Eating the elephant

[Chicken lady]

The construction is not coming along, because it keeps raining every day. But dh and I spent the day in the workshop barn. I finished a few small projects and cleaned out a two gallon bucket (as in dumped the stuff in it in the trash and now I have a bucket.). He installed an outdoor faucet on the back of the barn for me so I now have water 30 ft from my greenhouse and fruit garden. It's my birthday present. :-) - not a "thing"

I also found a piece of paperwork dd2 called to ask about - in less than ten minutes! That's a minor miracle and a huge change.

The kids can probably keep shopping here for years.

[Chicken lady]

The diggers came back!

They have completed roughing the main square and have only a couple of pop-outs to finish, along with some clean/up leveling. And a ramp for acess.

I took more stuff to goodwill today. Most of it belonged to dh though.

[mschrisgo2]

Ah, good news on the digging! I imagine by now that part is completed.
Taking _any_ stuff to Goodwill is a win :) Did the books get to Half Price?

I took another box full of stuff to school. I AM retiring this year, so everything gets used up or passed on this year. I will Not bring anything home in May! I'm promising myself that.

[Chicken lady]

If your school is anything like the schools i've taught in, everyone will be happy to descend on your room and strip it clean at the first hint of permission.

Digging update - concrete truck is supposed to come tomorrow afternoon to pour footers.

[Chicken lady]

Footers are poured., drainage is partially installed. They should finish that tomorrow?

I forgot to say that yes, I took the books to half price. I have alos continued slowly taking things into my classroom as i clean out my studio. ("don't need this here, could use it at school...")

I also went to the renfest yesterday and disn't buy anything but food for my kids - so no increase there.

For my birthday lats week I did get a skirt and two pairs of shoes.

[mschrisgo2]

Ah, new shoes! How nice, happy birthday. I need some shoes, my new 10-month old puppy chewed up my best shoes, now I really only have 1 pr to wear to school. Little stinker, she opened the sliding closet door! Can't remember the last time I wore a skirt, or dress, either, for that matter. Not even sure I own one that fits me...hm, probably need one of those, too... about time to clean out my closet, and, more importantly, buy some clothes, as I really haven't bought anything for several years, I just get rid of worn out stuff (4 pairs of sandals, couple t-shirts, pr. crop pants, this summer).

I'm continuing to take things to school, too, with the exact thought process, don't need it here...

Glad your project is coming along, I was afraid for a minute there that you would get stalled on the construction for the winter.

[Chicken lady]

Well, they are putting up the rebar to pour the walls. Yesterday the boss on site said they would be cutting the existing basement wall today (and I covered the remaining stuff with a giant sheet ple against dust). He also said they'd have the new walls poured Within two weeks if it didn't rain. then it rained hard all night. Now I don't know if he's even coming out today.

We are racing winter - once we get the wall cut out we will need to get it closed in or drain the pipes and move to the workshop barn.

Dd2 has been home for fall break. Her sister came over and we looked through a bunch of their childhood art together. Purged enough that the rest fits neatly in the cardboard flat drawers I have to keep it in plus a few large pieces in a portfolio folder. I pulled a couple to frame for a while and we laughed a lot.

[Chicken lady]

They did not cut the wall yesterday. They did finish the drainage ditch and start framing to pour the foundation walls. It's supposed to freeze overnight on Saturday.

I took a couple more things to work yesterday.

[mschrisgo2]

Ooh, racing the weather, I hope it holds until you get it closed in.

I took another box full of stuff to school today, left half of it in the teacher's room as give-aways, and it was all gone before the first bell rang!

Helped a retired teacher friend go through some of her teaching stuff. We filled her big recycling bin, and half of the big garbage bin. I took a very small stack of books (6 in. high) and 1 empty 2.5 in. binder that I really needed. We set aside 2 boxes each for 2 other friends who are still in the classroom. We had to stop because she was out of room to throw it away, but most of what is left should be just sent to recycle. I think her husband will whittle that down a bit each week until it's gone now.

She was sad, but then I reminded her that she has their first grand-baby on the way, and she said she'll never look back at the teaching materials again, LOL.

