Haunted, Bees and Ticks

Here's Kara checking on the roof progress! This is the back roof of the kitchen.

In this photo you can see the attic window (above the breezeway on the right side of this photo) - Matt was laughing because he asked one of the roofers if he looked in that window and the guy goes, "No man I'm not looking in there." A week ago they blew the main breakers and lost power, and they were going to use their own generators after that. Yesterday Matt noticed they were plugged in to the house and said, "Hey so you flipped the breaker?" and they all stopped what they were doing and just looked at him. Finally one guy said, "No, we thought you did. We came back to the house and there were lights on." We most definitely did not. So, you know, ghosts.

The main portion of the house is done being roofed, and now they're finishing up the garage and breezeway. The garage was really really bad, lots of rot, so lots of replacement wood going in there. However, Matt was able to return a bunch of OSB that will probably even out the cost, so we are still within budget!

The roofer did call to say we have a lot of ticks around, so we have been checking Buddy to make sure he didn't get one on our last outing there. Our vet checked him too and he seems to be okay, but now we have to spray and get that taken care of. The other thing we have is a honeybee hive! That's fun, except I don't want to be a beekeeper. So I guess actually that's not fun. My niece McKenna gave us the phone number of a friend who would like the hive, so hopefully we can transfer them peacefully!

Roof Progress

This afternoon James and I are working concessions out at the track, and Beth is running a race on it at some point. There's a huge day-long invitational at the high school, and when it's her turn to run I can dash out of the concessions stand to watch her. 

Okay well I don't know how impressive these photos will be, but here is where we are so far:

The old roof is torn off, and you can see the new materials waiting to be put on!

They are working to complete the entire original portion (two story) part of the house and the kitchen (the one story) and leaving the garage/breezeway for last. This is great because the main house is where the leak was, and that is now water-tight. Below are a few rows of shingles being put on!

And more shingles....

Do you see the line that runs horizontal along the shingles in the middle? That is the way they are venting the roof. There are square vents that they could put on in order to allow air to flow through, but they are sort of ugly. Here is the vent on the other side of the same portion of the house (kitchen). In one side and out the other!

The funny part of having the new roof is that it makes the siding look so bad in comparison! Before it was just an old house, and sort of charming in its oldness. Now it is really changing!

The sad news is that the tree we righted blew over in a windstorm on Thursday. Actually, Matt is sad about it because it really was a nice tree, but after seeing it upright, I realized that it completely blocks the view of the house from the road, so I wasn't sure. Without high winds, the tree could have had time to reestablish its roots, but the 37 mile/hour winds were too much for it so we are giving that up. Firewood anyone? Bring your own log-splitter!  

First Day of Roofing

The big day is finally here!

Ever since we closed on this house (before, actually) we've been worrying about the roof, especially with all of the rain that was happening, and the major leak. So yesterday, the first day of roofing, is especially exciting. Also, the fact that this weekend's weather turned out to be perfect.

A word about worrying. Basically, I've been worrying. About EVERYTHING. And I'm pretty sure that I'll continue worrying, but it was brought to my attention lately, that the reason I'm worrying is because I really want to be in control of everything. Is that too much to ask?? So anyway, a timely Bible reading (yesterday morning after a day of craziness and worry), made me stop and once again give this project over to God and try to enjoy the ride instead of sucking all of the fun out of it by worrying:

Psalm 127:1-2

Unless the Lord build the house,

they labor in vain who build.

Unless the Lord guard the city,

in vain does the guard keep watch.

It is vain for you to rise early

and put off your rest at night,

To eat bread earned by hard toil--

all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.

The first and part of the second day of roofing this house is just about tearing off the old roof and putting up OSB wherever needed. Seeing the condition of the wood underneath the old roof, they are saying we might not need as much as we thought, so that will save us money, yay!

Stay tuned!

The Tree Guys

Dropped the twins off at school then drove with Buddy to Greenwood to meet Matt and the tree guys!

Matt introduced me to three young guys and he said their names were Bob, Robert and Bobby but I'm pretty sure he was pulling my leg. He walked them around the property and I hung out with Buddy. He seemed pretty peppy today for his 11 years, and really wanted to go in the house so I took him in on a leash. Not sure what he might find so we're not letting him wander yet. Interestingly enough, he really really wanted to go into the basement. I always joke that there's a dead body down there, but after watching him whine and scratch at the basement door for awhile it kind of gave me the willies so I took him back outside.

