Several items - Shower Vanity and Living Room Ceiling

A quick catch up on interior work. We have finished all the tongue and groove! Wasn't sure that I would ever be able to type those words. We have tongue and groove on nearly all the wood framed walls and most of the ceilings now. Some still needs polyurethane - but it is up. Took a break from the tiling to install a vanity in the shower bathroom. Our cabinet maker, MidMaine Furniture (did such a fabulous job on the Hickory kitchen) is extremely busy and won't be able to get to our final work until summer. We can wait for the pantry, towel closet and dressing table - but really needed a sink in this bathroom. So, here it is - he is going to match it as well as possible. It is a good brand, but I can certainly see the difference in this and his products.

The last few days have seen Dave back outside - he discovered that he needed to take some of the winter build-up off the roof (I'll blog that separately). We have had some ice and that makes the driveway a skating rink - slid down it using the piles of snow as bumpers last week. So, he is working to try to get some traction somehow - next year we are going to get a pile of sand to use when this happens. Having sun today and yesterday - brought the house temp up to around 80 and helped a little.

The study floor is filling in - having a non-square room is not conducive to quick tiling. The den is where the jog in the floorplan appears - lots of triangles....
We now have the fan and wall lights ready to mount in there - that may be the first completely finished room! It will be good to get my corner cabinet and the computer back into that room and out of the garage and dining areas.

Looking at a Vermont company, Hubbardton Forge, for the lights in the dining and living room - Love their products and like the idea of purchasing from a US company (especially one in the NE).

sharon+betts
bermed
Maine
HubbardtonForge

Piles of snow and lots of clouds

This has been a very snowy and cloudy 2008. Last year, I was complaining that I coudn't get away from the scalding sun and the house was always heading above 80 during the days. So, we worked on some bamboo shades for this year, and have used them some very successfully. But, we really haven't had much need to drop them. Snow - snow - clouds - rain - snow - clouds have led to a real test of our bermed concept. We found that if we add nothing except the Tulikivi and get no sun for 3 or more days, the temps in the back bedroom drop a little too much for me. When it hit 62 degrees, I flipped on our portable electric heater - cheaper than using propane to run the radiant heat. That worked like a charm.

Today, the sun came out - the house warmed and we are all cosy watching the mountains of snow outside the windows.
click on the picture to enlarge it -----------------
You can see more pictures of this winter at the Gallery.

sharon+betts
bermed
Maine

Bold but Covered

The last tongue and groove is being stained as I type! There is a lot of concrete in this house - and now there is also a lot of tongue and groove. A long time ago, we decided that we really disliked any form of wallboard. So, we have covered as much of our walls and ceilings as possible with wood. Using stain and bold colors for some walls, we hope this makes it both warm and easy to maintain. But, it is a challenge. There are some pictures of other ceilings and walls in the Gallery. The weather isn't being passive-solar friendly today. Warmish (around freezing) and cloudy. The last storm was messy ending with fine rain which froze to a crust on the pretty snow. Not hard enough to hold even the dogs, it is miserable and we can no long hike through the woods on the logging paths. That is really discouraging. We will see what the next weeks bring. The Ford Sport Trac is doing quite well on any slush and snow - I recommend it to anyone who must have a winter vehicle although it is only getting around 20 mpg. I look forward to going back to the Civic and doubling that in the Spring. So, the fire is burning in the Tulikivi and I am about to settle down for the Super Bowl - not usually a football fan, but this year....

sharon+betts
bermed
Maine