plus a WONDERFUL, GREAT contractor,
plus loads of encouraging friends to establish a new business.
At least it does in my case.
Litengard is almost ready to have her doors open and start doing what she was created to do. Host guests.
Ready or not, July 11th, will be here shortly, the date of our open house. And after that.... let the guests come. I'm already booked for SLU graduation and parents weekend.
But it certainly has been a fun, hectic, messy, tiring, creative, thought provoking, and exhausting project.
This is Liz and our adoptive niece Carol when we went on a shopping trip to the Philadelphia area antique malls. Carol not only introduced us to many wonderful stores and restaurants but she also is one of the most creative people I know and designed my business cards and our open house invitation. I will carry a line of her products at Litengard.
Unfortunately, not a good picture, but the Tomford boys have handled the lawn work at 42 and 44. They have mowed, weed whacked, shoveled and spread mulch, been to the Colton dump, weeded, shoveled manure, moved furniture and bricks and been an all around great help here. I have just an inkling that they may think I'm a bit off my rocker with all the gardens and lawn work. I often quiz David on my next project, chickens. He will be my off site expert on chickens, since he has been caring for his for years now.
My Cornerstone Guys!!! Yea for a new furnace and tank less hot water heater. Now I have confidence that my guests will continue to have heat no matter how far below 0 degrees it gets this winter. And, a long shower? No problem, we have a commercial grade water heater for all three showers, however long they take. You can't imagine the amount of duct work that went into upstairs. There were many rooms that didn't have any source of heat. Problem fixed!
And painters! Where would I be without Dave and Nate. Big tall ceilings, loads of heavy wood trim. A natural wood banister and wainscoting that I wanted white. They questioned the decision at first but came around to my way of thinking and now they are glorying in their handiwork. The banister with it's fret work was a real labor of love and I thank Nate for his patience and precision. Everything looks great. Love all the colors! Every single one. Dave cheerfully painted each day, told me how much he liked the colors and then took many items home with him each night that he could use in his rentals, and we could not. I think it's called recycling.
There is no one else like sis! Where would I be without Elizabeth. Always willing to help with any project. Like the one she is doing in the picture. For those of you who can not tell, that is a manure pile she is standing in. Yes, we loaded many truck loads of manure for the gardens this year. The vegetables are growing great. Already had a zucchini. And the flowers and plants are prospering. We went on many shopping trips for bedding, furniture, lighting, rugs,etc. She created files, lists, garden plans. She cooked when I couldn't. She shopped when I couldn't and she told me when to stop shopping. "We need to see what we have in the house first before we get any thing else!" She's washed and pulled nails and mowed and encouraged. We established a new flower garden on the side of the driveway at 44. We weeded and divided plants and replanted. I can't believe that she's leaving me in less than 2 months. She will also manage Litengard the week after we are opened. Rob and I have to go to a 50th wedding anniversary party down in Westchester. She's the best!!!
The most important person in this project is Dad. He can do anything. Not only is he financing this undertaking but is also involved in hands on projects. Here he is developing the deck project. He's a perfectionist and I really need that at times. Between Rob and Dominic the house is like Mary Poppins...practically perfect in every way!
Jon was home for 5 days this summer. And Ethan for a weekend and 2 days after Jon's graduation. They managed to trim trees, move huge rocks, rip out existing landscape in front of 44 and make an entirely new garden, trim bushes, edge gardens, power washed porches and screens, make suggestions, all in the few days they were home. They are my muscle, my encouragement, my vision and business advisers for this project.
Jeremy and Greg disassembled the old deck that surrounded the former above ground swimming pool, (which has gone to a new home in Norwood). They carefully unscrewed and unbolted what seemed like thousands of screws and bolts and stacked hundreds of pieces of wood. And then developed a deck with the reclaimed wood outside the back door. They did a great job figuring out supports, braces, edging and what ever else goes into making a deck. I power washed the finished project and it looks great. There was some technical advice from deck expert, Dad, but between the three of them I have a gorgeous deck for guests in the summer and fall months. Greg has graciously volunteered for a variety of projects these last few weeks, power washing included. Our latest adventure was trying to keep rust off metal door hinges. His suggestion to me to call the man who stripped them was key. "They must have lacquer applied immediately" was the answer. He could have told me that when I picked up the box of hinges.
We even imported my 83 year old aunt from New Hampshire to work on the project. I know from this picture many will wonder if she really is 83 but take my word for it, she is. She volunteered for the tedious project of cleaning the chandeliers. Soaking and cleaning the metal and then polishing the crystals! What patience and focus. Thanks Aunt June. She also brought the German mine that washed up on the Norwegian shore in 1918 which members of her family found. They actually made it into a work of art and it will be featured somewhere in Litengard. Look for it at the open house. Aunt June will be back and you can get the full store in person.
So many people, family, neighbors and friends, have had such an interest in this project. I'm thankful for so many suggestions, encouragements, insights, and people with expertise in fields that I know so little about. Ryan, whose picture was not downloaded at this writing was and is so instrumental in the development of our website and all the Internet stuff that I know so little about. When we get our website up and running I'll post a pic of Ryan in his "office". Thanks Danica for sharing Ryan with us! Rob and I were there last week and Rob's comment was that he looked a bit like Mike and the Mad Dog. Did I get that right, all you sports fans?
Only two more weeks to work. I'd better stop writing and get back to paying my bills now. Hopefully, I'll have more current pictures to post shortly. The 1885 wide plank pine floors were sanded and refinished last on Friday so we may begin moving stuff upstairs and already are in the process of cleaning downstairs- washing floors, walls and windows. Dad's piano was transported from a friend's in Potsdam to it's new home at 44 yesterday. It looks regal sitting in the corner of the large parlor. Elizabeth wanted to move furniture today but alas, it was raining, so I painted ADK chairs in the garage.
And tomorrow is a new day.......
