I'm just floored.

I've spent two days on the floor.  Not in a good way either. 

Shortly after we moved into the farm house, we peeked under the shag carpet and discovered glorious original fir flooring.  It had never been finished - apparently almost immediately covered up with carpeting after installation.  It was like a gift.

We decided to wait to bring my furniture from storage until we got the floors done.  I mean, what sense would it be to bring in all my stuff just to have to store it somewhere while we work on the floors?  That means the floors are on the fast track. 

Yesterday I spent the day removing the carpet in the living room.  The results were quite encouraging.

Of course, they still need sanding and several coats of finish on them.  Sharon was a happy camper.

Then came the horror.  Today I moved to the dining room.  Under the same ugly shag was the same beautiful hard wood, but between the two was this 80 year old linoleum.

Here is the worst part:  I liked it.  It reminded me of my Grandma Scheidel's kitchen in California. 

My granparents had a farm just outside of Sacramento.  The kitchen was the center of daily life.  You entered and exited the house through the kitchen.  You did not go elsewhere in the house (like the parlor) unless you had a very good reason for doing so.  I think I only went into the parlor once in my entire life. The kitchen was  a large square room.  It was always warm and inviting and smelled good.  There was a wood-fired oven that heated the room and cooked the food.  There was a big farm sink and a table smack dab in the middle that was large enough to hold every hungry soul in the county.  I remember my grandmother sitting at the table snapping peas while my grandfather napped in the chaise lounge in the corner.  Such wonderful memories. 

Unfortunately my old lino was terribly worn in most places and was not salvageable.  I believe I'm going to try to save a square of it and make some art from it.

After an entire day of crawling around on my hands and knees scraping - this is where the dining room stands:

I don't think it's even a quarter done.  I still have furniture to move, carpeting to pull up and one or two bedrooms and a hallway to de-carpet before we can get to sanding and finishing. 

Someday I hope to get back to my goat shop mission.  But there are priorities.