Uh-Oh, Ouch, and Oh-là-là

     Everything I've read about housing projects has said to expect it to take twice as long and cost twice as much as was first expected.  I've watched enough HGTV to know that unless it's the "Property Brothers" doing the work, you can expect it to not finish on time or on budget.
     I really haven't experienced anything too upsetting, but just a couple of bumps on the bend these past couple of weeks.  I am pleased to report that I have one room completely finished and I have posted the photos to prove it.  One of the "Uh-0hs" happened while working in this room - the little bedroom on the main floor.

Bedroom floor before

    I was so happy to have finished scraping, washing and painting the ceiling as well as washing and painting the walls. So the time had come to touch up the stain on all of the wood trim and baseboards.  The walls, as you can see in the photo, are a putty color and therefore anything dark will show up quite easily.  And the floor (thankfully I had not refinished it yet) is a light oak.  I had the can of stain sitting on the little shelf that is on the ladder.  And, lest you think I was not prepared, there was a sheet on the floor.  A cloth sheet.  Not a plastic drop as all my plastic drops got used and thrown out after the scraping and painting and I was sure that the sheet would be enough to catch any little drips that might fall.
     Perhaps you see where I'm headed . . . .
     As I was (carefully) moving the ladder, my foot slipped on the sheet and the stain can began to slip off the shelf.  I was proud of myself for catching it and not getting any of it on me.  However, it sloshed its way onto the sheet in a rather large puddle which immediately soaked through to the floor.  I was concerned about the dark stain making the poor oak floors even worse so I got down on my knees and started sopping up as much stain as I could.  Once it looked like the floor was ok, I looked a little higher and there were mahogany colored "freckles" all over that section of the wall.  Fortunately, they were pretty easy to clean up.  So, all in all, it was not a fiasco!  Whew!
     I have a few "battle scars" which is to be expected as I am doing all the work myself and I'm not the most graceful of people.  Unless, you put my in a costume and on stage with a good choreographer, then I'm not bad!  But on a ladder . . . well, you see what happened in the above story!  So I have bruises on both shins where they press against the ladder to help steady me.  I have a bruise on the inside of my arm that I have no idea where it came from.  And my poor back is certainly feeling the constant up and down from the ladder and the bending and stretching for scraping, washing and painting.  But it's all good because I'm seeing results.  As Cindy said, I don't have to worry about working out or lifting weights!  And I am extremely thankful for my hot tub!!
  
 So here is my Oh-là-là photo!

Bedroom floor after

 The above photo shows the wood floor before I refinished it.  And this one is the "after"!
I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I used a kit made by Rustoleum to renew wood floors.  It was a two step process and was really pretty easy.  These floors are 89 years old!  My house was built in 1926.  The ceiling and walls are plaster and are really in pretty good shape considering their age.
     I've now started on the dining room area.  I scraped the ceiling yesterday and today started on washing it and touching up some of the cracks in the plaster.  I'm hoping it turns out looking as nice as the bedroom.
     Oh, I forgot to mention that the other "bump" was getting my couch and motorized recliner steam cleaned so I can sell them.  The guy came on time and was really doing great and then the water pump went out on his machine.  He was very apologetic and will be back in the morning to finish up, hopefully!  Know anyone who would like to buy a recliner couch or a motorized recliner chair?
     But I may not work tomorrow afternoon.  It's supposed to be sunny and in the 60s so I think I'll go to the zoo! :-)  I'll leave you with a photo I took today.  One of my favorite sights in the world. 
     Thanks for joining me on this journey!  Merci!

Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak