Thursdays News

It is a slow news day. Except the cactus is blooming. That means it finally got warm enough! Our "neighbor" came to visit yesterday. I do not consider him a neighbor really because it is a rental unit. He owns it is all. He said the place is his and he has no problem with keeping the alley open. It is his kids trailer that is blocking it. He did not sound like he was going to 'request' that his son move it however. Anyway we had a fairly amiable conversation. He thinks we are just plain loony for doing what we are doing. But he has a rental unit mentality whereby we are doing it for us with no intention of renting it. So our thoughts are coming from a different place is all.  I think we will not see enough of him to be a problem. A couple of old sayings come to mind; Don't borrow trouble and don't cry till you are hurt.

Today the plan is to continue working on the sewer in the ditch. Getting it the right level and slope is the business of the day. We have to get into and under the house ready for the plumber to come in and make the final connections. The plumber said he might be able to get to that late Monday if everything goes right and we have it ready. So that is the goal for this weekend. So I'll close down now and get a move on....Yeah...like I am going in that crawl space? I do feel sorry for the guy who has to though. Really I do.

Wednesdays pictures

Butch tried to keep from overdoing with the wrist yesterday and I was there to remind him. wink,wink. We did manage to get some things done. Like the electrical in the pedestal. When he did that he dropped an allen wrench down inside the box. He drove out to our MoHo and got his magnet and was able to retrieve it. We filled in some on the ditch trying to get the slope right for the sewer. We have a plumber coming today to supervise our efforts and hook up underneath the house.
Here are some pictures of yesterdays progress.:

Yesterdays News

The trenching went as good as those things can go. Heavy equipment makes me nervous. Butch had fun with it...just like the good oldays of working for him.

Our dirt work and rock were delivered for site one. We will have site two ready before too long.

Jason and Leo came to help. We are grateful. 

Yesterday Butch injured his hand while taking down a cabinet. I had told him I couldn't hold it...you know how that goes. His wrist swelled up and we put ice on it. He was sure it wasn't broken and it looked much better after the ice so life goes on. Yesterday was a big day and Butch apparently overworked his injured wrist as it started turning dark purple on the back of his hand and up his arm. So we went to ER to get  it checked out. It is fine. He is thin skinned, has a bunch of arthritis and overworked it. The ER doctor turned out to be a high school  old boyfriend of my sister Myrla! While we were at ER and Jason and Leo were holding down the fort our troublesome neighbor to the south paid us a visit. He and his son are considered slum lords in town as they own 49 rental properties in Jefferson. I know because I went to the Iowa assessors 

website and counted them. They were ticked off because they did not get our property snapped up before we did. There is an "unused" alley in our back yard through the block. Everyone uses it when they can but these fellows keep it blocked on the south end with a trailer so it can't be used. It does complicate things for us at times but the other end is open and we have access to the back of our property with a driveway on our empty lot next door to the house. It would just be so much nicer if these fellows would be good neighbors. But it seems they prefer to exert their power or exert what power they think they have. They bandied about with all kinds of threats and criticisms. But remember we were not there. They were telling this to Leo and Jason. Our plan is to continue to ignore them. 

So Butch is supposed to take it easy today. Anybody think that will happen?

Till next time.

Latest pics

These are the latest pictures on my camera. Not taking time to edit much these days.

This is an ankle bracelet recently finished. The other day (Sunday) I did two and one-half bracelets in one day. Now I must let my wrist rest before I finish the third one.

This is Renee. One of Leo and Keri's outdoor felines. She doesn't seem to mind having a rock for a pillow. Butch took this shot.

Doesn't the step look better? Will look better yet with new posts and a coat of paint. The tulips help add a touch of color.

The geraniums are waiting to be planted and my cactus will bloom this year in May in Iowa. Last year it bloomed in Mississippi in April.

Since the trencher didn't come yesterday. Oh yes, the trencher didn't come. I did some cleanup and we fashioned a work bench from one of the kitchen cupboards and a door. Then Jason came to help...

And since the trencher didn't come we decided to do demo. This is the kitchen with its cabinets removed. Then...

The guys decided to demo the wall to find out what was there.

It changed the outlook.

And they just kept going...

Late afternoon sun shines on the workbench...

Today the trencher is coming. They just called to say so. The problem is our help was here yesterday. Getting things coordinated to happen sequentially seems to be the major obstacle. I won't care one whit once this initial project of sewer/water/electric to the back yard is completed along with the dirt and rock work and our MoHo is sitting in its new home. The work project can then go as slow as necessary to have it all fall into place with nary a complaint from me.

Till next time...

Trencher day

Today is the day we are supposed to get the trencher. I am such a skeptic these days. I do not count on anything happening as it should until it does. But our plans are made and so are the sandwiches. I decided we may not want to take time out to go somewhere for lunch...if things go as planned...so I made sandwiches for us.
I am also taking my camera to get some updated pictures. My friend Mickey said she never ever got enough in process pictures on remodeling jobs. I know how it happens- you become involved and taking pictures is not in the forefront of your mind so I plan to take a few today and get them posted asap.
Till then...

This 'n That

We worked yesterday at the house. Butch took down the ugly wrought iron railing on the front steps for me. That was a big job as the posts of the railing were set in cement. I have replacement posts for the main supports  but the uglies will have to stay for awhile to hold the porch roof up. They had outdoor carpeting on the steps and they had glued it down. My plan was to sand it off but as luck would have it that didn't work. Plan B is to sand it till it is smooth and paint over it. Butch and I both worked at sanding it down yesterday so it is now ready for paint. Looks much better even without paint.
Butch mowed and I raked most of the back yard. Neither of us are used to this physical labor. He is more used to it than I but we were both stoved up last night. A couple of aspirin and a good nights sleep does wonders.