1 - 2 - 3 - Floor!

So I'm back with an update. A real genuine update, not a lame update that just promises for an update as last time. But to be completely honest i'm not really entirely sure what to say. There has been quite a bit of progress up in the big attic space, but there haven't been many stories or anecdotes to go along with the progress. Since resuming our work we have just chugging along - have a look...

So here's where we left off. Dust, dust aaaand more dust! And how could we forget the countless migraines from all that plastering, and sanding, oh and all the wood slivers from all those tricky spots around the beams. Oh yeah i'm also pretty sure that the hardware store will never again let us return a sander to them - we are at a grand total of 3 broken sanders (1 belt and 2 smaller hand sanders) from all that plaster and freshening up those beams. 

We did get a sneak peak of the flooring before our 2 week break, 

getting just under 1/3rd of the floor laid. 

Following our hiatus from the renovations here's what we had accomplished by the end of our first week back (we were also able to sneak in some springtime gardening). 

From this angle you might also be able to notice that we've got a coat of primer on the walls - and that couldn't make us happier. The primer did an amazing job of sealing in all that extra dust that we weren't able to get rid of no matter how much we swept them and sprayed them with the air gun. 

Good bye plaster dust.... for now!

Aaaand after a good sanding (this time with a rental floor sander), an evening of staining, a full 48 hours of dry time, a few coats of lacquer, and some more drying time here is the floor in all her shining glory. 

After giving the floors a few days to cure, it was time to get the framing up for the doorway. 

So that's the framing all done, and the first piece of drywall. I also feel it important to mention the door, really we couldn't be much happier with it. Although we hadn't put too much thought into the door, we knew that all the over priced "fake wood" doors that you find these days were not for us. We couldn't even find one door that we liked - so needless to say there was no need to talk ourselves into a 200euro + door. Instead we headed to the Ecoshop (think Habitat ReStore) first in Zulte - nada, Ronse - nada, then finally Gent (and if we couldn't find it in Gent we wouldn't find it anywhere) where we found a boat load of used doors and even new ones. We ended up going for a new door - which we had thought was MDF, but actually was solid wood sandwiched by MDF for it's "paneled" finish. Though we're not the biggest fans of MDF, we really couldn't complain with it's 30 euro price tag!

So here it is thus far. Doesn't look like the same place as it did a month ago does it?  

Paying the Bills

Springtime in Belgium means one thing... bike racing! Us being the cycling fanatics that we are, meant that it was time for us to get to work. But without further ado we are back and ready to get "crack-a-lackin" as Gregg would say.
Stay tuned for our next adventures in flooring

Progress in Photos

We've been waiting to post an update about "Our Blank Canvas" before we got the drywalling stage finished. But as it so happened the height of our "walls" provided us with the opportunity to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Translation: We had to build up a platform to get the high stuff done. Sooo it made a heck of a lot more sense to do everything (instal drywall, and plaster, sand repeat) all at once, rather than having to move the platform all over the place. 

Now that we're ready to celebrate the end of our endeavors in drywalling, we're practically at the point where we put away the plaster and trowels (for now). 

And to be perfectly honest we don't really have much to say, we'll let the photos take it from here...

This is where we started...

Belle finds interest in even the oddest places.

Next came the sub-flooring.

Now on to the drywall...

we get by with a little help from our friends!

Here's the big bad and might I add sturdy platform

 that helped us get through the high stuff.

We roughed up the beams a little bit 

(we've got some more exciting details about this soon!)

Our newest addition. 

Sod Off!

We spent countless hours digging up this baby, cursing the sod every back breaking minute of it. But now that it is finally a big empty plot, and the fruits of our labour (well thats getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but you get the point) couldn't be more satisfying. So here she is our nice 9m x 5m plot all ready for a good ol till of the land, and some fresh compost...

...and again...

And as she awaits the arrival of the last frost date, I will be busy as a bee planning out where everything will go. I have a huge list of plants to go into this garden (some will be planted elsewhere in the garden, and others in containers) including tomatoes, an assortment of carrots, radish, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beet roots, swiss chard, celery, celeriac, peas, pole beans, cucumber, zuccini, squash, spinach, lettuce, melon, rhubarb,  onions, leeks, aubergine, chilies, peppers, potatoes, artichokes, and even sweet corn.

But where oh where should I seat all these lovely plants?
Carrots and tomatoes like each other, and carrots love onions, but onions don't like beans...yes must keep those two apart from one another. Oh the joys of companion planting!
It is so important for gardeners to consider if trying to plant organically since certain plants ward of bugs that would normally be attracted to a paired plant, while others will provide necessary protection from the elements.

While companion planting is important, crop rotation is even more important....and this is why it is  crucial to have a well thought out plan.
Crop rotation comes down to rotating crops from one bed to the next from year to year. Just like people; soil can adapt to the same old same old, and after awhile too much of the same thing can get stale. Planting the same crop type in the same bed year after year can lead to soil borne pathogens that can make it downright impossible to successfully grow and harvest that crop organically.

Theoretically both Companion Planting and Crop Rotation make sense on their own, but trying to plan out our garden for this year (and future years to come) using both organic gardening techniques has been quite the challenge. It's like planning out the seating arrangement for a party (think don't sit Aunt Sue next to Uncle Al her ex-husband) while making sure that for the next party everyone sits at different tables. It does sound simple enough after typing it out like that, but when you mix types of plants together the order in which to rotate your crops becomes a bit less obvious.

So needless to say a HUGE PROJECT! I am a little intimidated, but honestly the worst thing that could happen is that seeds don't germinate or the plants don't make it. I guess it all boils down to trial and error, fingers crossed that there isn't too many errors though!

