December at Zelda

We were unable to get back to Zelda until Tuesday, December 1st. Our nephew had car trouble in Cherokee, NC on Monday and we returned home with him that afternoon. We did get some work done this week despite it being a short week. We had to leave mid-morning on Friday to avoid the road closure over the mountains with the forecast of six inches of snow.

With the short work week, we did work to 10:00 pm and 9:30 pm each night. Brent finished installing the gas line for the dining room fireplace and installed the fireplace mantel. The area around the firebox still needs to have the marble installed and this fireplace will be complete. He also completed work on adding detail work to one of the original plain mantel to dress it up and it will go in our keeping room. In the master bedroom sitting room, he framed in a hearth over the old coal chute and it is now ready to install the tile. We also were able to install about six (6) sheets of backer board in the foyer for the marble tile.

Lynn continued to work on the stair case and has actually started painting the handrail and spindles. The handrail is being painted black and the spindles are being painted white. We also plan on painted the stair treads black and the risers white.

We planned on meeting with a potential carpenter to complete the trim work and install the downstairs wood flooring, but he had car trouble this morning. We plan to meet with him on Wednesday or Thursday next week. Brent has an interview in Washington DC on Tuesday so we will not be going back to Zelda till Wednesday.

We have befriended a stay black cat with four white paws and are calling it "Socks". He or she has slowly been coming closer and finally Brent was able to pet the cat, and it has actually jumped into his lap. We have splurged and purchased a couple of bags of dry cat food at the dollar store.