taking back the yard

the good bones house remodel update: 

Here's the view into the back yard from the second floor back porch.  Yep, there's two stories of back porches on each side of the duplex.  They are all closed porches with screens, lattice and windows. 

There were four large raised beds full of weeds and dead plants.

Finally accepting that the summer was getting away from me, I hired Jen Pledge Master Gardener to clear them out and lay sod.

The best bit of landscaping already here is a white hydrangea that thrives tucked under the dining room window in front of the old coal chute.

For more posts on the good bones house remodel, select the tag below or in the tag cloud.

acres of woodwork

the good bones house remodel update:

For weeks I've been scraping, patching, plastering, sanding, priming and painting.  This is what I look like most of the time.  I call it my Rhoda look.

paint-scraping maniac

I lucked out with some great help on this project, too.  Even though he's scraping in this picture, I nicknamed this guy Runs With Paint for how well he hustles on the job, especially when rolling paint. 

  

A big priority for this project has been the floors.  While solid, they were worn and seriously needed to be refreshed.  First on my list, I hired the wood floors to be refinished.  Then I dredged up the courage to yank out the linoleum in the kitchen.  Happily it was glued to a plywood under-layment and not the sub-floor which I have had happen before and is a hassle.     

The wood floor refinishing guys lent me this nifty long-handled pry bar called The Mutt to take up the old cracked linoleum flooring.  It made the job so much easier than a regular flat crow bar.  I slammed it under the edge, lifted the underlayment a wee bit, then slammed the mutt further in  and lifted.   After more slamming and lifting, it came up in large sections a few feet wide.   The bar does most of the work, as it should be. Almost a cake walk.

Then we used the little cat claw and pliers to yank out the hundreds and hundreds of tacks.

The linoleum in the entry foyer had a great pattern but was too worn and water damaged.  It was only tacked down on the edges without any glue at all. I got it all up and out in about twenty minutes. That's like a small miracle right there.    

The wood floor refinishing guys turned me onto a smart scraper to add to my artillery for removing loose paint from wood trim.  I've always used a chisel edged scraper but they showed me the advantages of this pull-action scraper, especially good for reaching tight spaces and applying steady force.  Their own scraper came as a promotional gift from a wood-flooring company and isn't available in stores. Here's a comparison of a pull-scraper type from the hardware store (the bottom one) and theirs (on top).  I really liked the long arm and lighter weight of theirs. 

Speaking of wood flooring, each unit of the duplex has 1640 square feet between two floors and they are all wood except for about 400 of them.  The skinny quarter-sawn oak on the first floor and mixed oak upstairs have all been being refinished by Cross Flooring, including two significant patches they blended splendidly.  

Ken and Mike did the first couple of coats. After that dried we put  rosin paper down to protect the floors while we continued to work for a couple of weeks. 

Today Nate buffed it and gave it a  final coat, so we won't walk on it for a few days so it can cure.

Meanwhile I will focus my energy in the kitchen which has had very little attention all these days. 

For more posts on this project, select the tag "good bones house remodel."

vroom vroom

A few weeks ago, Studboy rolled through town with his dad and uncle on a bucket list Harley cross-country road trip.  I hadn't seen him in about a decade  - since Beag's wedding - and we had a great visit.  He's exactly the same as ever;  and full of great stories.  Plus, we swapped wheels for a day! 

 

Much of my time on the back of bikes was before everyone wore helmets.  Most of the ride I leaned too close, knocking our helmet heads together. 

scouting for Love's commercial

This week and next we are shooting a commercial for The Love's Book of Answer's iPhone App.  The fairytale story is by our wonderful intern, Cassi James.  Here's some video clips of when the three of us scouted locations around Missoula. a few weeks ago  Yesterday was a successful day of shooting.  Even the train did it's job well. Stay tuned for the final short movie! 

Location scouting for Love's Commercial from salty snack studios on Vimeo.

places to stay in Missoula

It is slim pickin's for great hotels in Missoula.  Some fancy resorts and lodges nearby, sure, and a few good B&B's probably (my favorite, Foxglove Cottage, closed), but not truly great hotels that I would highly recommend.  Personally, Bruce and I love to stay in historic old hotels right downtown in the cities we visit.  While rumors persist of someone reviving the hotel aspect of the Florence Building and other buildings here, Missoula doesn't have anything like that, yet.  So there is my disclaimer to start off.

