Think Spring
I decided to update Hardy House's portrait. My son did some landscaping for us over the summer and this was the result. I think it looks nice, don't you? We planted hydrangeas which I think will look nice as they get larger. They sort of give that old-fashioned kind of look that I think works well with the style and period of our home. The porch needs work but we will probably have to rip a lot of it out and rebuild it. A mason has looked at it and told us a repair will not work. So there we are...it gets added to the never-ending list of things to do.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Well, it's now well into 2013 and life marches on.

This picture is a view to our back field, however, last weekend we had record warm temperatures and all the snow melted. Alas, that warm weather does not last and we are getting colder and colder and will expect more snow soon.

Dave and I have created a "to do" list for the month of January. An item on that list is to get the drawers finished for the downstairs vanity and get them installed. This, as with every project at Hardy House, has been more difficult than planned. The drawers had to be cut to work around the plumbing. This we anticipated. What we didn't realize is the poor shape the drawers were in. Dave has been repairing and re-gluing them. A couple are still in clamps and one may be ready for installation tonight. Actually, with the warm weather this past weekend he was able to work on these. The barn is just too cold this time of year, otherwise. It really limits our ability to work on things.

So the rest of the items on the "to do" list for this month are mainly ensuring the designs are solid and accurate for the rest of the built-ins in the house. We also hope to hang the door to the basement. This all doesn't seem like much but Dave's a busy guy at work so time is limited and the weather is limiting. We do what we can.

What are your plans for the next couple of months?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Hardy House!Another year is almost at end and 2012 has been a good year at Hardy House. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope it finds you happy and healthy and that you are full of hope.

This is a picture of the old barn at Hardy House and also the sections of fence we put up last year by the shed. We hope to landscape the area in back of the fence to be a nice patio area with an outdoor fireplace. In time, in time...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!
It has begun! We had a lovely Thanksgiving and now we are starting to get ready for Christmas at Hardy House. Yesterday we purchased our tree from Urtz's Evergreens. Their tree farm is about five minutes from us. It is so convenient and a perk of living in the country, I guess.

The other thing we try to do at Christmas is put a wreath on our old barn. A number of years ago, Dave and I built a (approximately) 6 foot diameter wreath from thin plywood (I think it's 1/2"). To that we lay pine boughs around it. These we cut from an overgrown arborvitae near the house. Once the boughs are laid on it we wind green twine around it to secure the boughs. Then we put a bow on it and hang it on the barn. We don't have the light for it hooked up yet but we do shine a light on it in the evening. I'll try to get a picture of that once we get the light hooked up. I hope you enjoy it.

Yes!

We knocked out the temporary shower and I couldn't be happier. Do we have more work to do to repair the wall, the floor, etc? You bet. But we also now have a nice, new, workable bathroom. And, I can't tell you what a luxury it is to have a beautiful bathroom once again. It also opened up the front of the house to the back of the house. I'm a lucky girl. Here are some pics of us dismantling the shower. Exciting, eh?

Hurricane Sandy
Hardy House has stood the test, as expected. Hurricane Sandy hit us with sustained winds of about 40 MPH and gusts to about 60-65 MPH and the house never even shook--not at all. Everything is intact and we are blessed. We are only about 20-25 minutes south of Lake Ontario. They were getting 15-20 foot waves last night. A lot of people don't realize how big the waves can get on the Great Lakes. We hope that others along the eastern seaboard have come through this unscathed. 

Downstairs Bath

Check it out! The tile work has been done. Some caulking, some of the fixtures still need some installation and tweaking but it's basically done. The vanity, mirror and lights are installed and artwork hung. Again, caulking still needs completing but it will happen shortly. Curtains will be delivered shortly and we will get the shower curtain rod installed and a few other things need to be installed yet, but it's coming along and it's usable. Yipee!

As a reminder from previous posts, we bought an antique oak dresser and modified it to be a vanity. We bought a piece of stock oak and routed it, etc., then stained it for a back splash. We mounted it to the vanity with steel plates. We purchased the antique oak mirror at an auction never thinking we would put the two together but realized they were perfectly paired. To install the mirror we used a slotted angle at the top which is not visible and then the bottom of the mirror we used chair braces in an antique bronze finish which connected the mirror to the back splash. The lights were from Renovator's Supply that we purchased quite a while ago. It was good to get them from storage and get them installed. I'll add more pictures once the bath is all done. Let me know what you think!

The tiling in the upstairs bath has been completed, too, but I don't have the pic up yet. We are getting there folks.