It's the Little Things

 Hal and I are relaxing more on weekends now, doing the harder work like painting doors, creating window jambs, etc. during the week and doing things that make life living here easier on the weekends, or just goofing off if we need to. So, this weekend, I did some rearranging in the kitchen while Hal searched for our maple sap supplies and did little things for the house like installing the toilet paper holders!

our bathroom

guest bath, Delta Lahara

Today, we put up the closet system in the guest bedroom where we've been sleeping since mid-January. It is going to be much better than having clothes sitting on the floor or stacking up on top of the plastic drawer units we have. I bought a Closet Evolution system from Home Depot a couple months ago and it's been waiting in on the floor of my sewing room since then. I had already checked for parts, and it was missing 3 of the four 35" closet rods. I emailed the company, and they called me back the next day and immediately shipped the missing rods and I had them a couple days later. 

We followed the instructions and though it was a little tedious, it was up in a little over 3 hours. Hal had to cut 2 rods and a shelf to fit as it could span 96" and the closet was only about 84".

cutting a shelf

installing a drywall anchor

the system

This closet is already stuffed with my clothes on 3 rods and 1 rod for Hal, though most of his stuff is in his walk-in closet. We liked it enough that I figured out what to get for my much longer closet in our master bedroom. I've decided that if I can't fit all my clothes into my own closet and bureau then I will need to start purging.

Real Internet!

 In February of last year Hal signed up for Starlink which required a $99 down payment. Then we waited. And waited. Then a couple weeks ago he got the email about getting our system, paid the rest of the fee, totaling around $500 and it arrived last week. Setting it up was ridiculously easy.

The hardest part was untangling the 100-foot-long cord. Hal attached the rectangular dish to the stand, put the dish outside, attached the cord to the modem, 

The He turned on the app on his phone and the thing spun and pointed itself in the right direction and we had super-fast internet! We got a Roku stick, stuck it into the Yamaha receiver (we did try it straight into the TV first) and we can stream! We subscribed to Sling TV. We're getting a 2-month free subscription to Paramount +. We're binge washing the newer Star Trek series. It's freaking awesome.

I cancelled the Dish TV moving package which would cost us $144 a month, a $22 increase to our current bill. We will be cancelling Dish later this week though I will miss getting Sirius/XM over the TV. I cancelled HughesNet today, our meager 20GB per month service costing us $98 a month. Yes, Starlink costs $99 a month, but it's currently unlimited and the speeds are so much faster. Low earth orbit is inherently faster than satellites in geosynchronous. Thank you, Elon Musk, for developing this system!

Oh yeah, so far, the TV bill is about $40/month.

We've Officially/Unofficially Moved In

 It still feels a little surreal, but Hal and I moved into the Palace about 3 weeks ago, just before the appliances arrived. Till then I was cooking dinner in the air fryer, crockpot and on a 1 burner camp stove. I sure do love having a real gas stove again.

Because we're living here, we can work on the house as the mood strikes us. Hal got the 11 doors installed that I ordered, and I've painted 3 of them so far. I had to spackle the screw holes and other defects before I can paint the door jambs. I've also bought the stain for the 2 pine doors, Zar in Walnut. I'm painting the doors with the same color as the ceiling, Fresh Popcorn by Behr but in their satin alkyd paint.

door stain

2 painted doors

The Delta Lahara faucet I ordered also came in a couple weeks ago. Now the guest bathroom only needs the tub surround and the mirror.

Hal also changed our address this week and put up a mailbox at the end of the driveway today. Once the ground thaws he'll install it on a proper post. We haven't had a lot of snow lately and it hit 47.3 degrees today, so we've had some melting. Back to normal tomorrow with snow expected next week. It's been a pretty cold winter, lots of teens and below zero at night. It's nice to have a little warmth even if it's only for a day.

The real, final move into the Palace won't be for a couple months yet, we need to install a lot of baseboard molding and door casings before we can move the king bed, extremely heavy entertainment center, etc., into the house. But it sure is nicer being here!

Applliances

 Yesterday the electric dryer, gas range, electric wall oven, vent hood and dishwasher came and were installed. The refrigerator is still missing though everything was ordered over a year ago. Hal and I also took the washer and wine fridge over from the farm. We've using the wine fridge, but the washer has been in storage in the bunkhouse since we moved into the farm.

my Frigidaire gas range

Frigidaire oven and wine fridge

Bosch dishwasher

Hal also had to do some fast trimming of the wall oven sides because it was too narrow by 1/4 inch, so he took 1/4 in off each side.

Hal trimming the oven cabinet

The dishwasher didn't work by the time the installers left but about 12 hours later it started working. The installer thought there might be ice in the system somewhere. As good an explanation as any, I was able to get the rinse cycle to work last night, ab out 12 hours later. 

The vent hood will be installed sometime after the weather warms up; I don't blame Hal for not wanting to climb about in an attic in the dead of winter. I can live without a fan for a few more months after not having one for over 20 years.

Interior Doors

 Hal installed 2 interior doors the other day. These are on either end of the laundry room. Yes, laundry is a walk-thru, you can get into it from our bedroom suite and the guest bedroom hallway. Today I bought the paint for these and the other 10 or 11 doors to be painted. 

Hopefully tomorrow Hal will begin installing some more.