Saturday morning, Robyn and I went to our storage locker and picked up our propane powered lawn mower and my table saw and then stopped at... Home Depot... on our way to the house. Dreary day.. mid-50's with drizzling rain so we weren't able to cut the grass nor was I able to set the table saw up for use outside.
But we still were able to get stuff done. While Robyn pulled up masking tape in the closets and did touch-up in the master bedroom, I sanded the soffits. Boy... does it generate a lot of dust...
This air return just seems to have the worst luck. If mud was going to fall off my knife, it was just about a guarantee it would happen over this return... and about half the dust seemed to go down it as well.
Tino and Mary's timing was just about impeccable. Just I was finishing sanding this and Robyn was finishing masking the entrance foyer, they showed up. Their hands were quickly filled with brushes and rollers and all of us were slapping some primer on the ceilings and walls.
Once we were finished priming, Tino started on that 800 pound gorilla that was on my back, otherwise known as the cast iron tub. With my tweaked back, about all I was good for was throwing my weight around... on the end of an 8 foot long 2x4. While I was levering the tub up, Tino was putting blocks under it. Once we had an edge we good get our fingers under (about an hour later), Tino and I were able to stand the tub on end. I was standing on top of the toilet with a leg braced against the wall (I didn't even work about the toilet seat lid cracking because I knew I was putting in a new toilet later) while Tino had the awkward position down on the floor.
We strapped that sucker to my appliance handtruck and wheeled in down the narrow stairs with the nice 90 degree turn that had about 1/4 inch of clearance. I WISH it were as easy as it sounds. Tino, because he must work out, was guiding the bottom while I held onto the handles up at the top.
Once we got it outside, Tino took a well deserved break.
Later, after the break was over, Tino installed the curtain rods for Robyn's dining room curtains.
A long day but we accomplished a lot.
Sunday, we didn't make our customary trip to Home Depot. We went to Lowe's instead. I'd ran out of sheetrock screen and I needed some more to sand the middle bedroom which I had finished mudding during the week. As I was putting that last coat of mud on, I thought I was going to run out once again. I didn't but I did cut it close. This is all I had left from a 3 1/2 gallon bucket.
The reason for the trip to Lowe's rather than Home Depot was to check out their selection of bathroom vanities. We found one that Robyn and I both liked. We didn't buy it 'cause it wouldn't fit in Robyn's Eclipse.
Five minutes after we got to the house, Robyn's co-worker and friend, Pat, showed up to help Robyn paint.
While Robyn and Pat were painting, I unpacked and put together the lawn mower as well as started plugging some of the holes from where the radiator pipes once were run.
I made a couple of loops around the yard to try the mower out and then Robyn took over as Pat was painting the foyer. Just as she was finishing up, Tino and Mary showed up bearing gifts. Mary was dividing some of the plants in her garden and she brought some over to share. Tino was kind enough to prepare the beds and plant them for us.
Once the 2nd coat of paint was dry, we were able to put the curtains up in the living room. Mostly gold with dark red trim, they were hard to get a good picture of with the sun shining through the window.
At the end of the day, here is a picture from the front of the living room to the back of the dining room, complete with the construction mess.
As we headed to the local Holiday Stationstore to get gas for Robyn's car and a 52 ounce fountain diet Coke for me, Robyn sighed like I'd been for the past couple of days... seems like tweaked backs are contagious.
Thank you Pat, Mary and Tino for all of your help this weekend.
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