[Chicken lady]

Wow! That sounds like a big project.

they finished the cuts in the wall, but they only pulled down one section. They covered that with plastic and will pull down the rest on Tuesday after it warms up again, then finish framing for the new walls.

They also have put the drain pipe in and covered the ditch.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, how's your new wall coming along?

I haven't done a thing lately, what with full time teaching, a busy committee at church, and this new half-grown pup, ack! I'm tired, maybe this weekend...

[Chicken lady]

I thought I posted here, but I think I posted in the recovering haorders thread - which was probably confusing.

They poured the concrete today. On monday they come to remove the forms and then hopefully I don't have to worry about my house falling down any more.

[Chicken lady]

This week's update -

The foundation walls have been "unwrapped" and waterproofed. The section of existing foundation that ties into the new wall has been straightened, but the 1ft connecting section has not been poured. After the connector is poured, the existing piece will be stabilized and waterproofed.

It is cold, so my big cuddly blanket is back on my bed and for the first time my linen storage is not full.

I thought that I would have repurged the Halloween stuff by now, but I never got it out because of the construction uproar, so that is a job for next year. It's 4 bins. I'm moving on to thanksgiving - which is one bin so could maybe be reduced to fit in cabinet space? Most of it is fall/thanksgiving. I do have to remember that fall stuff and blankets will have to be stored at the same time.

[Chicken lady]

I have a Halloween sweatshirt that I like and wear several times every October. It normally lives in the bin with the Halloween decorations. But yesterday I washed it and put it away in my closet - because it fit! My clothes fit in my closet! (and dresser)

[mschrisgo2]

It must feel really good to get good stuff out of bins and integrated into in-the-house storage space.

[Chicken lady]

It feels really good to not have a basket of clean clothes on the floor of my bedroom all the time!

Dh came out to the big barn last night and looked at my work space (which is still a mess really) and said "you're starting to have a nice little studio out here.". So even he can see progress! (the basket of clothes looked exactly he same to him when it had three things in it as it did when it was overflowing and you couldn't see the basket)

[mschrisgo2]

Nice that your DH acknowledges your studio progress! Does he know you sold work?

[Chicken lady]

He does know I sold work. He still views it as a hobby though, he was surprised at how much I'm getting for my pots (even though after commission it isn't all that much.). He doesn't like most of the stuff i make because we have different styles, so he doesn't see much value in it. I got really mad at him once because he bought a mug from another potter at a craft fair that I thought was badly made (well, not badly, but not with much care either) and held it up to me as an example because he liked the style.

He is one of the things that makes it hard for me to price my work.

It was funny because I'm taking a class and I have assignments, so I am working in different styles and outside my usual comfort zone, and when he was in the studio he pointed out one cup and saucer and said "THIS is nice!" and I thought "I know, I made it for you."

I bought some display stands yesterday, so I now have about $100 invested in this "business" (not counting clay and glaze - which i am just using what i have so far - or electricity) and a check coming for about $25.

[mschrisgo2]

Well, I think everything starts out small, and the investments are made only once.

I can relate to your DH's comment about the cup and saucer he liked. I was recently at a quilt show with a friend, saw colors I like and responded aloud. She gave me an "are you crazy?" look, as I was actually looking at the piecework- which was pretty colors that I love but very sloppy workmanship.

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday they finished the floor in the new section of the basement. There is a drain, but apparently the new section of the basement does not slope away from the existing house. Or at least, not. Lot. It rained hard last night - into the open top of the basement, and in spite f the plastic "wall". The exisiting basement flooded.

My carefully covered stack of stuff is now sitting in 1/4" of water covered by sheets that have sucked the water up.

Time to go clean that up and find out what isn't salvageable. More downsizing I guess. (I'm not as calm as that. I'm actually crying about it. I had so much else to do today....

[Chicken lady]

The first trash can is up by the curb. I am actually grateful that today is trash day. I have ripped the wet carpet out of half of one side of the basement. (the carpet is going up in rolls - there is no carpet in the trash can. So far most of what has been thrown out is replaceable and will be replaced, so i'm not sure it counts as decluttering work. A little I guess since I'm not going to run out and buy a huge box of envelopes for example - I'll buy a small box when I need them. The huge box was just free and I was never going to buy envelopes again. So, we toss a few bucks in the recycling and move on...

