Interregnum

Today, Ted went to Nantucket for three weeks.  While we are not done with the exterior of the house, it no longer looks like a construction site--just a house getting a new porch and walk way.  The painting is complete, and we have some foundation planting.


When the kitchen was added ( sometime long, long ago) it was build on cement block.  The cement block was never painted, so it was quite the contrast to the old brick foundation.  Last week, I took a piece of brick to the nice paint store man, and we matched it with a self priming paint. Seth then brushed that sucker on.

Wow. It changed everything.

That's the funny thing about finishing touches.  Each one seems to add a dimension to the project.  When Seth finished painting the body of the house,  it just shone.

See, nice and shiney!

The porch is coming along.  I bugged Ted to get some help to finish it before he had to go to the island.  He snorted, and said, '" I am making it up as I go along.  No one else can do it."  I think he may be right.

We decided ( actually I decided) that the steps should be wide.  I want to be able to put flower pots on them.  More importantly, I want to be able to stoop sit in the early evening.   The walkway, which will go in this week, will be Goshen Stone--our local stuff.  The stones will be 4' wide, just slightly narrower than the steps, which need to line  up with the posts.  The unfinished posts that you see in this picture, will be wrapped.  They will be about 1" more all around, giving the porch the proportion it needs.  As soon as Ted has done that, he will order the screens and winter panels.  The interior walls will be clapboard, like the house.  ( We have a bunch of clapboard left--think of it as free.) Each of the panels you see in this picture will be painted dark green.  Then each will get a rectangle of light green (the color of the door) inset.  I haven't quite decided what color the wainscoting base will be.  Maybe yellow since I am a little worried that dark green will be too heavy.  I'll decide once we have painted the rest of the porch.

The backyard is shaping up also.

I ordered up the deck trellis last week.  It will be English lattice and will run all around the deck at 6'. We'll put it up unpainted and then in the fall, after it has dried out, we will paint it green I think.  I also ordered an awning for the deck.  It will span the entire deck and will be yellow and white striped.  How very tasteful.

Peace and quiet reigns.  No banging boys and dirt and dust.  I am going to Nantucket on Friday for the weekend because I can't stand it.....