very peaceful area and we love to have barbecues there.  If you would like to read more about our lake house here is a link to a previous post : 

https://carogilfarm1994.blogspot.com/2024/08/building-our-lakehouse.html

And that my friends is a bit of the story of how we came to live here and some of the changes that we have made over the last 30 years.  We expect the workers to return to the renovation project this week and I will soon have more the share.

Wishing everyone a great week and thank you for visiting my blog.  

 

Preparing for a major renovation

Hello dear friends, it is time for an update on some very exciting (and a little scary) renovations!

Earlier this year we spoke to a contractor about getting some help with unfinished projects around our old stone house. Over the years we have taken on some improvements but we still have many items on the to-do list that have dragged on for far too long.  And of course our stone house is 170 years old which means it has endured generations of daily wear and tear along with some cracked plaster walls and ceilings, sloping floors, doors that don't close properly and all of the other characteristics that lend charm but get annoying over time.  We interviewed 3 contractors and decided that we would engage the contractor that promised to cost us the most money by going with a complete gut and rebuild of the interior of the stone house.  :)  

In order to do this work we had to move everything out of the old house which was a huge undertaking as after 31 years we have accumulated a lot of "stuff".  Sorting, tossing, packing, donating was finally accomplished and we are trying to live in the addition we had built 11 years ago.  The situation is not ideal but at least we have our kitchen, and main floor bath with shower, and our dining room which we have converted into an emergency bed sitting room.  Now on to what our house looks like when it is empty!

Here is a view of our upstairs hall.  When we first viewed the house it was this hall that spoke to me.  A cathedral window and having rooms on both sides of the stairs made me so happy.  At the time we could see Lake Belwood from the cathedral window and we were pretty excited about the big original pine floor boards.  :)

The reality however was not quite so romantic.  The pine floorboards had been sanded down many times over the years leaving them a little thin in spots.  The boards were no longer thick enough to withstand more sanding so we covered them with runners and an area rug.  We replaced all of the original windows (including the cathedral window) in the house almost 30 years ago but the rebuilding of the window sill and casement was a challenge so this area was always cold in the winter.  The railing and spindles are not original to the house, we installed these to replace a makeshift railing the previous owners had installed that was outright dangerous.

The bathroom was probably a bedroom at one time.  We believe that power and plumbing was added in the 1950s and while it is still safe we are looking forward to an upgrade.  All new plumbing and wiring will be installed and although what we had was perfectly safe the new work will of course meet all of the current building codes which also means outlets on every wall.  We will be able to pack up our large collection of in use extension cords.

We have not shown Chantalaria's room any love or affection for many years.  (Yes, we do name the bedrooms!)  Originally we had a single bed in this room but over the years it turned into a bit of a storage room/office and eventually we stopped using it all together.  The floorboards in this room are weak and we had a leak in the roof so this poor room will benefit the most from the upgrades.

This is the aqua room and before we built our addition we used this as our master bedroom.  We are pretty sure that each of these rooms still have the original ceilings and definitely still have the original lathe and plaster walls.  We think someone tried to repair the ceiling in this room and covered it with stipple plaster.  We don't have any explanation for the beam in the ceiling.

Kodiak's room also has an original and wonky ceiling and original walls.  We had installed new flooring in both the aqua room and Kodiak's room to match the flooring that was installed in our addition.  My husband removed that flooring and we were able to donate it to the Restore.

I have had some questions about salvaging the materials from the stone house.  The contractor is removing the windows and we will be able to use them in other projects around the farm.  The floor boards and the wood trim are unfortunately all too damaged to be salvaged.  The original old doors with the old hardware were all donated to the Restore.  Sadly it is a challenge trying to find ways to repurpose some of these items.  Our old wooden blinds can't be donated as they have pull strings.  Other items like the spindles and railings will be left at the free centre at the dump.  Some items will be posted for free on facebook marketplace.  The materials that are ending up in the dumpster will be properly sorted and hopefully resold or used for something else. 

The library took forever to pack up.  We didn't realize how many books we managed to fit in this room.  The original floorboards in this room were lost long before we came here.  When we removed the carpet that was here we found OSB subflooring so we added wood laminate boards.  The contractor will have these boards removed for us to use in other buildings on our property.  The wood trim is original but quite damaged and cant be salvaged.  Originally this room would have been the parlour so it has the most elaborate trim in the house.

Our living room had the same OSB flooring with carpet when we moved in.  We installed the same wood laminate flooring on the entire main floor.  This room had very plain painted woodwork and when we tried to refinish it we found it had been badly damaged and filled in with cement!  Over the years we removed the baseboards, added chair rail and painted all of the wood to match.  We think that the hideous red brick fireplace was added in the 1970s and for years I have threatened to paint it.  This room will receive a new stone fireplace, a walnut mantle and stone hearth.  We love having a fireplace and in the cooler seasons use it almost every night so this investment will be well worth the expense.

This room used to be our old galley kitchen.  Once upon a time we think it may have been a little bed sitting room as it is accessed through what would have been the parlour.  It was used as a kitchen when we moved here.  Although the big window lets in lot of light at 7 X 12 feet the room was quite small for a kitchen.  We had less than 4 feet of counter space and it was not possible to open the oven door and fridge door at the same time.  This room will be come a laundry room/butler's pantry.  We were able to salvage almost all of the pine cupboards that were built by my father in 1997.  The old countertop is trash but the sink and and faucet are all still in good condition and will be donated.  

We have had questions about our dogs and how they are handling the activity.  The short answer is that Abby is fine but Vera has been feeling unsettled.  Hopefully they will adapt to the chaos in a few days.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  More updates to come!