Rutherford Island, South Bristol, Maine: Opening the House In April

We opened the house in April with our plumber turning on the water, installing a new tub/shower and all new toilets as well as fixing all our plumbing problems. We don't have plumbing pipes running along the baseboard anymore in the hall upstairs and the toilet upstairs actually is connected! He also installed a mega sump pump that, in the words of my youngest brother, "even sucks mud"! I have to say our cellar was much drier than when we left in October even with 40 plus inches of rain this spring in Maine.

Having the new toilets and a tub that actually works was absolutely heavenly. It's always the small things in life!

Bob and I arrived to start more work and meet with more contractors to really get the repairs going again on April 10th. Before our trip, Bob and I ordered a new stove from Sears at our local, California store to be delivered in South Bristol, Maine. Yes, that can be done and our sales person in California was quite helpful. Bob and my oldest brother, Dave, left early to meet the delivery truck. His wife, Gayle and I were to meet them after picking up our rental truck.On the way up from Kennebunk, my quest was to purchase 4 Adirondack chairs so that, even with all the hard work, we could take some time and enjoy the scenery. 4 chairs meant we could be social and "entertain". Other than the frustration of not getting the truck that I had specifically reserved, and having to go to the Portland Jetport to finally get some kind of car for the week (Thank you Gayle!), we had a great time stopping at an unfinished wood shop, getting the chairs as well as a few other items much needed at the house. The daffodils in front of the house greeted us when we arrived. A sure sign of spring in New England and a great welcome. I picked some to have in the house and brighten things up. They lasted all week and I was sad to throw them away when we left.

New Adirondacks with our fancy coffee table!

The stove had been delivered and Dave and Bob were working on changing out the fittings for propane. It was still a little overwhelming to walk in and see all the work still needed but I focused on our dream and what it would become. I immediately inspected our new bathrooms and put the Adirondack chairs on the back lawn facing the ocean. We all sat down to appreciate the view and celebrate such a wonderful place.

Dave and Gayle were spending the night and my brother, Dave, jokingly asked if they were staying in the "Lafayette Room". Quite funny and the name has stuck. The guest room is now officially called the Lafayette Room. Liz and Will worked on the Lafayette Room later in the week and below are pictures of the progress. It's coming!

Bob and I had connected with a contractor over the winter and Greg was meeting us at 4 p.m. to go over where we should start and decide what we could tackle versus what we would need him to do because of time and expertise. We did a thorough inspection of the house and decided on several basic things. One was to put down a vapor barrier and gunnite the cellar to make it even drier. We also needed him to take off the old siding in 2 areas and replace it with shingles that would eventually go on the entire house. We decided to put in 6 new doubled glazed windows ( 2 over 1) that would be authentic to the house and match the old windows and a new French door on the waterside in the older part of the house that would eventually lead to a porch. We also needed some trim on the outside to be replaced and painted. The French door would go nowhere at this point as we were running out of this year’s budget and would need to put the new porch off until next year. We were also having a problem with creosote leaking through the old center chimney and decided to take the chimney out as it was not functional. I had hoped we could spend some money in the kitchen with some inexpensive cabinetry but, after hearing the price of all the work, looked at Bob and said, “I’ll paint the cabinets”! We also checked again to make sure the wall we were taking down was not a bearing wall and OK to take out.

The wall and chimney to be removed. The french door will go right between the windows.

Our work for the week was to take out all the walls in the "pink" room so we could really see where the creosote problem was, install wallboard in the master bedroom, get the "Lafayette Room" completed and paint the kitchen cabinets. Of course there were many other small projects as well. We also took some time to be tourists and spent a day in Camden. My brothers, Steve and Dave, and their families helped and my sister, Nancy, and a good friend, Joyce and her daughter Abby, also visited us. We met a few more neighbors as well. Below are the pictures from the week.

Dismantling the Pink Room

Putting Up Wall Board in the Master Bedroom

The Lafayette Room!

Kitchen Cabinets

Check out the new stove and the cabinet under the sink is not rusty anymore! Very functional with dishes put away. It's beginning to feel more like "home".

Other Fun Stuff!

Garage sale finds that will go into the house. The door is upside down. We'll replace it with a barn door.

Throwing away the old tub! Yeah!

Another funny story to tell is about a clock that Gayle, my sister in law, had purchased as a house warming gift when we were shopping on the first day of the trip. It was an oversized clock to go in the kitchen. We hung it up and it looked great. Throughout the day we discovered that the time never changed. The hour hand was broken so it was always 6 something! We decided it was Island Time and had a good laugh. She replaced the clock on our next trip but it was very funny. We even thought about keeping the clock as a joke! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture!

Spring Pictures in New England