Sooooo close and yet....

I went up to the church this past weekend when I got back from Los Angeles. I am soooo close to really having a habitable homestead but just not quite there. It's frustrating when all the pieces don't fit into place and the schedule is thrown off. Our original tile guy had some personal problems and we had to wait another week to get someone else on the job. David got someone and we are on our way.

I'm happy with the way it's turning out. The floor already has the radiant mat installed and the first coat of thin set. I think he will be finished this week and then the sinks, vanity, shower panel and glass shower doors can be installed and I will have a WORKING BATHROOM!!!
In another HUGE step, look what showed up. The kitchen cabinets, counter tops and appliances. I cannot wait to work in this kitchen. I can have five people prepping and no one will get in each other's way. After 30 years of NYC apartment kitchens, this is going to be amazing.

The island countertop is Caesarstone which looks like dark concrete. It will show up on March 2nd with a guy who will make a template with my kitchen sink and faucets and come back to install on March 15th.
I got one of the stools I bought in the summer out of my storage space so David could use it to figure out the height of the breakfast bar.

Another really nice bit of progress was on the east wall. David installed the plywood wall (which I'll stain with a clear varnish) and trimmed out the patio doors on the right. He told me he finished the patio door on the left yesterday. I am really happy with how it came out.

David promised to get rid of all the crap on the deck and this lovely pile of crap that is sitting out on my front lawn. I mean I love a little white trash but this is overkill.

I also found a door that we could use for the entrance to the basement. This is the first thing you see when you walk into the space so it had to be nice. But when you're running out of money, as I am, you figure something out. I think this is a nice solution and it cost fifty bucks at the flea market.

And I found another door that was tall enough to hang on barn door hardware for the bathroom. I'm starting to throw the cherry color of the butcher block counters around the rest of the main floor.

Often, David puts stuff up with a nail just so I can see it. He put up this brace on the entryway to the "music room".

I wasn't crazy about it because it looked a little too rustic and "barn-ish". I asked him if a brace like that is needed. He said it wasn't absolutely necessary but would help the structure's stability. So, we found a solution to the brace that I preferred. Rusty metal, natch!

I also ordered a bed for my bedroom loft. The floor is all painted and ready to go. Here's the room.

 And here's the bed.

Here's a reminder of what that room used to look like.

I can not wait to wake up to a view of the Hudson River!

And here's a picture of Sparky and his new roommate, Augie. Sparky isn't really feeling Augie at the moment as Augie's main purpose in life, it seems, is to bite his ears and follow him every where he goes.

I'm leaving for Los Angeles at the end of this week and then Nashville and will be back upstate just in time for Mary Gauthier's show at Club Helsinki on Friday, March 4th. If you're in the neighborhood, come to the show. And if you feel like picking up a paintbrush, broom, rag or mop, come on by to the church in the 'Sack on Saturday!

Stops and Starts

I've been traveling for work this past week and haven't been able to post photos from the week before. It's getting really busy at Roadrunner. Last week, Myriam Santos and I went to Seattle to shoot Queensryche. Then I flew to LA to shoot Kenny Wayne Shepherd with Mark Seliger. On Saturday, I met up with Myriam again to make some art with Jenny Owen Youngs in the Valentino Suite at the Hotel Alexandria.
Before I left for Seattle, I got up to the church to see how the floors looked with their first complete sanding. Here's how they looked:

David had taken down the spindles and bannister which made me really happy. He explained that the wood is good wood and was probably installed to be seen. I still think I might paint the risers. We'll see. I'm costing out various railing solutions so that goes under the "We'll See" category as well.
Here's the view from the side:

And this is looking down from my bedroom loft on to the office staircase and beyond to the eventual kitchen.

And this was verrrrrry exciting to me because it looked just like I hoped it would, here's the painted floor in the bedroom loft:

The fact that the tongue and groove on the ceiling did not meet perfectly at the pitch drove David crazy. Frankly, it didn't bother me and I had told him not to spend the extra day that it would take, which totally surprised Deb, who thought I would be all OCD about something like that. Anyway, David can't live with it (and at the moment, it's more HIS house than mine) so he's placing a piece of trim across the length of the pitch.

To take my mind off the spinning wheel of the renovation, Deb and I went to see the Albany Allstars Roller Derby. It was a blast; a really fun family event.

But we had some setbacks as well. Of course. There was a big snowstorm on the day we were supposed to poly the floors so that had to wait for two days, do the second coat the day after, and a third day to cure. Nothing can really happen when that's happening.
This was all going on as I was leaving for Seattle.
While I was away, David and I spoke daily and things were moving along.
When I got back to NYC, I got a call from David: "Gail, do you have a minute?"
This is never a great sign. It turns out that someone dropped a hammer onto the tub just after it was installed. David wanted the model number so he could replace it. If you had to bust something, that was a good one, it's just a run of the mill American Standard White porcelain. If it were the shower doors, it would be painful.
Then, one of David's helpers, who is our tiling guy, had a family crisis. I said to David, "We're human beings here at the church. I don't want to take his work away, so give him a week to get it together and if he can't, then we'll find someone else." This was tough because tiling is the lynchpin to getting closer to running water in the bathroom.
So... when I go up next weekend, I hope to see the following:
MOST OF THE KITCHEN CABINETS AND APPLIANCES INSTALLED!!!!!!!!!
That will be huge, enormous, monumental.
And whatever else gets done will just be icing on the cake.
Oh hey! Here's a photo of Deb showing off Sparky's new little brother, August. We call him Augie. Sparky is traumatized by his presence but I know it will work out.

And finally, the Hudson River.

Stay tuned.