Encompassing Designs
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Kits
    • Patterns >
      • Christine Little >
        • Signature Designs
        • New Designs
        • Seasonal Designs
      • Deborah Sweet
      • Susan Leslie
      • Patricia Perry
      • William Morris
    • Supplies >
      • Backings
      • Frames
      • Hooks
      • Books
      • Extra
    • Wool >
      • Abrashed
      • Custom Dyeing
      • Dyed Bundles
      • Dyed Curly Mohair
      • Dyed Spots
      • Dyed Values
      • Dyed Yarn
      • Jacquard Dice Dyes
      • Natural & Colours
      • Plaids & Textures
      • Dye Books & Swatches
  • Ordering
  • Blog
  • Workshops
  • Our Story
  • Contact Us

It's never over till it's over....

4/29/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
They say write about what you know.  Well, all I know right now is Varathane, gyprock dust, wood filler, primer, paint, cleaning and scouring.  Same old stuff and getting older by the minute.  I’ll be glad to see the end of it all and get back to the shop and hooking.   All I do is work at the apartment all day and get home around 10:30 pm, grab something for dinner and crawl into bed.  My dogs are wondering what is going on as I am never home.  Poor guys, I’ll have to make it up to them with some ball time now that most of the snow is gone. 

Tomorrow is the last day of the grind.  I forfeited my house cleaning day for help with the apartment and Larry rearranged his schedule and booked me for the entire day, bless him.  He’s arriving at 8:30 am to begin the clean and we will have to shift all the stuff from room to room because the construction is still going on.  The carpenter had a deadline but fell short so now we are down to the wire.  That is the problem with today’s trade’s people, they work more than one job and flit back and forth between them trying to keep everyone happy.  I guess I was the last on the totem pole because my job is nowhere finished, the guy is moving in on Thursday so that puts the pressure on me to pull an all-nighter Wednesday to make sure it’s move in ready.    I’d complain but if the carpenter gets angry and doesn’t come back I’m screwed so I’ll keep my mouth shut and work my arse off to make up for the short comings. 

For those who never painted.  First the sharp edges of the wood need a light sanding to make it softer to touch.  Wood has knots that need to be shellacked at least four times and then Bin over that so they don’t bleed through the paint.  Then the nail holes need to be filled with wood filler and that has to dry and then sanded.  Then you can prime, that has to dry and then you start slapping on at least two coats of finish. 

We are still painting but there is enough for Larry to clean for eight hours.  There is a terrible mess of the front entrance and hall of the building so everything needs a cleaning.   In the apartment, the guy that lived there didn’t lift a finger in seven years.  Imagine the webs and dust and the ground in dirt, the bathroom, I can’t even go there, it’s a memory that I could have lived without...bachelors!   Sure we are painting in there but it still had to be cleaned before we slapped on the primer. 

I spent a couple of hours on my hands and knees liberating the floor of seven years grime.  He must not have taken his shoes off and tracked in dirt from the outside and maybe there was a bit of black shoe leather rubbing off?  The bedroom carpet had been brand new when he moved in.  It was walked down and sticky, and the brown had turned to black so that was ripped up and replaced.   The only way to get that kind of dirt out of a carpet would be with a blowtorch.   The beautiful wood floors were sanded and recoated before he moved in and he created a pathway down the center of the hall a cadaver grey.  At first I worried it wouldn’t come off and I’d be stuck renting a floor sander, a fate worse than running out of wool, but behold it came up with elbow grease, a wet rag and comet.  The abrasive stripped the dirt and now all I have to do after everything is done is Varathane the floor on my way out the door. 

I tried my best to fix the floor in the office where his office chair damaged it.  It looks like crap and I’m deeply embarrassed so I have a spare wool rug I’ll contribute.  I had no time to rent a floor sander and the palm sander made more mess of it than not.  All the ground in dirt made the raw, exposed wood a sickly grey colour so when I applied the Varathane it went even darker.  I’m livid those beautiful floors are now ruined and I look like I’m a slum landlord!   Too late now to do anything about it, except hide it with a rug, I been sputtering over it but at this point I have to let it go. 

