2018 Reflections: Projects & Progress

Every year I write one of these posts. It’s the blogger way, you know. Last year, in my new year post, I wrote that I thought 2018 was going to be a good year. Truthfully, I am not entirely sad to let 2018 go. As a positive person, I’m not one to label it as a bad year, but things were so hard.

I spent the first quarter of the year in pain and physical therapy from a knee and hand injury. Both slowed down the active lifestyle that I value so much. More urgently, an ongoing family situation here unraveled distressingly and heartbreakingly. Most of the rest of the year I cycled through periods of intense hope and profound despair all while sitting through doctor appointments and trying to keep everyone and everything afloat. As always, I am thankful for proper medical insurance, and I feel anger and sadness for people who cannot receive help because they have no insurance. The unfairness of that guts me.

I wrote and erased those first two paragraphs more than once. Sometimes readers tell me that they want to know more about me, about us, but perhaps this isn’t quite what they meant.

As for BHH, here is a look at what happened in chronological order.

January

In January, Andy and I began to talk seriously about doing something with our main bathroom upstairs, and I gave my closet a functional makeover.

February

February was a slow month. I retrofitted the kitchen island with a new USB outlet as part of my commitment to “fearless DIY.” (Electrical work is scary!) I also started work on another bathroom–the guest bathroom.

March and April

In March, I traveled to Missouri for my Grandma’s funeral. Of course, we were sad, but she lived 101 good years. There was plenty to celebrate.

While we looked forward to spring in April, instead it stayed snowy and cold the entire month. I reached a stopping point in the guest bathroom, and the spring One Room Challenge began with a whimper. Our project, the Street Side Front Porch stalled immediately due to the daily freezing temperatures.

May

Oh, May, you were a roller coaster. With our friend Dale’s help, we made a lot of progress on the street side front porch, but at the end of the six-week One Room Challenge, we still had a giant hole in the floor and plenty of new problems. FYI: Rot does not care about your plans or schedule.

June

As usual, June was a big travel month and work on the house slowed. Kids went to camp, my son and I went to the annual Origami convention in NYC, and my daughter and I put a big check mark on our travel list. She and I traveled to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with my mother and sister.

Despite spending part of June living out of a suitcase, Dale, Andy, and I did manage to finish the porch floor. Hooray!

July

We hit the ground running in July, and we finally finished the Street Side Front Porch. Of all of the projects we have tackled here at BHH, I think I am the proudest of this one. There is something so satisfying about knowing that we built something that will last another 100 years.

August

After a hard-working July, I pretty much just talked about doing things during August. I wrote a post about the upstairs bathroom, chatted about the front door (again!), and started writing Friday posts after a long hiatus.

September

September was exciting because I finally launched the True Tales From Old Houses podcast. It continues to be a learning and character-building experience, but I am committed to making it a regular part of the BHH content.

In other September news, Andy and I decided to let go of the idea of a major bathroom renovation.

October

Sometimes letting go of a big idea opens the door for a new plan, and that’s what happened with the upstairs bathroom. It became our 2018 fall One Room Challenge project, and we dubbed it The Scary Bathroom, for a good reason.

We scrubbed, stripped, and painted. I cursed, cried, and changed my mind.

I spent most of the month wearing a respirator and chemical-resistant gloves.

November

Every second was worth it because the Scary Bathroom looks like this now:

December

We wrapped the year as a guest on the 2018 Winter Eclectic House tour hosted by the talented Domicile37

And here we are, right back where we started. We made it through another full rotation of the earth around the sun. As always, I start the new year ready for big projects, happy accidents, and optimism towards things that I can neither control nor change. I will continue to try my best to send good out into the world free of expectations.

For 2019, I gave the blog a fresh, new look. I’ve got big plans that I will share on Thursday. In case you want a hint, the new slider at the top of the blog offers a sneak peek.

Thank you for every comment, direct message, pep talk, and cheer from the sidelines. This blog continues to be an outlet for my creativity and a vehicle for spreading the word about saving old houses, respecting craftsmanship, and living in this beautiful piece of history. You are a part of the story of Blake Hill House. So, scoot together and say cheese.

-Stacy