Now with More Character than the Floor of the Freakin' House of Commons

Yes, I'm on to other items on the to-do list, thanks to the completion of the hardwood flooring component on Ruth's Ridge.
I've described this house as having more angles than a federal politician. Now it can also be said that, with the Country Maple flooring installed and finished, Ruth's Ridge has more character than the House of Commons when it's in session.
Larry, the owner of Beaver Flooring, and his assistant, JP, showed last Wednesday with a van full of noisy equipment, prepared to lay siege to all the rough bits of the hardwood I'd spent over 20 days installing. My overriding concern had been whether they would fall over laughing at my novice efforts, but they seemed genuinely pleased with what I had been able to accomplish. After the get-acquainted session and a walk-around, they brought out the Hummel floor sander and got to work.
The process of finishing a maple hardwood floor involves sanding the entire floor with 40-grit, then 80-grit, then 100-grit, and then screening the entire floor with a 100-grit metal screen attached to a circular buffer. Thereafter, once the edges have been sanded twice with a hand-held circular sander, the sealer/filler is applied, followed by the penetrating oil, which is buffed off with #2 steel wool after an hour or so. Lastly, a second misted coating of oil is buffed off.
That final buffing was completed just after lunch on Sunday.

The completion of the wood flooring allowed us to release the cats from their basement prison and add our last animal, Chester, the loud orange puss-cat. Happily, the weather has turned wonderfully warm here in Manitoba, so we've been able to crack the windows and air the petroleum odours fairly successfully.

Yesterday, Jim Rodger phoned to say they had heard Sandhill Cranes and had Goldfinches at their feeders. Today I heard a Meadow Lark, but no nailers, compressors, sanders or buffers. Oh, also the occasional hiss or yowl as the three cats try to find peace amongst themselves.

Glacial (S)till

It's not yet Good Friday but, as of 8:15 last night, I can say of this hardwood installation, "It is finished." It took six days to complete the last 500 sq.ft. and, on two of those days, I managed to do approximately 125 sq.ft./day, that being the middle, open section of the loft.
As I worked through the 60+ bundles of flooring, I set aside the very few piece of bird's-eye that managed to evade the sorters and incorporated them into the stair landing. I can't imagine what Geoff Hayes' grandmother's house on Furby must have looked like with its bird's-eye maple throughout – including the pantry!
So, what the heck do I do if I don't need to be bent over the hardwood nailer anymore? There's always the unending and ever-growing to-do list should memory fail me. Today, I'll clean up the tools and left-over flooring, and then ensure that all is in readiness for Beaver Flooring. Larry and his crew will be here later today or tomorrow to do the sanding and oiling of the floor. With that step completed, we can then actually move to have the 53' trailer unloaded and begin putting some of our lives back in order. I'm a clean & order freak, so this period of complete and utter chaos has been both inordinately trying and liberating. I have learned to function even when all around demands that I should just throw up my hands and move to Australia (kids' book reference, don't you know).

One of the first tasks will be to get the closets set up so that Ruth & I can begin to select from more than two or three changes of clothing, as has been the case for the past four months and more. Then follow a raft of tasks related to kitchen set-up, electrical fixtures/receptacles, floor tiling and bathroom fixtures.

Of course, with spring rapidly approaching, the verandah and siding projects beckon. The prospect of working outside again holds great appeal.

Ruth has bravely soldiered on with painting over the past weeks despite the alarming rapidity with which her arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome have diminished her ability to function normally. Happily, she got a call from a first-rate surgeon yesterday, and it appears she may be scheduled for surgery this week or next. She and I have been brought up short by the potential impact of this relatively recent ailment. Ruth is so crafts-driven, so active; and the prospect of any significant diminution of hand-function is daunting and sobering indeed. We are both prayerfully hopeful that the surgery will address the carpal tunnel issues and that the new über-techy drugs will wage successful battle with the arthritis. It's ironic: based on history, I should be the one getting hit with the arthritis. My fraternal grandmother almost died when she was hit by arthritis shortly after my father was born, and she spent the last twenty-plus years confined to bed as a result of the damage done to her joints.

That said, we continue to love the day-to-day camping in our new home, and are buoyed with enthusiasm at the relatively imminent shift to more conventional living situation.

Happy spring.

The Glacial (S)pace

A quick update on some glacially slow progress.

The areas of the main floor which were slated for hardwood (great room, dining room, master bedroom, bedroom closet, front entrance and kitchen/back hall – 800 of 1,300 sq.ft. in total) are now officially completed. The areas on the board for tile are pending. The last of the upper kitchen cupboards arrived and are installed. The microwave is housed in its permanent location and has been wired up.

On the spring front, I spent a couple of hours yesterday and then again this morning opening up the snow drifts on either side of our driveway to get the run-off flowing through the culvert rather than over the road.

We now have two cats (Jasper/gray and Daisy/not so spooky) resident, with Chester rejoining us at month's end. We'll then be back to our full complement of three cats and two dogs.
With a bunch of luck and – mainly – a good back, I should be able to have the landing and loft hardwood flooring installed by this time next week. Once the sanding and oiling are done, we can then get to installing closets and dragging in furniture.

A spring full of promise around the corner.