Moose Alert

This is the only moose I've seen so far (and enjoyed very much) since moving to NLFD.

Lunch at The Rooms

Greg's parents & I went the cafe at The Rooms for lunch today.  The Rooms is an art museum/archives in downtown St. John's.  It has a fabulous view of The Narrows (the CBC has their webcam sited on the facility).

We shared an appetizer of cod tongues and scrunchions - my first foray into a traditional Newfoundland dish.  They were tasty (and dangerous to your arteries if you make a regular diet of them).   We had a very nice time over a leisurely lunch (the cafe isn't known for speedy service).

Didn't have my camera with me today; here are a couple of shots from a prior visit.

Atrium at The Rooms

Clever bee light accents in the cafe.

Discovery

I've discovered a few interesting paint colors as I've scrapped the baseboards in our bedroom.

I like the deep blue-teal color.  Coincidentally, it's a close match to a color I've been considering for the walls in the room (but with a neutral color on the baseboards).  I guess it was to compliment some funky linoleum we found under the two layers of carpet and one of padding (all of which was pulled up to get to the spruce boards).

Another more recent discovery are the pocket doors between the living & dining room.  We suspected the space had had them at one time.  But a conversation I had with the former owner's son confirmed it.  And the awesome news was that his father didn't remove them when they decided they didn't want to use them any more, he just pushed them back in to the pockets and sealed up the opening.  So after dinner this evening, Greg took hammer and tong to the mouldings to reveal them.

Six-panel doors.  They're 3' wide by 7'4" high!   Solid wood, though we don't know what kind.   And we're hoping the pulls on the doors (with keyholes!) are brass.

Hello? Is this thing on?

I've been off Blogger longer than I anticipated.   Tried to update the blog once since the 2nd but it wouldn't load properly for me (can't really remember if we were still at the hotel [the first or the second one], on the wireless at the coffee shop down the block, or here in the house).
Many things conspired against us.  Herewith, a timeline:

July 26
Floor sanding starts
July 28-29
Pack up belongings/furniture; Greg hires two guys to help move things into storage unit, only one shows up.
July 30-31
Wake up on inflatable mattress, continue to pack/ferry boxes to house.
Aug 1-3
Accommodations at extended stay hotel; floors are being buffed/varnished

Aug 4; floors dry

Aug 4 
Apprehensive that warm humid days will delay floors drying.  In house late afternoon; set-up inflatable mattress in dining room

Aug 5 
Greg showers, Sheila discovers leak in downstairs hallway.  Source: cracked tub tiles.  Greg seals/regrouts.  Sheila uses bathroom sink, Greg discovers major leak in basement from plumbing stack.   No shower for Sheila.

Aug 6
Check into hotel for one night, enjoy plumbing and climate control.






Aug 7
Furniture delivery by movers; plumbers replace stack.  All converging in vestibule at generally the same time (1pm).  By 3pm, we're alone again, enjoying the house, unpacking, doing laundry.

Aug 7; cracked cast iron stack

Aug 7; Greg tries to telecommute on the single solid surface

Aug 10
Discover water bubbling up from uncapped shower drain in basement after washing some dishes.  On advice of plumber friend, Greg uses Drano and caps the pipe.  Put laundry on hold for a bit.

Aug 14
Discover that water brimming-to-overflowing in downstairs toilet whenever other taps/toilet used.  Water rationing again.  Dishes left soaking in kitchen sink.  Absolutely no laundry. Sheila without shower again.  Judicious use of coffee shop down the street for bathroom needs.  (No Photos !)

Aug 17
Plumbers come to snake basement pipes; snake not big/strong enough.  Come back with bigger one and snake/scour every pipe in the joint.  Pulls downstairs toilet to snake/re-seat.  (I could have been blogging during the 3+ hours this took, but spent it pacing the kitchen.)

Aug 18
Back to normal.  Well..almost; we are still waiting for the electricians to finish up.

Now we are getting ready to welcome Greg's parents for a visit later this week.  Hopefully they haven't been scared away by this!

Stretchy home stretch

The floors are taking longer than the originally suggested 5 days.  It's more like 7 days.  So our stuff is in storage and we're at a hotel.  We get a look at the floors tomorrow morning with the first two coats of varnish on them.  Here are a few shots of the floors after the sanding.

Hallway/stairs before and after sanding

Back Parlor before and after sanding

Its lighter than I originally thought I wanted, but it will make a nice backdrop/canvas for strong colors from our couch and how we paint the walls.