I will start this with a fact that has taken Linda and I a couple of years to come to grips with.
We no longer require a dining room. That was a difficult thing to come to grips with It was the room we gathered as a family, it is where we built science projects with the younglings, tutored them in their school work, enjoyed dinner nearly every evening, all six of us together. The room was a sanctuary that holds more memories than any other room in this old barn of a house. As children aged, married, entered the military, college, and otherwise moved away the room lost its focus. For the past several years it lost its grip on family. When we remodeled the upstairs, changing two bedrooms into my man cave, and another into Linda's she shack the dining room was lost. The room became a clutter that was only spiffed up for a couple of gathering events on holidays. Even that has wilted away with our family now spread from Dan Diego to Texas to Florida.
In the past couple of months we set a 20 gallon fish tank in front of a sheltered window on the west wall. Used to watch the sunset through that window, but no more. For the pst few years that window has been shielded by a narrow three season porch where we enjoy morning coffee sometimes and a quiet moment in the evening watching the sun drop under the mountain. Then our newly acquired mollies, at least one anyway, blessed us with birth. Linda, a true animal whisperer who has the pond fish, squirrels and many birds eating from her hand, could not abide their being lunch for their parents. A five-gallon tank immediately ensued. It was one that lay on a shelf in the basement unused for many years. Eldest daughter had once housed a Betta in the tank. The betta was part of her lessons in responsibility. Linda rescued 9 of the fry, five have survived what I imagine now where not ideal living conditions. They have grown from a pair of eyes into critters that are beginning to actually look like fish. The bug had now bit and we began to reimagine the dining room and talk about repurposing it. In doing so many memories have resurfaced so the thought of making massive changes were both bitter and sweet, but a third tank soon arrived and took its place on an inside east wall. It has fully cycled and now holds three mollies, a big black male that sometimes shimmers in a deep and velvety purple and two golden females, one of which is half black. Linda choose them from a large selection at the local fish store, a small retail establishment with a large selection of fish to choose from. We do not know what branch of the Molly family these new pets are from but we soon will.
We have decided this room with memories will become a fish room. We envision several tanks ranging from perhaps 75, maybe 100 gallons down to five. They will be well thought out and assembled with purpose. The current three are admittedly assembled from the excitement of those baby Molly fish. The fish room seems, to us, a natural progression from the pond system we built last year.
Last night, after dinner, we actually began putting thoughts, ideas really to paper. I have made a list of things to do to prepare the new room for its eventual new life.
The first project will not actually take place in the room itself, but rather the basement. Under the dining room is what used to be the laundry. Well it still is partially. The dryer has been moved upstairs, but the washer remains in the basement. Plumbing still needs to be done and that is a larger job than just the washing machine. Our copper piping is old and when working with it I will often creat a leak somewhere down the line in an old tee or elbow. I will be replacing all copper lines from the fixtures all the way back to the water tank and UV filter. That is step one. Step two is my main hobby, working with wood. I will need to add some hefty support to the old floor. I will also need to level the floor as it has somewhat diminished in its old age. This old house is more than a century old and had developed some minor wrinkles over the years. Nothing major but might as well do things correctly right out of the gate.
This would, for us anyway, normally be a winter project. We have a bog and stream to finish this spring and summer as well as a pergola at the new firepit and a gazebo overlooking the pond. However, the flooring project will begin the first week in March should take no more than a week to ten days depending on my back and pain tolerance. The plumbing will follow and that will take the rest of March. The plumbing is important, not only because Linda no longer enjoys doing laundry in the basement, did she ever, but because the laundry wall where its plumbing is abuts the dining room wall. This coincidence will allow me to put a wet area in the new fish room making tank maintenance much less labor intensive. I have found that making a hobby less intensive of mundane tasks enhances my enjoyment of the hobby
This where we start, and the finish line is way off in the distance. It should however be an interesting journey that hopefully has no end in my lifetime. It will begin today with a material list of what is needed to level and support the floor.
We are looking forward to enjoying our morning game of scrabble surrounded by swimming creatures. It will be fun.