Gramma and Grampa K (Matt's parents) drove up and watched the big truck for awhile before they took Buddy back to their house for some quality time. It's really not easy to get things done with the dog there because it's so stinky I just think he's overwhelmed and can't settle down into his normal state which is basically "sleeping". They are happy to help and we really appreciate it.

It was really fun to watch these guys work, and they made a huge difference on the outside of the house. Basically the house is going to get a lot more sun now, the roof will be accessible for the roofers tomorrow, and there will be less debris coming down on the roof. There is tons of moss growing on the current roof, and that's partly due to the inability of the roof to dry off because of the shade of the trees.

Here are two pretty good "before the tree guys came"shots from the corner and from the road:

And here are similar "after the tree guys came" shots:

Here are some more random shots of the trees being trimmed:

While the tree guys and Matt worked outside, I decided to tackle our main floor bedroom. This is a room I'd really like to sanitize as much as possible as soon as possible. A cat lived there. I don't mind cats but today I'm rather against them. First I pulled up the carpet in the closet. This is the carpet that was in the whole room, but had been removed before we bought the house. I can't even imagine what this room smelled like. Anyway, it was gross. You can see how thick the cat hair covered it, and yes that's what you think it is:

Sorry to gross everybody out, but it's just that I believe this place is going to look SO GREAT and it will make me feel good if you know how bad it was to start.

I vacuumed all around the edges of the room where the tack strips had held the carpet down, and were now doing a great job holding all of the cat hair in clumps. Since Matt wasn't around to stop me, I decided to try to remove them myself with his chisel and hammer:

The first section came off so easily that I got really cocky but then the rest of the room was 4,000 times harder to make up for it. A lot of the wood would splinter when I tried to pry it up. Eventually I got into a little rhythm and would hammer the chisel in every few inches and then pry the whole thing up at once.

Doing this little job in the master bedroom really helped me to see what a huge undertaking this is. Every time I finished a section I'd walk over to the vac to clean up the cat hair/splinters and it took me until I was half-way across the room just to become upright. I felt like I was acting out one of those "evolution of man" posters, just trying to un-crick my back as I walked to the vacuum. Phew! And then when I finished the room, I stood back to look at my handiwork, and I couldn't even tell anything different. I could look at the pile of tack strips and know that I did it, but it's not like what the tree guys do. I completely forgot to get an "after" photo but honestly the before and after would look pretty much the same. Oh well.

But since you kept reading all the way to here, I have a reward for you. Yes, it is the video of the leaning tower of Treesa becoming upright!  Have a great day!

from Beth!

I didn't realize that Beth was also taking some photos and videos on our work day, so here they are!

Click this for a video:

Here is the view from Beth and Kara's window upstairs.We like how low the windows are to the floor and Buddy does too! On the main floor, these low windows are required to have tempered glass on the bottom panel apparently.

The above is a better shot of the wood floors after Beth pulled up some scraps of carpet in her and Kara's room. Another video here:

James!

I was excited to see some hosta coming up, it's one of my favorite shady plants.

Below you can see after Beth cleaned up the above area to make a neat little flower bed that will be fun to plant once the weather warms up.

Matt mowing and directing:

Matt mowing toward the infamous leaning tower of treesa pine tree:

Here is one corner of the house that Matt is looking forward to learning how to fix. Don't be scared, it is not the foundation, it's merely decorative. Still, it will look a lot better once it's repaired.

Here's how close the "pig" (propane tank) is to the house, something that bugs Matt to no end. We just found out great news, and that is that as new customers, they will move the tank anywhere we'd like as long as it's within 50 feet of the house, for free! Matt has a plan for hiding this and tucking it away.

Beth took a lot more photos of the outside, but I'm going to save them and use them later for "before" pictures as we fix it up!  I found a better "before" photo of the yard today and am adding it to yesterday's Work Day post in case you want to look at that.

Yesterday Matt spent about $5000 on roofing materials!! It has begun. We have a pretty detailed budget, but we also have it divided into "wants" and "needs". The things we hope to finish before running out of money is the roof, the windows and a working bathroom. Everything else we can do little by little as we have the money to do so. Home Depot will deliver the materials bright and early Saturday morning. Poor Matt will be at work fretting and wishing he could be watching every single step.

Work Day

The prom kids left promptly as promised, nothing in the house was broken or stinky, we got all of the food cleaned up, vacuumed and freshly dusted through the house and Windexed the bathrooms...we have a routine now and everybody knows what to do.

