We interrupt this renovation...

to bring you a special report:  The sewer drain is clogged, which means last night's dishwasher draining ended up in the bathtub, and the water from the washer drain ended up on the floor. Not to mention the awesome mini-Niagara Falls pouring out of the drain itself in the backyard.  We tried some fixes yesterday -- boiling water, cleaning out the disposal, etc. None of them worked.
So, today James made the trip to Home Depot to rent the super snake. When he opened up the sewer drain cap in the backyard, he discovered the likely clog-creator:  a plastic horseshoe stake put down the hole by "somebody."  Any guesses?  It had apparently blocked the flow, and a huge clog was built up behind it.  Awesome.
So after about 15 minutes of snaking, he heard the clog move on down the drain to Neverland, and we were once again clog-free! Praise the Lord for a relatively easy and inexpensive fix!  Now, back to work!

You know that saying?

"Sometimes it has to get worse before it can get better."

My mother-in-law, with a smirk on her face, asked me this evening,"Why did we paint?" :-)

Thanks to the insane wiring setup that currently exists in the house, James has had to cut several holes to see where wires are going.  There were random things in 4 different rooms attached to the same circuit. Awesome.

But he does patch them up as much as he can! 

On to the living room wiring...

This meant starting on the other side of the living room wall, where James destroyed the fake brick backing to our built-in desk.  I wish I could say I was sad...

Once he got the wires run...

He installed an extra new switch. Now the fans actually have a wall switch! And we were very particular to make sure that the switches were in the right order -- the one on the left goes to the fireplace lights. The right one goes to the fans.  Getting those mixed up would have driven us NUTS. 

 Speaking of fans, they're back up and working fantastically!

Electrifying

Well, it's finally time to do some electrical work around here. Before James puts the floor on upstairs, he wants to get as much in place for future work as possible.  And now that the HVAC is done, it's time for wires.  The more he digs into the wiring, the scarier the existing wiring is becoming -- this place is crazy!  So, he's really glad to be running all new wires -- especially so we know exactly what is going where.

 Now, obviously, this doesn't look like quite the pretty sheet rock hole he started with, but things happen sometimes... 

Here he is attaching the new wire to the bathroom. He likes to say that he's making our walls look a bit Frankensteinian.  Patches everywhere!  And more to come!

Yes, scary wires... No major shocks yet...

 

Stepping Heavenward

No, this isn't a post about building our new staircase... That will come in about 6 months (fingers crossed!).  It's a post about a book I just finished: Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss. Originally published in 1869, this book is a favorite of my best friend, Kirsten. I flew through it, thoroughly enjoying the young woman's journey to godliness, as seen through her journals.  I just need to copy a couple of quotes for my own personal reference and thought this is as good a place as any. 
You may or may not have noticed my book lists on the right hand side of my blog.  I determined early in the year to READ!  I have always loved to read, yet I have not been very diligent about doing it over the last few years. I wonder why...  But, I'm excited to look at the list of books completed!  It has been a worthwhile undertaking!

On marriage...
"The coming of each new child strengthens and deepens my desire to be what I would have (my marriage) become, makes my fault more odious in my eyes, and elevates my whole character.  What a blessed discipline of joy and of pain my married life has been; how thankful I am to reap its fruits even while pricked by its thorns."  p. 230

On children...
"Martha says I shall now have one mouth the more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music and drawing. Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other. Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which it dwells is worthy all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother's heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wondrously blest!"  p. 229

Sag no more.

Okay, have you ever tried to capture ceiling sag via camera? Next to impossible. The only way to explain it -- this beam in the picture below?  It is sitting on the top of the cabinets -- pinched between the sagging ceiling and the cabinet. 

Okay, now check this out -- after James nailed up the ceiling to the new joists -- a HUGE difference!

Below: The pretty ceiling (well, the pretty needs-to-be-patched, textured, painted ceiling)

Did I say see you "tomorrow?" :-)

Another day, another hole in the ceiling...  James made yet another cut to continue the kitchen joisting. (is that a word?) 

here he is doing some more measuring

Charis decided to get a shot of me "helping."

watching the action

SEVENTEEN JOISTS IN PLACE!! Ain't they purty?!?!?!

the clean-up -- putting the light fixture back up

On to electrical work we go...