Down to one hand

I've had some finger pain and hand stiffness following strenuous days at the old Hudling. But now, I'm getting concerned. Last night I awoke multiple times during the night with numbness and tingling in my hand. Perhaps I was sleeping on it funny. I repositioned every time only to awake again in complete agony...the pain, the tingling, the stiffness, the weird sensation.

This is not entirely new. I've had a number of similar night time episodes, only the discomfort was limited to my middle finger. I'm not one to let obscene hand gestures fly easily, so I know it was not overuse in that way, but my hands seem to be getting stiff and sore from all the manual labor at the Hudling. My middle finger swells during the night and is very stiff and sore in the morning. Bending it causes pain in my wrist. I complain, but live with it.

But now, my pain and discomfort have reached a new level. My entire hand hurts and flexing fingers hurts my wrist. And last night was miserable. After getting up the numbness faded but returned when I was showering. And I've lost strength in it...most of my hand strength during the peak pain times. I'm thinking it might be carpel tunnel syndrome. We'll see how tonight goes. Will I ever be able to finish the Hudling?!

Little Brave?... Found!

OK, this is long overdue....
I made a very exciting find shortly after posting about Anne's Remodeling Project - I connected with Scott(ie) a.k.a. "Little Brave"

It was thrilling to connect with the Hudling's past. We have emailed a handful of times and it was fun to learn that Scott's family lived in the Hudling from 1940s unitl 1997, when his grandmother passed away. Chief Anne is his mom. To those of you who have been following Hudling treasure finds closely, they claim no ownership to the Mistress of the Whip. I have no evidence to prove otherwise, so I guess I have to take their word for it! :)

Anyway, I hope to share some of their stories and or pictures soon, shedding light on the Hudling's younger years. So cool! Stayed tuned.

Grout for the tiles....and a little for my phone

Well, I grouted the kitchen, hallway, and downstairs bathroom tile yesterday. Wow, what difference grout makes! Here's a shot in the kitchen (I have not yet wiped off the haze and buffed the tiles to a pretty shine so just imagine the finished look). The grout color: malt.


So, about the phone...yeah, I dropped my phone in a freshly mixed bucket of grout. Had I not been in a panicked frenzy to clean it off as fast as I could possibly move, I would have taken a picture of the the dreadful sight. It still works, but it is amazing how many little grooves are on a cell phone! And every little one of them is now malt! And it makes an irritating crunching noise when I open it!

Finally, a tub

Yes, the tub is in. Ok, it has been in for a while, I'm just behind in my blogging! Anyway, here it is :)

The next puzzle is what to do with the walls and ceiling. More to come about that...

Frost Warning

Hard work demands serious breaks. So we had a frosty break with our recently acquired free frosty coupons (Thanks Gadds!). When was the last time you saw any fast food item so small (and cute)?

Hey, Nice Doors!

Paul finished installing and our doors and windows yesterday. Nice. Very nice. Here's a first look at the doors (old and new).

The new front door does not have the character of the old one, but the old one was well beyond its best days, not to mention probably completely energy (d)efficient. Speaking of energy efficiency, the old back door had plexiglass in its window....but the window opening was about an inch bigger than the piece of plexiglass! Anyway, as flurries fly, its nice to have new doors :)

Jim's Falling for the Hudling

So our plumber, Jim, tripped going up the stairs and fell into the recently textured and painted wall. Unfortunately, Jim's a big guy and drywall is no match for his stumbling, bumbling body. Needless to say, the wall needs TLC.

The Week Ahead...

So, lots going on this week at the old dame. Bathtub installation upstairs, more painting...mostly upstairs, dining room wainscoting installation (and first-time use of my new air compressor!!! :) ), new front and back doors, installation of new windows upstairs, kitchen tile...

Uck, I'm tired just thinking about it! Here are some photos of the front and back doors...the "before"...

BACK DOOR

FRONT DOOR

More photos of the new doors to follow this weekend!

The Random Photo Spread

As I was looking for the photos of the wood floor from yesterday on our digital camera, I came across months of forgotten Hudling photos. So, enjoy this little montage. Hudling, this is your life...

That is A LOT of cracks...and a lot of plaster repair, believe me...A LOT!

Our good buddy Mel rockin' more of the unending plaster repair.

Oh Hudling, the sorry state of your plaster walls...This is the master bedroom ceiling during the patch and repair phase of The Master Plan.

Not only enormous cracks in the kitchen wall, but also years of grease and...yeah, I don't know what that is. Ew.

The master stud finders. Yes, that is our beautifully patched and sanded and textured master bedroom ceiling. Although they were small holes...holes which will be re-patched and painted, the Hudling still wasn't too fond of the whole experience. Little did she know, that was just an inkling of the demolition to follow that day.

One of the bedrooms following the great texturizing event. Textured walls rock.

