Summerbreak is over!

Hello everyone and apologies for the long hiatus from blogging. We had a bit of a summer break although not in the form of a holiday as you might expect. It still felt like a holiday to us though, because we 'only' worked at work (saving up money for the next building phase - the downstairs floor and kitchen) and not on the house. Which meant that we actually had a few weekends off in which to visit friends and explore our new neighborhood.

However before I get into the new projects that lie ahead for the fall I have a bit of catching up to do and a few DIY-Superheroes to introduce! First up we have (drumroll please):

Mighty Marei - mighty patient that is, which is a good thing when you have joined the illustrious club of stairmasters and spent hours sanding the corners of each step trying to remove the most stubborn paint I have ever had the pleasure of meeting! The combined effort on the stairs of Esther, Marei and myself justify the stairs to be henceforth known as the 'Ladies Stairs' I think. ;o)

I regret to say that I do not have a picture of her working - so you'll just have to take my word for it that she did a great job. Thank you Marei!

Next to join the Superhero club were (Can I just say how incredibly hard it is to find adjectives that start with J!):

Jolly John and Jaunty Jonathan

Another addition to the Canadian workforce these two were drafted in to remove the floorboards in what is to be the kitchen. No small feat considering the floorboards were nailed into the cinder sub-floor with 2 inch iron nails. Dad being Dad was of course delighted to explore the archaeological possibilities of this floor construction - here is the summary of his musings:
The house was built in the 1930's therefore building material was probably scarce and cheap recyclable alternatives had to be sought. Old railway lines were being replaced with newer modern constructions, so the old coal remnants and railway sleepers could be re-used in the building of social housing (which this house was). I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to investigate the likelihood of this theory. :o)

Here a few pictures of the archaeological dig:

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Getting stuck in.

Out with the old (through the window into the backyard)

Removing the gazillion nails that refused to come out with the boards (which were softened up by damp and a serious infestation of woodworm).

The bare cinder floor.

I don't have pictures of the other work J&J did, but they fixed our side gate to the garden, ripped up all the weeds from the front path, and sanded down the fresh plaster around the new windows downstairs ready to be painted. And all of this was done after a week of hiking!

Now for the rebuild...to be continued in the next post. ;o)

Thank you to the newest DIY-Superheroes - you did a great job and your help is much appreciated.