THE KEYS!

Just crossed paths with our real estate agent while running errands in town. The listing agent will be delivering our keys at 2pm!
This is so different from all our other closings in the past. John was off Wednesday and when we called the title company that morning the papers were ready to go. We'd gone to the trouble of getting a power of attorney for me to sign in case everything came together and he couldn't get off work to sign documents. I was so grateful we didn't need it and we could be together for this very important moment in our lives.
Every other time we've closed we've signed papers and been handed the keys. This is also the first time we've bought a home that we expect to keep and not just turn around and move or trade up.
Now comes the hard part- fixing it all up! Something I've always wanted to do and never had the chance. I love make overs and now I'm ready to begin mine.
always,
Vickie
PS Have an Amazing Palm Sunday.
HE IS RISEN!

One Week Five Days....

I looked at the calendar and got a shock last Friday. It was two weeks until closing! Yikes! The main thing left is to choose some tile to go in front of the wood stove insert to protect the flooring from heat and also from the wood that will inevitably get dumped on occasion. The tricky part is matching all the flooring to the tile and the brick fireplace as well. Maybe the right slate? Another thing to consider is that later we'll be tearing into the tile raised area downstairs for a second wood stove. What tile do I want on that huge expanse of floor and wall? John does't like the cobblestone river rock look that is very popular around here. My brain just gets tired with all the decisions it's having to make lately and under a pretty tight time frame. Good thing flooring is the last major one. Paint you can change any old time but tile if done right will last forever.... always, Vickie

A Plethora of Painting Possibilities...

Our first bid for a complete inside paint job was $7,000. Our next bid by another professional painting buddy was $4,300 based basically on $1.45 a square foot. I'm assuming that's based on the rough figure of 3,000 square feet of home space I quoted him. Both are more than we're going to be able to spend. Our budget was $3,900 but I'm guessing that's closer to $2,000 after our contractor added some cushion to our other bids. Reading back over this, it is sounds so boring! Paint isn't boring it's exciting! All those fun and fanciful colors grace the displays in hardware stores and are irresistible to those of us seeking an affordable pizzazz in our lives. Cool names like Dover Grey and Wedding Veil adorned our last house with Mallard Green for the shutters. I think those were from Benjamin Moore but I'm not quite sure. After all it's been a good ten years since we've done a major painting project. We're figuring that we'll probably end up doing some painting ourselves. We're doing the carpet removal and some floor prep. I'm a pretty good masker and general painting assistant. Renting a spray gun is about $65 and we should be able to spray the house in one day if everything is taped and masked and ready to go.... The sweetest deal I've found so far is a basic paint light cream or on the brown side for $8 a gallon in bulk. This is good Sherwin Williams Paint from a painting company that mixes together all their leftovers and wholesales it to selected parties. We happen to know the right people and can take advantage of this amazing price! Even with this super sweet deal it's not cheap to paint the whole interior. Our painting buddy estimates it'll take 60 gallons of paint which comes to $480 and another estimate was maybe twice that. Looks like we might not get fresh paint on the ceilings but they really don't get very dirty and the former animal smell is fading as visitors come and the place airs out more. We will be rolling on the primer for a couple of very dark brown walls. I'd probably just do a fancy glaze on them but John can't stand that particular color so it's going to be eliminated post haste. So much for paragraph breaks that won't show up! Thanks for visiting and I can't wait start really working on things! Vickie

Our Laminate's on sale

This is a link/picture of the laminate flooring we like. Be sure to click on the room view button to see what it looks like installed! It's called Bourbon Street Applewood. We want yellow walls but not mustard yellow like in this picture...maybe white glossy trim...... always, vickie

The Last Bid

Hurray! Last night we got our final bid! A1 Stove and Fireplace Shop owner and son came out and evaluated our new house from the inside to see what they could do for us and how much that would cost. The final recommendation was to get a Lopi ( low- pie) insert to replace what we thought was a wood stove insert in the fireplace upstairs. What we had wasn't even really an insert but a "face" that just made the fireplace a bit more efficient and they even found a crack in it so it's basically useless. FYI the life expectancy of a wood stove is about 15 years. It's a shame the hearth downstairs isn't big enough or even the best place to place a wood stove to get the most bang for our buck. We'd have to dismantle the wall tiles, and dig back in hoping there'd be a nice alcove to set the stove in and then the heat probably wouldn't circulate up to the bedroom wing. Big project and so we'll think about what do to with that whole area sometime in the future. It will be lots simpler to pop in the Freedom Insert by Lopi and have them run new piping up the existing chimney for now. The one in the picture looks pretty good and it has a nice 7" wide shelf for a cook top. I doubt that we'll be able to get a small enough dutch oven to fit but we'll be doing some research to find some appropriate back up cooking accessories for emergencies. Any suggestions? Our contractor took his computer into the shop last night :( so I typed up all the bids and will have to stop by the library to get copies as our printer still is on the fritz. If everything passes his approval they'll be signed sealed and delivered firsts thing in the morning. Then Wells Fargo can schedule the appraisal. Gotta Go! always, Vickie

Freakout Time Yet?

So we're waiting on two more bids; the flooring guy as his bid is now different now that the kitchen had water issues and that flooring will have to be dealt with, and the fireplace specialist can't come until Tuesday (he came a different day but our agent was out of town and he couldn't get into the house). Firm bids are back from the electrician, general contractor, and plumber. Our contractor would love to get things going by March 19th so that he can get things done and start on his farming projects..... The bids have to be in and then we move forward......patience is not my strong point at this moment in time! Looks like all appliances will be used as the money is going to all go into basic needed house repairs. Just hoping the Appraiser doesn't come up with too many unexpected additions to the needed repairs... so distracted I forgot to even sign off... sending love your way, always, Vickie

Jumping Through Hoops....

Can't believe it's been a week since I posted. It's getting busier around here with getting all the bids together and figuring out all the paperwork and hoops our lender wants us to jump through for this "special" 203K FHA loan plus helping my son finish up his eagle paperwork. We stopped by Friday but the fellow who reviews the forms was sick. The secretary did a quick once over and we headed home to fix the two details she pointed out, and to add the photographs from his eagle project we had sitting on the table back home. I'm having a hard time remembering every stinkin detail of late! Today all the kids are back in school after their Presidents Day vacation. I was able to mail the eagle forms instead of drive them back down- travel time 1 hr each way and $20 in gas saved. I did stop by the library and make copies in case of a mail snafu, and paid for a special envelope and sent mail confirmation- under $10 and I got to keep those 2 hours for other stuff. Got the plumbers bid and was pleased. It was about a thousand less than I'd expected, but that is an estimate. This will include flushing all the gunk out of the galvanized pipes, installing the shower in the downstairs bathroom, and repairing the leak in the kitchen floor. Oh and we'll get our hot water line converted from 3/8 inch to 3/4 inches. YES! One can never have enough hot water :) Was sad that my real estate agent wasn't in town when I got a last minute call from the wood stove specialist/installer. He was able to stop by and see the irrigation pipe used for the old wood stove but wasn't able to evaluate the current insert in the upstairs fireplace. We had considered purchasing a used wood stove but the new ones are so efficient that it'll be worth it to buy new and use less than half the wood we'd need with an older model. I'd much rather use 4 cords of wood per winter than 8-12! I also like the idea of only having to clean the chimney once a year instead of more frequently. Well I'd best get busy with chores again. I've taken out the trash, shoveled the steps, ran errand, cooked the dried beans, and washed whites for starters. Plus I made phone calls and worked online. Can't believe it's about time for the kids to walk in the door. Have a great day, always, Vickie