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.

Good Samaritans

It was a strange sort of day... cool, for April, a little damp with passing moments of sun...just passing moments.

So, I worked outside; slowly turning the old garage foundation (three sections: the largest...and most deteriorated...in the middle. I had previously broken up most of the concrete in the right section so I spent the morning picking up the pieces and piling them on the side of the fence by the railroad tracks. THEN I felt guilty about it but was too tired to undo the pile. At that point, this happened to come by:

{This is a track maintenance vehicle...one of several following each other...this one appears to clean up after the other ones that dump and "tamp" ballast between the ties} I chatted with the driver, a young man from Virginia that works with the maintenance contractor, for a while. As he left, he said something to the driver of a ballast spreader. As they left, he opened a wing of the spreader and pushed the pile of broken concrete all long the side of the tracks for about a tenth of a mile!

That afternoon, the two neighbors to the north of the house came over to help remove one of the brick posts on each end of the property...which stick into the adjacent driveways and have become a hazard to navigation. We dug down a foot...then two...then three. The thing (to our dismay) has a four foot base...probably more than the house does! Mike (top, right) tried to pull the post out with his truck only to have the line snap. About then, another good samaritan showed up...this one with a backhoe;

His name is Jay and that's about all we know. Jay picked up the four foot post with ease and deposited it in a hole in the backyard where it will become the base for Joyce's sundial at the center of the herb garden!



Maybe he was an angel?
Almost as good, he said he was a plumber!












Well, we know a contractor who is going to work on the kitchen and bathroom...we've decided to keep the laundry room downstairs instead...just too much trouble moving it upstairs in an old house (and nightmares about leaks).

Cya next time! Deano

Let's Change EVERYTHING!

Here's a photo of the front of the house TODAY; new brickwork and wood columns and an unusual yellow Rhododendron that we purchased from the garden center on Sunday.

We also planted a Red Maple and a Climbing Hydrangea (I'm not sure what that is). Here's more photos:



















Today is Joyce' birthday (I won't say how many). She celebrated the day by changing her mind about the kitchen! Mark, a contractor friend suggested knocking an outside corner out so we could expand things...good idea, but straining our already tenuous budget.

Why didn't they do this in the first place? I ask.

We've already spent over $10,000 on this project!








Well, work goes on and here Greg the mason is up on the roof inspecting the chimney...something neither of us should be doing at our age...............................................















Joyce received this nifty sundial/birdbath for her birthday that I will put on an old tree stump...it reminds us of how short life is and to value each moment...an appropriate thing for a birthday!



Next week...my special "birthday gift" for myself and the estimate for the kitchen addition...

Deano

THE BIG JOB

The Masonry Piers are being built at the front of the house to replace the ones that had been "bowing out." The original bricks are being reused. The front room need to be jacked up for the work to be done. Estimated cost: $3000 as opposed to a $14,000 estimate I received from another local contractor...who was rather arrogant, I thought ("I'm the best mason in Cincinnati, maybe the world")....think of that with his very German accent.




Joyce, for whatever reason, thought this would be a good time to plant Hostas...right where the boys were working!


In other news, we purchased this odd little bench at a yard sale and had a blacksmith make new footings for it. I believe it is made from an old railroad baggage cart.



I spent most of the day using a rented jackhammer to break up concrete from the old garage foundation. Four hours...one third of the job done...maybe. It was the most strenuous workout I've had in a long time and I'm a little sun burnt as well!

Meanwhile, a lady came and bought the old stove which I listed on Craig's list. She had lost her job and was living in an apartment so I reduced the price by one half.

Well, it's almost tax day and we didn't realize it at first, but we saved several thousand dollars via the "first time homebuyer's credit." It's not really for first time homebuyers...but for anyone who buys a primary residence after living at one address for several years...go figure.

Well, the weather is great; we need to get the bathroom floor done and the electrical work started in the next week. Bring your hammer and electrical tester and stop by!

Deano

The FENCE is DONE!

Well, here is the finished fence and gate...not quite dog proof yet! I plan on rocks in the front and maybe Impatients (sp.)

Ginger, of course, has figured out how to bypass the fence!!!

The backyard is littered with these star-like wildflowers, white with a slightly pink tint...I delayed cutting the lawn until they were gone.

I wonder what they are?

I really did not make much progress this week...the toilet upstairs is working but seems to have a small leak between the top and bottom of the thing...that's what I get for buying a Mexican toilet from the discount store! So much for my grandfather's advice: "You buy cheap you get cheap!" He didn't anticipate the world economy.

The mason is supposed to start this week; jacking up the room over the porch and replacing brick columns...I like him, despite his "redneck" persona.

It is annoying dealing with contractors in this part of the country; they act like they do not need the work and often do not return phone calls. I REALLY need an electrician bad! and am working on that this week!

Well, I'm sitting in the backyard at the (old) house having a beer and watching the leaky garden pond and stream...they will be relocated too...when I get around to it!

See you next time! Deano