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March 17, 2012: Finally, a milestone to report...! We finished installing the flooring this afternoon -- yeah! Unfortunately it's not prefinished flooring so we still have lots of work ahead of us before we can say it's really done, but at least it's DOWN! We were both so tired and sore that we bought a pizza from the Orcas Landing and came home and watched movies rather than attend the community potluck. We still have several piles of lumber, probably 500 sq. ft. of raw lumber, stacked in the living room. Hopefully we'll find a home for it soon'ish! However, in the meantime, the dining room windows are now accessible and tomorrow we'll start framing them. The lumber yard called to say one door is in; it's probably the bathroom since that's the first one we ordered. Jim will leave it there as long as possible -- we'd prefer the flooring be completely done before we install interior doors.

March 11, 2012: Time flies when you're having fun! It's been a very busy month. I actually got to spend a weekend off island quilting with some friends -- boy, was that fun! And I realized that that was the first time since we returned (in 2008) that I had driven off island! Happy to report that I didn't kill anyone and I could remember how to push the gas pedal down to go 55 mph! :-) Jim attended a trade show down in Seattle. Unfortunately the Subaru decided not to behave, forcing him to take his huge van that doesn't fit in underground garages, and we all know how few street-level parking lots there are any more. But he ran into his friend, Brian, and enjoyed the show.

On the home front...we built the custom bathroom vanity (40" wide x 12" high), mounted it and Jim tiled and grouted the top. The tiling is now 100% finished -- yippee! We gave away/sold our excess grouts and paint, and the tile cutter was returned to its rightful owner today. The house is gradually being emptied of tools and supplies. As of today, the flooring in the dining room/kitchen area is 1/2 finished laying. Unfortunately, we're at the point where we are going to have to relocate the remaining flooring so we can finish off the area. Our neighbor behind us is also building and planning to put down hardwood, so we'll see if he's interested in our excess lumber. (I have decided that I'd prefer linoleum in the loft.) The ceiling fans for the living room and bedroom arrived and the interior doors should be here any day. Assuming Jim can balance his workload, we are hoping to be ready to call for an occupancy permit by mid-June. This is a major financial crunch time as we buy and install everything that we need to get the permit.

And finally, on the weather front, I think Mother Nature woke up one day and said to herself, "Oh gosh! I forgot to give the Pacific NW some winter weather!" Ever since I wrote that our weather has improved, it's been lousy -- cold, snow, sleet, heavy rain, sun -- sometimes all in the same day! NOAA has a wind alert in effect for the next 24 hrs., predicting that we could see gusts up to 60 mph. I think we're good; if it hasn't already blown off the boat, it probably won't! But it sounds like we could be in for a wild ride tonight. Like I said, "blaaahhhh...."

Feb. 16, 2012: The flooring in the living room/dining room is half down...but now we're at the point where we are approaching the stack of flooring, which is against the dining room wall and still 3' high. So we relocated the 10' lengths to the other end of the living room and started using the 12' lengths of wood (naturally, the longer lengths are at the bottom of the pile). We have more flooring material than we need, which means that we're going to have to find someplace large enough in the house to put these longer lengths of wood -- not an easy task as it is not a big house! We had originally hoped that there might be enough left over to do the floor in the loft of the barn, but that doesn't appear it will be the case. Aarrgghh! In the meantime, Jim has a full schedule of customers this week so no further work is being done; I work this Sat. and we are the Start Committee for the Winter Shaw Classic sailboat race on Sunday.

Feb. 9, 2012: The weather has definitely improved and I have declared winter to be over! The daffodils are up about 2" and daily temps are in the upper 40s. Surely Spring can't be far away!

