A Weekend to Remember

While I should have been inside working on the bathroom...I spent most of the Memorial Day weekend (while not drinking beer and grilling out) working outside to fill in the "gap" in the fence next to the railroad...fence guy gave me the cedar slats for free (and I have just as many left over). I've deferred to my train buddy John Derrenkamp who complained that he couldn't see the bottom of passing trains. So, I'll use the remaining slats to make a small platform and John and others now will be able to watch trains to their heart's content! In the foreground of the s t r e c h e d photo is the garden I am building with the sundial on one of the brick posts removed from the side of the driveway.

We did reach a milestone in that one room is just about complete and Joyce and I bought a used couch and loveseat to celebrate! OK...that was the easy room...no bathroom or kitchen yet but the floor in the downstairs bathroom should be in this coming week.

We are taking a BIG risk this week in listing one of our rental properties for sale but six months or longer is the norm right now for a sale. If the house sells early, we will have to move into the new old house sooner than expected. Well, at least there is one working toilet and a couch to sleep on!

This is our house on Elliot Avenue which is for sale...if you are interested (old "before" photo) :

Well, yikes! four property tax bills just came in the mail...it must almost be June! Thanks for tuning in this week...Deano

It was a Dark and Stormy Night...

While Ginger oversees the demolition from above, the downstairs bathroom is completely gutted...after many unsuccess attempts to patch parts of it (I should know better by now!) ...
I finally had to enlist some professional help (no not a psychologist, but that may not be such a bad idea!). I'm glad I did; Gary made framing out the kitchen look easy in a few hours!



Down in the cellar we found at least three more places where beams had been rotted or eaten out by insects...and repaired by some yahoo using bite-sized pieces of wood and a nail gun. These were replaced with double 2x8 studs...we can now put in heavy things like a refrigerator and a bathtub.

Well, we need to start on the bathroom but at $25.00 an hour, we'll see how far this goes.!

D

Always Sumthin!

This week, I installed the new front door; (never an easy task in an unplumb old house)...the house no longer looks like a bar & grill!! What color do you suggest we paint the new door?

Another Good Samaritan is the maintenance guy at work, Gary Harris. Gary came over during the week and together we removed a 400 pound cast iron 50's era bathtub from the downstairs bathroom as well as the old water heater and carried them to the scrapyard...at least we received enough cash for lunch! Here is Gary sitting in the truck with the "load" in the back...on the way to the scrapyard.
OK, that's the good news...but now, the rest of the story:

Gary pulled down some sheetrock in the basement (my mother made me say "basement" but...despite it being Mother's Day...the downstairs is a "cellar." Underneath, we found the tackiest repair job you have ever seen...and carefully covered over with joint compound.

We'll spend several days...once again...jacking up ceilings and replacing yet more termite damage...the right way.


Then on Thursday I noticed that my pulse was acting kind of strange and went to the doctor on Friday. Apparently, my heart has returned to the Atrial Fibrillation problem of a few years ago and I am on anti-arrhythmic medicine (you didn't think I could spell that, didn't you?).

So, things are certainly not going as planned but that's to be expected in our imperfect world...




"Man, who is born of a woman is short of days, and full of trouble."
Job 14:1, The Bible............................................................................

Ain't it da truth?

Happy Mother's Day and Til next time, D.