MAJOR PHASES COMPLETED

FINALLY...
Pretty much done in the upper level.  The Living Area turned out much better than I had hoped.  The color (Cloudburst) you can see around the window, wall to the right, and doors is a bit of serendipity and seeks to import the clouded sky often present hereabouts.

I suppose this continues the theme of bringing into the house the colors of the environment. I my case, the basic colors used elsewhere, like Torch Light, Grass Cloth, and Crushed Orange, are somewhat 'loud' and used partly to remind me of colors found in Australia

It will be a while before I tackle minor improvements in the kitchen area.  I have since reversed the way the doors on the 'Fridge open and this makes things a lot easier as I now do not need to walk around the doors in order to get at the contents.  Here the philosophy is, "If it works, don't fix it.".  In the Fall, I will clean up this space and replace the present linoleum with linoleum tiles.  It will take a while to feel my way into just what to do.

It is hard to realize that this space was once two rooms!

My friend Blaine, from whom I purchased the road bike you can see in now over to the right in the regular content, gave me two prints of scenes from Central Australia he purchased when in Alice Springs (one of the Olgas, and the other of Uluru, otherwise know as 'Ayers Rock').  These are now framed; one is hung in the bedroom and the other in this area such that, coming up from the stairs into the passageway,  you can see one to the left and the other to the right.  This reminds me that, standing at the top of Uluru, one can see the Olgas some 30 miles away.  You can just see the Uluru print hung in the living room.  I am especially fond of these prints as, in my flying days, I made the trip to the Centre several times with various groups of friends.  I will write of flying adventures in the companion blog.

Since completing this work, I have turned more to the garden and am beginning to wonder just where to plant trees.  I have six blueberry bushes growing well,  a couple of trees awaiting re-planting, and a bunch of plants in the front of the house that will be moved in the Fall. I have also constructed the first raised garden bed.  Putting up an outside clothes line has completed the 'a la maison' feeling.  It is great have the washing out, fluttering in the breeze and drying in an hour or so.  The air is too humid during Summer for clothes to dry quickly indoors.  Of course, this enhances the energy efficiency of #74 Sterling Street.

The challenge now is to populate the interior with suitable furniture.  I have made up a list of what to buy and what to build.  Apart from my own needs in the upper area, I need to make the lower level able to receive house guests.

The deck needs treating with preservative and there is a lot of fixing, tidying, and cleaning beckoning me, not to forget that the exterior will have to be painted before Winter.  And so it goes, on and on!  Posting-wise, this will become even more sporadic as I work to recover parts of my life that got submerged in the overwhelming press of demolition and rebuilding.  I will work on some slideshows that will give you an overview of what has been accomplished.

So...Watch this space!