The Blizzard of 2009

On Saturday, we received a record 18 inches of snow. The cats are not amused.

No, Blake has not shrunk - he is up to his knees in snow!

I don't think I'll be driving my car until this stuff melts.

Though I did clean it off to try and keep the roof from caving in. Check out the snow packed in the tires!

Guest blogger: Marcia

all hallow's eve

a liberated little read riding hood...she's got her own chainsaw and a cute pet!

finally...the (stair) finishing line

click for bigger (and readable) image...

ahhhh...much better

see? now those are stairs we can actually finish with some clear varnish. and the contractors shifted them into the correct position so we have more than 6' of headroom.



...and the wood framing around the top doesn't look too bad. not sure if we'll paint or leave it exposed.


come on by and take 'em for a ride!

stairs!..sort of

in the process of having stairs built...


hopefully the chipboard risers will miraculously turn into glorious hardwood soon.

colors, cushions, AND lights!

colors...colors...

a little touch of auburn...it's slightly brighter than it appears in the pic. i love it.




view of the bathroom wall (still adorned with tape).

painting! now that i can handle.

painting begins! it's really starting to feel like a livable room. and don't worry. we've still got the crazy burgundy/red/purple/auburn color for the end walls (watch for the update).

for now, check out the
before:


and after (see the samples on the back wall?):

woo hoo! it's starting!

we decided to have some real professionals take care of the drywall....here goes!

window to the final phase...

i honestly did not think we could do it. ..especially after the entire wood frame came out WITH the old window. there was nothing left but a ~square hole in a cinderblock wall.



but with mike's help....




and the help of keith's 12 gauge ultimate nail impaler ....




we got it in! it doesn't look too bad...just don't look at it from the outside :(

J-hole, WY

this is jackson hole wyoming...beautiful.

...especially on the back of a sweet two stroke snowmobile....

progress!!

we're nearly ready for drywall! it still looks a bit skeletal now though.

unrequited love...

Geometry really is useful in real life

"So the hypotenuse of the angle is the square of the radi, right?"

How many rhombus, rectangles or squares do you see?

Young geometric forms waiting to be appreciated...

all that room....

will slowly get eaten away with newly framed walls, insulation, drywall...but it gives a nice perspective on the entire attic. oh yeah, and watch your step around the stairs!

slowly but surely...

no, those aren't speed stripes installed in our rafters. that's insulation and ventilation! yea, we've actually started to build instead of destroy (although there's always more to destroy).

oh yeah, we may've just decided to remove those oh-so-structurally-(un)needed rafter ties. but don't worry, we researched online for like 30 minutes.

wild animals in northern VA

out with the old...

just like the boxer sheds pound after pound of useless flab, so shall we rip our attic a new one and dispose of the waste

attic demo

redoing our attic in our spare time (with a little help from our friends)

our lovely "snow cave"
the furnace installers did us a favor....look at all that reclaimable space!

ah, what are friends for...to demolish your home evidently

maiden voyage

now i'm out there. i feel so naked