The historic Wilma building downtown is right on the river, has an independent theater that hosts films, live concerts and local theatrical events.  It's been being restored with fabulous condos and some are available for rent by the night.  I've been in them and they are wonderful AND they are on par in cost with the most 'nice' hotels in town. (At the time of posting this, about $125-$150/night)  I don't know about the services or other details but for quality of spaces and location, I easily recommend Stay at the Wilma.

A couple of nice hotels - where my folks stay - are  right downtown and near the river.  The Holiday Inn Parkside (not to be confused with Holiday Inn Express which is also here) is closest to the Farmer's Market and just a block off of Higgins Street for a lot of shopping and dining options. The Doubletree (a Hilton) is a few blocks further, also close to everything, and has the only restaurant and deck right on the river (Finn & Porter) in this town which is nice for breakfast, drinks, etc.  Both have easy access to the trails along the river, too. 

Less spendy are the motels mostly along Broadway and Brooks Streets.  Friends who just came through on a cross-country Harley trip requested affordable and downtown, so I sent them to Mountain Valley Inn.  Mostly plain and a little vintage looking, the rooms are well kept.  We stayed there once while remodeling a house while living in it and were without a bathroom for a few days.  Plus, when I ran the Big Sky Documentary Film Fest a few years back, the manager at Mountain Valley generously sponsored a bunch of rooms to host filmmakers and were super accommodating, so I gladly throw them some biz in return for their support.  

That's all I have to offer for first-hand experience on the motel scene. I've stayed in many motels and Thunderbirds across the U.S. and enjoyed them, but not here yet.  Based on drive-by appearances alone, I suggest seeing motels in this town before you book your room if you can.  Certain motels rent rooms by the month and have a reputation for stumbling drunks and regular 911 calls.  And if that's your scene, knock yourself out, man.

Several chain hotels are here near exits, too, if that's what you want.  You don't need my help finding those of course.  It's a university town, so everything is packed for Griz games, Freshman orientation and so on, so keep that in mind as well.

Finally, more and more people here are renting out little bungalows, apartments over garages and their houses for the summer, a weekend or by the night.  Check out sites like VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) to find some great places. If you are looking to fish and stay close to Missoula, I suggest looking at listings out Rock Creek.  I hope one day to build a guesthouse for friends and family, but I'm a long way from such a decadent arrangement. 

This post is just on Missoula but there are many great places near here in other towns.  I'll build that list, too, so let me know if you have requests and I'll do them sooner rather than later.

****** 

I am growing the 'guide to visiting Missoula' section of this blog to help answer more inquiries for visitors.  I have lived in Missoula fifteen years now and have gotten many emails or phone calls with simple questions like where to stay.  I've concluded that this blog is a good place to make it available to anyone. Point your friends and loved ones here if they are heading to Missoula.  I'll do my best to make suggestions on whatever their interests or find someone appropriate who can.  And if you have particular topics of interest about visiting Missoula, just let me know.  

Links for Places to Stay in Missoula:

Stay at the Wilma Rentals

Mountain Valley Inn

The Doubletree Hilton

my bones need a break

good bones project update:

I'm typing now from bed.  I went to the good bones (remodel) project this morning after running a bunch of errands.  I swept and vacuumed up from the electricians, washed drop cloths, made notes of unfinished tasks and bought the weekend painter lunch, then just hit a wall and came home.   

 

I lied down to take a quick nap.  Two hours later I woke up. I figure it's a sign that my very long days of working on the good bones has caught up with MY bones and muscles and this afternoon needs to be break time.  I'm whipped. With Bruce's help I also discovered we are missing a wedding today.  I lost the invitation somewhere in a pile of mail and bills.  We still haven't found it.  We thought it was at 5PM but called mutual friends and found out it's at 3:30. Rats.  And we like them!  I hope they'll forgive us.  

 

It's just that kind of summer this year.  Cahrazy. 

 

Still in the prone position, I am opening a pile of mail, thumbing through production notes (um, yeah, we shoot a commercial during the next two weeks) and organizing bills and receipts.  I can do things as long as I keep my feet up. 

 

Meanwhile, Bruce is having a pre-production meeting with our intern, Cassi, going over the shot list and special effects for the commercial. Cassi is spearheading the commercial and I'll be sure to post updates and photos on it soon.  Briefly though, she is outstanding.  We lucked out with her.

 

Tomorrow, we have a new 'summer intern,' a teenager, arriving from New Jersey: Clementine.  She'll help with the shoot and hopefully enjoy a taste of Montana summer.  We are looking forward to it but also feeling a little nervous.  We hope we are entertaining enough and she likes us!     

gambling on your good luck

good bones project update:

Remodeling a house has all the thrills for me that many people get from a trip to Las Vegas.

