Happy Birthday, Michelle ...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Favorite Most Beautiful First Born ...
Today our "Boochie Dootz" is one year older ... if I state how old I will have to acknowledge my own age, since I have said I am "39" for many, many years. (Yes, I'm following in my mother's footsteps!)
She's such a beautiful, strong, self-assured and smart young "woman". I love her more today than yesterday.
Happy Birthday, Michelle ...
Happy Birthday, Michelle ...
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
S-l-o-w-l-y getting back to "normal"
Funny, when you hit the "60's" you also realize the good old days also included agile bodies! We have most certainly slowed down. What would have taken us a couple of nights to wrap up ~ takes a tad longer. It also would have included preparing meals and having three rambunctious girls assisting! Today it's two 64 year-olds creating a list of what needs to be done and in what order! A little perspiration, paint splattering, some cursing when stain won't come from under fingernails, "aha" moments when shelf pegs are offset giving shelving a comical appearance and deciding that the paint color chosen DOES work for space. Slowly but surely everything is coming together ... and patience is a virtue!
My vehicle is back in the garage. The door has been leveled and opener is operational. Still storing the front deck on Larry's side ... but that is slowly being remedied ...
... looks like an easy 'sit-down' job!
The "Dan-Mitch Walkway" has been replaced ... I guess it is just a plain old sidewalk now.
Much of the time has been spent in the "quilt/cutting" room downstairs. With multiple holes for the post-piers and alot of dirt on floor it took awhile to clean up before painting could begin. A good old wire brush on concrete brick walls then concrete paint to seal before the finish coat took a week-end. Wall color is "Oklahoma Wheat", kind of a creamy yellow ... makes the room bright and inviting. Re-staining window trim, touching up shelving and door trim took a couple more days ... I'm like my dad that way ... perfectionist (a good and bad trait). I found that my steam-vac worked wonders on the concrete floor. Was able to "extract" as much dirt residue as possible before re-installing carpet tiles.
One task I do not particularly enjoy this time of year is closing off the screened porch. We wrap it in plastic to keep the enclosure free of snow, which is a good thing ... no scooping! On sunny cold days the inside temps can be well above freezing too. What I don't like is the struggle of hanging the plastic and the inability to see out.
On the bright side our little Mum is still there. She will soon retire for the colder winter months, returning next spring to coax us on.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Dee-Dah ... Dee-Done!!!
Day Twelve - Tuesday - October 30th
Crew of four showed up today, Foreman Matt was home with a sick child. I was skeptical, not having a foreman present, how would work progress? I was pleasantly surprised ... all four stepped up to the plate, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Impressed was I!
Installation of the wall anchors continued to be a challenge. There was obviously something quite massive obstructing the progress. A second hole was drilled (first was patched) and threaded rod was inserted.
While work was continuing in the basement with rod installation, two were outside addressing the crumbling block problem. Everything was moving along quite smoothly. Again, impressed was I!
After lunch one continued filling the last remaining hole outside (concrete work had been completed). The three remaining were involved attaching outside plates to threaded rods, it was fun to observe. They worked so well together. At one point I had walked through dining room and noticed two feet sticking up. One of the crew was head down in a hole, while a second one was shoveling dirt into a hole ... fortunately not in the occupied hole!
By three o'clock they were in clean up mode. Two picked up all the gear in the basement and two filled holes in crawl space. Filling a hole takes less time than digging one and is a whole lot easier! As they cleaned gear out of the garage they even grabbed our push broom and swept it out! They were loaded up and done for the day by 5:30 p.m.
They were a fun crew to have around. The average age could have been 30 ... a most excellent crew, I was impressed.
It's difficult to see him ... but Dillon's feet are just visible above deck flooring. He was tightening bolts and removing "non-dirt" items from hole.
Crew of four showed up today, Foreman Matt was home with a sick child. I was skeptical, not having a foreman present, how would work progress? I was pleasantly surprised ... all four stepped up to the plate, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Impressed was I!
Installation of the wall anchors continued to be a challenge. There was obviously something quite massive obstructing the progress. A second hole was drilled (first was patched) and threaded rod was inserted.
While work was continuing in the basement with rod installation, two were outside addressing the crumbling block problem. Everything was moving along quite smoothly. Again, impressed was I!
After lunch one continued filling the last remaining hole outside (concrete work had been completed). The three remaining were involved attaching outside plates to threaded rods, it was fun to observe. They worked so well together. At one point I had walked through dining room and noticed two feet sticking up. One of the crew was head down in a hole, while a second one was shoveling dirt into a hole ... fortunately not in the occupied hole!
By three o'clock they were in clean up mode. Two picked up all the gear in the basement and two filled holes in crawl space. Filling a hole takes less time than digging one and is a whole lot easier! As they cleaned gear out of the garage they even grabbed our push broom and swept it out! They were loaded up and done for the day by 5:30 p.m.
They were a fun crew to have around. The average age could have been 30 ... a most excellent crew, I was impressed.
It was an interesting experience ... but one I don't want to do again. Alot of hard work done by the crew. Alot of noise, vibrations, holes and dirt. It's finished now. Time to make a "to do" list ... but for now I'll enjoy the quiet, getting to sleep late and hanging out in my jams until mid-morning!
