One year later

I find it funny that one year later I get back to blogging.  Things got…busy…
I got engaged.  Married.  Attended at least 5 other weddings. Traveled.  Kris graduated. And now here we are, in the beginnings of an energy upgrade.  Here are some highlights of the past few days.

 Scaffolding for new siding and roof

 Look our very own blue box, and easy entry into our bedroom window.  Nice.

 Pretty new attic access since, for some reason the house didn't already have access to this attic.  We have three separate ones of course.

 Bye bye giant, 30 year old, squeaky gross, furnace.

Hello new furnace!

The duct work is still being installed sooooo 

 We have 4 space heaters.  They are actually working pretty well.

This was cut today.  Pretty! and Drafty!

 And they started pulling off our cedar death boards.

 So far the garage is now naked and our west facing wall.  We don't see any dry rot…yet.

 Tomorrow, these walls will be cut for plumbing and electrical.  Fun drafty times!

 Kris and I can't complain.  We are very excited about all this activity, a year in progress.  Now if only we could stop finding small things to change.  I feel like daily we sign Additional Work Assignments!

Where is all the hot air going?

We bought a very old house, which naturally need some updates.  Where to start?  With an energy audit of course.  Oregon Energy Works is a program to help homeowners figure out how to make their homes more energy efficient.  They came to visit on a lazy saturday and climbed all through the house.

 Then set up a fan, turned off the heat and showed me where all that cold air is coming from.

 Cool new devise to show drafts.

 Lots of air coming from the attic...

 and this storage in the unheated closet above the vast open space that is our deck.  It is FREEZING in the closet right now!

The Handy Man was not amused as the audit fell on the same day as the Broncos game.  The house got very cold for a while there. and it didn't help that the game didn't end well.  More info when we get the report.

Children

No we don't have kids, but we did take in some friends while the dorms where closed this past two weeks.  Their rent, make a meal!  Look at these yummy quesadilla's!

 It also happened to be the day the wise men arrived so we had some king cake, or what is it really called?  I cannot remember.

 It was accompanied by some hot chocolate.

 And look who got the little baby jesus in his slice, of course.

I didn't get any photos of the fantastic lasagna what was made by Molly a week later.  Shoot!  Made with beef right from her back yard!

Sorry the last few posts have been about food.  It's kind of a big deal.

How to take care of your aging house

There is a lot we need to learn about our house and all its very old quirks.  So we started with a trip to the Build, Remodel, and Landscape show.

 Three hours later, we were very tired, had a million more projects to do, and had a lot of fliers.
I of course got distracted by this fine product, the Wine Slushee.  It was delicious and now I want to try to make my own.

When we got home, I noticed that there are some bulbs growing by the front door.  Surprise.  I wonder what they will be!

A special visit

My dear friend Shenannigans decided to come visit from Vancouver BC.  I of course showed her the rops with champagne...

manis and pedis (not pictured)...

and a roaring fire.

Odds and ends

New year, new house, new possibilites.  Look what we came home to!

 Cutco from our mortgage lender.  Presents are presents and always exciting.

Then I decided it was time to be a grown up and roast my very first chicken.  It was of course a success.  Delish!  Now if only I could figure out how to cut one with out destroying it.

Want

I bought a small one of these during a Thanksgiving sale.  It's luscious and warm, but too small!  I'm saving up for one of these.