The first time I walked by this backdoor (before I owned it), I was sure that behind this piece of plywood was a perfectly good door.  I can't explain it, I just knew.  I could imagine a number of scenarios for why it was there.  Dog scratches because some poor pooch had been locked on the back porch and bored out of its mind showed its frustration.   A domestic dispute when some meat-head tried kicking down the door and failed.  A burglar perhaps.  As far as the door is concerned, the worst case scenario would be cracks in the lower panels which looked perfectly fine from the other side. 

One day, even though it's the backdoor and low on the priority list while there are a million other things to scrape, patch, and paint, I had a head of demolition steam going and walked by it.  In my best Dirty Harry impersonation, I wielded a crow-bar and asked myself if I was feeling lucky.  

Well, do ya punk?   

Damn straight!   

It looks to me like the door had a slender kick guard at one point.  There are some shallow grooves along one part of the door under the knob, probably from the adhesive of the kick guard.  The panels have splitting paint and lots of dirt, but otherwise look great.  Yay!

It's a small thing, but these are exactly the kind of gambles you take when you buy an old house.  You look over the surface and guess that whatever is underneath is something you can handle - you can patch, paint over or replace. And whatever it is, hopefully it's something you can afford - physically, mentally and financially.  Happily, I cashed out on this one. 

To see a clip of the scene from the movie, Dirty Harry, click here.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

friday flick:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, while poorly titled, is possibly the best James Bond film ever.  I'm tempted to set out on a 007 marathon to compare them and decide.

Australian actor, George Lazenby, manages the role of 007 very well  in what  turned out to be a speed bump in Sean Connery's run in the part. Lazenby's Bond is not as intense and warm as Connery's but he's still smooth and compelling enough for the story. Apparently audiences were not won over by Lazenby's 007 in 1969, so it's a good thing for the series that Connery came back or the classic adventure series may have come to an end. What makes this film work isn't its star anyway.

Directed by Peter R. Hunt, On Her Majesty's Secret Service stands alone from the series cinematically. The film is less stylized than most of the Bond series, with fewer spy gadgets, quips and series insider references, though there are enough to keep viewers aware of the trademarks. Bond seems more...real. Possibly because the story itself has more romance and mystery, with Bond showing a bit of vulnerability, particularly with his love interest played by Diana Rigg who gets to work a Bond Girl with more dimension and purpose than we can usually expect. The solid direction moves well from the drama and suspense into the action sequences which feel fresh and thrilling, especially the night-time ski chase in the alps which is obviously a handbook for shooting and editing such sequences in future Bond films.  The movie flows as a story and less like a genre formula.  Icing on the cake: Telly Savalas plays the villain. 

While Hunt went on to direct other films and TV, this appears to have been his last  Bond film. What is very interesting is that he had been the editor or supervising editor for five other Bond films (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Thunderball).  His influence on the action series during its most impressive phase is significant.   

Writing about it and putting the film and the Bond series in the front of my mind tempts me to do a thorough comparison and organize the  series from best to worst.  Hmm, we'll see.     

Now I'm curious, what's your favorite Bond film?  Or least favorite?

the dishes on a tightrope

Here it is: the good bones project.  A 100-year-old duplex, built as a duplex with two almost exactly mirroring two-story apartments.  

Notice the satellite dishes?  There were five, yes five, on the house when we took the project on last Fall.  Even if both apartments sign up for such service, that only means two. Apparently when you order this service they don't bother to reuse their old dishes or take them away when you end service. They don't take them away ever, in fact.  I tried calling the companies to have them removed but they are not interested. It was one of the first orders of business to take them all down.

I realized that this is what nephews are for!

 

Yes, I made him use that ridiculous narrow old ladder we found in the garage.  He balked at first, cause he teaches safety at his work, but then he finally did it.  At one point I started to follow him up it but changed my mind as I watched it sway with his every step.  The rungs are skinny with barely enough room for his boot-size. He went one foot in front of the other tight-roping his way to the top.  We went and bought a better beefier ladder after this - his pick.

The dishes are a small thing but annoyed the crap out of me visually.  I looked up and my eyes went right to them as they poked out of the house's facade. I cursed every time. Taking them down was a good way to build momentum wrangling the decades worth of miscellaneous cables, wiring and cords embedded into the sides and underbelly of this place. 

**I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my sister/s publicly for having such great sons.  This one (his nickname is Indi) lives part-time in Montana and part-time in Alaska.  When he's in town he sure is handy and he's a really good sport when I'm hell-bent on a project!