A remodel distraction

Since we're sort of in a holding pattern on the upstairs, here are a few pics from the backyard garden. How nice and relaxing is this scene? We need to finish up those stairs and plant some lush greenery along the fence.

Blueberries! Almost ripe enough to pick. Of course, the rhubarb is encroaching.

Look at those Hops! Can't wait to pick them and make a hops pillow this year. I'll be falling asleep to the smell of hoppy beer.

And here are the embarrassing tomatoes. Yikes! No sun this summer.

Three red little grape tomatoes is all I need.

Micro-lettuce! These starts got off to a bad start. But now they're trying to grow...we picked some tonight and had a wonderful salad. It's almost time to plant a fall crop.

And below is the famous rhubarb... I picked some last weekend; only three stalks as suggested online. Apparently any more than that would be too traumatic. So I'm done with you rhubarb. Have fun tiny little black bugs...it's all yours!

So that's it for now. We're waiting for the electrician next Saturday. Everything is read to go, including a list of wants/needs. Should we put a X-mas lights switch in the closet upstairs? We'd never have to run extension cords and plug in lights in the snow!

Upstairs skylights, plumbing mistake

The skylights are in and the roof is patched! The roofer only charged $150 to add flashing and fix a minor mistake. Everyone should add skylights...it makes such a big difference. There is so much light upstairs now. The morning sun just streams in. It's absolutely wonderful.

The electrician comes next Saturday to rework everything. We cannot wait to get that behind us so that we can move on to insulation and drywall. It's not going to be an easy feat.


We had a bit of a mishap the other night. We heard a huge crash as we were getting ready for bed. It sounded like someone fell. Upon further investigation, the light cover in the baby's room full of water crashed down onto the rug below, sending at least a gallon of water splashing across the room. Luckily, the baby takes after his grandfather and didn't even stir, even during cleanup and the split-splat of water collecting in the 5-gallon bucket below.

After a quick solder attempt (fail), two tests, and a removal of pipe and then a re-solder, the elbow on the last run to the water heater was repaired just before 11pm. The baby's rug is still outside drying. We just hope the bay between the two joists is drying as quickly.

We'll add a few nailers in the closet, so that it's easier to hang rods and shelves, and where we may hang a TV brace. We also have to run our cable to a spot for the computer.

Keep you posted on the electrical....hoping it doesn't run us any more than $2500.

Probably not going to be moved up there by Labor Day weekend, but hoping for October 13- birthday! Wondering if it's all worth it now?