Christmas

Wow, where has the time gone. Its almost January 2012. I felt I needed to do one last blog in 2011 - its been a while since the last installment.

We made a trip to WI and IL over Thanksgiving. The Mountain opened, although with not much snow, however with this new distraction, our energy level towards DIY waivered. SO rather than persue new projects, we embraced the Christmas spirit and cut down a tree and decorated!! It was a completely different Christmas this year compared to last - it was awesome!! Plus I had a couple of surprise visitors on Christmas Day that made it extra special!!

Chris loves his chain saw!!

The chosen tree!

Ready to go

Our lovely Christmas tree!

The outside of the house looking pretty  with fairy lights!

The pom pom garland that I made.....sure beats tinsel!

My surprise visitors - MUM and CHRISSY!!!! (at Mayflower Gulch)

Exterior - Done!!

Over the past few weeks we have been cutting, painting and attaching the trim around the windows, doors and new garage; painting the purple window frames white, and painting the soffit blue. Today Chris finished sealing the new trim, and we think (we hope) the exterior of the house is ready for winter! Lucky as there is a winter storm advisory out for tomorrow night - so looks like we just made it!! I'm pretty happy with how it looks, and OK there are still some things that need to be worked on (front deck and steps, painting the tin roof, fixing driveway), those are tasks for next summer..............

Chris attaching the trim

Probably not the safest way to attach trim - but our ladder was too short!

This weekend - painting anything green, blue.

Painting the soffit - a time-consuming task

Painting the soffit on the other side of the house!

We borrowed the neighbours ladder so we could reach the high points without having to lean out the window!

How the house looked tonight! Finished!!

Winston approves!

Just to remind you how the outside of the house looked like a year ago..................

Garage Door!

During the construction last year, the garage door was the first thing to go. However by Decemeber we needed a new one. The plastic sheet did a great job of keeping the snow out, but not the frigid temperatures!  As money was limited, we decided to make one. So on Christmas Day, Chris built a plywood door, with hinges so we could open and close it. It actually worked fairly well. However as the exterior remodel progressed and now that the outside of the house is starting to look nice, we felt the plywood door didn't really fit in too well. So we ordered a new one online, and on Friday a guy came and installed it! The decision now is whether to paint it blue, like the front door, or leave it white? What do you think?

The original doors - would have been a little drafty if we had kept them - and if I recall correctly we didn't get a chance to save them - the construction guys binned them!

The plywood door Chris made on Christmas Day - not an ideal way to spend Christmas (but I've had worse!)

Chris had to frame the door, so the door size we ordered would fit!

Garage door installer man - only took him a few hours, which was great!

The door installed. Just need to put trim around the wood framing. Hopefully that will get done this week!

Once the blue trim is up around the windows and doors, the exterior will be finished (for this year anyway!!)

My Blue Door. Take Two.

It was about this time last year that I decided to paint the original front door blue. However with all the new construction that took place, the old front door ended up a little too small for the door frame, and rather drafty. We bought a new door (again about a year ago), and for some reason it has remained unpainted this whole time. That was until this weekend.....

After a month of visitors and minimal DIY, this weekend we had some time to get back to house projects. On the top of our list was paint the doors and windows before Winter arrived.

I got to work painting the front and back doors blue, Chris started painting the window frames white. The exterior is starting to look so much better than it did in the Spring. We plan on putting trim around the windows the same colour as the front door - thats on the list for next weekend!

The front door, as it has looked for about a year - note the plastic is still on the glass!

Back door prior to painting - note silly hand rail we had to install in order to meet 'code'.

Deep Royal paint - certainly looks brighter than the sample - hopefully it will be less bright once dry, otherwise we'll have one colourful house!

Finally - my blue front door!!

Lovely blue back door and a welly boot!

Chris painting the purple window frames white.

Chris using a razor blade to remove paint from window.

We have ordered a new garage door, so hopefully the plywood door, will be gone very soon!

My front door matches my French 332 sign!

White window frames!

Colourful Colorado

Autumn is here, and even if the weather doesn't reflect this (it was in the 70's today!) - the trees sure do! The colours are sensational right now. Just wanted to share a few views from our house.

Our back garden

View down Taylor Street

View of Minturn town

Lionshead Rock

Our house beneath the rock and golden mountain-side.

Shower Door and Ikea Adventure

The Kohler glass shower door arrived and Chris got straight to work installing it.

I did the caulking.

Turned out great - all we need now is the finishing trim for the edges of the shower, and to tile the step into the Master Bedroom - and we will have one room fully finished!!!!!! One down - 4 to go - ( the basement is a completely seperate count!!)

Prepping with tape before caulking.

Shower door installed!!! No more wet, soagy towels on the floor!

Whilst my mum was visiting, we made a trip to the new Ikea store in Denver - I was excited - Chris was not! So he stayed at home with Url.

As lack of storage is one of our biggest issues right now in the house - be it in the bedroom, bathroom or front entrance - I had my eyes peeled for anything that might work in any of the rooms. I found this little number - and think it works well. Unfortunately I couldn't make a decision on anything else - so this was our only big purchase of the day (we found plenty of little things in the marketplace - so cannot say our only purchase!).

The cabinet Mum and I got from Ikea. The colour goes perfectly with the other stained wood and mirrors!

The Shower

I started tiling the shower in March. I did a little and then stopped. I resumed tiling in May. Did a little and then stopped. Then some more in July. It goes on. However - enough was enough - we were sick of showering and having the plastic sheet we had used to cover the tiles, stick to our skin. Plus we had guests arriving - so we grudgingly spent one full Sunday finishing the tiling in the double shower. I measured, Chris cut and I mortared them in place. It was a gross day. However it turned out pretty well, for a first attempt at tiling a shower. Now we just need to order the glass shower door - and our double shower will be complete!

To start with this was an exciting project. (March 2011)

Still smiling - notice no toilet yet or bath tub!

Did a little more in May

and a little bit more in July!

This is how we managed to still shower whilst not finishing the tiling. The plastic sheet!

August 2011 - we bit the bullet and just got on and did it. Tape really helped to keep the tiles in place, as did pieces of cardboard - I ran out of tile spacers towards the end!!

Level ish!

Chris grouted. I couldn't bare to be near the shower after spending 11 hours in there covered in mortar!

Chris buffing the tiles after grouting

Sealing the tiles

The finished shower!!