Slowly but Surely

We've owned our Craftsman home a little over 2 months now and we're still trying to get all the electrical wiring completed. It has been a challenge to rewire without tearing up too many walls. This past week Nathan was able to finish almost all the downstairs except the family room and office. Hopefully that will be done by next week and he can start on the upstairs. We found a guy to help Dick install the Hardie siding on the upstairs dormer windows (which were taken off during the roofing process by mistake). We hope the rain holds off so that can be completed in 3-4 days. We also have been making strides in the plumbing with only one area in the master bath to be fixed before we can start remodeling that room. I plan on extending the shower area, adding a clawfoot tub, installing new tile flooring, vanity, lighting, and hopefully, will have room for a linen closet. Closets were not a big thing in the 1920's...I guess people didn't need as much clothing as we seem to now. We've been working all week on the upstairs bath. So far, we've removed the old tile, primed the beaded board, caulked, and removed 4 layers of wallpaper on the area above the beaded board. (without using the barbed thingy that cut my finger!) Tedious, but safer for me. The old board was dark brown with a red plaid paper on top of the wainscoating. I found the other 3 papers underneath dating back to the original and have kept them for my scrapbook. Can't wait to get the new paint up and see the transformation. We've ordered the new vanity cabinet and it should be ready in a week. I plan to also redo the combo tub/shower tile, new hexagon floor tiles, and lighting.

We have a fence?

Well, what do you know? After spending 2 months clearing the forest in the back yard and hauling off literally TONS of debris, including many dead trees or dying ones, we see we have a very large backyard (now empty!) and a fence! We actually saw the fence from the alley one day, but needed an axe and Paul Bunyon to help us find our way to it. Now my problem is how to fill it back up - do I want a deck and flagstone patio or maybe an outdoor fireplace? Of course, I love flowers and flowering shrubs, so that is a given. I spent a couple of weeks trying to transplant some of my plants like daylilies, hydrangeas, iris and confederate jasmine I had in my yard in Plano and hope they make it through the winter months. I will be busy this winter perusing plant catalogues and deciding what and where to put things. I played with the idea of only using older plants suitable to the age of the home (1920) but that limits me more than I want. Did I mention the dirt in Sherman is much better than in Plano? You can actually dig in it. It's more like a sandy loam than the gumbo clay I'm used to working in...and that is great!