A Ma-chine....

We used to joke in the lab when you were cranking through the experiments that you were "a Ma-chine".  For some this meant pulling out the lab drawers for extra bench space and having no less than 3 qRT-PCR plates going at one time (96 little wells each)- a major accomplishment.  I am not sure that I have been a ma-chine in the lab for a few years but the work at the house these days may well qualify for Ma-chine status.  You don't even need an MD or PhD to be a Ma-chine. 

Over the last week or so the walls have gone up, the roof on and the whole shooting match clad in Tyvek-  you can see where the windows will be for the bedroom/ bathroom upstairs and the dining room downstairs but the kitchen windows are hidden beneath.

The kitchen/ dining room have been left alone for now to concentrate on the upstairs.  In one week we have gone from a mere box to a space that feels real in 3 dimensions.  The focus has been closets- I love my new closets- I am sure I will have them filled up in no time.  Though, I hope that the doors will be strong enough to contain it all.  I haven't asked for a closet to house all the socks that have no mates.  Maybe I can put them all into the dumpster?  What really does happen to socks?  Is it a conspiracy against us?  I can't blame the dryer for losing them all- or can I?

For a while there was some kind of torture going on with plastic on my windows.  I could not see into the space no matter where I looked from the ground.  I finally mentioned this to Peter and soon the plastic was gone and alas I could see in and behold the room!

On Thursday Peter, Dave, John and I worked on the closet spaces.  What I had envisioned and how many closets would suit my needs.  One big closet or two smaller ones with dedicated hanging space and then shelves and cubbies?  We eventually decided that I would have 2 closets, with the larger one having shelves etc for sweaters and shoes.  I really hope that the moths don't find me here.  Maybe they can stay where they are or go to someone else's house!  I am so tired of putting on a sweater to find it full of holes.  I am not 100% sure when I see a hole if it's moth damage or a hole that Coal has caused by jumping on  me to say hello and biting me (his thing).  But for whatever reason I own no sweater without at least one hole.  Oh, you are wondering if we talked about Dave's closet- well not really- all I know is that his will be opposite to mine and not as big.  He may have to put a lock on the closet door to ensure that I don't move into that one too :-)

After we spoke and went to work for the day, Dave was the first one home.  In his excitement to go see the progress he didn't have the big light and only a small flashlight.  He found out that his closet was pretty close to the window which we use to go in and out of the space (the crew goes up though a new window via a ladder).  Dave conked his head on a pole!  I really wish that I was there to see that!  I did laugh pretty hard when he told me about it.

Watch your head!

The following day the post was gone and the new framing of the closet unveiled!

Bathroom entrance

Bathroom and closet door areas

Entrance to closet sanctuary

Closet for hanging clothes

Linen closet- Future home of all my antique French linens

The other thing we decided on was the size of the shower and whether or not to have a bench at one end.  After some thought and survey of friends about the bench idea- we decided that the bench was a good thing to have.  The clincher for me was a comment about it being easier to shave my legs (this has been a major problem in our current shower- thank God it's winter).

The new Restoration Hardware vanity will tuck into this neat space.  I haven't heard about the delivery yet and now wondering if they had actually ordered it.  Perhaps I will be checking on that soon. 

Restoration Hardware vanity will tuck in here

Bathroom window area

Shower will be here somewhere

Peter had told us that the ceiling was going to have all sorts of interesting angles.  We smiled and nodded like we had a clue as to what he was talking about.  All the time wondering what the Hell he was talking about.  Well, this week we learned what those interesting angles really were.  He was right- they are interesting and really great!

Ceiling looking from outside towards old house- very cool!

Ceiling looking from old house to outside.

The saga of the window color has continued.  When Peter was here we discussed it further and decided to try again with new colors.  This time we chose Norwich Brown for the casings.  The Greenfield Pumpkin was just not right.  We thought to try Georgian Brick which Peter thought may fade to pink over time but we wanted to try it anyway.  Dave painted up more windows with both sash colors.  We took them outside to assess the colors and make a final decision.  I had to admit that I liked the combination with the Aztec Brick better than the other- which looked dull and already had a pink undertone.  I saw Dave actually gloat after I admitted this to him.  He was really choking back a big grin- and not successfully!  I think that the new color combination will give Dave the sash color he wanted and me the subdued casing color.


Left= Norwich Brown and Georgian Brick
***Right= Norwich Brown and Aztec Brick
*** indicated the winning combination

Here's Dave toiling away on the windows.  There are a ton of windows for him to paint with 2 coats.  But he likes this puttery type of work and is pretty meticulous about the process. 

Dave starting to paint another of the 34 windows- Go Dave!