July 10th - Closing Day

Today it became real.  Mark and I bought a "fixer upper".

Well, what we really bought was a really nice frame, excellent vinyl siding that we don't like, and a lot of interior that needs to be thrown away.  We didn't waste any time getting started.  As of quitting time tonight, the kitchen with all it's mold covered walls is in the dumpster, the nasty appliances are in the front yard (next to the dumpster) which I am sure the neighbors just love.

Speaking of neighbors many noticed the activity at the house and stopped to introduce themselves.  We met Bob and Laurie, the empty-nesters next door who's grandchildren were playing in the street (we are moving to another nice cul-de-sac).  Huge thanks to Bob for loaning us some wrenches so Mark and Tim (my younger brother - he will be in many of my postings) could remove the kitchen sink (yep... it's also in the front yard).  Another Laurie from around the corner also stopped as she was walking her lab.  Dixie really liked that.  Rose, a woman who used to live in the house, drove by to check on the house.  She was surprised to see us there.  She will be reporting back to the previous owners who are of Brazilian descent and have moved to South Africa. Emily met our other next door neighbor (didn't get a name) who has four daughters under age 8.  Should be fun watching them grow up over the next 10 years.

When we weren't in the yard talking to everyone who stopped to chat we were filling the dumpster, cleaning the one bathroom that we will use while the other 3 are renovated, and sweeping up what looked like "blue sawdust".  Eventually Mark figured out what it really was - foam insulation that had been eaten by ants, "hundreds of thousands of them" as Emily reported.  I had to leave to go to a hair appointment so I missed all the excitement. Mark pulled a piece of moldy insulation down from where the stove used to be and behind it was an ant nest with tons of larva - quite a "nice ant family".  Matt said "it was more like a kingdom".   I can't wait to see the pile of dead ants tomorrow.  Hopefully the ant spray is working.  Yuck!

My "new" kitchen

The only thing we are keeping in the house if the refrigerator but I have to clean every inch of it.

Our one usable room in the house

If you need any appliances they are free for the taking

After Day 1 - still room for more

Mark suggested that we put a "marriage-o-meter" on this site to track that "progress" too.  I am happy to report that we started the day at 100% and ended it in the same spot.  (At least I think we did.  I didn't ask his opinion).