Window Seats & Hearth Take 3

Back in May when the concrete seats & hearth (that didn't quite turn out right) were moved outside, I foolishly was under the impression that's where they'd stay until they were done. Tom & Mandy stripped off the sealer & stain, then took a wire brush to them, brought them back to the grey concrete state out on the deck.
Mandy liked the looks of them...."aged concrete" she called it.

Not quite the effect I had in mind (what little mind I have left, although I can tell you I'm feeling quite "aged" about now)....

Now the slabs need to be re-grouted & re-stained....YIKES.....in our Dining Room!!!!
They can't leave them outside in case it rains...so we move half the stuff out of the dining room, shove the rest into a corner and cover it with plastic......this just keeps getting worse! What about those beautiful walls??? Are they gonna get that stain on the walls?? Oh listen to me whine.....At least we don't have to worry about the floor, it's still concrete (haven't found that leak yet).
Mandy did say they'd do it as quick as they can....Somehow I'm thinking we don't quite have the same time frame.

Again the ugly color stain....

Again the repeat of the process... let it dry, then clean it, then clean it again, then shop vac it off, then let it dry again.

We put them in place and the right side window seat is darker than the left, quite obvious in the lighting in the family room vs. the dining room. So......off they come again to be re-stained......these are not light weight either...we're talking solid slabs of concrete, takes 2 people to lift the window seats & 3 to lift the hearth. Each time we lift & move them we run the risk of breaking them (not to mention I'm supposed to make decisions & decorate,not lift weights!). The thought of breaking one and then having to completely do them over does not make anyone happy...keep your fingers crossed this one is it!

Last Tile!!!!

Tom & Mandy with the last cut on the last tile for the whole house....
(which, of course, according to Murphy's law took 3 tiles to get there)
The tiling is done!

And they did a gorgeous job.......
here's a view from the loft

(You definitely want to L click on these pics,
Tom's tile dusted face is nothing I want to see again any time soon, but the floor is awesome!)

Martha's Early Birthday Present

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT IS????

(L Click for a clue)

I got a really great present! It has this really spiffy green tarp on the top of it & a well worn dog run in the back (that was used by the dog that bit Tom)!
Thank goodness Tom forgot to get me what I asked for last year....which was for Mandy to paint a mural on the big brown ugly wall next door, which is the view from our bedroom, 'cause I would have hated to tear down the mural .

Now the whole damn thing can come down!!!! YEAH!! This is sooooo much better than last year's present from Tom....which was a grill....although he does cook great food on it. Funny we were talking last night about maybe a fire pit there now.....I guess that would be just another type of grill wouldn't it?

Hmmmm...do I sense a theme here???? Ha Ha!
Long story short, apparently the property was foreclosed on in Oct '08 & the person who bought it let Bob & Brenda stay on a month to month basis until spring. He sent a letter to the neighbors on the other side asking them if they were interested in buying....
Steve, ( the other neighbor who just put a great addition on his house) brought the letter over to Tom, saying it wasn't anything he could do right now....was Tom interested? Tom told me & was I bummed....figured there was no way we could afford it now, Steve & Tom were hoping to share the cost. Well, Tom called the guy while I wasn't home & bought the place, and the rest is history!

Starting the 2nd half.....

Moving along........YEAH!!!

Well....Now What????

They sealed the stained concrete & it created it a milky white film all over.
Needless to say it looks like hell & Martha's not happy :(.
You can see the difference with the one in the back that didn't get sealed.
So we talked to the tile & paint people @ the big box stores for ideas on how to remove the sealer. That's a whole other project now.....
Tom's going to move them outside for that phase, so at least we can get moving on finishing the floor.

The Window to Where???

So there's this cut out in the wall of the family room that needed to be trimmed out to tie in with the oak railings. It opens into the "I don't know" room, so called because we have no idea what we're going to do with it. Our niece Elise calls it "The last minute" room. "Don't worry Aunt Martha" she says, "at the last minute you'll figure it out".
In the meantime, Tom & Mandy have obviously decided it's a good place to hang out........I guess now we know why it's taking so long to finish the house!

2nd Window Seat & Hearth

Tom & Mandy working on the second window seat & the hearth.
We came up with a color decision & we're going for it!
It won't dry this color, it'll be much lighter (I hope).

(L click on the collage-you'll get a good idea of the mess)