Down to the Dining Room!

Funny how the connection is in Alaska…..

If there IS one, that is! :c)

((And that is said tongue in cheek, because most times I HAD a signal!)) I could get phone calls pretty readily, but something funny happens with long distance text-sending, ESPECIALLY if there is a photo attached..

The conversations go something like this

((Ring, Ring))

Me: HI!

DH: Did you get my text of the dining room floor demolition?

Me: ((!!!)) Text? Nope! When did you send it?

DH: HOURS ago! I thought you were too busy for me!

Me: Did you include a picture with it??? Pictures take FOREVER!

((Thinking: Of course, HOURS ago, I was still in bed. There is a 4 hour time difference between NC and AK, remember!?))

Simple texts will get there fairly well, but if you include an image in your text it can be like waiting for the slow boat from China. So we are sewing away, and a couple hours ((YES HOURS!)) later…..PING PING!! And in came the first pic!

Our dining room floor was 1970’s oak parquet. Every slat and piece GLUED to the under floor. It took a huge scrapping pounding thing to lift up each piece, and I’m sure it was back breaking work and a big MESS to get it up. I had no idea he was going to just dive right in to the dining room, but EVER so glad he dug in when I was not at home!

More of the floor mess coming up. It’s not that it was a “BAD” floor, but it was VERY VERY worn over 30 years and needing a refinishing job anyway if it were to be salvaged, and some of the slats had already come loose. Better to just replace it so it would flow into the other floor.

The black scraper thing is propped against the back wall.

This was another text! How do we dispose of unwanted oak slats? Build a BON FIRE of course! It had been raining for days, everything was soaking wet, and there was no wind, so it was a good time to just burn this stuff up rather than haul it off to the dump.

Another text picture showed the floor going in! Isn’t it looking nice? This is the same “Yorkshire Oak” that went in the Sun Room. It was a no brainer this way. We had 2 boxes left over, and only had to purchase an additional 2 boxes to have enough to complete this room.

Here it is, mostly put back together! The tall cabinet is one I picked up at a sale at a one-room school house in Idaho that was being torn down. I got the cabinet for $2.00 And then paid to have someone strip it!

My big worry with doing this room “without me” was that DH would try to move the china cabinet without removing the china first! This thing is old and heavy and has the original glass in it. He didn’t! He moved the dining room table out, and emptied the contents of the cabinet on top of the table…and I spent Tuesday afternoon revisiting each piece and putting it all back away.

The two quilts you see hanging there on the doors are a couple of my really early ones…very well loved and very well faded out from use and abuse. Still love them!

The lighting isn’t great, but here we are, new floor and furniture back! It’s just a tiny dining room nook, just perfect for 4 to 6 people. If we had more than that, we’d have to spill over to the living room with an extra table, but it could be done in a pinch. I like living cozy and small!

Some people get or expect fancy expensive gifts for a momentous 30th wedding anniversary. I got a sun room remodel and two new floors. I’d rather have THESE and the effort that went behind them. It’s way too easy to swipe a credit card at a store…..or order online. THIS? This took hard back breaking work and lots of TIME. The time is the most precious of all.