Thursday? More like Longday!

The last of the black insulation showing. Good riddance! 

Okay, so Tuesday and Wednesday were a wash.

I know, I knooow. I said we were planning to work those days, but Tuesday I will just refer to as The Series of Unfortunate Events.  Dan's list of mishaps and whoopsies was much longer than mine, but here are the highlights: Dan carrying a wet bottom bag full of glass bottles- didn't end well. Dan locks his keys in his truck. Jess decides to move the fridge back and destroys the plug to a power strip, leaving prongs IN the outlet. We decided to bow out for the rest of the day. 

Started in the kitchen corner.

On Wednesday, we both had appointments and errands that needed to be addressed, immediately. Like bunbun food! By the time we reached home, it was 630pm. Out of courtesy to the neighborhood we don't work much past 8pm. By the time we drove out there and got set up, we would have had maybe 45 minutes of work time. We were tired, that seemed futile, we promised to bring it on Thursday. That we did, my friends, that we did.

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I started my work day at 630am so that I could get out earlier and spend a bigger block of time working on the house. At the end of that work day, I went home, changed, and headed right back out the door. My brother worked with me until Dan was able to get there. (Dan doesn't have flexible hours like me.) The main focus was getting the front wall covered in pine. The challenge was getting that first row started and maintaining the level line all the way down the wall. There are several breaks and obstacles that kept us from simply laying down one long board. 

We decided on a method and began in the kitchen corner. By the time Dan arrived, we had a good start. We paused to stuff some food in our faces and carried on. We worked steadily until almost 9pm. The urgency is growing by the day, and I think that was the magic fuel we were both managing to run on last night. 

We were happy to find that our lines, despite being broken up, were quite accurate. Placing the first board over the door was a moment of truth- to see if the boards on either side lined up nicely. They were quite accurate! Only off by less than 1/16th an inch, and since it is above the door, trim will cover that MINOR difference. 

Coming along!!

As fate would have it, I chose just the right height off the floor to begin the paneling. Each of the boards seemed to neatly end on a seam...meaning when we got to a window- one solid board met right at the lip versus having to cut a notch out for the bottom of the window. This made things move along quicker and we were so happy to be closing in on the last of the blackness (insulation). I also worked on other little odd jobs when I had a few free minutes here and there. I took up the last of the flooring that needs to be fixed. Hopefully that will get done tonight.

Doorway surrounded!

We worked until we ran out of wood! When we purchased, we did buy a little bit under because we were unsure of our estimates. Looks like we will need another 5 boards or so. Tonight, we plan to get those last boards and finish the front wall. Then the whole place will have finished surfaces! 
Next up will be the trim around the windows and doors and then TUNG OIL TIME!

The long board fits over the door nicely!

We plan to use tung oil throughout as a protective, waterproof coating. Tung oil is completely natural and has been used for centuries, especially for fine furniture, ships, etc. It has amazing waterproof properties, provides a great long lasting finish, and is, of course, completely free of chemicals and pollutants. Many hands make light work, so we hope to rustle up some extra help!

Putting up the last board we had. Wish we could have finished!

We will need to vaccuum the place free of dust and also sand the areas of the walls with dirty hand prints or foot prints (grrr). That's probably something that will happen tonight too!

Thanks for reading!
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