Day Forty Two

These are some examples of the new contenders for the exterior paint colours.

Emily, put me out of my misery and tell me what colour we'll be using.

Day Forty One

This is how the building looked at 3pm this afternoon.

Day Forty

The big decisions make a big difference; ecologically-friendly flooring, insulation, lighting, HVAC and wood siding restoration - but as Emily reminded me, the small ones are no less important.

Which raises the question, when considering the much over looked electric socket, where do we throw our hat when we have to decide between poorly designed metal fixtures (metal is the closest I can find to 'green' in the very small world of sockets) and design-perfect screwless plastic?

Metal.

Screwless. But plastic.

I can barely believe I'm writing about sockets. Tomorrow is going to be worse. I had a chat today with a paint specialist and was told that all of the colour swatches I posted the other day are from paint companies that have very high Volatile Organic Compounds in their paints. So those are a no no. I've found two companies that produce very low VOC paint and those swatches will be posted tomorrow.

I know, it's breath taking stuff.

Day Thirty Nine

Doors. These photos are not the best representation of what we want, for some reason you can't get door swatches, but they are there or there abouts. Also, the photo quality is poor because of the sheen on the brochures.

Exterior.

Interior

An all wood exterior door was the first option, but the Pennsylvanian climate of brutal summers and horrendous winters only means we would have to make repairs every two years - there's enough fun in these parts already for us to want to dodge that sexy chore. The fiberglass door is not going to happen - I've no idea what life on this small planet will look like in a thousand years, but a fiberglass door thrown into a landfill tomorrow will still look like a fiberglass door in a thousand years.

My research has taken me to the point that the best available option is wood in a steel coating. Because this is an office I think the door in the top photo, second from left, could work but with a built-in blind rather than grille.

The interior doors will be solid wood - imagine, perhaps, the final photo with five panels rather than three.

Today was a ride and a half. I'll leave the last words to the amazing Fats Waller, "One Never Knows, Do One?"

Day Thirty Eight

These are a few possible paint colours for the exterior wood siding.
I could start an online poll and spend a morning ranking the votes, but frankly it's just quicker to call Emily and her mother.

The exterior trim of the windows is a deep chocolate brown and I've always had in mind that a New England blue would suit not not only the windows but also the setting and the size and shape of the building. Something like All American or Serene Dream (third photo, middle top and right top). Very Dale Winton.

It's not quite as tense as watching Obama finally defeat the jaw dropping McCann/Palin alliance, but I'll wait for the votes to trickle in and then let Emily decide.

Day Thirty Seven

To install a new plumbing system we need to know where the ground well for the White House is located (no such thing as public water in these parts - it's not quite something from Thomas Hardy, with folks wearing rough woolens hauling the stuff up in wooden buckets, but it's close) - which means finding the bleedin' thing.

Tom and I walked around the place last week and found nothing; the problem is that the little house is on a large piece of land with several other buildings and the well could be anywhere. 

You'd think it would be obvious, if not a huge "It's Here!" sign hanging from the sky, then at least a plan in the office files.

So, I went to the office this afternoon and with Emily's help, via Skype, I patiently went page by page through the large file of papers and turned up these:

 

They appear to indicate that a new well was drilled in 2005 and the old well was abandoned, but until tomorrow, when I have to walk the entire property,  I'm not sure how much these help, because we have a permit but no invoice, no cheque receipt, no thank you letter; was it ever drilled?

As my dad used to say, it would make a glass eye cry.

Day Thirty Six

 

I took the last photo as I was sitting at the lights at the junction of Routes 41 and 10 on my way home from the White House yesterday evening. Three Amish on the back seat, one on the front and a non-Amish driver.

As my dad used to say, if you told that to a donkey he'd kick you in the teeth.