Weekend at Zelda

We traveled back to Kings Mountain, NC, but we stayed both Saturday and Sunday. No we did not get the power hooked-up but did stay in a local hotel.

The utility company has come out to mark the underground utilities, the routing and the location of the pole. We expect the power to be connected this week.

Lynn worked on the stairwell this weekend. Lynn enjoyed using the heat gun and said the paint would bubble and then just scrape off easily.

This was a better and quicker method than using the chemicals. We will have to use the chemicals in the small and detailed portions of the stairwell.

We drove over to Townsend, TN early Saturday morning to purchase a fireplace mantle Brent had seen on Graig's List. It is from a 1920's house so it fits Zelda like a glove. We are going to put this in the dining room fireplace. Because of our detour to Townsend, we did not arrive at Zelda till about 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon.

Brent continued to lay tile in the kitchen and pantry. He has finished about 75% of the kitchen and about 75% of the pantry. Cookie likes to snooze on the tile floor. We started work on Sunday around 8:00am and loaded up to head home at 3:00 pm.

We will not be at Zelda the next two (2) weekends because we will be on vacation. We do not know how to act when we don't go to Zelda on the weekend.

Zelda Almost Energized

We went back over the mountain to Kings Mountain, NC to continue work on Zelda. Lynn, Brent and Cookie continued the work on laying tile in the kitchen. We were able to complete a total of 50% of the kitchen. Brent did spend some time with the electrician and he did meet with the Director and a Supervisor of Kings Mountain Electric.

They agreed to meet us at the house on Saturday, their day off, to discuss the permanent power hook-up of Zelda. We have decided on placing a poll in the front left side of the property and then run underground to the meter. It will occur this upcoming week and Zelda will have permanent power.

We also were pleasantly surprised to see the banister on the stairway had been installed. It looks just like the original and was installed in the new open area.

We do expect to finish the tile work in the kitchen next weekend and if the power is hooked-up, we most likely will stay Saturday night in Zelda.

We then traveled on to Raleigh, NC for the weekend to visit with Renee and Greg. We arrived safe and sound around 8:30 pm on Saturday night.

We also welcomed the newest Conley into the family this week. Leyton was born to our nephew and his wife in Baton Rouge, La, on September 2, 2009. He weighed 8lbs-110z, so he should keep up the family tradition of being an eater. Both mother and child are doing well and went home on Saturday.

Kitchen Counter Tops

As you can see, we have our granite kitchen counter tops installed and they do look great. Lynn and Brent (no Cookie did not make the trip) drove over to continue work on Zelda. After looking at the counter tops and meeting with our electrician for placement of under counter lights, we started work.


Brent wanted to start work on the kitchen floor, so we took some time in finding the center of the room (note that old houses do not have straight walls) and then he laid out the tiles to look at the cuts. We decided on the offset/brick pattern, so after Brent placed a set his starter boards, he began laying the tile. The larger tiles did go quicker, but he was forced to make more batches of mortar. Lynn was marking the center of the tiles on the edges, and together, we finished about 25% of the kitchen floor.

When Lynn was not marking the tiles for Brent, she was busy at the staircase, removing layer, after layer, after layer, after layer of paint. We purchased one (1) quart of a stripper to test and it only lasted about two (2) linear feet. Lynn is now looking at different heat guns and other types of chemicals to remove the paint. There are a lot of nooks and crannies so this will be very time consuming.

We plan on stopping by Zelda next Saturday as we head to Raleigh to visit the Renee and Greg for the long weekend. We may stop back by Zelda on our return trip Monday, but we have a dinner date at the Jarrett House in Dillsboro, NC.

We have a shout out to Becky and Tommy in Birmingham, AL. Thanks for the tip on marking the center of the tiles on the edges. It was a huge time saver.