With the Equinox falling on Tuesday, it was a schizophrenic week weather wise in Sweden. Winter turned to Spring (aka mud season) and back to Winter. Thawing temperatures turned the dooryard into a quagmire. Spring runoff cut a stream through the driveway. Wind gusts of 35 mph ripped out the plastic protecting window openings and blew snow from a late-season storm onto the newly rebuilt second floor. And on Friday, a long awaited carpentry project was interrupted by a power outage.

Nevertheless, our crew persisted.

The front and sides of the house have now been covered by rock wool and battens. And the last vestiges of the old Red House siding have been replaced with green plywood, with new window openings cut into place.

Inside, the crew continued interior wall demo and reframing in the front four rooms of the old farmhouse, the dining room, parlor, brass bedroom and Carol’s room. Behind the crumbling plaster walls in the dining room were bricks, perhaps once believed to be a good strategy for blocking out draughts. Without the plaster and wallpaper, the walls look like they could have been built in medieval times.

Professional builder Scott Campbell, of Maine Mountain Post and Beam, says that working on an old house is like archeology. “Think about the half-timbered houses in Europe. You see the timbers and the plastered infill which covers the “wattle and daub.” So the brick infill is like the wattle and daub.” Scott’s comparison makes me realize the Red House was built during Dickens’ time.

The demolition was followed by straightening and reframing windows, which are due to be installed next week, and the long-awaited construction of a staircase connecting the basement to the mudroom in the new ell. It looks great with Aron’s brick wall.

As I write this post, Sweden is preparing for another snowstorm, expected to drop up to 18 inches within a 24 hour period. Won’t it be nice when the windows are installed and we can keep the outside out!