What Weather Vane?

Several folks are emailing, asking about the size of the weather vane before fully disclosing their opinions on the cupola. You can view a photo of it just by clicking here. It is a very free form shape, but the general dimensions are approximately 3 ft. wide (wing span) and about 5 ft. long.

Cast Your Cupola Vote!

We have been pondering the idea of adding a little detail to the house that has been a long-time resident of the "some day" list... Adding a cupola, which would be the base for the neat copper geese weathervane we received as a gift from Ken's parents. Since we are going to have to replace our roof, logically, this really is the best time to do it. However, we were uncertain of the size and proportions. Today, our resident inventor decided to construct a cardboard prototype and haul it up on the roof (we go to great lengths to provide our own entertainment around here). We both have opinions brewing about this little addition, but wanted to see what our blogger viewers thought of it. SO... What do you think? Bigger? Smaller? Wider? Consider that it will be darker (to match the house), have windows in it and will have the same new roof.

Little Harvest

Today was the annual hydrangea bush trimming, which always means a refresher for the dried flower arrangements in the house. The early autumn hues outside are awesome as things are starting to turn.

Basement Mega Tidy

This weekend, Ken put in some serious time in the basement, organizing, moving, trashing, etc and prepping for the next area of floor paint. An added benefit of having a moving helper [dad knott] and a motivation manager [mom knott] was quite welcome!

What's a Home Improvement Without an Injury?

Yesterday, we were chipping away at the basement workshop progress and were moving an old large wall unit book case... The cheap Ikea particle board style furniture. The thing broke apart in mid air and the weight of the entire unit crashed onto Suzan's foot. It instantly turned purple and looked worthy of an Xray.... But who wants to go to the ER on Saturday? So she scored a piggy-back ride and some xtra TLC. Ken is picking up all the logistical slack and time is proving that the injury might just be a bone bruise and a broken blood vessel. You all have been spared a foot photo.

First Day of School!

Interrupting our home improvement posts with this photo of Morgen (5th grade) and Hayden (1st grade) getting onto the school bus this morning. If it looks dark out, it is because it is. We have a 6:45 a.m. pick up !!!

Basement Ceiling Progress

Yesterday, more lights and panels were installed. Under the direction of Mr. Knott, Suzan helped to prepare the wiring (fun!), and those of you that know her well, can rightly assume that she didn't get anywhere near it when Ken started attaching things. He then tidied up and started to paint the walls. The final edge panels and wall and floor paint will follow as our schedule allows. Sorry, no photos this time.

Basement Ceiling Continues

We worked long and hard on the ceiling today/tonight... oh wait, now it's morning. Safety record still doing ok. Too tired for details.

Everything Has A Place [or at least it should]

Today was a major organization day. Lots of tossing and rethinking of "what belongs where" in several locations. It seemed a bit scattered, but everything really was connected. There were several laughable diversional "finds", such as a prom picture (gulp), a brochure suzan designed in 1991 (EEK! What was she thinking?) and a goofy sympathy/love letter combo.

Basement Ceiling

Scott came today, and after everyone left a bit of doughnut carnage in the kitchen, the boys got busy in the basement putting up the drop-ceiling grid. Later, Ken and Suzan teamed up to install the light boxes that he had pulled from the Byrne Building this spring (thanks for the tip, Charles!). We'll chip away at this some more this weekend.

Kids Bathroom Functioning

Well, it was a big moment... Ken trouble-shot himself through some masterful custom plumbing maneuvers and we now have both sinks up and running well. Suzan can't get past the fact that the new fixtures look like a pepper mill stuck in a urinal, but she'll get over it, because it's exciting to have something new and unique (and finished). ;-)
Next we have to tackle the walls and hardware.

Paint + Construction : Part 2

Last night, Hayden's floor had a final coat of porch paint – the dry air and mega-fan is curing it nicely. Construction on the studio shelving was also complete, including a storage spot for our Pinguino friend. It just needs paint, but that will have to happen later... our efforts need to stay focused on getting the studio stuff out of hayden's (now) closet and getting his room set up. We couldn't resist putting one of his things in its place on the cap shelf before the move happens. We LOVE it!!

Paint + Construction

Progress continued tonight after the first priority of getting new tires on the Subaru. Suzan finished the 2 coats of white paint on Hayden's wall planks while Ken worked next door in the studio, getting a jump on the closet storage shelving. Construction is at around 75% to completion. Lower humidity makes for happy campers.