We no longer require a dining room. That was a difficult thing to come to grips with It was the room we gathered as a family, it is where we built science projects with the younglings, tutored them in their school work, enjoyed dinner nearly every evening, all six of us together. The room was a sanctuary that holds more memories than any other room in this old barn of a house. As children aged, married, entered the military, college, and otherwise moved away the room lost its focus. For the past several years it lost its grip on family. When we remodeled the upstairs, changing two bedrooms into my man cave, and another into Linda's she shack the dining room was lost. The room became a clutter that was only spiffed up for a couple of gathering events on holidays. Even that has wilted away with our family now spread from Dan Diego to Texas to Florida.
In the past couple of months we set a 20 gallon fish tank in front of a sheltered window on the west wall. Used to watch the sunset through that window, but no more. For the pst few years that window has been shielded by a narrow three season porch where we enjoy morning coffee sometimes and a quiet moment in the evening watching the sun drop under the mountain. Then our newly acquired mollies, at least one anyway, blessed us with birth. Linda, a true animal whisperer who has the pond fish, squirrels and many birds eating from her hand, could not abide their being lunch for their parents. A five-gallon tank immediately ensued. It was one that lay on a shelf in the basement unused for many years. Eldest daughter had once housed a Betta in the tank. The betta was part of her lessons in responsibility. Linda rescued 9 of the fry, five have survived what I imagine now where not ideal living conditions. They have grown from a pair of eyes into critters that are beginning to actually look like fish. The bug had now bit and we began to reimagine the dining room and talk about repurposing it. In doing so many memories have resurfaced so the thought of making massive changes were both bitter and sweet, but a third tank soon arrived and took its place on an inside east wall. It has fully cycled and now holds three mollies, a big black male that sometimes shimmers in a deep and velvety purple and two golden females, one of which is half black. Linda choose them from a large selection at the local fish store, a small retail establishment with a large selection of fish to choose from. We do not know what branch of the Molly family these new pets are from but we soon will.
We have decided this room with memories will become a fish room. We envision several tanks ranging from perhaps 75, maybe 100 gallons down to five. They will be well thought out and assembled with purpose. The current three are admittedly assembled from the excitement of those baby Molly fish. The fish room seems, to us, a natural progression from the pond system we built last year.
Last night, after dinner, we actually began putting thoughts, ideas really to paper. I have made a list of things to do to prepare the new room for its eventual new life.
The first project will not actually take place in the room itself, but rather the basement. Under the dining room is what used to be the laundry. Well it still is partially. The dryer has been moved upstairs, but the washer remains in the basement. Plumbing still needs to be done and that is a larger job than just the washing machine. Our copper piping is old and when working with it I will often creat a leak somewhere down the line in an old tee or elbow. I will be replacing all copper lines from the fixtures all the way back to the water tank and UV filter. That is step one. Step two is my main hobby, working with wood. I will need to add some hefty support to the old floor. I will also need to level the floor as it has somewhat diminished in its old age. This old house is more than a century old and had developed some minor wrinkles over the years. Nothing major but might as well do things correctly right out of the gate.
This would, for us anyway, normally be a winter project. We have a bog and stream to finish this spring and summer as well as a pergola at the new firepit and a gazebo overlooking the pond. However, the flooring project will begin the first week in March should take no more than a week to ten days depending on my back and pain tolerance. The plumbing will follow and that will take the rest of March. The plumbing is important, not only because Linda no longer enjoys doing laundry in the basement, did she ever, but because the laundry wall where its plumbing is abuts the dining room wall. This coincidence will allow me to put a wet area in the new fish room making tank maintenance much less labor intensive. I have found that making a hobby less intensive of mundane tasks enhances my enjoyment of the hobby
This where we start, and the finish line is way off in the distance. It should however be an interesting journey that hopefully has no end in my lifetime. It will begin today with a material list of what is needed to level and support the floor.
We are looking forward to enjoying our morning game of scrabble surrounded by swimming creatures. It will be fun.
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