Yep, those are some mighty fine looking windows. This is the dining room pre-wainscoting.

Hudling Forewoman...Rit, hard at work. I believe this was taken during The Great Kitchen Tile Layout Design Debate of 2008. Check out the phenomenal kitchen cabinets in the background. They look fabulous!

The upstairs hallway, halfway through the paint job and mid bathroom demolition and wall reconstruction. Notice the lack of subfloor in the bathroom.

Ouch. The bathroom wall is no more. And yes, the air really was that dusty. Luckily, I was working downstairs that day. This was Rit's party.

I hope you have enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. Stay tuned...

From Ugly Hudling to Beautiful Swan

It's not that I don't love the Hudling...it's just that I am way past ready to bid her a fond adieu. Wow. What a lot of work! But the old dame is really starting to sparkle...all dressed up, head held high. She's shed her cobwebs and creaks and cracks and we're almost nearing the point where some finishing touches are all she'll need to be ready to welcome her new family.

I have to say how proud I am of Rit. She was able to see past the mess to envision the majesty of that beautiful old house.

We have encountered more than our fair share of hiccups along the remodeling road, but it's been such a great ride...full of interesting projects and new experiences.

Yesterday, for example, we thought we'd take advantage of the extra hour that daylight savings affords and get in a very long day of work. We dropped the dogs off at Ed's house and headed over to the Hudling at about 7:15. Rit played around with the kitchen tile layout, while I finished painting the living room windows. Wow, talk about a lot of work. I love plaster and wood putty and caulk. I love manipulating them until all flaws seem to disappear. Add a crisp layer or two of paint, and it's like the gouges, scratches and cracks were never there. LOVE IT! The windows took a lot of time and elbow grease, but they look amazing...practically new! That bright white against the warm creamy butter on the walls is perfect.

Here's the area all prepped and ready for the flooring. Anyway, after lunch, we started laying the hardwood floor in the living room. We opted for a snap-together, pre-finished light birch rather than try to match the dark oak in the adjoining dining room. Neither of us has ever laid a wood floor, but we were anxious for the adventure.

Here's the first couple of rows. We took a short Wendy's frosty break mid-afternoon and then a short dinner break around 6.

 

We finally headed home around 8:30, wood floor finished and looking rather stunning. It's all starting to come together!

Anne's 1966 Remodeling Project

Found this on the back of a piece of paneling...Chiefs & Indians (and Little Brave) involved in Anne's Remodeling Project, December 10, 1966. I'm trying to find out more information about Anne's project and the crew involved. Stay tuned....

21st Century Stud Finder

This is a technical as you can get (and one thing to try when your actual stud finder bites the dust).

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Well, the upstairs bathroom has caused more headaches (see Damn Bathroom) than we anticipated. Much to our dismay, we could not find a tub to fit into the space available. So although the claw foot discovery was a delightful find, putting that tub back in was not even an option given the space available (someone cut into the wall studs to get that tub in and still allow the door to open so the only way it would fit was the make-shift built in job that had been done....remember that? I've added a picture to refresh dusty memories).

Anyway, after exploring the options, we opted for the labor heavy choice - bump the wall out into the bedroom. So, today was the day for that job. My brother-in-law, Justin, and my dad came to help with this task. To my mom's (and Annika's) disbelief, we finished mid afternoon....well before dark. The heat vent still needs a hole, but the bathroom is tub ready :)

Progress?

Yes, we are making progress, despite the lack of blog posts! Actually, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

Most of the main floor is now ready for flooring and finish work! The most arduous task was texturizing walls. Not bad if you only need to do a room, but we did several rooms plus up the stairs and the upstairs hallway. It looks good, and quite amazing now that it is painted. Here is a shot of the prepainted texture work. I'll take pictures of the painted rooms this week.

Damn Bathroom

Bathroom issues...can't find a tub to fit into the space we have. It's a little more than frustrating. So we're considering a few different options: skip the tub and put in just a shower, get the clawfoot tub refinished and put it back in, or bump out the wall to the bedroom about 6" to allow more space for a tub. Personally, I'm not in love with any of the options.

Any suggestions?

We still have to solve the issue of moving the plumbing to the other end . After removing more of the subfloor, we've found that there is a heat duct that goes through the a good chunk of the small bathroom. This throws a curve ball into the moving the drain over. More issues. Hmmmm.......maybe we should have just kept that beauty as is.... perhaps just some new caulk, a little paint, some flowers, a couple of throw pillows...

Painting and Flooring and Plastering...Oh My!

So, the Hudling is coming along...slowly, but surely. Rit has been spending all day, every day at the Hudling this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm working feverishly to get our current abode ready to show. Yep, that's right. We're selling our house!

After looking around for five years, we've finally found a house we can agree on. Although leaving this house is bittersweet and we've loved our time here, we're anxious to be settled in the new house.

