floor face lift

from this


to this, bing!

60's dining room linoleum, be gone!

yesterday they put the new red oak in and laced it into the existing. they start sanding in a few days...

run for your life, wallpaper

today involved some superior wielding of a wall steamer, to 'cleanse' the downstairs bathroom and several other walls. wallpaper removal can be pretty satisfying when it rolls off like butter. time for sanding and painting, color suggestions?

we also discovered that the paneling over the living room fireplace is nailed straight on to the studs, and that drywall installation will be necessary. another 'skill' to add to our arsenal in the next few weeks.

can't you hardly wait to see what we do next?! we can't!

the bar

before

after the paper is gone


the entry wall

before with wood panelling, green and gold lay underneath..

after panelling and paper removed


the dungeon bathroom

before

after paper and fixtures removed

american dreamin'

today we started a new project. it included pulling 700+ sqft of carpet and pad, 500 staples, and more tak trak strips than i care to remember. all in all it did not take as long as expected, and we are excited to see the final result. we also started pulling some classy panelling off some of the walls, only to reveal some green and gold wall paper. short term projects are basically as follows:

get the floors finished
paint the paneled walls
chimney cap
gut bathroom and re-do
procure furniture
minor gardening

there are plenty of long term projects, as you may infer from the below photos.

Short-eared owl nest

Petersburg, Alaska

video from france

in case you don't wander over to koanbouldering.com here is a video of how the majority of our time was spent in france.

rocks in font from Luke on Vimeo.

more photos

random france

one more week

not a ton of time left, but plenty of sun in the forecast and things to keep us busy.




the california coach looks like a nice way to roll


this one is for Zeus

fire and wine

it is day 16/28 (i think). just past the halfway point and the trip has been a great success, regarding the quality of friends, france in general, climbing and the weather. the forecast looks great for the next week and i may have discovered some exercises that subdue the rather intense pain eminating from my elbows and biceps after a bit of climbing.

the other day we visited an old 'medieval' town






probably a little too much of the below... maybe next time getting a gite without wireless is the way to go.