Sunday, January 29, 2012

Real Life Intervenes

As you know, we here in Texas have been praying for rain to help assuage 2+ years of drought conditions. Our lake (Lake Ray Roberts) is almost 4.5 ft. low. We were very excited when Mother Nature complied last week to the tune of 4" of rain. Our land drains well, so we accepted every drop without qualms.

Only downside is that parts of Heather's place, including the arena, tend to hold water for a good while, so no riding this weekend. I did, however, spend about an hour with the Boyz today. It was a de-mudding and carrot eating session, but I'll take what I can get.

The rain meant that the greater part of the weekend could be devoted to Mr. Fry's and my rather ambitious project: ripping the carpet out of all 4 bedrooms and replacing it with drop-and-lock laminate flooring. Words cannot describe how disgusting that 12-year old carpet is. Animals in the house — 'nuff said. We are taking our time, using the opportunity to paint the rooms when there's no need to mask or use drop cloths. And we're doing it "nice and friendly," as we say around here, so we don't cripple ourselves.
Once we got all our questions answered and it all made sense to us, we found it's really not so bad. Heck, I'm even out there using the big power saw. I still have all my fingers, too.
We started with our son's old bedroom. We are very pleased with the results.

I am also using this opportunity to clean out closets and get rid of excess accumulated stuff. I've been wanting to do this for years. That much trash makes Mr. Fry twitchy, for some reason. I am much less sentimental about keeping stuff than he is.

What are y'all up to?

15 comments:

aurora said...

So glad you've gotten some much needed rain. Your new floor looks cool, I like it!

No major projects here, just trying to keep up with life in general. I got my hubby Blue Man Group tickets as part of his Christmas present, we saw them for the first time ever this weekend ~ they put on a fun show.

Mikey said...

That has turn out so nicely. I really like that floor.

whirlwinddals said...

That floor is beautiful!

AareneX said...

I love the floor, and hooray for your rain...maybe you'll siphon off some of ours? We have plenty!

Sherry Sikstrom said...

looks great! and yay! for the rain

Dreaming said...

Glad you have all your fingers! I know that feeling...having used our saws many times over the past year. Your floors are gorgeous!
I love your 'nice and friendly' approach!

Crystal said...

Glad you are getting rain even if it means no riding, its better in the long run.
That flooring sure is looking good!

Laura said...

Yeah for rain! I hope that helps out the dry situation around there...

Hooray for ripping up carpet! Carpet + pets is just not the best. Good for you guys for doing the work yourselves. We did the same a few years ago and it was a great decision.

I am working on cleaning out closets and decluttering to get our house ready to be put up for sale soon - and I'm having so much fun seeing the garbage/donation bags pile up! I used to be really attached to "stuff" but am getting much better about it.

Unknown said...

We've got rain through the weekend. Pretty light stuff, but hopefully it'll make a dent around here. Our lake is down 10 feet.

The flooring looks GREAT. We start painting over here next week, getting ready to rent out the house.

Desert Rose said...

Love the new flooring!!! UHG...closets and getting rid of stuff is something I need to do!!! When we started spending the winter in the desert it was terrific not having all the years of baggage in our drawers and closets! now after 14 seasons...I really need to go thru things here and take a trip to goodwill! I have been re-organizeing closets and cuboards...but really need to do more!!! Good for you that it's getting done!

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I've been fantasizing about doing these very same tasks to my house, but I don't know where I could move the furniture in order to replace the carpet and paint the room. I just look at all the stuff that has to be moved and think, "Eh, we can live with the old carpet and paint a while longer."

I think our carpet is 30 years old and has gone through multiple generations of dogs. I wouldn't encourage anyone doing sit-ups on the floor to breathe through her nose.

I'll bet your place is like a breath of fresh air. Looks great.

Leah Fry said...

OMG Nuz, you made me LOL. I SO know what you mean. Carpet is EVIL. I hate it. Never again.

Leah Fry said...

Nuz, I also forgot to say that we did not rip it all up at once. That would make me crazy. We are doing only one room at a time. All the stuff from that room is currently in the dining room. The chaos isn't as bad this way. I would likely come unglued if the whole place was torn up for an extended time.

C-ingspots said...

So happy that you've gotten some rain...that must be a relief! We've had much more than our share, but for the last few days it's been nothing but sunshine. What a blessing! Wow, you two have been very ambitious!!! What a beautiful choice of wood...I love it!! We have 17 year old carpet and animals in the house - scary!! I don't want to think about what's under that carpet. :(
We haven't been very ambitious, but have several projects in mind. We'd like to replace carpeting, kitchen flooring and paint a few rooms too. My hubby is being layed off work starting next week, so hopefully he'll be able to tackle a few things as we can afford to do so. Scary times...but not much we can do about it, but go with the flow. We're considering moving across the state to a drier climate...we'll see. Can't wait to see pics of your finished projects!! Take care Leah.

Fantastyk Voyager said...

I just finished getting laminate flooring in my whole house and it was/is a HUGE project. I had it installed so it all had to be done at once. My house is still unfinished because I want to put in the baseboards before I set up the furniture again. I've got a garage full of furniture still. I want to discard excess stuff rather than putting it all back.

Renting a POD(Portable on Demand), or in my case, Packrat, moveable storage unit was the best thing ever. They bring it right to your front (or back) yard so you don't have to take the furniture far. You rent it by the month and when you're finished they come and pick it up. Easy Peasy!

Leah, the floors look great!

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