Good Morning!

Took a shower IN THE HOUSE! Wahoo!!! We are showering in the new bathroom and it is fantastic! And the best part is while I'm taking a shower I can see out the shower, through the window, out to the pasture and see my pony! Life is good.

Have to move onto the next major project - barn footer installation. o boy.

Indoor Plumbing!

Another productive weekend, Tom got the shower door assembled and installed. So many little pieces and parts, but it looks fantastic! There is nothing like indoor plumbing, what a great invention!

Enjoyed, mostly, a short ride at the AgPark. I got into some bees with KC, and he'd rather stand there and rub the stings instead of getting out of there! Then he gets stung again and starts bucking, but never moves away! Last Sunday I got stung, twice on the head, Tom got stung several times, but we were not riding, we were clearing a connector trail from our place to the park. It was worth getting stung.

The Latest

Tom called Mary last night – it was her birthday – she wants to come out on Sunday, unless it rains of course. She feels lucky to have made it to 89, and she is. Tom was trying to explain to her the reconfiguration of the main floor bathroom – she thought the old one was terrific (hahaha). The original had an enormous vanity, not really made for that room and had only one sink, although there was room on the top for two sinks. And the toilet was right in front of the door. Finding the false wall was really instrumental in re-doing that room. We needed those extra seven inches to the left!

We moved the door over, put the shower in the hallway corner, right side, and moved the toilet to the back wall corner, right side. The shower and toilet are now where the sink vanity was. Installed a new, much smaller vanity where the toilet used to be, put in new flooring (sheet vinyl – no seams) right from the sub-flooring up, new ‘green board’ drywall, installed a heating/cooling duct (the room never had one!). Tom put an electrical outlet in the hallway, making vacuuming the stairs much easier, plus put a ground-fault outlet at the new sink. He also installed a timer for the bathroom fan, so we won’t leave that on all day dashing out for work. New lamp over the sink, new recessed lighting over the shower stall, too. While installing the new vent, heating and cooling was restored to the second floor. The vents were clogged with various articles of clothing, etc.

Also, with the discovery that the A/C unit outside has a heat pump, we unfortunately now know that it is wired incorrectly. I guess they never had heat in the house because it is not working properly. It will have to be re-wired with heavier gauge wire and re-done at the breaker panel. This unit is only 2 years old, but was never done right.

Weekend Wrap-Up - Again

It is so great having a toilet AND a sink, plus mirror in the house! We are so civilized! Got a short ride in on Sunday. Tom had mowed the cornfield with pathways. It was supposed to rain, but it never did. While attempting to run up the steep hill, KC got a little bit 'western,' which he hasn't done in quite some time. I guess he's turning feral on me, not having been in the saddle much this year at all. We need to cut down some trees around the house, there is plenty more where these are, and I want to put in a round pen where the maple tree closest to the barn is. He needs some one-on-one time with momma's white stick!

Tonight's The Night (Maybe)!

Tonight we plan on moving the new toilet into the corner, while keeping the old toilet in place. Tom finished all the piping last night, did the wet pressure test and we're ready to go! Literally! LOL

Another Snake

Another snake was escorted out of the house. This one was in the basement, coiled and striking like a King Cobra! No longer than 4 inches, and thinner than an earth worm. Out the door it goes!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Of the listed things we did not stick to the assignments posted. Naturally, we got distracted doing other things, thought twice about the manure spreader and let the weather dictate what could and should be done.

The storm debris clean-up took longer than expected, but that's done and finished. It will be an awesome bonfire later this year.

Didn't do anything on the bathroom project on Saturday, did that on Sunday instead. The weather was rainy and cloudy. Went to the local feed store for a new white salt block and the ground-hog bombs. I can't wait for that event!

Tom put the salt block in the run-in shed while the boys were down the hill, grazing. Later I was taking things out of the car and heard some banging, KC was running in the field followed by Skip. I asked him if he had gotten stung but he was just blowing and snorting. So I walked over to see what was up and Skip had spooked over the white block! What a jerk!

Saturday! And More Projects

I'm listing them:

1. Bathroom project
2. Tree Debris - clean-up
3. Road trip to York to see a Manure Spreader

The Manure Spreader was listed on e-Bay, located in York, used but in fairly good shape considering what it is used for. A lot cooler today, easier to get the tree debris cleaned up. Besides the Maple, an apple and a few sassafras were impacted during the storm on Thursday morning. At least it smelled good and didn't have any stickers. Count your blessings any way you can, right?

Friday the 13th!

Stopped by the old place, filled the car with this and that. With the previous day's storm the temperature really went down - it is great! Feels almost cool compared to the chronic 100 degrees we've been experiencing since mid-June.

