Addition Update…

Rain is good for plants but not so good for construction projects. We woke up this morning to rain, lots of rain, and the foundation of our addition serving as a swimming pool.

Fortunately, Peter was able to finish digging the trench and laying the conduit while it was still sunny. Wythe supervised his work to ensure that it was being done properly.

It apparently worked because we passed the electrical inspection! Now, we are just waiting for the power company to schedule their work. They will come out, run the new wire into the conduit Peter installed, and transfer the service from the old meter box to the new. I think the best part about all of this is that once the electrical service is moved we can hook the A/C back up!

‘til next time…

Time is flying by...

Time moves faster every day…I know this is a cliché, but time is just flying by! I can’t believe how fast my little boy is growing up, it seems that everyday he is doing something new. He started scooting around a couple of weeks ago and everyday he is getting into something new! I still haven’t figured out why babies are so fascinated by electric cords. I have to literally barricade the cords off because he is relentless in his pursuit of them. He also loves pulling magazines out of the magazine rack. I’m surprised (knock on wood) that he really hasn’t messed with the bookcase yet. He will scoot over there and look but really hasn’t tried to destroy the books. I’m sure that day will come sooner than I like and then I will really have my hands full. Everyday he is making new noises some funny, some cute and some rather disturbing. The other day he started making this noise that sounds like he is coughing up a hairball...not charming. He is also starting to really express his preferences. He is not a picky eater but he is starting to cry if he runs out of a food that is his favorite. He is also starting to want things to be in certain places. For example if you are holding him he wants your arm to be in a certain place, he will move your arm where he wants it and if you move it back he gets upset. Or if you move his cup from where he wants it he gets upset. It is cute to see him express those preferences!
‘til next time…

Addition Update…

The project is moving along. We hired a contractor to do the foundation. My husband enjoys doing block and concrete work and would have liked to do the work himself except for the fact that he works a full time job and we don’t want this to be a 5-year project! Although we don’t really expect the addition to be ready to use until next winter or spring. Currently, the foundation is complete. Peter is working on running new electrical wires, as the electric service has to be relocated. Unfortunately, this required put a new breaker box smack dab in the middle of our bedroom wall. We also found out that even though the power company charges $425 to connect the new service they don’t actually do any of the work. My husband had to dig a trench from the new electric panel out to the electric pole and put conduit in the ground, then the power company will come out and feed the new wire through the conduit, attach it to the box and then we will be all set. We were almost ready to call for the electrical inspection when my husband found out that the power company charges the same amount for running the wire from the pole close to the house or from the pole in our yard that is in the company’s right of way. So, he decided to get his shovel back out and start digging again. Now he has to dig another 120 feet to get to the other pole, lay the conduit and then we will be ready for inspection. All this rainy weather has kind of slowed down the project but he is nearing the end of his digging!

‘til next time…

We are getting soggy...

It feels like it has been raining for weeks but in reality it is probably a week or less. After those really hot days in April I was looking forward to some cool weather and I still am enjoying the fact that it is 65 inside my house rather than 85! But…it would be nice to see the sun again. My baby boy really enjoys being outside and I think we are both getting cabin fever.

I still haven’t finished my vegetable garden, I’m running a little behind schedule. I normally don’t put it in until the end of April/beginning of May because I have found that it really doesn’t pay to put it in earlier than that. However, I am now running late. Part of the problem is that I am trying to put new dirt in the garden area and so this year I have a lot more prep work than normal. Then if you add in the ‘having a 10 month old’ factor and the ‘being pregnant’ factor well, that just slows it down more. I am finding that this pregnancy I am struggling more with exhaustion and as a result am finding it more difficult to get anything done. The other day I decided to work in the garden while the baby was asleep, after about 15 minutes I was ready for a nap myself…that may be why my garden isn’t ready yet… But I’m not stressing over it too much, I’ve decided that this year I focus on taking care of my baby boy and taking care of my unborn baby and anything else I get accomplished is a bonus. There have been nights that dinner didn’t make it to the table and days when laundry was done out of sheer necessity, but I’m trying to not let that bother me! I used to have a screen saver on my computer that said “so be it”, maybe I should adopt that motto again!

Since it is still raining I’m trying to focus on some indoor activites, today I’m doing some of the normal household stuff, cleaning, laundry, etc. But I also started a batch of homemade yogurt and a sourdough bread starter. I love making my own yogurt, my baby loves it too so we eat a lot of it. I normally just make it in a pan and let it set up in the pan. This time I’m using a yogurt maker, I’m curious to see if it is any better, I’ll know in about 9 hours!

‘til next time…

Adding on to the house…

If you are thinking about putting an addition on your house…don’t. No seriously, just make sure you have thought long and hard about it before you start the project because I can promise you that will be more expensive, more involved and take more time than you estimated. Since our house is tiny by today’s standard, 960 square feet, we decided to add on. We figured that if we add a bedroom and bathroom onto the house we can stay in the house longer. Currently we have two bedrooms, one bathroom, a piano room, a living room and kitchen. The addition goes out the back of the house and adds a bedroom with a walk-in closet, piano room, bathroom, and utility closet. This addition will almost double the size of our house so it is a big project!
The project started in March, it fact it kind of got started on its own. My husband had talked to a company about doing the excavation work but we weren’t ready to start the project because we had not received the building permits from the county. For those of you that know my husband you are probably scratching your head right now wondering why we would be getting permits…but yes, this time we are doing things the right way, totally legit! One Saturday morning I was planning to sleep in, my husband was out on the couch drinking coffee when he noticed a large piece of equipment down towards the pasture. At first he thought our neighbor was having some work done in the pasture, he actually came into the bedroom and told me that she must be having some work done. A few minutes later he dashed into the room asking me what the date was. As I was half asleep I couldn’t really remember the date or figure out why he was asking me. However, very soon we figured out what the date was and that the piece of equipment was actually in our driveway and that is was probably here to excavate for our addition! Sleeping in was now out of the question…I hurriedly got dressed and went outside to take some pictures of the house before the excavation.

It wasn’t long before the guys showed up to start the work. My husband was in awe of the equipment, he wants one for Christmas! It was amazing how fast the trees came down.

What would have been a multi-day project for us only took minutes for these guys. When they finished the trees were down and stacked in a whole pile and there was a big hole in the back yard. It kind of looked like we were excavating for a swimming pool. Now we just had to wait and hope that we got our building permits!

‘til next time…