I'm back on the blog! Time flies when you are having fun, right? I recall in my last blog complaining about the heat in late September. Well, it seems that we went from extreme heat to cold and a lot rain. I won't complain about the cold, but we could do with less rain. Hopefully, we are out of the rain cycle now.
Let's see.... what has been going on? Quite a lot. Dan and I went on a trip to Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. We had this trip planned long before we knew we were buying a century old house to renovate. We kept our trip plans anyway and are glad that we did. We had a fabulous time traveling with a great group of friends. I was especially excited to travel to Portugal which is where my Rodrigue anscestors immigrated from. Spain was also remarkable and our day trip to Morocco was fascinating. It was a blessing to experience new places, cultures, art, food, and people. I also got a lot of inspiration from the tile shops in Portugal. Look for some in my house later. This two week break from chaos was a welcome escape. Besides, it was work... travel agents must travel!
While we were away, more progress was made on our garage and apartment. After returning from vacation, things began to move right a long with the installation of cabinets, floors, appliances, HVAC, trim work, counter tops, etc. And of course more painting on our part. Although things were getting done, we were now in the midst of Thanksgiving holidays and the beginning of the Christmas season. Although there was no big rush for us to move, we set our minds to be on Brignac St for Christmas. After a few weeks of detail work, tweeking, and inspections, the place was ready for us to starting moving. We did this gradually when we had free time from working and Christmas preparationsl We officially spent our first night in the apartment two days before Christmas.
Yay! We made it home for Christmas! and in time to enjoy our beloved tradition of Christmas Eve bonfires on the levee.
After just over a week in the new apartment, we hosted our first family gathering on New Years Day to put it to the test. We called it 'Potluck on the Patio'. Everyone brought a dish for the New Years Day lunch. The rare day of beautiful weather was a blessing. All went well and we even had about a dozen or more people in the little apartment at one time while serving the food. We enjoyed lunch outside on the patio. The kids enjoyed playing in the old house and even did some ghost hunting. Apparently, there is an app for that! And they detected a ghost in the back room. Well a red light in the app. Note to self: Schedule a house blessing and spiritual cleansing.
So where are we on renovations? With most of the effort going into finishing our new temporary home, not much has changed on the house. The old rusty, tin roof has been removed and carpenters have prepared the roof for the new metal roof. However, roofers have been hard to schedule with all of the rain putting them behind on roofing jobs. The roof is the number one thing on the list to finish in 2019. We also had the trees trimmed. Not exactly work on the house but it needed to be done anyway. We are now in full blown designing and planning mode for the house. Also on the schedule for the beginning of the year is to get the outside siding repaired and replaced. We are praying for a dryer January and February than normal to get this done.
This is all so new to us and we are taking baby steps along the way to make sure it gets done safely, correctly, and the way we want it. It will be easier now that we are home and on the same property. I've shared my ideas and designs (and bad drawings) with family and friends and appreciate all of the help and support as they evolve. I am excited to start shopping for all of the things to make this house pretty again!
See more pictures under the Galleries tab .
Here is one of the latest treasures found from the old tin roof. One random sheet was stamped with the original owner's name. We are still hoping to find something with the original date.
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