(Not) Indian Summer Weekend (2 of 2)

Guess I jinxed the weather with last weekend’s blog title.  Oh well, we had a good run there and it made our outside work much more pleasant.

Saturday morning’s visit to Home Depot was longer than usual, thanks to Frankenstorm. Generators, bags of sand and water jugs were flying off the shelves.

As we drove back into Ipswich, we saw a much better confirmation of a storm a-brewing. A mist rather ominously rolled into town off Plum Island Sound and sat over us for a few hours. Kinda creepy.  Frankenstorm indeed.

First up was breaking out our latest power tool toy, a 3-inch planer to shave just a small bit off the top corner of our new door, which had been sticking.  It's not sticking anymore!  After that, Ryan attached our lovely oil-rubbed bronze doorknob.  

While Ryan worked on the door, I sealed some of the horizontal surfaces on our posts with a marine epoxy to protect against rot where water will gather and the end grain of the pine lumber was exposed. We also previously primed the posts with B-I-N, a shellac-based primer that goes on very nicely and dries super quick. B-I-N also provides another barrier layer against moisture. The epoxy needed 24 hours to cure, so once Ryan was done adding the doorknob, I prepped it for paint and primed both sides. Before calling it a day, Ryan also finished shingling in the old mudroom entrance.

Our plan on Sunday had been to paint trim and the door, but a misty rain settled in and we didn’t want to mess up the topcoat.  So instead, I primed the new shingles on the back while Ryan attached our lovely rough-hewn red cedar brackets. There’s been a lot of discussion about best ways to do this, so it’s very nice to see them finally up.

After hearing the latest dire weather predictions, we also battened down the hatches and cleared the yard. 

The rain began to kick up early afternoon, so we called it an early day and watched the Pats game in nearly real time (DVR is a lifesaver for fall renovation-football schedule conflicts). We’re disappointed we didn’t get the topcoat on, but it clearly wasn’t the right conditions to be painting in. 

That all said, check out how the exterior is looking.

Pretty sweet, right?

As for a lawn update, I’d just about lost hope for our grass, but as I was clearing the yard this afternoon, I noticed a small patch sprouting!  What a relief.  We didn't do it wrong! 

We think despite the warm days, the nights have perhaps been too cold to get the seed going this fall.  The seed can stay dormant all winter and still come up in the spring.  And so, we wait.  No doubt we’ll have to spread some additional seed in thin spots come spring.  And in the interim, the salt marsh hay will prevent against a mud pit.

Lots of chatter on the news and web about what to expect as Hurricane Sandy hits New England in the next day or so.  Our dehumidifier and sump pump are ready, just in case.  Flashlights are charged and out, and we have a crock of "Franken Chili" to keep us fed.  Time will tell what this lady's made of.

Frankenstorm?

Last week it was an earthquake (we felt it at the Wee House and were relieved to find out it was a Seismic Event and not a Structural Failure) and last year it was a Halloween snowstorm.   

Good thing we have the mudroom exterior pretty closed up since forecasts are predicting another crazy Halloween storm, and instead of the white stuff, there is talk of a tropical storm, perhaps even a hurricane. 

 

Here’s my prediction: I’ll be painting trim this weekend, but Ryan will be swinging a hammer. And we’ll both be finding homes for all the yard equipment in the barn.  Batten down those hatches!

Fireplace update

Days ‘til Christmas: 60
Status: Order has been placed

Here’s the slender model we went with that will fit nicely in the Wee House front room.  We chose the "halston" doors in a New Bronze finish.

Time to get working on refinishing the mantel!

Indian Summer Weekend (1 of 2)

The weather was very cooperative over the weekend as we inched ever closer to wrapping up the exterior elements of the mudroom and deck addition. 

On Saturday, Ryan closed in the old door and began shingling over the new elevation. I did a final patch-and-sand on the deck posts. We also found the perfect post caps - they are the right size and flat on the top (my stipulation), just right for setting a drink on.

You might notice we have not installed the railings and balusters that we mentioned earlier in the project. We’ve made a change to the plan after noticing how nice it is to hang your legs off the deck. Here’s Frank and Ryan demonstrating this a couple weeks back.

Additionally, since the deck is less than 30-inches off the ground, code does not require that we have railings. We have a new plan that we are very excited about, but you’re just going to have to wait and see what it is.

Our highlight of the afternoon was visiting Sarah and Chris’ new pad.  They are bringing in some hired muscle for necessary upgrades (smart kids), but are taking on much of the second and third floor themselves.  Great house.  Great ceiling height.  Great new neighbors.  (We’re just about as excited for us as we are for them!)  Here’s a shot I robbed from Sarah… almost made me nostalgic for our unfinished first floor.  Almost.

On Sunday, we put the ladder jack staging across the deck so that I could reach the gable’s trim for patching and sanding.  While I worked on that, Ryan finished one last post, attached the post caps and used up the rest of the shingles.  We’ll need to get one more bundle to finish up the remaining exterior walls.

With patching and sanding complete, we spent Sunday afternoon priming trim.  We used an oil-based primer on the posts to protect against water damage and latex on the rest.  Next week, we will put on the top coat and hope to finish up the majority of the remaining trim!  Should be looking pretty close to finished (on the outside) come November 1.

As for the lawn… we are watering, watching and waiting. 

Though we were told germination needs at least four good days, upon further research we’ve learned that depending on the season, it can take anywhere from seven to fourteen days.  I also just read that the salt marsh hay should be thick enough to keep in the moisture and protect against birds, but thin enough that sunlight gets through, so I might thin up our cover slightly. We are watering it with the sprinkler for at least a half-hour each day (except on days that it rains).  Any lawn experts out there?  Are we doing this right?