I won’t be at the end of this nightmare for a few more days.  The bathroom door isn’t coming in until Friday, that needs to be hung and painted.  The washer and dryer were delivered this afternoon but there is a lot of work to get them hooked up and we have to make sure that area is finished with paint. 

I am resigned that I’ll be working there while the guy is moving in.  If not for this washer and dryer bathroom reno the apartment would have been move in ready a while ago.  Now that Mahone Bay doesn’t have a public laundromat our apartments needed washers and dryers to attract tenants.  The second and third floor didn’t have connections so that had to be rectified.  The second floor didn’t have any space for them so we stole a small segment of the bedroom adjoining the bathroom and went through the wall to expand the room to accommodate the units.  The bathroom was always too small anyway so we took out the shower/tub and put in a shower stall that alone made the room larger.  Now it is spacious feeling and there is an entrance from the bedroom, a convenience factor that will be much appreciated and the second entrance for company.   We took about 32 inches out of the bedroom but there is still plenty of room for a large bed and furniture.  I ordered a frost single paned door to allow light in during the day, another feature that will please.  So all in all I think the tenant will like the changes. 

Although I am dirt tired there is a small light at the end of the tunnel.   My hands look like ape paws.  They are swollen and red and covered in paint and shellac.  They are as dry and rough as sandpaper and no matter how much hand cream I apply it’s instantly absorbed.  I look like a hard working woman, not a bad thing but I’ll appreciate getting back to my princess life.   Last night I hauled my sorry butt up the stairs and poured a hot bath in the claw tub.  I soaked in Epsom Salts to take the sting out of my weary bones.  I slept better,  soothed by the steam and heat my brain relaxed and I stop stressing enough to drift away.  



Picture
Living Room
Picture
Gorgeous staircase in the hallway. 
Picture
This is the ruined floor from the office chair.   See how awful it is!!!!!
Picture
The entrance to the bathroom from the bedroom.  This is the condition of last night, we have less than 24 hours to make it move in ready!
2 Comments
Adena
4/29/2015 11:34:00 am

OMG. I hear you, I was a property manager and although there are so many great tenants who take pride in their rental home, it's always these types of tenants that you remember. Beautiful job, your new tenant should be thrilled - I certainly would be.

Reply
Marye
4/29/2015 12:35:44 pm

You are doing an awesome job.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

    Picture
    Picture
    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Picture
    Picture
    Gift Certificates are available for that special rug hooker in your life!  Any denomination, no expiry date! 

    Picture

    Categories
    (Click on the categories for past blogs)

    All
    Announcements
    Beginner Class
    Christmas
    Colour Planning
    Contests
    Copyright
    Coupon
    Customer Rugs
    Cutter Servicing
    Dyeing
    Equipment
    Featured Hooker
    Giveaway Draw
    Guest Blogger
    Guest Blogger
    Health & Fitness
    Home & Heart
    Hooked Rugs
    Hooking Groups
    Hook In Talk
    Initially Yours
    Jibber Jabber
    Just A Bit Of Fun!
    Life's Experiences
    Life's Experiences
    New Design
    New Ideas
    Pattern Of The Week
    Patterns Hooked
    Pets
    Rants
    Recipes
    Rememberingfbe7326ff7
    Rug Schools
    Show & Tell
    Show-tell
    The Rant
    Tips Technique
    Tips Techniquef0cd117ab4
    Visitors
    Workshops

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture





















    Picture
    We have a pot to "Fiz" in!

Shop Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Saturdays 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
We are closed during ice and snow storms
​so please call ahead.  If school is cancelled we probably are as well.  

Toll Free: 1-855-624-0370
Local: 1-902-624-0370​
encompassingdesigns@gmail.com

498 Main Street
P.O. Box 437
Mahone Bay, N.S.
Canada B0J 2E0

​Follow us and keep up to date
on our specials, new products
​and events!
Picture
Picture
Picture


Home
Shop
Ordering
Blog
Our Story
Workshops

Contact Us




​​​© Copyright 2023 Encompassing Designs. Website by SKYSAIL