The Rebirth of the William Tripp House: Inconvenient- yes, but worth it!

Oh dear, I am falling behind in my posts! But to catch you all up.... The "spectacular shell" is becoming even more so with the clapboards extending around the house now. There is only one small area left to do but that is waiting until we tear out the old kitchen to make the library (it will get 2 new windows). I don't even recognize the house as my own. The design is really apparent now with the merge of the old and new structures bridged so cleverly with a depth that brings the eye front to back. Friends keep complaining of neck pains as the crank their heads around as they drive by.

The angles and depth are really apparent now

In the last few weeks the reclaimed southern yellow pine flooring has been installed in the new kitchen. It is really beautiful with all the different colors. Last week the floors were finished with many coats of tung oil. It leaves a wonderful luster to the floors and deepens the color. But with anything good it was a rather inconvenient process since it stinks to high heaven and each coat needed time to sink in and dry between coats. The new addition was off limits for an entire week and all dogs had to go out and around the house on leases again. Guess what- it rained a lot last week...

I stuck my iPhone through the window from the outside to see the floors- coat #2

Each coat of tung oil adds a new depth to the wood

This was after the last coat which was a more matt finish (I think)

So much texture to these floors.

This inconvenience will be nothing when it comes to finishing the floors in the old dining room that will be opened up to the kitchen and become the new landing for the modern staircase to the second floor. Stairs that can be negotiated with baskets, furniture, dogs and people of all ages I hope! Anyway, the challenge will be where we can all be while that happens. We may be "roughing it" in the barn and going up and down a ladder into the new bedroom for a few days. What ever it takes- I'm game for it! All part of the adventure ride we are on.

The day of the first tung oil coat was the day that our good friends Cathy and Robbie came down for an evening out for Robbie's birthday. They hadn't seen the house since the addition went on so it was sad that we couldn't take them into the new kitchen but we peered through the windows. We tried our best to have some cocktails and cheese somewhere in the house. Cathy and I sat in the new closets (only place to sit) and had wine only to find that Dave and Robbie had taken the cheese plate with them into the barn. Just like men not to tell their wives where they've gone! We did finally figure out that they were not coming upstairs.

New party central in the barn.

Dave was dressed in his foul weather gear to bring the new hens into the coop. Cathy and Robbie were nice enough to pick up our 6 new pullets from MA and drive them down to us. They arrived just in time for the skies to open up.

The Gloucester chicken guy????

2 of the new girls making themselves at home
3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Golden Comets

The new hens are named after Spanish wines (the 3 Spanish reds- Malbec, Rioja and Tempranillo) and the Golden comets of course named after comets.

Last week Bob and the little purple digger showed up again. There was a lot of dirt being moved all over the place. Before I could figure out a what was going on Bob had made a great terraced stone retaining wall. Dave wants to plant pachysandra there but I think that is too boring. How about this year planting a little kitchen garden there? Lettuce, herbs, a few tomatoes. Let's face it the rest of the yard is going to be a wreck for quite a while.....