Monday, October 29, 2012
~~~ Yawn ~~~ this is getting OLD!
Day Eleven - Monday - October 29th - Full Moon ~ perhaps that's the "hang up"?
Long story short ... they'll be back tomorrow. The crew got a late start today, arriving around 10 a.m. due to mechanical difficulties. They showed up with a crew of five, a bobcat (tractor not animal) with an auger and bucket shovel. They set to work right away, alternating between filling holes - manually and with bobcat, tamping soil as they didn't want the compactor to disturb the "fragile" walls of living room crawl space.
While that crew was playing in the dirt, the foreman was digging four holes with bobcat/auger for installation of the wall anchor plates. Back in the basement the drilling through four basement blocks was successful. However, drilling a long threaded rod through a hole to the anchor outside became the challenge. Evidently roots from large maple (the swing tree) brought that installation to a standstill.
All of the concrete was taken away and heavier equipment was also loaded up (jack hammer, etc.) to be taken back to shop.
The soil is so dry, even at the four foot depth, that it sifted through your fingers like sand. Now that's some serious drought!
Fortunately the weather today was very pleasant - low 60's with no wind, and alot of sunshine! The crew was in good spirits, Larry and I are still talking to one another, but I think every one would agree that it sure will be nice when this job is done!!!
Long story short ... they'll be back tomorrow. The crew got a late start today, arriving around 10 a.m. due to mechanical difficulties. They showed up with a crew of five, a bobcat (tractor not animal) with an auger and bucket shovel. They set to work right away, alternating between filling holes - manually and with bobcat, tamping soil as they didn't want the compactor to disturb the "fragile" walls of living room crawl space.
While that crew was playing in the dirt, the foreman was digging four holes with bobcat/auger for installation of the wall anchor plates. Back in the basement the drilling through four basement blocks was successful. However, drilling a long threaded rod through a hole to the anchor outside became the challenge. Evidently roots from large maple (the swing tree) brought that installation to a standstill.
All of the concrete was taken away and heavier equipment was also loaded up (jack hammer, etc.) to be taken back to shop.
The soil is so dry, even at the four foot depth, that it sifted through your fingers like sand. Now that's some serious drought!
Fortunately the weather today was very pleasant - low 60's with no wind, and alot of sunshine! The crew was in good spirits, Larry and I are still talking to one another, but I think every one would agree that it sure will be nice when this job is done!!!
... our butterfly bush (knock on wood) has survived the process ...
and so has the chrysanthemum!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
A Day of Rest ...
I chose to take a day of rest yesterday ... didn't take any pictures of foundation progress ... or post any new pictures from Day Ten. I was quite frankly mentally exhausted from the whole week. Most of my morning was spent dusting, mopping and vacuuming the first floor. It was a rush job, and rooms sure looked a whole lot better than they did on Friday! The only number one labor related task was to get the water heater up and going again, so Larry spent his morning painting the "furnace room" before moving it back in. I'd like to say that everything went smoothly, but nope, water softener connection won the bout and a new part was ordered! While we are without "soft water", we do have "hot water"! Yeah ... no more "house camping" for us!
As I walked around the exterior of the house I decided there was no need to take additional photos - holes are holes. The interior shows remarkable improvement. NO MORE DIRT PILES!!! The holes in the large room were filled in and there's new concrete. The bookshelf wall has painted so shelving will soon be re-installed.
Day Ten - Friday - October 26th
Friday's schedule was to finish installing piers in furnace room, then lift the basement and the crawl space. Finishing the hole became a challenge as dangling water connections didn't allow enough "head room" for the hydraulic ram. Fortunately Foreman Matt had been a plumber in a previous life and was able to do plumbing work ... disconnecting AND reconnecting! What would have been a fiasco for us, was a piece of cake for him.
I'm pleased to say the lift went without a hitch. Owner Phil is on site when lift occurs and remedied the faltering concrete block wall situation. We were also told that block "missing" at northwest corner of crawlspace foundation will be replaced. What a relief that is!
Monday's schedule should be to finish filling/compacting holes around exterior and filling those in crawlspace, install four wall anchors on west wall of big room, and the clean up of yard/garage (tools, concrete, plywood, etc.).
As I walked around the exterior of the house I decided there was no need to take additional photos - holes are holes. The interior shows remarkable improvement. NO MORE DIRT PILES!!! The holes in the large room were filled in and there's new concrete. The bookshelf wall has painted so shelving will soon be re-installed.
Day Ten - Friday - October 26th
Friday's schedule was to finish installing piers in furnace room, then lift the basement and the crawl space. Finishing the hole became a challenge as dangling water connections didn't allow enough "head room" for the hydraulic ram. Fortunately Foreman Matt had been a plumber in a previous life and was able to do plumbing work ... disconnecting AND reconnecting! What would have been a fiasco for us, was a piece of cake for him.
I'm pleased to say the lift went without a hitch. Owner Phil is on site when lift occurs and remedied the faltering concrete block wall situation. We were also told that block "missing" at northwest corner of crawlspace foundation will be replaced. What a relief that is!
Monday's schedule should be to finish filling/compacting holes around exterior and filling those in crawlspace, install four wall anchors on west wall of big room, and the clean up of yard/garage (tools, concrete, plywood, etc.).
It's coming along ... the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
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