finally...pictures

As promised, here come some before pics:

Ah, gotta love 1991 grandma style.  If only you could have seen the shower curtains that match the cat painting.  I kind of feel bad taking down the cat picture, but unfortunately, it's got to go. Maybe I'll hang it somewhere where the guests wont see it.  That way I won't feel like I'm slighting my grandmother.  Actually, it's not that bad, given what it could be.  Plus, I have to admit that when I was 6 years old, I loved this bathroom, especially the cats.  I would find ways to sneak into this bathroom just to look at how cool it was.

Being back in this house, I have come to realize how afraid I was of it.  I mean, I'll tell stories about the ghosts later, but I was afraid of going into certain rooms for fear of getting in trouble.  I have already spent more time in my grandmother's bedroom (soon to be mine for the summer), the basement and the ell than ever before in my life.  I was always afraid of the basement and never went into the dirt floored root cellar until two days ago.  Yesterday, I told Dan about how I would get in trouble if I even so much as looked too long at my grandfather's old rowboat that hung in the ell.  I wonder if my kid mind made some of this up or if I really was forbidden to touch these things and go into these places.

Anyway, get a load of this bedroom:

Holy cow, what is that paint color?! How is anyone supposed to fall asleep in this room? (I must admit that I have on many occasions, but still, whoa brightness).  I guess this color would probably fulfill any 80-year-old woman's dreams of retiring in Florida and eating key lime pie.  

Finally, the big work that's been done so far:

These are pictures of the hole we had to cut in the ell floor to get out the leaky oil tank.  That's 2010 wood right next to 1840 wood.  It's pretty impressive how well the 1840 wood has held up. 

Here's the oil tank that Dan, my dad and Tom sawed in half:

And here's a little, old (!) friend who stayed along for the ride:

Stay tuned for more to come of our renovation projects (there are many) and whatever disasters are bound to ensue...