Oh-Oh

Remember the pictures I showed you yesterday of the flooded downstairs?  Well, obviously the property is in need of a new drainage system.  The pictures below show the beginning of that new system. 

All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't driving the excavator.  You know, because that happens so often.  (Hey, I could if I wanted to.)   Anyway, after burying it, Chris tried pulling himself out with the bucket, but the ground was so saturated, it just kept digging more holes.  So then Dan and the other guys grabbed the shovels and dug to expose the tracks.

Obviously shovels and boards were of no use.  In the end, it took the other tractor pulling, and most of the firewood that was stacked under the deck to get it out.  I missed that excitement, as I was at work.  Just as well, that stuff makes me too nervous.  I'm always worried someone is about to get hurt.  Plus I don't particularly enjoy all the cursing.

Until tomorrow!

Downstairs

I just realized I haven't been keeping you updated on the area under the house.  I don't have any "before" pictures, but you've seen the pictures from upstairs, so you can fill in the blanks.  As a plus down here, we were standing in water as we hauled out trash.  Yay.

I took this picture standing just inside the door.  There was a big room with an L-shaped storage area behind it.  The studs where the sqeegee is leaning is the back wall of the room, with the storage behind it.  The area where the ladder is standing was, strangely, a bathroom.

Another view of downstairs.  That big concrete obelisk just to the right of the ladder is the foundation under the front stoop.   

I was standing in the former bathroom looking toward the door to the backyard.  Yes, those are postal boxes by the steps up to the deck.  Gee, I wonder when they last washed that window?

Garage Sale

Today is Saturday - garage sale day!  To keep you on your toes, I'm mixing things up a little and posting what we actually did today.  The pics below are of the items Sport and I sold at today at our garage sale. Chris and the big dog were duck hunting, so it fell to the little guy and I to dispose of the merchandise.  And sell we did.  I can sell anything.  See that broom to the right?  I sold it.  No joke.

 Here are a few other items in our sale.  Except for the chia pet.  Apparently it's been a lifelong ambition for Sport to own a chia pet.  It is now at our house sprouting lettuce.  Because lettuce was the only seed packet he could find in my gardening bag that was small enough for a chia pet.  Beans, not so much.  Personally I'm a little creeped out by the chia pet.  Look at those eyes.

 A little pre garage sale pic.  I like this one because of the stack of postal boxes.  I'll never see one again without thinking of this house.

 A little vintage Christmas section.

 Snoopy is about to go to a better home.  See that scrubbie on the corner of the table?  I sold it.

 Clown paintings.  I sold them.  And 2 more as well.

 More clowns.  At least these are happy clowns.

  A kitty teapot, holding sausages.  When I think of teapots, I don't tend to think of kitties holding sausages.  See the kitten placemats by her feet?

 Kitty puzzles.



A stovetop full of kitties.

A box full of kitties.



 No more kitty pictures, just a view of the left side of the garage.

 And here's the right.

 One last viewpoint.  We sold most of the things you see in this picture (see the broom on the back wall?), except for the stove.  Bedroom set, yes, stove, no.   Oh well, you can't win them all.

I'm sorry to say I don't have any pictures of the actual sale, I was just too busy!  Sport and I had a fabulous time.  We met neighbors, made deals, (Sport sold a desk and chair while I was out grabbing lunch and he and Grandma Martha ran the sale.  Apparently he quoted a woman a price for the desk, and told her he'd throw in the chair for free.  I wonder where he gets those mad selling skills?) and did our best to empty out the garage.  It was loads of fun.

I'll leave you with one last picture, of Sport taking down our signs.

  

So Tired.

You'll have to forgive me for only posting a few pics tonight, but I'm beat.  Between work, running the boys to and from their various sports practices, and this house, I'm tuckered out.

