Bathroom Remodeling Part 3

Then, after the inspections were done, the fun stuff started.  First the drywall came in (after they shoved a bit of insulation in the spaces)

And then a new cabinet was installed - we opened up the wall to the hallway (which had been closed off in the old configuration) so we can access the bathroom cabinet from either the hallway or inside of the bathroom itself

Then the painting happened - and things are starting to take shape - this is from the inside looking out - we kept the same green color on the walls, but added a nice soft white to the trim as a finish

from the outside hallway looking in, we painted the trim the same as the rest of the hallway

Bathroom Remodel Part 2

Once everything was ripped out, then the reconstruction could begin, starting with a new outside wall and a new window

The tub is gone, as you can see (no easy feat - Ben hauled it out of there by himself and I hope to golly he didn't hurt himself in the process) and then a shower had to be rebuilt where the tub was.

They used self-leveling cement to build the shower stall floor.  The "chimney" in the center is keeping the plumbing drain open and cement free.

The electrician and plumbers then came in and re-did all the wiring (old knob and tube got an upgrade) and water lines (old galvanized out and pex came in)

New Bathroom

We have finally gotten around to remodeling our bathroom.  Here's what the old bathroom looked like (in case you've never been to our house)

Notice the old tub, the stained tile, the linoleum floor.  It actually doesn't look so bad in this picture, but in reality it was kind of gross.  What you cannot see in this picture is the hundred-year-old corner-tank toilet, and a funky corner cabinet that has doors that run into everything if you try to open them.  This bathroom is small and pretty hard to function in.

Remodeling is a long process; we are doing our bathroom in the month of May 2016.  This is what it looked like after the first few days:

We had to go down to the studs to rip everything out.  Once out, we found that the outside wall was completely rotten!  the only thing holding up that side of the house was the stucco.  Further, it had been rotten for probably 50 years.  No wonder there was so much mold and mildew on the tile!

Fires in Oregon

I'm now reading the morning reports from the Fire Service everyday to see how the fires are doing across the West.  So many of my family are in the path of destruction that I can't ever decide which place to give my attention.

So I guess I'll focus on my brother Jeff over in Ironside.  He sent me these pictures of the Cornet/Windy Ridge fire starting near his home.  He has five fires threatening his ranch in Malheur County with no sign of relief.  The fires are coming from every direction towards his canyon.  I sure wish he'd leave, but he's kind of stubborn out there on Mussi Road. And besides, he's got cows and horses to feed.  The worst part is the air quality is horrible.  We had a little smoke blow into Portland today and it seems too much, so I couldn't imagine what he's living through right now.




Of course fires are threatening homes and businesses in all kinds of locations, so he's not alone.  The fire service is stretched thin but I sure hope they don't forget about Malheur County.  Prayers and love go out to Jeff and Rena as they battle nature's latest blow.

Omaha Tree Planting December 2014

Our tradition continues with tree plantings the Saturday prior to Christmas.  This year we planned early to replace three Accolade Elms on the Omaha Parkway with three Oregon Oaks.

Because we have had so much wind and tree damage this fall due to some wild high wind weather and even a snowstorm (of sorts) there were no city crews available to take out the dead or diseased trees with their big machinery.  So, Karl Dawson and his helper Elizabeth (the current Americorp volunteer) worked like heck the day before the planting to grub out two of the entrenched accolade elms, one of which was over 10 years planted.  The third one they saved for us, and you can watch our struggle here.  We learned how to use a mattock

and a pulaski

to manhandle this tree out of the ground.  It took these guys quite some time to finally corkscrew it out of the ground.  I stood around mostly and cheered from the sidelines, every now and then striking a blow with a shovel or pushing on the trunk to try to encourage it to release itself out of the ground.

Did I mention it was raining very hard during this whole adventure?  It rained, it was cold, we were soaked, and we had a great time.  Thanks City of Portland for the tent and the coffee!  It's a great Christmas tradition to plant trees days before Christmas, even if we are now replacing some of the very same trees we planted just a few years ago.  I don't know what is wrong with these accolade elms, but there seems to be a very high failure rate for these trees.  Hopefully the oaks we are replacing them with do much better.  Thanks to the Kuenzi Turf & Nursery in Salem for these great looking oak trees.  They are much admired by the neighbors.

New Front Yard

Forest Landscape Services out of Cornelius landed on my front lawn Thursday morning bright and early with a crew that ranged from 2-to about 6 at one point to completely deconstruct my front lawn and reconstruct it. I don't have a very good before picture because I hated our front yard and therefore only took pictures in the dark and/or snow of it, like here:

The major offenses:  weeds, lots of them; moss covering not lawn anymore but some sort of noxious weed.  We had a crumbly, splintery deck to the left of the chimney for the first 15 years we owned the house.  Early on, David would set up his hammock there and gaze at the sky until he realized that it was absolutely unsafe.  Finally, we ripped it out last Fall when we had a new fence built between our house and the neighbor to the north.

But now, after the professional team had its way with our front yard, I can take a picture of it in its entirety:

The front yard complements our house and even makes it look much bigger than its actual teeny footprint. There is a curvy brick path to the back gate so that David can easily wheel our garbage/recycling/compost to the street every Wednesday evening, and then back again Thursday afternoon.  There's real grass - a broad leafed grass that does not need as frequent watering as the other varieties.  We left all the upstart ferns in the landscape, which I thought I did not like and wanted gone in this re-boot of our landscape, but which look really nice next to everything else now.  (I hate to say that David was right about the ferns, but....)  

 It's really nice to come home to.....

Off-Leash Dogs

In the last 30 days, Molly and I have been attacked by two off-leash dogs while walking on the sidewalk on Omaha Avenue.

The latest one, this morning, was very scary.  A German Shepherd mix came at us full speed across a lane of traffic with her hair standing up and her teeth bared.  I had to physically get between the German Shepherd and my terrier.  I grabbed the other dog's collar, risking her biting me, to keep her from biting Molly.

In both instances, we are on the sidewalk, and the dogs are in the park in the middle of the street and run across a lane of traffic to attack us.  Both times the owners were younger women.  I asked them both to leash their dogs but was met with resistance from them both.

Here's the law in the City of Portland and there are leash laws for Multnomah County as well.  Generally, you can't have dogs off-leash anywhere except in off leash dog parks in North Portland:

• Arbor Lodge Park (N. Bryant & Delaware Street)
• Cathedral Park (N. Edison Street & Pittsburg Avenue)
• Overlook Park (N. Fremont & Interstate Avenue)
• Portland International Raceway (1940 N Victory Blvd.)

Guess what?  Omaha is not on this list.