Landscape-a-palooza

Bet you didn’t see this one coming.  But let’s back up a little bit.

We asked Ryan’s talented brother (and my wonderful brother-in-law) to help us out with the yard this fall.  Tim’s worked in landscaping for many years and knows his way around all these fancy tools he told us to rent (thank goodness, since we didn’t).

We’d also been discussing our plans with Phrank, who showed up Saturday morning right after Ryan’s run to Home Depot rental department with a special delivery: his tractor, and his elbow grease (for which we are very grateful).

To start, Phrank and Ryan got to working on pulling up the blue stones. The first revelation of the weekend was that our beautiful slate blue stones are actually Very Good fakes in concrete. Who knew.  While the men did that, I worked on transplanting our two clematis vines, and then moved on to the raised planter along the barn.

Things got more interesting as Phrank and Ryan started to take down the pergola. Phrank brought over this very cool lift that pulled the sunken posts (with concrete footing) out of the ground. 

Around this time, more reinforcements showed up.  Tim with his very patient and understanding girlfriend Carol (did I mention this is the first time she’s met us!?) and my parents.

Things really kicked into high gear with seven workers, one confused dog and a tractor about half the size of our lot.  Carol and I removed a slew of yellow fire-rated bricks that had been used as edging and the Phantom Gardener oversaw transplanting.  With their help, I relocated the Plum Island sea grass to along the foundation of our neighbors to the south.  My dad dismantled the raised bed and then helped Phrank remove the gravel walk and pull out a seemingly never-ending assortment of more bricks, random chunks of concrete, a collection of marbles and other “treasures” with the help of the tractor. Tim manned the rototiller and Ryan was the muscle and in all places at once.

Next came raking.  Lots and lots of raking.  We filled about 10 yard bags with sod, leaves, roots and any other loose debris in the yard to get it down to a completely blank slate for seeding.  While we raked, Phrank changed attachments on his tractor to a grader.  After a lunch break and much more raking, Ryan and Tim used the landscaping roller to level the yard and then Tim did a final rake with a wide landscaping rake so that the soil was loose and fluffy and ready for seed the next day.

While the crew enjoyed some hard-earned brews, I supervised my dad as our leggy lilacs got yet another haircut.  We took a fair amount off, but Dad left us the lopper and I’m going to go back in and take off even more. I’d like to get them down to at least as low as the younger bush next to it.  It will take a couple years for to recover, but it needs to happen.

Saturday evening, we had friends over to celebrate MTC’s birthday.  We had other things to celebrate, too.  Namely my BFF (and MOH) Sarah and hubby Chris closing on a house in nearby Hamilton (5.7 miles away!).  We are all totally-totally psyched for them and can’t wait to see what they do with their very own project house.  Sarah is also a talented architect, so we know it will be fab.

The temps dropped quickly that night, but the men of the North Shore had a plan and we put those fire-rated bricks to good use.

The fire pit burned long into the night, kept us warm, and got rid of all the non-pressure treated wood from the pergola.  Double bonus.  It was also cool to notice that when standing behind the pit, there wasn’t any radiant heat seeping through.  Armed with this scientific observation, we’ve begun consider how we might use the bricks to build a permanent pit in the back right corner of the yard up against the fence.  But I digress.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, we woke to steady rain and our hearts sank a bit.  Then we rolled over.  By the time we got out of bed, there was standing water in the yard and the fluffy soil ready for seed had been turned to the consistency of mud pie.  We still had our usual dump run and tools to return, but we knew seed wasn’t going down.

Instead, we spent the day gathering supplies and made our inaugural trip to the Essex Co-op.  For those in the know, it’s like a North Shore Pick ‘n Shovel.  I could have spent hours there.  It had me quite nostalgic and reminded me of the Feed and Grain my brother worked at one summer that I used to tag along to with my parents.  They have everything. Our purchases included a mum and pot for the front; sun and shade mix grass seeds; fertilizer recommended to us by the very helpful staff; a toy for Tela (who was suffering at the groomer); and two bails of salt marsh hay.  Why salt marsh hay, you ask? To cover the seeds after they’ve been spread so birds don’t get to them.  The salt marsh hay needs a salty environment to grow, so there’s also no risk of us seeding a hayfield instead of a grass field.

While Ryan did schoolwork and watched football, I rearranged our walls to accommodate this beautiful watercolor of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s by Jean Gregg, my mother’s father’s cousin, who my mom and I visited at her home in Hawaii when I was young.  On that visit, she gave my mom this painting, who has now passed it on to us.  And so, our family art collection grows and we have a nice reminder of our San Francisco honeymoon.

I also finished up the curtains for the front door.  Ta-da!

With warm temperatures predicted all week, we knew we had to get the seed in as soon as possible. We rushed home Monday to spread seed, fertilizer and hay.  We started at 6:00 and it was already dusk (how does fall always sneak up on us so!?).  By the time we laid the hay, it was pitch dark.  I’m fairly confident we achieved a pretty even cover, but the jury is out.  The helpful lady at the co-op told us that in order for seed to germinate, it needs 4 consecutive days of 50 degree-plus weather.

The forecast seems to be cooperating, so it’s just up to us to keep it watered and hopefully the hay will protect it from the birds.  We figure we can always re-seed in the spring to fill in any patches.  Fingers crossed!

Next week, we’re back on the deck.  Here's a couple more shots of our progress so far.

Time to get the trim patched and painted and ready for winter!