The basement was completely dry by morning. Remarkable! We have to get the extension ladder from the old house so we can reach the gutters on this place.

Our work is cut out for us. It wasn't on the agenda, but the tree debris has to be dealt with.

Stormy Weather

It was a dark and stormy night. WoW!! The weather service said there were 8,000 lightening strikes! WoW! I was also told that our neighborhood made the national news because the storm was so horrific! WoW! We lost one of the maples in the front yard, which then fell onto the line that goes to our house AND snapped the pole at the corner.

Allegheny Power was out pretty darn quickly, I was really impressed by the show of force. They cleared the debris from the line and pole, but said our power outage was not due to our tree, it was further up the road. They left every piece of wood and leaf in the yard for us.

We were without power for nine hours. We used the generator to power the fridge and the computer. We also had trees down in the pasture and elsewhere. Chainsaw to the rescue. We really had other things planned, and not doing a lick of work on the bathroom project. darn!

It rained again later in the day, this time we didn't lose power. The gutters were full of debris and overflowed, filling up the window wells. In turn, they filled up like an aquarium and leaked into the basement. So the basement was flooded. Great, didn't have anything else to do, right? No time to work on the bathroom project this day.

Another Day, Another Snake

Another day, another baby snake, cruising around the dining area - EEK!! This makes the third in three days that have been apprehended. He will be relocated.

Another Monday

Once again it is blazing hot. I know it is August, it is to be expected, but this high heat is going on 3 months now and the grass is tired and the ground is hard.

The bathroom remodel is coming along and I'm sure by next weekend it will be just a fading memory that we were showering in the horse trailer. Pinned in the bathroom door tonight, after moving it to the left about seven inches. The framing for the drywall is done. Whew!

I talked to an old friend today that I hadn't heard from in quite a while. Time and space have a way of distancing even the best of buddies. Long story short: she has two horses that are now retired and could be a good fit for our barn management plans. Tom likes to ride, all the time if he could, and he sometimes rides alone. I never worry about him out there on the trail because Skip is very reliable and Tom is a good rider. However, my little pony, if left alone, has a complete melt-down. He has broken two different types of electric fence, one of them twice, when Skip has left him. I don't want to fix the oak board fence and have an emergency vet call. Having two retired horses on-site all the time would be the perfect solution. The big barn won't be delivered for another month. We have time to think and talk about it. The horses' names are BabyDoc and Bandit. Can you make this stuff up?

Sunday Sunrise

When a day starts out this beautiful, it can only get better, right? Wonderful day, riding, eating, laughing - and a little bit of work. The main floor bathroom is a wreck, parts are in the hallway, kitchen and dining room, plus in the trailer. It is a huge job, but the day was too glorious to pass up. We rode at the League, down to the swimming hole and back, came home to grill salmon and then went for a short ride across the road to watch the sunset. Can it get any better? I love it here!

New Farrier, Shower Project

Today the boys got new shoes! and we are working on the 'shower project.' Relocating the toilet to the corner and installing the vanity where the toilet used to be. It is going to be beautiful when done.

And we've got snakes. I know there are snakes in the country, but we have them in the house. Ring-necked babies. One was found dead in the ducting, but there are at least two others in the house, in the wall between the hall and the refrigerator. Great, and Irene slept through this latest discovery. I know they eat bugs, but they could do this outside, right?

The Shower Is Here!!

No water in the house at the moment. The main floor bath will be awesome



when completed, and then we can shower in the house instead of in the drive way. I hoard money like my beloved Jewish uncle taught. And watching all this money going out is really killing me, literally. At HomeDepot, at the cashier, I was having chest pains. I know it is all in my head, having had a physical lately I know there is nothing wrong with my heart. But it is killing me. So against my basic make-up. Years ago a co-worker accused me of having the first dollar I ever made. I told him that I didn't but that I did have the second one. That was before I was married, so long ago. This is all new territory for me.

Monday, Monday

Tonight spent painting, Tom spent removing tile flooring, floor boards and more drywall for shower installation. The shower is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Hope so!

Sunday - First Sunday

First Sunday - at home - at the farm - with our ENTIRE family with us. What a feeling, I can't really describe it, but I'm excited yet totally relaxed. It's complicated, right?

Bathroom Saga - Part II

The shower surround and doors were supposed to be delivered on Thursday. Thursday and Friday came and went, no calls back from 'Kelly.' Now the new delivery date is Tuesday. I have a 'tall kitchen trash bag' full of bathroom 'stuff' and no bathroom to put them away. NO mirror in the house, either. O well, life on the farm? Still showering in the horse trailer.