While technically not a new project, it is time to get a little dustier with the ongoing office renovation, which was started concurrently with the kitchen. There isn't that much to do, but we have been using the room as a staging and prep area for the kitchen work, so it hasn't been moving that quickly.
We have all new walls in here, as well as ceiling, lighting and electrical outlets and eventually, we will put some storage cupboards in. However, before that, the floors need to be painted and that means, sanding the old lacquer off first, which is what I am doing now.
For the rest of the house we used a large orbital sander, but the room is only about 3x5 meters and I don't want to rent one, so I am doing it by hand. I realized I didn't have a coarse enough grit however, so it was more to play around and obviously looking at the other picture, the dust trap on this machine is there for aesthetic purposes, as it doesn't really seem to catch much, at least of the fine particles.
I sanded for about a half hour and managed to do around 2 or 3 sqm, so it shouldn't take that long to get it all done, although some patches need a bit more than others. The other challenge is, that my hand is quite numb from the vibration and an hour later, it still feels like it belongs to someone else. My back isn't liking it much either - getting old sucks.
Once upon a time, I would be doing things more like this:
It is crazy what she can do with so much ease and she is far stronger than her little frame appears. She is unlikely to ever qualify as a giant in height, but she may just become a giant in other ways, if she puts her mind to it, as her mind is stronger than her body.
I am really looking forward to observing her develop over the years.
This weekend has been largely spent around the house cleaning and organizing, as there is so much to do and, everything is coated in a fine layer of dust, no matter if it was "sealed off" during the renovation. Sanding dust gets everywhere so easily and it makes me wonder how much we have breathed in over the course of this renovation. Upstairs where we spend the majority of the time however, is relatively dust free.
However, while there is still lots to do, it does feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel and perhaps by Christmas, six months after starting this phase, we will be able to reclaim the loungeroom and move the office back in. The floor paint however takes ages to dry and when we did the upstairs, it was eight weeks before we could move furniture in. But, that was through the start of winter, I probably painted slightly too thickly and it wasn't overly warm up there. So hopefully if we get the coats down soon, it will be within four or five instead.
While Smallsteps' birthday was in mid-August, we were unable to celebrate with family, so we are planning on having them over for a joint pre-Christmas gathering at the start of December, on Finnish Independence day, as that is a during the week holiday this year, so it might be a decent day where people are free. Weekends are hard for everyone it seems at the moment, so booking well ahead is a must.
This time of year books up fast too, as there are the work Christmas parties that are generally on a Friday night and when everyone is working at different places, setting a date where all are available is hard, as while on a Friday, many tend to be a little unavailable through Saturday also. Though it does depend on age and personality. The drinking culture is changing here.
Which reminds me, I finally got to have that glass of wine with dinner last night, though it wasn't quite the dinner I had in mind.
I was too busy to eat a proper dinner, so it was cereal instead and likely, it will be more of the same tonight.
That steak is getting closer though.
We did manage tortillas for lunch yesterday however, so slowly we are getting into the routine of cooking in a kitchen again, just baby steps though - nothing too fancy. However I would really like us (my wife) to learn how to use the appliances well and be able to cook some higher-end food for special occasions.
I suspect that she will not though, so I will have to do it myself, with the problem being that I am pretty much only interested in cooking desserts, not proper meals. Perhaps I will need to starting reading some recipe books online and trying something new though - something that challenges the kitchen, rather than a bowl of cereal.
The wine was good though.
And I still have a glass or two left in the bottle for tonight.
To wash down the dust.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
