The Duck is getting wired

I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Duck....supervising wiring. and Saturday was COLD. LOL  i tried to stay busy and move around to stay warmer...but there really isn't too much for me to do there at this time. i did do a lot of sweeping up.

But my contractor came in with his helper, Thomas, and they got wiring run. this is the spot in the laundry room where the breaker box will live. Rick is marking wires so we know which breaker is for which room. in the end we wound up running over 1000 feet.

Wires were pulled all over the house. this is the kitchen by the door going out to the garage. the little room to the left (with the red milk crate) is the pantry.

And here ... the front door.

And junction boxes were attached .... too bad the camera lady doesn't have a steady hand. LOL

And over 50 little blue boxes were nailed in and wires pulled into them.

And here

Thank goodness helper, Thomas, is a skinny dude. he got into very tight spaces to pull wire where it needed to go. he spent a lot of time in the attic and in crawl spaces.

If the weather cooperates this weekend i will go back so they can attach all those wires and put the guts in the blue boxes. fun, fun, fun.

And i did decide to go ahead and pull the ceilings down, too. i hoped to leave them in place but it is just not the right thing to do. the insulation .... what there is of it....in the attic is old as dirt and not doing its job so it all has to come out. it is actually easier to just take the ceilings down to get all that insulation out so i can put new up there. and then actually inspect the rafters to see if any of them need to be repaired. i already have found 2 of them that are cracked. and this way i will know exactly what is in my house. and there are pipes up there that need to be cut out, too. more fun, fun, fun. LOL

My job in the ceiling takedown will be to get the scaffolding over there from the Beast and pull off the 1x4s that the ceiling tiles were stapled to. then the guys can pull down the plaster and slats and all that ugly, noxious insulation.

So the next few days will be a flurry of activity to wrap things up in the studio for this month so i can leave again on Friday. so, if you don't hear from me again this week.....i am channeling a whirlwind. LOL

Talk to ya

Later

Bits and pieces

I had to go and find breakers yesterday for the breaker box at the Duck. and took hubby with me to make sure i got the correct ones. but first we did the important thing and stopped for lunch...Taco Bell....not a bad start. and stopped at an antique store on the way home to look....i hadn't been in there before. didn't buy anything but lusted after a Hunter Cupboad. a huge cupboard with carved doors at the top...carved hunting scenes. and a plate rail with doors and shelves underneath. just beautiful ..... and huge....and $1400.  well!!

So, i never made it to the studio yesterday. but i had finished all the 'have tos' for the month so i was ok with that. i spent the majority of the day making crumb blocks. at 11:30 last night i was trimming up the last of 46 blocks. whew....what a day. piecing them all and then starching and ironing and trimming takes a bit of time but so worth it. i only need to make 21 more to have 500....enough for the quilt i want to make. it took me about a year and a half to get this far with these. i just threw tiny pieces into a tupperware container that came from other projects.....other people's throwaways. LOL   when the container was full i would piece some blocks. there are hundreds of different fabrics in these blocks....and some pieces are TINY....maybe a quarter inch shows. hahahaha   but i am saving more tiny pieces and will continue to make crumb blocks for more quilts.

I have been appliquing my home and hearth blocks....only have 1 more block to do. and then applique the borders and that top is finished.

I almost finished my February (blue) crazy quilt journal project block. still want to put a spider web and spider on it. i pieced the March (red) block and put a couple of things on seams but haven't worked on it in a few days.

Still walking on the treadmill...although this week i have more days of 1 mile than 2. but still making my goal of 7 miles a week. and still walking back and forth to the studio each day. good thing there is not snow and ice.

And tomorrow i am headed to the Duck. the weather should be halfway decent for the weekend....in the 50s....so my electrician is going to start my wiring. he says there will be hundreds of holes drilled and lots of wires run. i hope to find something there to keep me occupied while he works. gotta remember to pack that thermal underwear.

I have a 'free' day today so will wander over to the studio and see what i can get into. i have several smaller quilts in the cabinet that might be quilted. i want to use up my batting scraps ....long pieces maybe 5 to 8 inches wide.

So, stay warm, be safe, and i'll see you

Later

R&R

I am home once again...trying for a bit of rest and relaxation from a few weeks of manual labor.

Josh spent 8 days at the farm.....doing odd jobs for us.....i took him back home on Friday and spent a couple days at the Duck. got the grass cut. josh pulled the wiring out of the house and took the furnace and water heater out of the basement. it took a couple of truck loads to get rid of all that stuff. he will sell all the scrap metal for a few bucks. i'm just glad it is all out of the house. I have a stack in the back alley of old plywood and boards and bags of trash from the basement. he says he will get rid of all that for me before i get back. i hope he does.

I am getting closer to the 'fixing it back up' stage. I have ordered 4 outside main doors and 6 windows. so, in about 2 weeks they should be here and i'll go back down and have them installed. it will be nice to have a window that opens all the way and actually stays open without putting a stick in there to hold it up. then i'll have 17 more windows to get. the plan for this year still is to get the wiring done and see if i can get the rest of the windows in.

Next year will be insulation.

I actually got out the shop vac and sucked up all the plaster dust and dirt all over everywhere. and i mopped the floors....all but the kitchen. it didn't make anything any prettier but i just got sick of looking at all the dust all over the floors.

In trying to help pick up stuff and load the truck i somehow caused a muscle to kink or something in my back/hip. so i am hobbling around a bit. yesterday when i got home about 2:30 i just took a shower and did a load of laundry and then parked myself in my recliner for the rest of the evening. watched a couple movies on tv and read for a while. hopefully today i can get something going at the studio.

I didn't take any pics at the Duck this time. i meant to get one of the empty basement but forgot. it was very hot the last couple of days and we only worked about 4 hours in the mornings. i'll be happy to see cooler weather come in.

We also got breakfast served again on Sunday morning. Josh's sister is my neighbor and she has invited us over twice now for a nice breakfast. this time we had French toast, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy. I have lovely neighbors.

Got to start movin' around and get things done.

Later