the day after yesterday

the view from the fortunato:

today

and one art shot:

more walls... excited, nervous, et al!

i love these windows

walls!

view from the end of my street

flash update...

arrrrrrgh matey!

don't make me walk the plank, i swear i will never poop the poop deck again!

fu*bleeeep* about time!!!!

and here we are ladies and germs. what we have all been waiting for... the magic LVL's

and ryan...working!

ps
the foundation has been sitting exposed for so long we need to have it cleaned out and waterproofed again, have fun weber!

a funny thing happened to me on the way to pick up the sink

which is that i didn't bring anyone to help me. i did think i had planned ahead enough, by bringing all sorts of heavy item moving stuff... dollies, handcarts, the big ramp things to put on the back so i could roll the sink up and into the truck. well... that sink is motherfuckin heavy. its cast iron with porcelain overlay, and it is 51" long.

and the guy's driveway was on a slope. but not toward the street, back in and toward his freshly painted garage doors. so once i got the thing on the dolly and say it had gotten away from me as i pushed it up toward the truck, it would have gone rolling and smashed through his garage. oh boy.

so i attached a rope to the sink, in case it did get away from me, it wouldn't go all the way down. i tried getting it in with the ramps, but no go, too much of a slope working against me. i tried propping it against the tailgate and either pushing it up and in or pulling it over the edge and in from the inside of the bed. nope. i tried each of these approaches at least twice, and oh yeah, it was also about 95 degrees. and there wasn't a soul around. except maybe the elderly neighbor across the street (but i didn't want to be responsible for any negative consequences with his help).

i tried to get that thing in there for an hour. sweat cascading into my eyes, ears, nether regions. i was just about to give up when i hear the beautiful chorus of bells broadcast over a crappy PA and low and behold.... it's the ice cream man. i ran into the street after him yelling "ice cream man, ice cream man, HELP!"

well, it was more along the lines of a scrawny goth ice cream teen. pale skin, jeans, dyed black hair, elvis costello glasses, a big black leather belt, and skinny as a rail. oh boy. so i say "um, ice cream dude... can you help me push my sink into the back of my pickup?". he looks at me and i swear to god he says "well, i'm kind of weak". i'm all "dude, right now you look like hercules, lets go". so i get in the truck and pull and he pushed from the back. and it went in. i thanked him profusely, and although i couldn't tip him or even buy myself a creamsicle or rocket pop because i had zero cash on me, i yelled to him and told him he had gotten his good karma points for the day. i drove home singing about how i was saved by the ice cream man, kid, goth, teen, dude.

and then i really hurt myself unloading the thing alone over at the bay. but, here it is.

studio sink

i just bought this 1930's farm sink for the studio on eBay... for $10!!! now i just have to find someone(s) to go to fall river to pick it up with me. it's supposed to weigh about 300lbs, yikes.

genu-INE I-talian sink

just picked myself up this sink i bought on eBay today, i drove very far to get it (because i am on a budget) the sink was very reasonable (read: cheap), but looks awesome and came straight from italy. and it must be italian, it says frah-gee-lay on the box. i also eBayed myself this nice little faucet for it that looks totally money (but wasn't). the whole shebang will look perfect-o with the fortunato (which isn't actually made in italy, but instead in china, oh well, who cares, it looks rockin').

hark...

what is that which i spy through the woods?....


why it's ryan and justin, and they are building things!!!!!

still waiting

in the meantime, i went over to the bay to try and find ryan and instead found a large box outside my door. i pushed it into the garage bay and started to open it. well, at first glance i thought i had indeed found ryan, and someone had encased him in a block of foam and shipped him to me in this box, so i was careful to cut the foam away....

but still no ryan, it's the fortunato though!

waiting

so i have been trying to do what i can around the lot. i brought a load of gravel up from the hole to the driveway. i am collecting smooth rocks and bringing them up by hand to the driveway to create a cobblestone type area. i am doing the same right in front of the house, t try and ward off erosion. i have raked a bunch of the hill and spread erosion control seed there. and tried to spread some wild flowers in front of the neighbors septic pipes to block my view. don't forget the 16 hours of troweling that went into the foundation exterior.

the writing on the wall

semper verus ad finem fidelis
always true and faithful to the end

ulula cum canis, cum quibus esse cupis
one who howls with dogs, is with whom one desires to be
original motto is lupis, not canis

sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
we gladly feast on those who would subdue us
(motto of the addams family, which friday and i will be adopting,
and, did you all know that wednesday's middle name was friday?)

qui me amat, amat et canem meam
love me, love my dog

been a real shitty few weeks

but i suppose it's about time i start to update this again. i half joked with ryan about how the property should be called heartbreak hill. he quickly corrected me and said no, call it 'new beginnings'. he has been through the ringer too, but at least he still can say things like that. so here's to new beginnings and ryan starting the whole shebang next week, we should be moving right along and have a lot of updates soon.

in the meantime, here are pics of some things that i have now, including the above pic of my very first set of keys to something that i (and fred) own. i am also posting a pic of the fancy I-talian toilet i just bought on ebay... where i am also trying to buy my hotwater heater, furnace and whatever i can get my hands on there.

below are my windows, my huge tracks of sliders, the front door you will pass through on your way into mi casa, and that crazy european commode. and as an aside, i am planning on getting the least expensive toilet out there for the downstairs studio, i have found it, and can you believe that american standard actually makes a toilet they call, you ready?, the plebe.

this is NOT the plebe

wall and roof panels

earth day

i completely forgot to mention that my green kit house arrived on earth day! how perfect!

good luck, sucker

...the last words spoken to me (in jest, i hope) from noah on the phone as the kit rolled away from him and toward me.

ryan asked if i got a lot of 'action shots' of the unloading... and here you go.

the truck

the kit

the inspection (nice ink)

the unloading

a man

a machine

a man, a machine and my straw walls

and i got a boatload of crap (which i am sure is only the beginning) from both of them about being the g.c.
the thermasteel panels are en route and should be here tomorrow.

and finally...

jimmy is a good man. and ryan keeps me laughing.

go go gadget green

i got an email this morning from noah saying...

Jen,
I spoke with a researcher who is looking for "green" projects around Boston for a new Discovery Channel show called Planet Green. They are interested in your house. They would highlight you and your in-progress house, with discussion of the green aspects to your home - everything, including the kitchen sink!

of course my first reaction was "if mike rowe is hosting it then i have already died and am on my way to heaven." well, it's steve thomas (aka this old house)... at least my domestic bliss won't be in jeopardy if this comes to be a reality.

the kit and stuff is coming, gulp!, on tuesday. here are some pics of part of my house sitting at their shop waiting to go on a truck to jimmy's shop.

rafters!

and, uh, stuff!

behold! the bible of noble

...sent to me to by noah, to study and learn from. a second one also arrived, so that i might spread the teachings.

like glass!

unfortunately i only had my cell phone with me, but here is my gleaming studio floor! i love it. i hope the upstairs floor looks this good!


thank you ainsley!