Weekend Rundown

Our weekend started off on Thursday night when Ryan’s parents visited for a Thursday Night picnic at Crane Estate.  Cajun Zydeco this time.  Great stuff.  Rick and Denise hadn’t seen the place for quite a while, so it was fun to show them the changes.  At the concert, we made friends with Chip, a great guy who moved to Ipswich 12 years ago and who shared his own stories of DIY adventures.

(I had very best intentions of getting a group shot – brought my camera and everything, but it didn’t happen.  You will have to imagine the beautiful evening we had at Crane Estate, lit by an orange moon which was sneakily fall-ish.)

I should add that in the flurry of meeting Rick and Denise after work, showing them our progress, packing a picnic, and heading out to Crane Estate, we failed to note that the Phantom Gardener had paid a visit to the house, cleaning out some fried summer flowers and replenishing our window boxes and planter with purple and red Mums that look great with the house’s cranberry trim.  Thanks, Mum!

Saturday, Ryan was yet again on electricals (adding outlets and switches) and I continued with insulation.  Ryan cut a permanent bench seat and back, and framed in our “look-throughs” in the nook.  We used the foil insulation for the first time on the nook ceiling.  It went up pretty easy.  We cut a hole for the pendant light wiring, stapled it along the strapping, and sealed the seams with cold-weather foil tape. 

An afternoon trip to Home Depot inspired us to make a sheetrock purchase, what with insulation progressing along and Ryan half-way through attaching outlets and switches.  Before day’s end, we put up our first piece of sheetrock in the nook.  Ryan entertained me with his MacGuyver-like ability to scribe a circle for the pendant light, we cut the sheetrock to size, and used the sheetrock screw attachment (still experimenting with technique on that one), and hung our very first piece of drywall.  It was exciting enough that I documented it.  

It’s a little premature, but we just had to see the space with some sheetrock up.  We are really getting somewhere, folks.

Saturday evening, Ryan’s brother Sean and his gal pal Tara came for dinner after an afternoon at Crane’s Beach.  After a quick house tour (last time Tara was at High Street, we were doing the roof and not allowed inside… as we technically did not yet own the place), we headed over to The Farm in Essex, one of our favorite spots.  Thanks for making the trip, guys!

Sunday morning found us back to our usual tasks, electricity for Ryan and insulation for me.  Ryan completed a challenging install of a dimmer on a 3-way switch, which may sound rather dull, but to me, it is nothing short of magical.  Not only will we be able to dim our kitchen lights, but we will be able to turn them on coming in the back door or coming down the stairs.  We also ran a wire through the wall and up to the top the staircase to a switch that will eventually control a light in the stairwell (there is also a switch at the bottom of the stairs – another 3-way!).  And Dad, don’t you worry – the wire terminates at a switch.  No live wires hanging out in the walls.

I took some time to hang the beautiful pineapple doorknocker that was Ryan’s birthday present to me this year (right after our offer was accepted and before the weeks of touch-and-go will-we-get-the-house limbo).  With all the demo-ing, we hadn’t gotten around to hanging it. It looks great on the door.  (Fun fact: did you know a pineapple is a traditional symbol of hospitality and welcome?  Fellow history nerds of the world, read on here and for even more detail, here).  Symbolism aside, doesn’t it just look swell with Mum’s Mums?

After a few tests and verifications, the main breaker was flipped, the new circuit turned on, and… nothing.  After initial disappointment, the electricity how-to book (on loan from Ipswich Public Library) was consulted, a plug or two switched around, fingers crossed, and we tried again:

(Insert: sound of angels singing)

The plugs work, the switches work, even the dimmer works!  I could have spent hours just turning the lights down and back up again.

After a visit to Ipswich Clambake Company (I realized at dinner with Sean and Tara that I had gone all summer without a lobster roll and was running out of time), we returned for more insulating and electrical work.  We installed a bathroom fan, which in addition to being required by that pesky building code, was much-needed in our laundry/bathroom combo.  We also plan to re-vent the dryer.  After completing that install, we flipped the main breaker again, turned another new circuit on, and… nothing.  Unfazed by our previous false start, we called it a day.  Ryan read up on potential causes before bed.  I’m told the new bathroom fan may be the culprit. Well, knowing is half the battle…

All this is of little concern to me.  I’ll take a dark bathroom. We have LIGHTS in the kitchen, glorious, dimming lights!

Trips to Home Depot: 2 
Up next: Fix bathroom circuit, complete fan venting, insulating, maybe even some more drywall... and hopefully install the fan and pendant light (currently on back order, grr...)