Hallway headway......

I have set a goal for the documenting of this reno:   to take before and after pictures.  It is something I have always wanted to do, but became too enthusiastic about the project and plowed straight ahead and only thinking about the pictures when we were almost done.

I think this is an important step because often, once the project is completed, we soon forget from which it started.  Much of the hard work and backache forgotten.  Too soon we even forget what it originally looked like and take the space for granted and forget to appreciate the beauty you have created.

Step one has been completed:  clear the space

But, unfortunately, in order to clear one space you must make another a bit of a disaster zone.  My spare room, the second room that Ian renovated last year,  looks like a bomb has hit it.  I hate this part of the process.  The one good thing about it is that I can close the bedroom door and pretend it isn't there.  Good luck with that!

But, I placate myself by thinking about having a skip in the yard  by spring and having a major purge. I love to chuck things out.  Start anew.

I also am contemplating  gathering the bulk of my unused art supplies and donated it to a local establishment that supports adults with disabilities.  There is one young lady that I have met through the school where I work.  She has made a business for herself making handmade cards.  I have sent a box of supplies her way while she was still attending school, but now that she is out in the world of work she may be able to put to good use much of the supplies that are her gathering dust.

I am also looking forward to the May Grad sale at our high school.  I can box up all the other trinkets and extras that we have from the  blending our households.  We have left things as is for the best part of two years, so by spring it will be time to sift and sort and pass on items we don't really need or are not meaningful to us.  It will be a win win situation all around.

And then, of course, there is always Jamie and his plan to move into an apartment this summer.  That will take care of some of the larger redundant items like leather recliners, end tables......and make way for some new stuff.  Yeah!!  Shopping therapy to deal with the anxiety of Jamie officially moving away from home.

Back again.....Sunday afternoon

I tackled some of the wall paper while Ian was outside getting the generator ready for of first official winter storm that is due to hit us on Tuesday.  This wallpaper was adhered with wallpaper glue that you apply with a brush.  A gelatinous yellow emulsion that guaranteed to keep the paper in place for years to come and when it was time to be removed it would be simple and clean.  Well let me tell you.....this paper is stuck on the best I have ever seen.  It is also obvious that the solution penetrated into the primer and the older oil based paint that was there originally.  How do I know this?  Well, when I pulled the top layer of paper off, it took all surfaces down to the bare plaster.....and I mean bare.  I looks like it has never been painted.  You can actually see the pores in the old plaster.  It lifted everything.  What a friggen mess.

I still have to spray the remaining surfaces with hot soapy water and take the remaining skim of paper off.....I am afraid I have made somebody a whole lot of work by suggesting we change the wallpaper. My only saving grace is that Ian didn't like the wallpaper....neither the design or the color. So......I guess I am safe.

Here's what the wall by our bedroom door looks like.  Note the lovely cracked plaster to the left and the actual whole left by the plaster that fell off the wall.  Oh my.  No good deed goes unpunished.  No, indeed it doesn't.

To add insult to injury, there is more to this Sunday saga.  Ian, like I said, was outside preparing the generator while I removed wallpaper.  We decided to move the horse trailer closer to the house and have the generator run from inside that.  Up to last evening it hadn't crossed our collective brains that the generator could not sit out on the deck and run while it poured and rained....like last night, or even sit in the snow and have it pile up around it.  We paid more attention to it not getting wet while it was stored on the deck.  LOL.....

Anyway, while I was struggling with the fact that an old horse trailer will be backed in beside house Ian came upon another generator related snag. We had the wiring done for this generator early in September.  This also entailed an outside plug and an extension cord to run from the generator to this outside plug.  All was good....or so we thought.  But plugs don't work that well when all parts are male.  BLAH  #@#$@#%@%  So a call to our electrician was in order.....OH Calvin.......