In and / or Around a Ditch

When you meet new people they often ask what you do.  Most of the time I am behind a desk thinking about ditches, but when I'm not, I typically find myself:  in, around, near or on my way to a ditch.  I call this shot, "Ditch Days of Summer."

. . .and the Living's Easy

Can you believe it is already the first day of summer?!  I LOVE:

endless hours of SUNSHINE

sitting on back porches DRINKING ice cold beers

the FREEDOM of not carring a jacket with me everywhere I go

spending time OUTDOORS with family and friends

all of the summer SMELLS:  grilling, sprinklers, freshly mowed lawns, lemonade. . .

Breathe it in my friends, these days are fleeting, but they are so sweet.

Our Friend, Roberto Kitty

We closed on our house June 1st and immediately picked up the beagles and visited our new home to start making plans on how to rip it apart, scratch that, I meant "make it our own."  That afternoon Josh snapped this photo of me on the stairs outside of our sunroom enjoying a can of champagne with a straw. So much has changed since we took this photo.

The demo has been non-stop for about two weeks now.  The kitchen is almost completely gone.  We have opened it up to the dinning room, but won't remove the wall to the "former" sunroom (more on that later) until we get the backside of the house framed.

The old cabinets have found a new home in our brew lab -aka laundry room/mother-in-law kitchen-

Below is a shot of the kitchen and dining room post demo, well 89% or so.

Here is the cut-out for the three-sided fireplace.  Those boards will come down eventually, but for now we are using them for support and safety.  Plus they frame our magnificent chandelier so nicely. . .

Friday we had some help disassembling our sunroom.  Yup, the original owners just built walls around the existing patio railing.  They also used about 50 wooden rulers as shims.  We found them everywhere.  Oh yeah, they also laid the tile on top of some old green outdoor carpet--you know the kind that looks like fake grass--classy.

On Saturday we prepped the roof for removal.  That is Josh up on the ladder.

Other than our friend, Roberto Kitty, we knew we weren't going to have anyone free to help us with the actual removal on Sunday, so we attempted to set up up the roof for a successful separation.  Who is Roberto Kitty?  You might know him better as Bobcat, and yes, he is totally amazing.

We split the roof into two sections.  The first half came off on the first try and was considered a success since

A) we didn't kill / crush ourselves; and

B) we didn't bust a hole through the house or any windows.

We did however crush the hot tub cover.  It needed to be replaced anyway. 

The second half of the roof was not as cooperative as the first. See for yourself in the video below.

I think it is so funny to listen to Josh in the background of these videos.  It wasn't funny at the time, but in retrospect, hilarious.  The video below shows the final, sweet, satisfying collapse.  Whew!  glad that's over!!

Josh enjoying some fresh air as we wrapped up our day of ripping and smashing.

Oh yeah, Roberto helped us rip out this bad boy so we could make room for the new hot tub pad and deck.  More on that in weeks to come--the deck, not the ugly bush--the ugly bush is gone.  Well, to be honest it is ripped up and sitting in front of our garage, but it will be gone soon.  Assuming our dumpster shows up someday. . .

(Sledge) Hammer Time

It has begun. . . The house is ours and we have officially started tearing it apart.  Last week and over the weekend we broke out the grinders, crowbars, hammers, sledge hammer and anything else we could use to bust through some walls, and put them to work.  Thus far, we have completed the following tasks:

• Removed trim and doors that will be re-used
• Demo for bedroom closets for future walk-in closet
• Moved refridgerator and stove to basement mother-in-law kitchen/brew lab
• Removed cabinets from kitchen and relocated them to the garage and brew lab
• Demo in kitchen
• Broke through kitchen wall to dining room
• Measured dimensions for three-sided fireplace and prepped for demo

and

• the window order should be placed today

Here are a few photos to help you visualize the destruction we are capable of through teamwork.  Luckily our friends Laura and Tim came over to help with some of the heaving lifting and smashing and cutting.  I apologize for the quality of the after photos.  They were from my dust covered phone.

 Our master closet before (above) and after (below)

Here is our kitchen before:

 and the same wall after. . .

Here is one of our formal living room wall before

 Now it is covered with drawings and measurements. . .soon to be cut into pieces

You might ask where we are throwing all of our trash.  That would be the sunroom.  Our dumpster hasn't arrived yet.  Lovely, right?

 And speaking of lovely. . .

Safety First, Then Teamwork.

Even though the house is a wreck, we still have some good stuff going on in the front yard.  Through some miracle, I have been able to keep the roses alive!  Here are a few of my favorites.

photos taken using my Instagram App.

Riley turned three years old today, that is 21 in dog years.  I thought she would be a little more excited.  She perked up a little when I gave her a cookie.  She probably wanted a beer instead.

A Year Ago Today . . .

. . . we arrived in Greece for an amazing vacation.  I wish we were back there today soaking up some sun on the beach--what a beautiful place!

Our New-Old Home

Last Wednesday we closed on our new home.  We are very excited.  It is weird, however, to own a new home, but not actually live in it.  We are still renting a room from our friend Laura so we can do a bit of the demo/construction/renovation while it is empty.  The last few days we have stopped by to visit and do a little work, but the place still doesn't feel like its ours yet.  Slowly but surely it will. . . I know it will, just not yet.

I'll do my best over the next six months to show you all how things are progressing.  Yesterday we met with the folks at Lowes and Home Depot to get quotes and ideas for our kitchen design.  It is going to be such a change from its current state.  It will be so cool to see it all come together.  Stay tuned.

Thumbs Up Everybody and Rock n' Roll

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope when I have kids someday, they say awesome stuff like this.