I'm so used to the way it looks now, that it's hard to belive those early pictures.  In case you've forgotten, you can click here for a refresher.  Those were taken way back when we first started this project, exactly two weeks ago today.  The real kicker is that I'm not posting these pictures in real time, they're actually a couple of days behind where we are at the house.  Now I really am tired.  So without further ado, here's the pictures for today....

I took this one while standing in the front door looking toward the breakfast nook.

Looking left toward the living room.  We may just have to rebuild around that piano.

 Standing in the living room looking toward the dining area

 Standing in the breakfast nook looking into the kitchen

 Look who decided to come in from the rain!

 The back bedroom

 The front bedroom.  Chris is walking through what was the wall between the bathroom and front bedroom closet.

 The bathroom, and the hole in the floor.  Ugh.

 What's down there?  I can tell you what was down there.  Rats.  That's what.

Our talented piano playing dog.

Insulation, Anyone?

So we continue hauling debris out of the house.  As a nice change up, it's now construction debris, rather than actual trash.  Not that carrying insulation is so fun, but it beats a dead rat.

 Chris has just thrown down a pile of sheetrock, and here comes Dan out the door with another load.

 

 Dan throwing insulation into the trailer.  Note the ever present earbuds.  Someday I'll ask him what he's listening to.

 Chris with an armful of insulation.

 Chris.

 Chris stomping down the insulation.  Speaking of insulation, I was pulling some insulation out of a wall and was in an awkward spot where I had to stand in a doorway and reach around to grab it.  Anyway, as I did so, a rat shot out out of the insulation in my hand, past my face, and back behind another wall.  Normally I'm not a screamer, but I tell you I screamed like a girl.  Then I dropped the insulation, jumped back and yelled an expletive.  Which I won't repeat.  Because my Mother reads this.  For those of you who are counting, that makes 3 dead rats and one live one.

 More sheetrock coming out.

 And being thrown into the trailer.

 More stomping.

 Lest you wonder why on earth we are expending such energy, not to mention coin on this mess of a house, let me show you a few pics of the neighbors.  Here we have a lovely lemon tree across the street.

 And the house where the lemon tree lives.

 A charming bungalow across the street.

 Another charming bungalow next to the lemon tree house.

 Next door.  I loooovvveee the garage.  And the house too.  Don't you just want to run up there and sit on that vintage metal rocker?  Though I haven't yet met the owners, so that could be a little awkward.  "Oh, hello.  Just sitting on your front porch.  Nice to meet you."

More charming up the street.  Eventually our house will be charming.  It will.  Trust me.

Empty House

Back to inside...

Here's the living room, emptied of all but the piano and the last few boxes of trash.

This is the dining area.

The dining area again, looking toward the kitchen.

Living room.  Thats the kitchen wall on the left and front door standing open on the right.  The hole in the wall is where the wall heater was.  Hey look!  Somebody emptied the trash boxes while I was looking the other way!

Living room.  Hallway door on left, front door (standing open) in center,  entry closet to right.  Kitty wind chime at top.

Looking into kitchen/breakfast nook.  Water heater and pantry closet removed.

Kitchen sink wall, all cabinets removed.

Kitchen, inside wall, cabinets removed.

Bathroom, cabinets removed.

Then I went to work, came by after to take photos, and this is what the guys had done!  Ceiling is down, most of the sheetrock off the walls, and there's a couple of feet of insulation on the floor.

Looking towards the breakfast nook.

Kitchen wall.

Living room again.  Remains of entry closet on the left.

Looking through the wall at the front bedroom.  As you can see, all the photos in this series are taken from the same vantage point - just inside the front door.  I didn't have my boots on, and even so wouldn't have waded through all that insulation.  Hey, there's only so much I'll do for this blog.  I love you guys, but I do have my limits.  Though, considering I've already picked up a dead rat, I have to wonder why I chose to set them at wading through insulation.  Sorry, I digress.

Looking towards breakfast nook and back bedroom to the right.  Somehow I got the camera all cattywampus.  Sorry about that.  Just tilt your head a little.

Ceiling

One last look at the living room.