September 26, 2006

Lake House Update

Time out for a few words on the lake house. We're making slow but positive and steady progress, at this rate, it will be some time before we see our dream become reality, but hey, what's the rush? As you can see, the paneling is getting it's primer... another full day and I should be ready to move on to the three or four coats the grass cloth will absorb. We're not going to change the dark window trim and ceiling beams for now... will make those decisions as we go. Already it's such a terrific change from the dark paneling. We took up the carpet and had a moment's hope that the cork tile underneath might be salvageable, saving the cost of hardwoods... but not to be.

J took down a view-blocking hedge row (they were such small shrubs when I planted them!) and we interviewed Bubba and his partner for the cleaning up process of the empty lot. This is going to be our biggest expense/project, but the one that brings purpose to the whole scenario.
Over the years there have been a number of trees felled and stacked to rot in big heaps, and in order to get them moved (can't burn,) a road/trail will have to be cut down the steep hill. That's fine, I want a way to get a car down anyway as we expect to do a lot of the finish work down by the lake ourselves and will need to be able to haul a trash-trailer up and down... not to mention that someday, for whatever reason, one of us might prefer to ride rather than hike the hill. I get the feeling that some of these guys we're talking to are envisioning clear cutting the property though we repeatedly stress the opposite. Like "Why'n'cha tie a red ribbon 'round the ones you want to keep." Uh... how 'bout I tie one around the ones I want you to take down? Amazing how my voice gets lost in the breeze... like a bad joke that's best ignored. >>Shudder!<< style="text-align: center;">* * * * * *
In the studio, work has begun on stretching and prepping a set of large canvases (up to 60") in hopes of having the bulk of my Feb show finished before Xmas. I'd best be focusing!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What? Painting over grass cloth? Haven't you seen all the design magazines lately? Grass cloth is back! I'm not kidding. Nonetheless, I was at a job recently where we decided that it was cheaper, cleaner, and smoother, to install very thin sheet rock right over a grass cloth.

That room looks big and bright. Are we looking down over the deck to a lake?

harold hollingsworth said...

Looks so promising, congrats on the progress!

Martha Marshall said...

I think I'd want to supervise those guys closely when it's clearing time. They do tend to get a little carried away.

Annette Bush said...

More than watching what they cut, watch what they haul away! You have 25 years of top soil layers which is way more valuable than any trees they may harvest. That stuff brings big bucks and, if no one is there to keep an eye on things, they just 'clean up.' Mamma had some timber cut and they cleaned the 10 acres down to the clay --15-20 inches of the good stuff.

BTW, I think a little cleared road to the lake is a great idea.

Tracy Helgeson said...

I am so envious-even though I am not a water person I have always pictured myself with a summer lake home. This looks beautiful and I admire your energy. I agree with Annette and Martha-keep an eye on those guys, your trees and the topsoil!