Wall Paint - Hayden's Room

It was a slow re-start to the projects this evening. Not only was Ken not feeling well, but he wacked his foot and ended up watching Leno with an ice pack on. Suzan started to apply the satin white wash paint to the wall planks... decided against the smooth finish of a roller and went with an old bristle-brush to encourage a bit of horizontal texture. Put the laptop on the garbage can and played software training videos...I know, scary. It was way too hot to finish and Suzan discovered that sweat and sunburn are not very complementary to each other.

DISCLAIMER

For those of you who may think we are slacking, here is the official Knotthaus disclaimer: Last week was vaca (ahhhh) and this week... well, 100º+ temps, high humidity and NO AC in any room except the studio... 'nuf said.

plank walls IN : Hayden's room

Tonight, the 12" wall plank installation was complete, in addition to the cap shelves. Finish moldings for the corners and some spackle on the nail head holes will have us ready for the white-wash paint and base molding installation as soon as we can get to it. Getting closer!!

Working on the walls

Worked on the lower half of the wall today, which included lots of measuring to retrofit the outlets and phone jack (no, Hayden is NOT going to have a phone in his room!). Working in non-AC is wearing thin. but Ken is getting a little reprieve from it with his daily pond dips.

Hayden's Room Progresses

This afternoon we made big strides with Hayden's room renovation. The upper wall final coat of paint was put on (Suzan is in LOVE with the color) and we began cutting and installing the big primed planks on the lower wall. Everyone had fun painting and drawing all over the walls, but some of it had to be covered up once we realized that it would be wise to paint white stripes where the plank seams would go... To prepare for a potential future shrink or shift in the boards. It is fun to see the vision finally coming to fruition.

More Liarope Movin' in

This evening, Ken and Hayden put in the second batch of Liarope. A trailer full is so deceiving when you get it into the ground... Looks like we might have to take a 3rd trip to visit our freecycle friends in Landsdale for more if they'll have us.

Hayden's Floor

Yesterday was a busy studio day, but time was made for two coats of porch paint on hayden's floor. The sea grass area rug was also delivered! Sorry, no pix... Updating from Ken's parent's house. A relaxing weekend is surely needed! The rooms did not stay on the intended timeline, but we are happy with the results so far and will continue to chip away at it next week. The kids will have to camp out elsewhere for a bit... Good thing they are flexible in nature and love a good adventure!!

Room Switch EXTRAVAGANZA

Last night, we were ambushed by Ken's accountability group buddies. Instead of their weekly gathering, they came over to lend a hand and stayed past midnight! They accomplished SO much in one evening, it is almost UNBELIEVABLE. First, they removed the old carpeting from Hayden's new bedroom and then took off all of the hardware from the previous shelving and patched up the walls. Then a hole was cut through from the studio closet wall to the outside of the house and a masterful custom engineered coupling (go Ken!) and installation soon had the Pinguino air conditioner up and running (not sure who is more excited, the computer equipment or Suzan). Then the crew completely painted the first coat of the upper wall in Hayden's room, a fabulous thunder cloud blue. This is no small task, considering the ceiling is vaulted and we did not have a scaffold. And if that wasn't enough, they jumped into installing the pretty marble double-sink vanity top in the kid's bath. That box has been a semi-permanent fixture in another part of the house... So, this install was a two-fold treat! The faucets were just set in place, saving plumbing for another day. They all gathered up the GIANT pile of refuse and even helped get it to the curb. A BIG THANK YOU to Scott, Ray and John for your willingness, enthusiasm and hard work (and a thank you to your wives for letting us borrow you!).



PS: Thanks for picking the pretty wild flowers for the studio Mr. Knott.

studio MOVE IN

Tonight, with the help of Scott S., all of the studio furniture was shifted from "studio A" to "studio B". Ken and Scott looked like professional movers with their matching shirts, don't you think? The computer set-up got Suzan all in a tangle, but her non-techi right brain figured it out eventually. We have started to find homes for everything, all while doing a big PURGE of "Do I REALLY need that?" items.

Studio wall and floor complete

Yesterday was MOST productive. The walls and trim were completed and the sub-floor and new flooring was laid. Thanks to Home Depot for being open on the 4th of July, we were able to acquire more glue and complete it exactly at midnight. A shoe molding will need to rim the wall yet, but that might have to come later. Thanks Jim, for taking your day off to help the Knotts. Your friendship is a blessing! Next time, we will take your suggestion to purchase knee pads... we are hobbling around like senior citizens today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY U.S.A.