We had one showing before the actual open house, so we drove to McDonald's, got some coffees and sat eating snacks leftover from prom with our windows down in the parking lot. Surprisingly, this McD's lot seems to be a waiting area for lots of people. We saw people drive up and just sit in their cars exactly as we were doing. Matt and James played a game where they took turns choosing the biggest chip they could possibly find, and challenging the other to fit it into their mouths without breaking it. It was funny but...you had to be there.

Anyway, one more stop at the house after that showing and we were off to Greenwood for our work day! Matt borrowed a lawn mower because that was the major job to finish - the grass in front was looong. Matt's goal was just to get some stuff cleaned up so that the neighbors could see that "something is happening" at the house. Here is how long the grass was (and of course I forgot my good camera):

Matt set to work trying to discover the condition of the front lawn, and he was so happy. He must have gotten bugs in his teeth because he smiled the entire time he mowed. I stopped him once to ask why he was smiling and he said, "Just happy." He has been looking forward to getting started for so long and now here we are. Also, see that car in the road? Matt waved to it. In fact, Matt waved to every single car that went by. Every single one. James said to me, "He's hoping somebody will stop so he can tell them what he's doing." I swear he tells EVERYONE about this house. He had three kids from the prom in the front room telling them about the fieldstone and the height of the ceilings and the molding...it is good to see him so happy for sure.

Here's a photo of the tree that was blown over in a storm before we bought the house (and also shows a good "before" photo of the lawn). The tree guys are coming Thursday to trim back branches from near the roof and also to upright this tree!

My brother Billy showed up to take a tour! It was fun showing Billy because he is so enthusiastic about everything. Even while I'm gagging about the weird animal smell in the house he is exclaiming, "This is so awesome! I'd move in here today!" He is always supportive. Billy went way out to the back to check a little box that we thought was a dog-house, but he thinks maybe they kept chickens in them once upon a time. There are actually three of these on the property:

I spent most of my time in the upstairs bedrooms (there are three), using a broom to knock down cobwebs and sweep up dust, and then using a wet-dry vac to suck up all the gross stuff. I'm positive the animal smell is from a cat based on the fur balls. It is super gross to vacuum up the crud from a previous owner! All of the floors upstairs are wood (we believe pine) but in the largest room, someone threw down some pieces of carpet. After I vacuumed, Beth went up and started pulling this carpet up. It is truly disgusting! But this will be her and Kara's room, so she enjoys starting to make a little difference there. This is a bit of after-progress. You can see the original wooden windows there. Buddy also came along and honestly did not enjoy himself at all.

 Hopefully you can also see the wooden floors in this photo that will be sanded down and refinished.

Matt spent a little time where the kitchen and front room floors meet, because we are so curious about what is under the parquet laminate in the kitchen area, compared to what we know is in the front room (good wood floors). We were thinking that the kitchen floor might just be particle board, since the kitchen was a later addition to the house. So Matt started chipping away with a chisel:

Here in the next photo you can see the parquet flooring that is on top currently, the gorgeous (yikes) vinyl floor that was put over that, and then maybe barely discerning that there are definitely wood floors underneath that layer. It remains to be seen whether the wood floors (yay) can be restored, but we're super happy that they are there:

Matt also removed some of the thin oak trim on one side of this doorway. The front room (on the other side of this doorway) is plaster, in pretty good condition. The kitchen (this side of the doorway) is wallboard, which we assumed was there because it was an addition. However after removing the trim, Matt could see the original door surround! And it was plaster! They put wallboard right over the plaster. We are going to assume it's because the plaster is in bad condition under this wallboard, so we'll have a decision to make once we get to the point of redoing the walls in the kitchen. To keep the wallboard or to re-plaster. We shall see, but it's fun discovering things about the house as we go along.

I also spent some time picking up branches in the yard, and trash. The saddest thing to me is that there are a lot of McDonald's toys in the yard, and some Legos. We've heard that the place had tons of kids all over at the very end - the descendants of the early owners took possession and that's when everything went downhill. It's sad to think of kids living here in this mess, as they were actually evicted last year when the bank took over.

I will have to get a photo next time of the work Beth did in the front flower garden. We have some flowers coming up and three beautiful lilac bushes (in bloom!) in the yard. I have wanted lilac bushes since we lived in Garden City over a decade ago! Anyway, she cleared out an entire area near the porch and I will get a photo of that next time.