Sidetracked

Been laying low for the last 2 weeks. We have had three new cyclists arrive here in the last week, so we had to take some time to get a few small projects done in their rooms before they all arrived.

Now that the house is buzzing with all our new guests we can get back to the big project of drywalling...dun dun dun! Pleased to say that we are nearly there, but going to hold off on photos until we can check that box done, and write up a whole post about the process.

Planning out that garden of ours is the other consuming task of the moment. At times I feel like i'm planning out the seating plan for our wedding all over again....only worse! And yes a full big ol post will follow on this as well.

So all in all this post was just a little tease - just a promise of  more to come (and hopefully within the week).

TTFN

Holly

Our Empty Plot

It's Crocus Vakantie (Crocus Vacation) in Belgium! 

 So in anticipation of milder temperatures and more day light, I thought i'd reveal some of our plans for spring.  Not only do we have a blank canvas to contend with up in the attic, we also have a big blank back garden (for the most part). Last summer we did make a dent by adding in a small garden shed, a place for all the cyclists to wash their beloved bicycles, and put in some clothes lines. 

We (Belle mostly) did enjoy having the vast space, especially since our last place had a tiny garden. We spent many hours chasing Belle around, and playing games of "Bellie in the Middle" (our take on monkey in the middle), but we feel that it's time for our garden to start working for us. 

Our mission is to dig for victory, get rid of as much of that boring lawn as possible, have a bountiful harvest (however possible that is for first time gardeners - our tiny gardens in the past don't count), create a rotation plan for our garden, and do it all organically. 

With that it mind we did get a bit of a head start this past autumn. We spent a good afternoon digging up a large plot just behind the garden shed, enlightened it a bit with some pages of the world press, and gave it a good covering of compost and earth. So here's hoping that the plot will be left well nourished after the harshish winter that we've had here. 

In the meantime while our compost and newspapers were working their magic we've been studying up on information and more importantly inspiration. Been reading a great blog You Grow Girl and picked up two great books The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food, Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces (great read, even for our not so small space!). Oh and just picked up a pair of pink gardening gloves, so far have only gotten to use them to carry up the wood floor planks. 

And because i'm a little impatient to get my hands dirty, I have already began to sow some seeds inside; more for experimental purposes than anything really. So far i've sowed some tomato, aubergine, pea, and  some radish seeds. All but the aubergine seeds have begun to make their presence know - here's a look...

Well that's it for now! Next time: Drywall - Lets Get 'er done!

Cheers
Holly

Crowning Glory

Here to report through dust filled eyes that as of last Thursday our old 1970's butcher shop/row house now has something to brag about. Thats right she was officially crowned with the shiniest roof on the block! Yes officially - we were given a plaque to commemorate our achievement from the city council...... yeahhhh no not really, but at least we know it right!?

But honestly don't she look purdy? 

Of course we waisted no time in commencing the celebrations... that's right we got right to laying down the sub-flooring. All 81 square meters of it! The floor space actually takes up roughly 90 square meters, but we left out 9 for where the bathroom will go. The bathroom will have to be built up slightly to accommodate for the plumbing.

Here's a photo of the sub-flooring going in midway. Gregg sprayed on some red paint where all the existing electrical wires were just to be on the safe side when it came time to screw the boards in place.

Once we finished with that it was time for a trip; hummm France perhaps???
Yes haven't been to France in a while, and not much else to do anyways.
You think I was joking, don't you? Well unfortunately nope, dead serious... we - went - to - France, and it was everything we dreamed it would be. Big, and bright, and *sigh* full of endless possibilities! Oh and I can't forget the prices, yes those prices that are unheard of 10 minutes to the North. Just thinking about it makes me want to shout "VIVE LE CASTORAMA" from our shiney new roof!

Not to build it up any further, Castorama is a hardware store much like a Home Depot or Lowes. So nothing really special if you live around the corner from one, but if you knew all of our other options Castorama would have you shouting too. I was almost embarrassed walking around the store, just knowing that it had been there the whole time while we struggled to find selection or prices that we could afford.

*** Side Rant: The "hardware" and DIY shops in Belgium present you with a few options; usually one poor quality and low cost option and then reasonable quality with an inflated price tag - nothing in between.  If you want other options you go to the specialty shops - and no doubt you will over pay there too! Saw an idea that you liked in a magazine? Forget it, chances are you wont find what you need. Might as well stick to the same modern and minimalist design that all Belgians are going for these days! Don't get me wrong, I like their style, we just don't see ourselves going in that direction. ***


So Castorama first came under our radars whilst on a quest for flooring. We were originally planning on installing laminate and indirectly pump some money towards the Quickstep Cycling Team (hey we love them!) but some last minute nerves changed our minds. Luckily the one local DIY store had their wood flooring on sale so we thought heck yes, thats what we want! Long story short the sale price in the shop was listed next to the nice wood, when it should have been placed next to the sorry excuse for wood flooring (Surprise, they only had 2 options available). So after that disappointment we headed off to all sorts of home improvement stores (including ones targeted towards contractors) and came back with a single option - and it was still a bit of a budget stretch.
Jokingly I said "I bet if we lived in France we could find the wood flooring that we're looking for".
Both of us in agreement that joke turned into an internet search, which came up with 3 major hardware chains within France. We chose the larger one, punched the address in our gps, and didn't look back.
Two hours later we were on our way home with a van filled with 88 square meters of Maritime Pine, and huge grins on our faces. Can't wait for our next visit!

The van was saying ouch at the time, but so did we after carrying all those up 2 flights of stairs!