Waterlogged

Wet basement hole

All this rain has made a mess of our place. These were taken Sunday the 26th, the first day of sunshine in about 2 weeks. This week is calling for sun all week and wind. We are very thankful for the Sun. We are wanting to put perlins (I think thats what they are called) on the roof of the barn Saturday the 3rd if anyone wants to help.

Man Land porch

kitchen floor had to be removed

It is still cloudy but no rain yesterday and so far today it has not rained. We are waiting for it to dry up now to pour the footer for the garage. The framers did what they could while it was raining. They built the porch on "man land" and put siding on it! This week we also found out the floor under the kitchen is bad and has to be rebuilt. We really are rebuilding half the house from the dirt up in the back. We are looking forward to next week, the forecast calls for several days of sun! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, please keep it coming.

Rainy days and Monday

Our half a house

This weekend we ripped up several wood floors it has been raining all week but Sat. it didn't rain while we worked.I think all the floors are ripped up now, thanks to the demo guys. We now have all the trusses on the barn they did that in the rain.The lumber in the front yard is dry and cozy thanks to Andy's expert tarping and the largest tarp I have ever seen! The kids got extremely muddy Saturday as you can see. We are getting very tired of the mudd and muck, so please pray for dry weather for us.

Time for trusses

Lifting the trusses with a boom

Here is my basement notice the rock wall we ran into alittle rock.

House Demo

across livingroom into old bedroom

They found two snakeskins in walls!

This is the Kitchen!
This is the ram hoe that has been crushing the rock and concrete.

There is a point on the end and when he breaks up the rock it smokes.

This week a lot has been going on. The Demo started, They started to dig the basement, and the framers started. Another thing that started was the rain it has been dry as a bone for weeks but everyone is chugging right along in the MUD! The house is pretty much gutted and ready for the walls to come down. I think the beams have to be in place first Andy should be writing this technical stuff I don't know that much about it. I am just the keeper of the fire and historian everytime I go down there I take pictures put afew more pieces of wood on the fire to keep it going then I leave.

Scavenger Hunt

Newspaper on the wall

digging the basement

This week we found a lot of discoveries in the walls considering it was built in the 20's we were expecting something interesting. So far we have seen a corncob in the insulation a yardstick for a shim to level out the wall under the drywall. Wood under the drywall that Lisa wanted to make a cabinet around her washer and dryer. I am sure that will look great. The neatest discovery is the Newspaper glued to the wood from Dec. 10, 1937 there are adds from Gilbert's , an add for a Betsy Wetsy doll and an article about President Eisenhower appointing a new Post Master General.I could have stood there and read it all day but we had to rip it up, along with the 7 other layers of wallpaper,yes literally.We also found some Twall wall covering I am going to frame. The thing I am most excited about is the wood we are hoping to use for a new kitchen table and benches.The old door casing was wide and thick enough we think. We also pulled up some bushes, and cleaned out around the shop.Today the demo crew starts, So there will be major changes soon. They have started digging the basement but ... they hit rock. We will need to rent a rock breaking thing, hopefully the framers start Tuesday but its supposed to rain, bummer.

Alec's building

Everytime we come to the house to work.As soon as alec gets out of the truck, He is out at his building and he has worked so hard on it.He just this weekend put a roof on it. There is a window made out of a picture frame on the other side. The Kids get really dirty out here , we took a picture of the bathtub to show you , my truck looks about that bad there is dust on the boys head rest!! I can deal with a little dirt for a new house. I just keep thinking I am going to have a garage soon!

Labor Day 09

our naked house

the house fire







Kyle and Casey tearing up the wall. Casey has the demo tool!

We defiantly labored on labor day
my dad came down and we ripped off all the clapboard on Sat. Sunday we rested . Monday we cleaned out the shed and found some charcoal. We roasted hot dogs then started throwing wood scraps in the fire. Andy started pulling off trim, molding and doors the fire burned like that for hours. We don't have a dumpster out there yet so we just burned anything that would burn. Our carbon footprint was up in smoke.While Andy and I did that Casey pulled down lots of drywall and then she attacked the wall with wood on it with a sledge hammer that gave her a blister. Great job Casey! I don't have pictures of the end of the day I was too tired.

Labor day weekend and not camping?

Well, it is Friday night Labor day weekend and all our camping cohorts are snuggled in their camping chairs with coffee in hand enjoying Steve's fire. I don't feel weird at all sitting here knowing they are all camping, and we are planning our big LABOR day weekend.We are going to work on the house, Mostly organize the workers and money run errands and such. WE will not regret it right? I know it will be worth it in the long run. I am meeting with a cabinet lady from HD Monday. Yes, Labor day she is meeting us at the house isn't that awesome! Please pray I can pick and settle on something they are all so pretty and there are so many different gadgets and doodads its a little overwhelming. Hope everyone has a great Labor day weekend, Camping or not, enjoy!