As I say every month...on the home front...the bathroom grout finally arrived. I think it was delivered by mule! The tile floor is finished and Jim has started putting the baseboard down. The lumber for the vanity and the linen closet arrived yesterday. The hardwood flooring in the bedroom, sewing room and hallway is down (still to be sanded, stained and finished). Last weekend we layed enough flooring in the living room to install Door #2. Gosh, we look like a real live house with a real live proper front door! The parts for the propane stove arrived and Jim now has the stove talking to the thermostat. We can continue the flooring in the living room, but eventually we'll have to stop and turn our attention to the bathroom vanity so we can get rid of the tile cutter, which is currently in the kitchen. Are you following all of this? Jim ordered the doors for the bedroom, bathroom, utility closet, laundry room and coat closet today; they should be here some time next month. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll finish the flooring before the doors arrive.

Peter's 80th birthday was a few days ago so we had a party for him last weekend. Joyce & Nick flew up from the Bay Area and we had a good crowd for his birthday celebration. I baked his favorite cake (chocolate w/raspberries) and there was lots of good food, wine and champagne. We took them out to the Orcas Hotel for dinner on Monday, his actual birthday. It was a nice treat for all of us.

Jan. 18, 2012: Winter arrived last weekend with colder weather and bouts of snow and freezing rain. Today the wind is honking from the north and sleet and snow pellets are tapping at the windows. The temp is in the mid-20s...brrr! The foam insert that we stuff into the gap at the door was either pulled out by Amber or blew out; in any case, Jim had to clear the snow from the inside of the door and it was only 58 degrees inside! I'm supposed to be at work in 12 min. but I REALLY don't want to go out! I doubt customers will be knocking on the marina's doors so maybe I'll finish my coffee, have some oatmeal and go in at 0900.

On the home front, the hardwood flooring is going down -- yes!! It's 3/4" tongue and groove fir. The master bedroom is almost done and the hall is about 1/2 done. The flooring is Grade D, which means it has lots of knots, holes, splinters, etc. that need to be cut out. We got ourselves into a routine; I cut, sorted and stacked and Jim nailed them down with the assistance of a refurbished pneumatic flooring nailer that he bought.

The tile rug in the bathroom is finished and looks terrific. Unfortunately the grout got lost in transit so we're waiting for a replacement. We'll put the baseboard down after the grouting is done. We need to address the bathroom vanity sooner than later; the counter top tiles will need to be cut and the tile cutter moved out of the kitchen before we can continue putting the flooring down. And we're at the point where we can order the bathroom door (privacy, what a concept!).

We took Jim's new huge Ford Econoline E250 van to America last week and visited several second-hand stores in search of kitchen cabinets. We lucked out and found an older plywood set in very good condition consisting of 4 bases and 7 uppers; we paid $425. It's definitely not our dream kitchen but should serve us well for the time being. The store owner helped us load everything into the van, then we raced from Mt. Vernon to Anacortes. We arrived just as our ferry was loading; we were way at the back of the boat, but we were very happy to be on it. Had we missed it, we would have had a 4 hr. wait for the next one. The winter ferry schedule sucks big time.

Well, I don't see any lights on at the marina, which means no one is at work. The snow is blowing sideways and we can no longer see the shore. It's blowing 30 kts. I do believe I hear my sewing machine calling my name and it just so happens that I have a quilt top ready to be sandwiched and quilted. Have a wonderful day! :-)

Jan. 1, 2012: What to call this chapter of my journal...such a dilemma. "We're still here" or "House building sucks", just to name a few ideas. In the end, I decided on Half and Half, mainly because we're still half on the boat and half on land. I'm at the point where I wish I were one place or the other, but not doing the split as I am now. Ah, maybe it's time for a talk with a good shrink! The pizza open house was a huge success with 43 attendees over the course of the afternoon. As with last year, friends Frank & Jane made the pizzas while Jim and I gave guided tours. The bathroom got rave reviews (even though the floor wasn't 100% complete) and so many people were amazed at how much space we actually have inside -- from the outside, it looks like it's a very small house, but the cathedral ceilings really add to the space. Getting ready for the party takes lots of planning and is getting to be too much for P&B, so next year, everything will take place down our end. Sure hope the house is finished by then! ps. Happy New Year!

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