It occurs to me. . .

Day 2- The Floorening

2009-05-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

I got home (had to work a half day) and found that Daddy (with Nutmeg helping, but only when power tools were not in use) was just fitting the biggest piece into place, having measured and cut and jiggered and figured for a couple of hours. I drilled the holes and screwed that piece to the floor joists while he went outside to cut "the easy piece", the one that was exactly rectangular.

Fitting one small piece carefully. . .

One of my jobs was to use a wood chisel to get glued on traces of particle board off the joists. The chemical combo of particle board/glue/water had made a hardwood that I feel sure could withstand the weight of an elephant. I used a belt sander in a few places.

This is the piece that took us most of the afternoon. It's hard (and boring) to explain, but because of the way floors and walls are done in mobile homes, we had to chip, chip, chip at the back edge where this piece was to go till I finally got it to fit about 6:30, after I had sent my poor exhausted father home around 5. Mother called a couple of times wondering if he was ever going to quit for the day. It was just so frustrating to be so close, but not quite there yet! I lured him away with a peach smoothie and told him not to come back until tomorrow! It was nice to be able to call him and tell him "I did it!"

The end of the work day, Friday. All subfloor is fitted and screwed (I was on my knees screwing half the afternoon!), small spaces between pieces have been filled with wood compound and the whole thing has been swept and is ready for sanding. Daddy will likely do most of that, as I tend to gouge with the belt sander- I just get so excited! Tools! Doing things! At my command! Wheeeee!

Replacing part of the floor in the master bath- day one

2009-05-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

So, since half of our home is a manufactured home (OMG! TRAILER!), the floor is particle board. And when particle board gets wet, it get soft. And floors by tubs/showers so often do get wet. . . . And more soft, until finally there's no more floor, only a big hole by the bath tub that Matt actually stepped into last month. Also, our home was manufactured in 1972, so of course the whole place is carpeted, including bathrooms, excluding kitchen. Today, Daddy and I pulled up half the carpet in the master bath, ripped up the subfloor, began bracing the (thank goodness quite unsoggy!) floor joists and just for fun, removed the toilet to fix a small but constant leak. We ran into lots of exciting challenges, learned some things about What Lies Beneath and generally met The Day and made it ours. More to do tomorrow, but we're quite pleased with our progress thus far.

You'll notice that in addition to the mod, mod, mod carpet through the whole house, our groovy seventies home also has paneling throughout. Dark paneling. I'm going to paint the bathroom this summer! (I say that every summer, so surely I will get it done one of these times, right?)

Perhaps I'm just not the public blogging type?

2009-02-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Just a wonderfully sweet picture of Matt, Amelie and Cassidy from 4 years ago.

Fire across the road- June 22, 2008

2008-06-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Janet made this!

2008-06-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

Scenes from a wedding weekend

2008-06-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

Connie and Mother, proving beauty is not all about youth.

2008-06-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Grandfather of the groom and father of the bride are birthday twins!

Bill and officiant Lee share a laugh, while Carol and Josh are clearly conspiring about something. Wedding wrangler Linda is in the doorway.

Kate and Josh, newly married!

2008-06-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

A poem my Matthew wrote for the wedding of friends 2 years ago. . .

2008-05-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Visible Light

for John and Seana

To the telescope, each star is solitary,

a thousand lifetimes removed from its nearest kin,

circled by lesser flecks and swarming dust,

condemned to flare and gutter, brilliant and alone.

These cosmic distances cannot be diminished.

To come to understand the lonesome suns

we put away our explorer's instruments

and turn a less intrepid eye inward,

holding silent for the slow wonders found there.

In the star's private heart,

beneath its brilliant skin, two atoms,

each, apart, a simple perfect planet,

merge and are reformed as a new substance

with an energy neither could attain alone.

This is simple, and it requires faith in the unseen.

It is invisible to us, the subatomic joining—

we can only know its traces and its signs.

We gather together to confirm your fusion,

to observe the incandescent forging of a new sun,

to marvel at the miracle of this endless combination,

to share your offered warmth and light,

and join you to the blazing order of the night.

Why I love language.

2008-05-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

But do they have water for the seeing eye dogs?

Oh.

Family snapshots 1

2008-05-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Family beach wedding trip 2007

2008-05-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this for awhile.

2008-05-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

And really, why shouldn't I join the seemingly endless parade of people who blog? I have things to say! And pictures to show! And family and friends to keep in touch with in a lazy, look-at-me fashion!

My brilliant idea for Mother's Day was to make a few videos to share with M's mother and mine. Rather than email them each video, I thought "I should post these somewhere and they can just go look!" Thus was born yet another self-indulgent blog with a readership in the single digits. I hope you enjoy, my family and friends!

Oliver's Palace

2008-05-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

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