We hired professionals

After some, but not much, thought we decided not to sand the floors ourselves....

This is a professional model floor sander that really takes off the layers. Above photos are of the kitchen nook.

And this is the kitchen and looking into the formal entry, dining room, and parlor.  All of the floors on the main floor have been refinished except the laundry, kitchen entry and main floor bath which will be having tile.

Lovely.  When the floors are dry, we will again cover them up with cardboard until the rest of the house is completely done.  Then the guys will come back for one more sanding and final coat.

Cleaning up

Nathan did some power washing today on the outbuildings.  We have some house paint left over and are going to spruce up these buildings while the weather holds.

Albert trimmed out the laundry room windows.  I will be painting them in the next couple days.

More flooring to clean up in the kitchen nook.  

In the formal entry, Albert and Nathan using a heat gun to remove the stubborn lino.

And all the many tack nails to pull up before drum sanding the floor.  All of the fir flooring on the main level will be refinished.  

A Lesson in Patience

We rented a drum sander and edger today to begin the long process of refinishing the floors in the dining room and parlor.  

We were not sure if the floor was even worth saving but it was! 

After a full day we mostly finished the dining room and got a good start on the parlor.  I was afraid the sanding would make a huge mess with the dust and all and so wanted to do the floors before all the painting was done.  Since it is actually a clean operation, we can go ahead with the painting before finishing up the floors all the way.

The fall crocus are in full bloom.  There must be hundreds of bulbs in great masses of flowers.

 

Front Porch Painted

We have finished up the front porch and you can see that it is not unlike the original.  I am quite pleased with it.  We will probably add the railings or else place flower boxes instead.

And now a couple shots of the gardens.  Here is the front bed with the hydrangea Pinky Winky in the foreground that I purchased from the nursery.  It will fill out nicely in a couple years and will add a soft spot of color at this time of year.  Behind it is Casa Blanca lilies,  monarda (bee balm) and to the left, orange montbretia.

We have figs ripening!  I will be able to harvest enough to eat fresh and to preserve a batch for the winter.