Experiencing Delays........

"Hey! Why haven't you been posting things on here? How can you neglect it already?" Well, thanks for asking. It's been quite a week and a half. And we haven't really done much over there, so there's less to tell. Plus, with some technical issues (darn camera), I couldn't finish any of the posts I had started anyway.

Good news, though! The water was hooked up a week ago this past Monday, which is great! I've already washed my hands a couple times. And on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the broken light fixtures were fixed, two new lights were put in, and the garage circuitry was fixed so we can open and close the garage door again. (We hadn't been able to for a few weeks.)

What Could Be Slowing Us Down?

So, we're still waiting on the currently empty rooms to be cleaned out. But while we wait, let's look at what's awaiting us in the other rooms.

This is the dining room. Washer and dryer were moved here during painting, and they will eventually be moved back to their closet. Although a washer and dryer might be useful in the dining room with our messy eaters. Hmmm.....

You can also see some of the furniture I was able to buy at the auction; some boxes of stuff Dad, Mom, and I need to divide up from auctions; and a couple of my little DVD racks that are just hanging out until they can be placed in the living room and used again. See that racket? The girls aren't clear on what it's for, but they love running around with it. Which is why it's up high right now.

Space to Play

The girls love playing at "the new house", as we've begun calling it. And as much fun as they're having, they haven't even gotten to see what we can do with the space.

Grandma has some great playing options, which I can tell you about from experience. The patio in back is great for riding roller racers and scooters. It's also great for coloring with chalk, but if you use crayon, it makes adults grouchy even though they should know better than to not have any chalk in the house.

We need to re-lay some cement going down the slope, because that's one of the best parts of riding things around back here. If you get going fast enough, you might even end up across the drive.

The windowed area used to be a little porch kind of thing, before the sun room was added on. That is one change I wish could be undone, because I used to use that area as a play house. But we'll leave it. I think Dad would be pretty put out if I tried to talk him into a new un-construction project so soon.

Different Day, Different Garden

Believe it or not, there are iris flowers somewhere here, under all these corn stalks and dead leaves, among the volunteer trees whose days are numbered. (Unless anyone wants to transplant and adopt some.....?) (No idea what they are. Unless "Obnoxious" is a new tree type.)

I took a break from the driveway to work on this tonight. I didn't have much time, so I cleared a little bit by the front/back door and then got to work on this.

Beginning the Yard Work

Until I can do more inside, I'm moving outside. I'm also doing this because I hear it's spring now, and plants apparently start sprouting at this alleged time of year.

Grandma loves flowers (as evidenced by the things she painted) and had extensive garden spaces going all summer long. The flower beds have been neglected the last couple years as the house has stood empty and the last year Grandma was out here when she was having more and more trouble with endurance and mobility. My mission is to get these beds uncovered and see what comes up this year. Next year we can make changes, but with everything else going on, we'll just see what we've got for now.

The biggest problem is corn husks. There is nearly a foot deep of husks in many places around the farm, but most of those places are gardens. And under the corn husks are another two or three inches of leaves and what I assume used to be leaves before they decomposed into a dark goo. This is going to take a very long time!

On a side note, many of the fields around here are completely devoid of corn husks and stalks. Hey neighbors, I know where your husks went! Feel free to come get them at any time. Seriously.

Wrestling with Interior Decorating

Still limited on how much stuff we can move over, but that's okay today. I'm working on decorating. And then unpacking the rest of the board games and random art supplies. Which kind of relates to decorating, right?

So, Grandma was a china painter and had many china painting friends. She has many places and furniture items around the house that were dedicated to her vast collection of china. We weren't able to keep all the china in the family. Not even the things she made, which is yet another sore spot for me, so we'll keep going with this story. Now I have a dilemma called, "What do I put on all of these shelves made fairly specifically for plates?"

We did buy as much of the china as we could, and some of the plates will be displayed somewhere in the house, but these shelves seem to be too out-in-the-open and too narrow for highly breakable things. The girls are careful, but things get thrown around once in a while. And this room is currently the front runner for where my awesome Dr. J foam basketball and hoop set from the 1980s is going to go. But it's okay, I have a great idea.

In sixth grade, I went through a WWF (now WWE) wrestling faze, as all young girls do. And as I've gotten older and had time to look back on those months fondly, I've bought a few of my favorite characters as I've seen them and been able to afford them. (They're a little pricey for something that is not a Muppet or a Beatle.) And guess what! They can mostly stand on their own! Sort of! So guess who's going up on the railing.....

We Can Flush! (But only once per toilet for now)

Hey, the sewer is all finished and working! In theory! Because the water isn't hooked up for the new well yet, and so the toilets haven't been flushed because there isn't any water to refill them after one flush. We're saving that one flush per toilet until there is a child-related emergency that can't wait for the drive home.

But actually, the guess is that the water will be hooked up tomorrow (Friday), and then we can really test out all the new water lines for real. And that will be exciting, and maybe scary if something isn't working right. Or messy.

So now we maybe have a timeline! So far, things have been in a ripple. When the remodeling is done, the floors can be put down. When the floors are down, the walls can be painted. When the weather is nicer, the new well and sewer can be put in. Now there's just a little touch up work to do in the bathrooms (paint got scuffed when the toilets were put back, apparently - I keep forgetting to notice), the new oven isn't there yet, the half door to the basement needs to be put in, and a few light sockets need to be repaired (the awesome light hanging in the old sewing/small dining room is one of them for those of you who have been inside - removing that light fixture was a deal breaker).