Out with the old, in with the new

I cannot begin to tell you how lucky we are with the weather. Way back in June, we signed a contract to replace ALL the windows in our house. There are 26 of them - don't even contemplate how much that is costing!

Initially scheduled for September, the work quickly got pushed to October and then December. I seriously was expecting it to get pushed again, but NOPE -- the installer arrived yesterday and will be here the entire week. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for that. 

I had asked the installation coordinator what windows they would start with. Usually, they begin upstairs, and could you please have 8 - 10 windows prepped by removing blinds and moving furniture away from the window by six feet. So that's what I did yesterday morning. I moved all the furniture and removed blinds and hardware. It required numerous trips up and down the stairs to get various tools - god forbid I carry the entire toolbox upstairs!

Of course, I had help along the way. Is there any place that we can be that Murphys doesn't want to be right there at our side? These blinds are off the windows and will NOT be put back up. We've never used them. We have a gorgeous forest in the back of the house, and there is no need for blinds. For that matter, this room has never been painted - EVER. Well, there is contractor beige on the walls. I guess decor is NOT my priority since the house is 25 years old, and we've lived here for almost 20. 

Taing the blinds down

Then off to the quilt storage room, which has been painted, but not by us. Some wallpaper needs to come off the walls, and the previous owners had a shelf that ran the room's perimeter. The screws to hold that shelf were still in place, so I removed what I could yesterday. The rest were in the corner, and there was no way I could get to them after moving stuff. 

Screws for a shelf were also removed

Then I had to deal with Studio U, which has been neglected for a while. It has served as a dumping ground for quilts, and such and nothing got put away. It was a bit of a mess. I'd love to sew there during the retreats and Monday sewing, but the internet isn't good enough, which sucks!

Studio U

Most of the quilts got moved to the spare room and placed on the bed. Not in any neat order, just dumped. Then I threw a large quilt over the whole thing. And yes -- that is Murphy's head at the bottom of the photo. She is everywhere! Lexi - well, she couldn't care. Too much drama for her. 

The heap of quilts

Everything upstairs got prepped, except to remove the blinds from Studio U. I've Googled how to remove them, and I can't figure it out. They are held in place with a clip, but I can't get the clip to release. Perhaps I'm not strong enough? The installers said they could probably do it. 

How to release these blinds from the clip?

So the installers arrived, and when asked where they were going to start - they said - the FRONT of the house and the living room window would be the first. Yep -- that happens every time. If I had not prepped the upstairs, they would have started there!!!

Here is the before picture. It's a beautiful window, and we get tons of sun in the afternoon. One of the windows no longer latched properly, and well, it's just cold in that room without the sun. 

The before of the window

They quickly went to work and lay down drop cloths. 

Drop cloths are in place

They set up scaffolding outside the window, and with one person inside and one outside, they proceeded to remove the windows. 

Trim is gone and working on removing the first window

They got one window out after much banging, sawing, grunting, and groaning (perhaps a silent cuss word or two! It appears that the original windows were slightly smaller than the opening and so were FILLED with much caulking. Essentially, they had to cut the windows out of the house!

At last, one window is gone

They removed the top three windows, then cleaned up the edges and installed the new windows. Yikes -- there are a LOT of stickers on the inside and outside of each window. I know from the contract that we are responsible for removing those stickers. I asked, and the guy inside said, "We are Pella - we take the stickers off!" I don't think that's a Pella thing, but rather - you be nice to the installer, and they will be nice to you! Either way, I noticed that some of the stickers were gone by the end of the day. 

That's a lot of stickers

They set up outside to cut the new trim. 

Cutting the new trim

And there's the scaffolding. Thank goodness the tree went as it would have been a nightmare to get those windows in. 

The scaffolding

At last, late in the afternoon, I took the girls for a walk, and when I came home, the three bottom windows were gone. Yikes -- see why it was the perfect day to have that large opening in the house. With the warm temperature and the sun, we got fortunate. It never felt cold in the house at all.  And look at all those stickers!!!

The bottom three windows are gone

I'm sure Murphy would have loved for us to keep the windows like this, so she could jump outside whenever she wanted, which would be frequent. I have to figure out a way to keep her from jumping up on the new window. She had rubbed all the paint off the old window sill, and I don't want that happening with these windows. 

Cleaning up the window openings

And here is the start of the old window pile. 

The old windows

Here's what it looked like last night when they left. NO -- they did NOT finish this window. The windows are sealed, but much work remains inside and outside. Notice that the stickers on the top windows are gone. Thank you, Pella installers -- you are the best!!!!

My new, unfinished window

I told them NOT to bother doing a complete clean-up, return the following day, and lay everything out again. That just doesn't make sense. And the girls wouldn't touch it. Oh yes, Murphy had to sniff, but she didn't touch anything. Lexi, just went to her kennel in the corner to sleep. 

OK -- so be forwarned to anyone who comes to my house. There is now a camera in the 30 KM School zone. Oh boy, they will make a LOT of money off that camera. I wonder how long it will take for people to actually slow down. I'm not sure it's activated yet, but it got installed yesterday. Could our new mailboxes be far behind? 

The new traffic camera is in place

I gave Miss Murphy a bone and put her in the backyard. NO -- that wasn't enough; she needed to be in the house to see what was happening. I took her downstairs with me and put up a barrier. She was NOT happy but eventually tired herself out and went to sleep. 

MOM  -- the top of the stairs are blocked

But not before trying to steal some small spools of thread from my embroidery thread drawer. That rascal!!!!

A thread thief

And when it was close to bedtime, and I watched my one episode of The Great British Baking Show, I covered her with a blanket. 

Murphy having a pre-bedtime nap

In no time flat, she was overheated, and I had to take it off! This dog is menopausal!!!!

MOM -- I'm boiling!

I got the final homework assignment out the door (well into an e-mail) very early this morning. I have two other documents I'd like to write as a follow-up for one of my groups this past year, and then I'll be done for the year and ready to start the process all over again. 

I believe I have now compiled the distribution lists for my upcoming Free Motion classes at Thimbles and Things. I need to double-check that I didn't miss anyone, and then I'll send a confirmation today. Then one more massive distribution list to get organized and a couple of smaller ones. I hope to have all that information sorted out by the end of this week. But at some point, I'm going to have to move the crap in the office. 

OH -- so moving all that furniture was an eye-opener. There wasn't much to move, but some stuff, I question whether it needs to go back. There is a large wooden bed frame -- the headboard and the footboard. We haven't used it in ages, and it's just sitting there. I know that NO ONE wants it, and I probably couldn't even give it away. I wonder if the wood is useful to anyone? I bought it in 1990, so not sure what it's made of, but it's darn heavy. 

I'm very tempted to rent a truck, take it to the recycling depot, and deposit it in the wood bin. Thoughts??? 

Then there are a few other things that will not get put back. I'm tempted to put them in the garage until we can get rid of them. And I have an indoor bicycle trainer - a fancy one that if someone wants, we can talk. There is no need to keep this stuff that we do not use. And while the office should be my priority, I really need to get this other stuff dealt with as well. 

And then maybe we should think about painting? And it would dress up the house as well. OK -- something else to add to the list of things to organize. We are NOT painting - I'll hire someone to do it. 

We had loads of fun at Monday sewing, and I accomplished lots. Tomorrow, I'll share my learning curve work and my virtual challenge. I had to share my window experience with you today. OH  - I'll share the roof story tomorrow as well. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!