The Dining Room Reborn

Wow. I continue to be amazed at how fabulous the Hudling is looking! The last couple of weeks have been both incredibly rewarding and very frustrating. A week from last Saturday, we planned on spending the entire day at the Hudling working on installing the wainscoting in the dining room. We really wanted to finish it all in one day...not impossible.

A few months ago, we purchased a Bostitch air compressor and brad nailer. I was THRILLED! This would make installing the wainscoting, baseboards and other trim a breeze. Except for the fact that I was very terrified of using it. Once upon a time in a land far, far away, I worked for a construction magazine as a writer and editor. I wrote several articles concerning OSHA regulations on work sites and read far too many stories of construction-related accidents. I'm now scarred for life. Just ask Rit. I am constantly telling her to be careful. I'm worried that the miter saw is going to leap up and cut off a major limb....or at least a finger. I'm worried that the brad nailer is going to impale one of us...I'm SO paranoid. Thanks, OSHA horror stories, thanks a lot.

Arriving at the Hudling bright and early, we realized that we needed some trim pieces. After a quick trip to Lowe's, we returned to the Hudling only to realize that the trim we purchased wouldn't work quite right. Back to the store. We returned with the correct trim pieces, and after pouring over the scanty instruction guide for the air compressor and brad nailer (heretofore known as "the Beast") 237 times, I finally got up enough courage to turn it on.


I checked the cord and plug, check. I checked the connection to the air hose, check. I checked the connection to the nailer, check. I checked the gauges, check. I took a deep breath and pulled the ON switch.

Nothing.

I looked at Rit. She looked at me. I quickly pushed the switch back in and pulled it back out.

Nothing.

You've got to be kidding me. After all of that, it doesn't even work!?!?! So, one more trip back to Lowe's, air compressor boxed up and in hand. After exchanging it for a new one, we hit Jimmy Johns for some sandwiches and headed back to the Hudling. Yes, that's right. By now, it was lunch time. What a day...what a very productive day.

After a quick lunch and psyching myself up enough to turn on the new Beast, we finally got started with the wainscoting. The first section was a little brutal. As you can see in the photo, we had to cut around the telephone ledge...lots of cuts.

We only finished the first section by the time we had to head home. I was so disappointed. We headed back yesterday bright and early to finish the job. We pretty much cruised through the rest of it. What a sense of accomplishment to look around at the Hudling and see so little left to do.

Almost finished in this photo. We did finish it yesterday. Now all it needs is a little caulk and a coat of paint. It looks phenomenal! I'm so excited! It really gives the Hudling the cottage feel we were looking for. Here's the new light fixture in the dining room:


I can't wait to finish up the last things on our list and show off some official AFTER photos of the entire project. Oh Hudling, you're looking good!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back...

So progress on the Hudling as been stilted at best over the past several months. We took a bit of a hiatus over the holidays, and it's taken us some time to get back in the groove. But we've officially arrived...back in the groove, that is. The hudling is coming along nicely. I think we've finally solved the problem of the shower surround, and the bedrooms are well on their way to being finished and ready for carpeting.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sigh.

I've spent a couple of days over at there this week. All of the upstairs bedrooms, formerly known at the green room and the blue room, each have two coats of paint now.

The green room:

The two smaller bedrooms are finished, except for touch up and edges.
The blue room:

The master bedroom, the one with the paneling, is going to need one more coat, but it already looks 2000 times better than it did prior to the paint job.


This Saturday we're planning on putting up the wainscoting in the dining room and baseboards up in the downstairs bathroom. Then the fixtures can go in. It's going to look incredible! We're a little nervous to use the nail gun for the first time. Wish us luck!

The One Where the Furnace Breaks in the Middle of Winter

Yep, we spent the weekend babysitting the temperature inside the Hudling hoping that it wouldn't drop below freezing causing the pipes to burst. We all made it through the weekend and the furnace is now repaired.

Please, Hudling, please get finished and find some new owners...

The HUDling shivers

We are ambitious with a new deadline to get this beauty done. So this past weekend was going to be a productive one. That was, until we showed the progress off to Casey and Sonja Saturday morning and discovered it was a bit more chilly than normal. Turns out the furnace got sick. We coddled it through the weekend, and the heat doctor came today and got everyone feeling better! Back to work!

Down to one hand

I've had some finger pain and hand stiffness following strenuous days at the old Hudling. But now, I'm getting concerned. Last night I awoke multiple times during the night with numbness and tingling in my hand. Perhaps I was sleeping on it funny. I repositioned every time only to awake again in complete agony...the pain, the tingling, the stiffness, the weird sensation.

This is not entirely new. I've had a number of similar night time episodes, only the discomfort was limited to my middle finger. I'm not one to let obscene hand gestures fly easily, so I know it was not overuse in that way, but my hands seem to be getting stiff and sore from all the manual labor at the Hudling. My middle finger swells during the night and is very stiff and sore in the morning. Bending it causes pain in my wrist. I complain, but live with it.

But now, my pain and discomfort have reached a new level. My entire hand hurts and flexing fingers hurts my wrist. And last night was miserable. After getting up the numbness faded but returned when I was showering. And I've lost strength in it...most of my hand strength during the peak pain times. I'm thinking it might be carpel tunnel syndrome. We'll see how tonight goes. Will I ever be able to finish the Hudling?!

Little Brave?... Found!

OK, this is long overdue....
I made a very exciting find shortly after posting about Anne's Remodeling Project - I connected with Scott(ie) a.k.a. "Little Brave"

It was thrilling to connect with the Hudling's past. We have emailed a handful of times and it was fun to learn that Scott's family lived in the Hudling from 1940s unitl 1997, when his grandmother passed away. Chief Anne is his mom. To those of you who have been following Hudling treasure finds closely, they claim no ownership to the Mistress of the Whip. I have no evidence to prove otherwise, so I guess I have to take their word for it! :)

Anyway, I hope to share some of their stories and or pictures soon, shedding light on the Hudling's younger years. So cool! Stayed tuned.

Grout for the tiles....and a little for my phone

Well, I grouted the kitchen, hallway, and downstairs bathroom tile yesterday. Wow, what difference grout makes! Here's a shot in the kitchen (I have not yet wiped off the haze and buffed the tiles to a pretty shine so just imagine the finished look). The grout color: malt.


So, about the phone...yeah, I dropped my phone in a freshly mixed bucket of grout. Had I not been in a panicked frenzy to clean it off as fast as I could possibly move, I would have taken a picture of the the dreadful sight. It still works, but it is amazing how many little grooves are on a cell phone! And every little one of them is now malt! And it makes an irritating crunching noise when I open it!