So proud of the twins as they both dug in and worked their heads off the whole afternoon. We grabbed pizza and brought it back to the house and had that and soda leftover from prom, and I guess that's the first meal we've eaten in our new house! Finally my parents came over to see the progress on the lawn, and as usual it was just good to see them, and nice that we will be close enough to be able to run over easily, I'm really happy about that.

Here is the before photo of the house with the grass grown wild (I need to do a better job of taking my befores and afters from the same angles):

And here is a photo of the house with the lawn mowed! I'm sure this doesn't do it justice, but it looked AMAZING before we left, and I made us all run to the big tree by the road so that we could stand back and get the whole effect and that was fun. Oh I forgot to say that we met our across-the-street neighbor, a man named Perry, who was out mowing his lawn too - we just bounded over there in a group and overwhelmed him with our introductions. He seems really nice, I'm glad we got to meet him. I just noticed that Beth's on the porch here, showing how we all feel about Greenwood!  It was a great day!

Couldn't Stand The Weather (Allman Brothers)

Finally a sunny day!

The weather has been playing a number on our very last nerves.

Perspective is vital though. A longtime friend from our old church passed away suddenly in the night, and now all of our worries about rain, and the cloudy emotions that seem to dull our days are like nothing.

There is a major leak in the house, some sort of gully has opened up and water pours in, mostly around the stairs. The inspector assured us it was minor (cue laughter every time someone says the repair will be "minor"!), but we really won't know until things start getting ripped apart.

Here is our schedule:

Prom photos: Our current home-that-must-remain-spotless, this afternoon at 4:30pm.

Prom dinner: In our front room/kitchen for 20 seniors and friends-of-seniors, and whoops, a few might just hang around after prom photos if they did not make dinner plans and just eat here that's okay right mom?  We have 18 chairs.  Cue the piano bench and a bar stool or two?

After-prom bonfire/party/sleepover: In our yard, in our basement for 20-odd kids with the requirement that they be out the door by 9:30am because....

Open House: Our realtor is holding an open house here tomorrow from 2-4pm (cue panic attack at approximately 9:31am tomorrow). You have to understand that I get weird whenever we leave the house for a showing. There cannot be a hair, a smudge, a smell, a piece of lint ANYWHERE. I know I should relax, but I cannot. So that's a major deal, thinking about a bunch of people walking through my house.

So that brings me to Greenwood. That's what we've decided to call it. It's not really very complicated, the house is on Greenwood Road and it's also situated in the middle of a little woodsy part of the property, and I think it sounds nice. Anyway, we have to get out of town on Sunday - and I mean literally get out of town, because if we just hang around Webberville, we'll probably end up driving past the house every 15 minutes to see if anybody is attending our open house, looking like the Clampetts as we will cram every extra pillow or stinky blanket in the car along with the five of us (including Buddy our stinky dog) when we leave.

We have to get out of town, so we will head to Greenwood tomorrow noon-ish with our work gloves and garbage bags for a major lawn clean-up. Matt and I are excited because it will be the first time we can do anything on the house to improve it - so far the weather has been so dismal that there really isn't any point. Plus we are still busy here washing windows and repairing little things. So we finally get to start. I hope to sweep out and sponge down a room in the upstairs where we can put a few boxes just to get them out of this house.

After that, on Thursday the tree guys come to upright a huge pine that is currently on a 45 degree angle because of a storm, and to trim back some major branches so that the roofers can be un-impeded the following day.

On Friday, the roofers will tear off the old, decrepit roof. This is an important day, because any surprises could come to light. Cross your fingers. In the evening, a boom truck will deliver the roofing supplies. Saturday morning the roof work will begin, and barring "surprises" the entire roof should be done by Monday. This will be a huge relief, as interior damage from water will end at that point.

A parent just called to say she was bringing paper supplies, but I already have them. We cleared out the garage of all odds and ends of paper plates, some of which say Congrats 2016 on them, and we are using them. My sweet daughter Beth has such artistic sense and wanted cloth on the tables but my poor dear this is what we can muster at this point and this is how it shall be.

Warned Off

Today I just have to vent.

When I ask someone a question, and they give me an answer, I never say, "Oh no, don't do that!"

Because you know what? First of all, it's not my life, it's THEIR life.

