Almost healed and what I've been up to.

Hands are still giving me trouble. But, they are just about back to normal. I still have trouble using them for long periods - I have to take many breaks from doing different things. Knitting isn't terribly hard - I just used my fingertips to hold the needles. But other things, like washing dishes, or typing, or even petting the critters, was difficult or even painful at times. Even now, the rash is mostly gone, but the skin hasn't fully recovered. There is a lot of dead, dry skin that is now peeling and flaking off. It has even managed to effect my ability to feel things with my hands.

Otherwise - things are getting done. I'm actually back on track with my redecorating plans. I redid my upstairs closet last year. Didn't blog or share the pics, 'cause I was too busy to blog back then. Anyway - I patched up some holes and scratches, and painted it. I forgot to take before pictures. But I did take some after the painting.... I am not sure where I stuck them right now - somewhere on this computer anyway.

So, I have an upstairs closet, that is between the two bedrooms, and opposite the staircase. The house is one of those one and a half story type - the upstairs rooms have half walls, then the "walls" slope because of the roof of the house. Then, the ceiling is only a couple feet wide, and I can easily touch the ceiling (I'm a short person, if that gives you an idea of how low it is). So, basically, this closet is about three feet by three feet at the bottom, but then the back wall slopes in, so that at the top, it is only about 6 inches by three feet.... A previous owner of the house put in two closet rods. One high, one lower. Basically, that maximizes closet space in some ways. As long as you only have short clothes to hang up - just shirts, for example. Or you could hang some skirts. But dresses? Not really. Sure, if you fold up the bottom part, and squash it into the hanger. And, because of this second rod, storing anything in the bottom or toward the back of the closet is awkward. Either lean over the rod, or crawl under it.

Now, since DH and I are getting on in years, and are at the ages where the eyesight is starting to weaken, I was tired of the dark dingy closet (of course, I'm tired of a lot of other things about this house, too) and dark dingy insides of cupboards and stuff. So, I looked into (sorry, no puns intended at all) finding a good quality, bright white paint that would make use of any available light and reflect it, so that it would be easier to see. Then, I painted the inside of the closet. Patched up any scratches, etc.

Well....

Speaking of allergies.... I finally got tested earlier this year. Found out that I'm not allergic to cats, like I was/my parents were told by a doctor when I was little and was getting sick all the time. Turns out, that I am allergic to the two major types of house dust mites. Now, I don't really like carpeting anyway - too high maintenance, in my opinion. So, I pointed out to my DH that removing the carpeting from the bedroom would be a good thing.

So - I am now in the process of getting rid of the carpeting in my house, as well as getting back on track with painting it and making it my home instead of just my house.

I am redoing the upstairs closet - removing the carpet and replacing it with some (bright white, of course) tile. That means, though, that I also have to do some touch up painting and patching. After all, tile is a lot thinner than carpet, so the baseboards have to be moved down. And, while I'm at it..... It finally occurred to me, that just because someone put in two closet rods, that doesn't mean that I have to keep both of them. I mean, the bottom one was pretty much empty. So, why keep it? So, after emptying the closet, I went up with a screwdriver, and took out the rod.

My next step was to pull up the carpets, and take out the baseboard, hopefully without major damage so I didn't have to replace it with new. Now, most people use finishing nails, or at the very least, small nails to attach baseboards. After all, they are primarily used to cover rough edges, and provide a smooth transition between wall and floor. Primarily decorative, not structural or overly functional. Smaller, short-short lengths are often not even nailed in; the nail would split the wood, ruining the small piece. So these can either be "friction fit", or if necessary, glued on. There were no tiny pieces in the closet. Just three nice long sections.

As I said, I wanted to be as careful as I could with the removal of these pieces. Saving money, as well as time and trouble, is a worthy goal, especially when one is planning on a variety of decorating and minor renovating to one's house. Renovations can be quite costly, especially if one cannot do the work and has to hire. Fortunately, there is little in my plan that I cannot do myself, or at least, with help from DH.

So, what did I find when I tried to remove the baseboard? It was attached with 2 inch long ardox nails. For those of you unfamiliar, they are nails that have a twist in them, so that they behave almost like screws - they are not easily pulled out. (I did a quick google search, and there are lots of pictures. Normally, ardox nails are used for their extra holding power to make sturdy crates or for major structural purposes.)

Next step on the closet - planing down a bumpy section of the floor (not a problem with underlay and carpet, but a problem for laying tile), thorough vacuuming, and starting the hole patching process.
Of course, this coming weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, so that also means, heading out to close up the cabin. So - I may or may not get the next step finished before next week. Not to mention, the regular day to day stuff that needs doing during the day - cooking, cleaning, knitting, spending time with the critters.... (oh, and I am not in the habit of photo-documenting the process. If I remember, I will try to take a couple pics, though, before I cover up the bits of wall that the closet rod covered. Because, it shows the colour of the closet paint before I made it white.... and it really shows how dark it was!)