Busy Summer Awaits

It's going to be another busy summer for me - probably busier than ever. As you may know, I am in the process of buying my new home and the sale closes at the end of the month. So I have a little bit of time to prepare for that. In addition to getting myself moved in, I also plan to make a few improvements to the house, even though the place does not need a lot of work. I don't know if I'll be doing much to the new home this summer as I have plans with other assorted projects, but maybe more this fall and winter. Whatever the case may be, it'll finally be nice to have my own home where I can do whatever I want with! That is what's rough about renting - you pay your rent every month and it's basically like throwing your money away. So in that regard, it'll be fun to gradually make improvements to the place.

Phase two of the major siding and windows project will get started on my parents house this summer as well. In fact, our order of windows and siding will be dropped off this coming Thursday! We still need to pick up a few things from Menards - but we should be able to start the project almost immediately once my dad and I have time off together. I wouldn't say it's as extensive of a project like last years', but it'll still be a lot to accomplish. We're not rebuilding walls like we did last summer, just basically going over top the existing siding and replacing windows along the way. We elected to save one existing window that was roughly 15 years old (relatively new) and two others since they let out light from the attic and garage. The other important windows of the house will be replaced. I don't know what it is, but anytime my dad and I plan a major project, I just can't wait to get started. It must be the inner-carpenter inside of me.

Also on my parents house, we have one exterior door to change out. Last winter we had a lot of trouble with cold air passing through around the frame. It's not in physically bad condition, but it's just letting in too much cold air. Changing out this door might be tricky because around it is the new siding we put up last year. I have a feeling I might be taking it all down just to put the new door in. Hopefully not! Anyways, it should be an adventure as always. We also plan on installing metal roofing on the remainder of the garage. When we built the addition to the garage ten years ago, we installed a metal roof on it. Gradually my dad has been putting metal roofing on the rest of the garage. It's been a few years since he put the last section up, but he's looking to finish off the remainder of the garage roof this summer. It needs it, too, since part of the garage roof that's shingled started leaking last fall. Hopefully we'll be able to fit this project in once the siding is complete.

And if you thought that's all we had planned on my parents house, you're wrong! My dad also wants to dismantle the old chimney on the south side of the house. We used to have a wood burning stove years ago. After we remodeled the kitchen, we opted not to include the stove as part of the new kitchen, so the chimney inlet for the stove was covered up. Now, ten years later, we'll be taking down the old chimney. It shouldn't be too much work as the chimney's not all that big. However, my dad had the top of the chimney re-done 15 years ago when we installed a new roof on the south side of the house, so it might be kind of tough knocking the old bricks off. We'll see if we get that far.

Those are just a few of the projects planned for the summer of 2009. That doesn't include visits to see my sister in Wisconsin along with other fun activities that I plan to be part of. Before you know it, summer will be over and I'll be wondering where it all went. And then I'll think back, "oh, I was doing this, and this, and this!" Hopefully mixed in with all these projects, I'll be able to enjoy some of the U.P's wilderness. After all, I think summer in the U.P. is why many of us choose to live here year-round. Happy summer to all those out there in blog-land!