If they choose an adventure that I would never ever in a million years choose,
even if the statistics of them succeeding in their venture is minimal,
or if it seems foolhardy...EVEN if it's my own adult child, I would never laugh about their perceived stupidity or tell them with facial gestures and so many words that they are doing a dumb thing.

Most everyone with whom we've shared our farmhouse journey has been supportive, encouraging, excited and have even offered help.

But when you are about to leave your home of 10+ years, where your babies turned into adults, where stitches and broken bones happened, where laughter and tears were in abundance...a home you have LOVED and enjoyed, a home that it breaks your heart to leave...you don't really need to hear that "your kids are going to be sad", or "I can't believe you're moving so fast, how are your kids going to feel when you move when they've barely graduated?"

I would never say that to someone!

I would assume that moving away from your home would be a hugely emotional thing for the whole family, and I wouldn't ever try to inject a little more gloom into the equation.

This is a wonderful opportunity, but it's going to be difficult. I hesitate to say that, knowing that even my most "difficult" circumstances are leagues above what most people in this world experience. Even if my farmhouse never has running water, I will have more than most. So I feel lucky and grateful for this opportunity.

Also, we do know what we're getting into (since you so kindly asked). My husband Matt is an experienced jack-of-all-trades, and a huge "do-er". He also understands what he is capable of and what he is not capable of. Nothing that he has built has ever fallen apart because he takes more care (and uses more cement) and does more research and works harder than any person I know.

We understand that this house is not just a fun little DIY project fueled by Pinterest boards and multiple trips to Lowes. This is a major reconstruction, which we expect will be followed by more major and minor projects that will "surprise" us for many years to come. It so happens that Matt revels in that scenario. He is unique.

So when you ask, "Where are you moving?" and I say, "We bought a farmhouse--" please don't interrupt with your head thrown back in laughter and say, "Oh please don't...please don't do the farmhouse thing," as if we have reached some middle age crisis and lost all of our marbles and are flushing our money down the drain in the process.

I think what we're doing is fantastic. Yes we are Doing The Farmhouse Thing and we are gonna rock it. Matt's gonna rock it. I'm gonna walk around trying to find ways to help. We're gonna get in fights and look at each other in bewilderment, and raise our fists in celebration when things work, and buck each other up when they don't. Please don't rain on my parade.

Love peace and joy!!  I feel better.

Often we don't realize that we're neck-deep into an adventure until we are neck-deep. And then it seems almost futile to try to document anything, because you just have to keep swimming most of the time in order not to drown. This blog is my attempt to take a few moments here and there for treading water, holding a pen and note-pad above my head while I kick furiously and write at the same time. Perfect prose is not my expectation. A blot here and there when my pen leaks, watermarks when a wave hits or an unexplained absence when I am completely submerged are going to be the hallmarks of my writing style during this our grand adventure.

We bought a farmhouse. Last Monday.

We didn't tell very many people ahead of time, because we didn't really want advice from anybody but the inspector, the real estate agents and the multiple contractors that we asked.

We figured it's kind of like naming your baby. If you tell everyone the name before the baby is born, they feel free to give you their opinion, which is fine unless they don't like it. Then you're left feeling as if...why did they say "oh dear, that's a mouthful" unless they expect you to change your mind now that you know they disapprove? But if you announce the name AFTER the baby is born it's a done deal, nobody has any choice but to shout, "Hildegaard is the most beautiful name I've ever heard let me hold that baby!" So we waited and sort of sprung it on people, hoping for a positive response.

So it's not really like naming your baby. People feel free to raise eyebrows or laugh or say, "good luck with THAT" even if you wait until it's a done deal to say, "we bought a farmhouse!". But then others have been so excited for us, saying that they'd always wanted to do something like that, and that we have such an adventure ahead of us.

I will fill in the blanks of why and where and how we did this as we go along, but for now here is the important stuff:

This is a 1908 farmhouse in eastern Jackson county, Michigan on 4.96 acres. The roof needs to be completely replaced (and it is raining, and has been raining for weeks, and there is a major leak), all of the windows need to be replaced, the siding needs to be repaired and repainted, the single bathroom needs to be completely gutted, the electricity does not work (a main has to be replaced and connected and grounded and...), the water is not running currently, the propane tank is empty and the cherry on top is that there isn't very good internet service available.

Here's a photo of our current home where we raised four babies and that we are selling, and will miss so very much because it is the best house ever:

Here is our farmhouse, front and back:

We are so excited/scared/thrilled/nauseous/anxious and absolutely happy.