Buttoned Up for Winter

The house got a facelift! The promised and long-postponed update is here at last, now that I've finally finished all the odds and ends and can proudly put the new version on display. Just in time for winter, here's what's been accomplished (mostly by my faithful building crew, Uriah, Jay, and John, with assistance from me wherever possible):

• Washing all the moss and other crud off the roof. Looks brand new!
• Stripping off all the vinyl siding. (Good riddance!)
• Removing the sagging, drafty vinyl windows. (B'bye!)
• Replacing the windows with wood-framed, aluminum-clad ones with sufficient environmental credibility to qualify for this year's tax credit (in a jaunty new shade of red).
• Calling Alper's Insulation to drill holes in the old wood siding and blow in cellulose to fill up the walls that have, apparently, been completely empty all these decades that the house has been standing.
• Putting up new cement board siding (durable, low maintenance, and relatively "green").
  
• Replacing the front entry light with one that actually works.

And the back of the house, with a few more exciting changes to report:

• New location for the back door! By moving it over and up a couple steps, I (and the ever-eager Maisie) now have a straight shot from the kitchen to the great outdoors, instead of a sharp turn and an awkward perch on a narrow landing. And, even better, when it rains, water no longer runs down the basement steps.
• New back door, too. New-used, that is - it was sitting in the basement of my dad's office and is now happily employed again, all scrubbed and with a fresh coat of red paint.
• Buried power lines and cable internet line. Hooray, the spaghetti of wires above my head is now invisible underfoot.
  
• Yes, that's still vinyl siding on the right side. It's all insulated and wrapped and fresh underneath, but we put the vinyl back up for now because I'm still deciding what I might do with that part of the house. (Sunroom? Screened porch? Deck? Just keeping the options open.)
  
• French doors off the dining room! I can't even tell you how excited I am to be able to see into the yard from inside the house. And Maisie is that much more thrilled. This is where she spends the better part of her days now:

As usual, if you want the extended tour, come on over for a look around here.