New STUDIO status

The prep work for this room was MUCH more than we anticipated. Removing the wallpaper glue took over 6 hours. The top wall was taped and painted was completed last night. We determined that the floor would be unable to handle the tiles, as it was way too rough and uneven. So a plan to purchase sub-floor put a jolt into the plans. Fortunately, this morning, Ken found just enough primed underlayment material in the basement left over from the Columbus Studio "walls"... HORRAY! So while he is cutting that, Suzan will start painting the bottom half of the studio wall. HAPPY JULY 4TH!!!

NEW ROOM projects have begun

After a long drive back from dropping off Morgen at camp, we jumped right into emptying 1/2 of the studio shelving and completely gutting hayden's old room. The carpet and pad was removed (it is in good shape, so we listed it on freecycle) and the arduous task of removing the 12" wallpaper border began. NOT fun. Suzan was peetering out, so Ken took over the scraping...then...a light bulb finally went off in Suzan's head... and we started to steam it off with the iron. MUCH better! Gave up for the night at 12:45 am. Tomorrow we will start painting, after removing some of the remaining glue residue and giving it a good sanding. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Big day at the Knott POND

After a week of rain, we celebrated July 1st by having a family inaugural swim in the pond. It was nice and warm! Ken also finished out the day by planting the new Cat Tail Punks he dug up (thanks to Terry Moyer!). Of course one swim was not enough... After dinner, as the sun was going down Ken, Morgen and Hayden jumped in and enjoyed the fireworks from next door while they floated and spied on MoJo, one of the three resident bull frogs.

NEW CONSTRUCTION under the plum tree

Our resident short building contractors decided to collect things from nature today and construct fairy houses out under our favorite plum tree. When they finished, they had fully equipped them with stone tables and berry treats. Ahhhh to be a kid in the summer.

Room Change Prep

Last night, we chatted through the details of the BIG (surprise) ROOM SWITCH that will start on Sunday night. Morgen will be heading off to camp for the week and Hayden will be going on his own adventure with MomMom and Grandpop. So we thought it would be the perfect time to attack the long overdue project of switching the studio space with hayden's bedroom. Not only is Hayden due his "big boy room" but we have also outgrown the small room where the studio currently resides. Our plan is to finish this before the kids return next Sunday, including a little decorating surprise in Morgen's room so she has something to celebrate too. We ran out to Home Depot and picked out our new "budget" studio flooring.... Armstrong adhesive 12x12 tiles. It's not nice hardwood flooring (cha-ching), but it is a more acceptable surface for a work space than the carpet would be. AND it actually looks cool.

FREE is GOOD

Ken has found a little internet gem. freecycle.com has landed us some cool free stuff in the area as well as finding a home for some stuff that the knotts no longer need. AND we have met some really nice people! Recently, we found a gal in Lansdale with a plethora of liarope grass. Perfect! Just what we needed for a few spots on the yard under trees that we are tired of mowing around. As you can see from the photo, Ken didn't hesitate to take her up on the offer to "take all of it" and packed as much as he could into the back of Teton Daisy. She was generous to invite him back to fetch more. Terrific!

Still in the game

Yes, over four months have passed since our last post. Although the work efforts around the house ebbed and flowed with our life's routines and obstacles, it really did not stop (like this blog). The main reason for the mammoth communication canyon is that of a technical esthetics nature. You see, sometime in January, the little digital camera must have hurled itself off of the kitchen counter to the floor, as to date, no one has claimed responsibility for its trauma. A critical little plastic piece snapped off and it is nearly impossible to take a photo. Getting it fixed hasn't been super high on the priority list, so we were left powerless to share our improvement milestones. So, here is the text version of recent developments: More work was been done in the kitchen; finishing the ceiling molding installation and almost finishing the painting. The kid's double-vanity top arrived and the wall has been ripped open to disconnect the wiring for the heating panels which will be behind the larger vanity. Out by the pond, three willow trees were planted (major labor with our hard, clay soil) and grass seeding has commenced. A few dead and non-desirable trees and shrubs were taken down (along with one of ken's lovely lilac bushes by ACCIDENT (enter big shameful suzan gulp here). Ken had one of his big burn permit fires to get rid of scrap wood, dead trees etc. and he built a drainage system behind the new section of the shed. Inga the tractor was repaired and the season's mowing ritual has begun. The fruit trees are in full bloom and buzzing with our pollen friends and the deer and groundhogs are feasting on the new lilies Suzan planted. Although it is sad to put the skis away, it is always fun to welcome in the warm air, popsicles, frogs peeping by the pond at dusk, and the proud presentation of dandelions in a dirty little hand.