The Hudling is really starting the look transformed. Rit's been working really hard on the kitchen cabinets. Since the wood cabinets were nice and sturdy, we decided to simply clean them up and give them a fresh coat of pain and some new hardware. They look AWESOME! Even better than I imagined. Although the hardware isn't on yet, here's a sneak peak at the new look.

Our sweet friend Jan came over to help Rit cut and lay cement board to prep for the tile. Although we aren't laying the tile until after the walls are painted, they started with the prep. (By the way, our big purchases this week included a texture sprayer and a paint sprayer...YEAH!!) Here is a view of the back hallway leading to the kitchen.

The upstairs bathroom is the most desperate of the lot. It's almost completely gutted. We've removed all of the fixtures plus part of the wall to the studs and the subfloor over the bathtub plumbing. We're relocating the shower/bathtub plumbing the other end of the space. Why? Because the previous owner in all their wisdom installed the shower on the slanted ceiling. Not even I in my towering 5'5" glory could have stood up straight in the tub without hitting my head on the shower head. Nice. Plus, in removing part of the built-out wall, we can install a typical 54" tub instead of the 48" tub that was there when we laid eyes on the wonderful disaster. It's a sorry sight now, but it will shortly look fabulous.

We are going with carpet in the upstairs bedrooms and as a runner on the wood stairs. I felt that carpet would be fine in the living room. Rit disagreed...and won. We are not only going with wood in the living room (which will look amazing...), but we are also installing it ourselves. Huh. We've never installed wood flooring. Should be interesting.

Meanwhile, the Hudling gets cuter and cuter every day.

Old Ed

Yep, here's Ed. For those of you who don't know Ed, he's our neighbor. As a retired farmer, Ed appreciates a hard day of work. Although his stamina has faded in his old age, his desire to help is alive and kicking. Sometimes it's hard to find tasks that feed his hunger to be a workhorse, without risking cardiac arrest! So, here he is helping clean up after demolishing the cabinet in the basement.

A little house party and the HUDling gets plastered!

We opted for a day of fun and a day of work this weekend. So after a picnic at the beach, a matinee movie, and some fun at a friend's open house party, today, we headed over to the HUDling to roll up our sleeves (ok, no need to roll short sleeves), and get dirty. Today was plaster day and the HUDling surely got plastered...cracks, holes, loose spots - all targeted by our lean, mean, plaster repair team (Kate, Rit, and Mel). Thanks to Mel for her help again this weekend! And thanks to Frank and Peg for the toilet Mel delivered! Finally, a place sit down to take a break (there are no chairs over there).

Our kind neighbor, Old Ed, also chipped in and helped tear apart a cabinet in the basement. Neat old cabinet, but really was doing a better job serving as a moisture/mold sponge, so it had to go!

Pictures, you want? Yep, took some but left the camera over there so enjoy the suspense.

Sing along: I'm being swallowed by a....

Vine-a constrictor? Yes, and a very hungry one. One that swallows windows, gutters, antenna, and anything else in its path! Check out this thing! It was so merciless that it practially ate Kate while she wrestled with it! Actually, we only finished two sides of the house. That means we have two more to go! I hope its growth doesn't catch up with us. Otherwise, we will spend the rest of our days circling the house, battling the V.O.U.S. Vines of Unusual Size? Don't think they exist? (Watch your back!)

But because it looks cool, we just tamed the beast rather than putting it entirely to rest.

Yes, we're still alive...and so is the HUDling!

OK, we have not accomplished nearly as much as we had hoped by this point in the summer, but we are still working toward our deadline of completing the HUDling before school begins....Yikes!

Here are some pictures from our recent work (removing the tub, getting down to the studs). Check out the newspaper clipping found in the walls - October 1950 Sheboygan Press - what a deal on blouses!

Thanks Ted! and other stuff

Dry laid stone foundations were common 100+ year ago. Inspector Brad noted that although this house's foundation was in good condition and is structurally sound, some of the stones on the interior wall were loose and the mortar on a small portion of the exterior had deteriorated due to vine growth. So, Ted came today to do some tuck pointing. I forgot to take the camera along, but the deed is now done! Thanks Ted! I'll take pictures tomorrow and add them to the post.

Didn't get a whole lot else accomplished there today.....tore out the carpeting in the basement, topping off the already full dumpster...time to get it emptied! Also took out the really bad wall framing in the basement. The paneling that it once flimsily supported was already long gone. And I tore down some of the aggressive vines on the west side of the house...in part to get them out of Ted's way.

We also picked out some paint colors today - Heirloom Lace for the kitchen cabinets and Winter Wheat for the walls, most likely living room, kitchen, dining room. The online images don't look like the paint samples we picked up, especially the winter wheat. I don't even know why I included the links here. It is really more of a warm yellow.