Under Pressure

I love Rock and Stone

(Or maybe more appropriate)

       How Long Has This Been Going On?

                We are going on 18 months since we purchased the Clubhouse; in some respects, I feel like we should have finished up 6 months ago, in others, I am amazed that we are where we are! As with most builds, we were overly optimistic on our time frame, and proportionately underestimated the budget. We had a few curve balls thrown in, can you say Covid delays, income adjustments due to Covid, and the slow-down in the economy, contractors going out of business… it is what it is. Overall, we are grateful to be almost to the finish line! Although, are you ever really finished with home projects?

The upstairs addition and downstairs Pantry/Laundry/Mudroom have been drywalled, taped and mudded, caulked, textured, and painted. I did the caulking and Greg did the painting; he used an industrial type sprayer and I followed behind with a roller. Messy and tedious, but it looks great. The Lighting package (more of a lighting parcel) had to be adjusted since the Budget is pretty much maxed out; secondhand stores for the win!

We did find Dormer lights on Amazon, but all the bedroom, office, and Hall lights were all used, somewhat dated, and in need of a little tlc. I scrubbed off the old glaze on the lights, so it looks more like vintage glass, and added antique looking gold spray paint to the trim. I love it. I also found an exceptionally large, very heavy antique beveled and framed mirror. There was no price tag on it, when I asked the clerk she said, “How about 20$?” Sold! I have seen similar lighter weight mirrors for far more, I am hoping to put it in the guest bathroom above the vanity, if it will fit! If not, there are lots of places it will work.

Greg found bathroom vanities on FB Marketplace, they were removed from a Hilton hotel; they are solidly built with sturdy pulls and hardware. They will have to be modified slightly to fit our space. The granite color is not my first choice but it works for now and they honestly look hardly used. I may have already watched a dozen YouTube videos on how to paint over granite. After the bathroom vanities go in, we (Greg) will be installing the flooring in the up

and downstairs bathrooms, and the Pantry/Mudroom area. I must have changed my mind 20 times on the flooring, finally decided to go a little out of my comfort zone in the Pantry area. It is a space that, for the most part, will be used by me, so why not go with the style and colors I love?! It is a grey blue wood plank, we picked it up today! The carpet is scheduled for install next week, then the driveway after that. Other than a few small finish up items, and outside siding repairs, we are done!

When looking up synonyms for the word done, I found a few that felt very fitting:

Depleted

Exhausted

Terminated

Used Up

We have discovered if we don’t stop, other than a few short breaks, we can keep going. If we stop and rest for a longer period, we have a hard time convincing ourselves to get up, we feel Flipping Old! Greg has especially gone over and above in the work portion of the Clubhouse; because of the prior mentioned Budget, he ended up installing the drywall, for the most part, by himself- 140 lb. sheets in 100* weather, it did save us thousands, I think it was worth it, we will see how he feels after this is all completed! In addition to all the texturing, taping, and painting, he poured cement, installed lighting… he would come in the house dripping in sweat. One especially hot day, he weighed himself in the morning and again at night. There was an 8 lb. drop! He just will do whatever it takes. I am so proud of him and try to tell him. It is harder for Greg to verbalize his emotions, but he shows them through his work. I read somewhere that Love is a verb. No truer words could be spoken about Greg.

The next Blog post we will hopefully be relaxing and enjoying our new addition, but more than likely we will be planning our next project! Here are a few pics of the latest updates and finds, and a couple of the Grandkids, because they are adorable.