July 4th

It's been awhile since my last post. Erik and I are about to begin phase 3. of the big phases to the house. We just moved our lives back downstairs and cleaned out upstairs in order to begin gutting the upstairs. We'll probably start ripping it apart tomorrow. It will feel so good to get this done. I can almost see the end! We've been at this house for over 3 years now. Seems like forever. Here are some pictures of what we've been living with. I cannot say I will miss too many of these fine features, but they've been apart of my daily life for 3 years that a thoughtful "send off" seems appropriate.  Here is a list some things that I will not miss; squeezing into the tiny space for the toilet (honestly you have sit sideways it is so tight),  the blue toilet seat which was only held on by one hinge, the blue painted floor, blue dust ridden shutter doors on the linen closet, blue tape on the ceiling to keep the mice in the attic, red rage wallpaper (WOW that color isn't a good one to wake up peacefully), wallpaper on the ceilings, the electrical socket on the ceiling ( I don't know why it was there?), having to use a painters light in the bathroom, the insulation pocking out  of the walls, and the smell of old insulation that probably was wet at one time. Oh, and how could I forget the linoleum floors.

Paul Jones in the Wall

Erik's dad came up to visit last week, and lend us some time helping out on the house. Thursday was going to be a hot one, so we decided we should stay out of the sun & heat and work inside. Demolition of the dining room was on the list of things to do. We started off with trying to salvage the wide pine boarding along the stairs. After about 15 minutes of good effort to pry the first board off, as it was on there pretty good, we needed a bite of that whiskey we found behind the board. Paul Jones whiskey, I hadn't heard of it, coming from a long line of whiskey drinkers myself. A little prying of my own into the history of the brand led to one of the advertisements, "Make a Change for the Better". That also seems to be the motto for us at 528!

Karl posing with the treasure he finds behind the wall. Take a good look as this is the last smile out of him for the rest of the day, I am pretty sure the squirrel nests and mouse poop was more than he bargained for in his idea of helping out. But it was a HUGE help. We gutted the entire room and cleaned up the crap. Literally.

That's me, I've been getting more brave with the reciprocating saw. It's hard to tell with my ventilation mask, but this is evidence that I wear it. See, Mom?!

Karl just took out the china cabinet, it wasn't pretty. It was stained pine shutter with black "little house on the prairie" hardware. And above it, was a very large squirrel nest, built onto the chimney so they could stay warm during the winter.

Before

the dining room with all it's "old world" charm.

During

With the wood paneling gone & the wall paper ready to get the 'ole heave ho.