But I also have issues like - the chipboard bookshelf that I was going to replace after we built the new space needs to go now, and so the books are on the dining room table....

[Chicken lady]

So, the side of the basement I had stuff in now has no carpet except for squares under the water softener, knitting cupboard (chipboard cupboard - will b tossed and replaced. Yarn is in plastic bins) and my great grandmother's hutch, which is full of glassware and too heavy for me to move even empty, so it is sitting on wet carpet.

There was only one thing destroyed that I really cared about. Most of the damage is minor, fixable, or to something slated for an upgrade. - so I did a pretty good job prepping the space I guess. I'm sure Ultralightangler would point out that I lot my whole day to stuff. Still want the stuff though.

My upstairs is a little messier, but no too bad. I am sore and exhausted.

oh, also the waterproofing guys started working on the outside of the dug out end wall today, the "fix the cracks in the existing foundation" guy worked all day, and the lumber for the base of the first floor of the addition was delivered.

[leslieann]

CL, I am so sorry about the flood in the basement....sounds like you are handling it very well.

We had one (different circumstances) which resulted in changes so that when (not if) it happens again (despite "waterproofing") we won't have as big a cleanup to do. That included cutting the bottom foot of drywall off all the walls to keep water from soaking upward. So the basement looks, well, like a basement, but at least we won't have mouldering drywall unless there's a tidal wave coming up the St. John river.

It is disconcerting to have a day disappear due to something like this. But good to know you are moving forward.

[Lainey]

Keep your chin up, chicken lady. Just one setback, but your progress is still forwards.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, how's it going?

[Chicken lady]

Ok.

I'm tired.

Busy with craft fair prep and visits from my parents and two of my kids.

Basement flooded again but not as badly.

They are working on the deck (first floor subfloor)

[mschrisgo2]

Wow, I hope there's a plan long term to alleviate the potential for any kind of flooding. That has to be a drag, cleaning up and then cleaning up again.

[Chicken lady]

Well, now that the deck is done it will no longer rain straight into one side of the basement, so we should be good.

Today they put up the walls along my future kitchen. Dh is trying to decide when to order the windows. (a month lead time and he wants it under roof first. Dh and ds will install them.) Roof trusses have been ordered, but we don't have roofers lined up to shingle yet (or shingles picked out). The water-proofing job in the basement is really close to done, but I thnk they're taking the week off.

Family is gone (until dd comes home tomorrow night) pottery fair is over, and my kitchen is almost clean and the laundry is half done. The tables are cleaned off except for the stacks of books that lost their shelf in the flooding.

I did come home from the pottery sale with a big bowl and a lidded canister - both gifts. But I gave my mom a tin when she was here that maybe balances out the canister....

[mschrisgo2]

Sounds like the big house construction project is moving right along, glad you DH has the timeline under control...

About those 2 gifts, I heard you say you _really_ like them, so I'm thinking they will replace some things you don't love as much, and actually, sounds like one already did, since you sent a tin home with your mom. You are allowed to have things you really love. Enjoy!

[Chicken lady]

I _really_ like the canister. Dh does too. The bowl is a second but useful - particularly when company is here we tend to come up short on big bowls for cooking/serving. Effectively it's replacing a bowl that got broken 12 years ago. I'd pass it on if someone else really liked it.

Dh wants me to pick out shingles today.

[Chicken lady]

My tea is now in my canister instead of in a cardboard box in the cupboard.

We picked shingles (although we will probably order them in the spring because shingles are brittle in the cold and it's harder to do the offing properly.)

This morning dh looked out the window and said "we need to clean the basement up so [ds] can help me move the ping pong table this weekend.". I said "the new basement?" (which is still not weather tight) and he said,"no, I thought we'd just put it on this side for now.". And I freaked out and announced that nothing else was coming into the basement until the temporary support beams and ALL of the rug were gone.

It's too much. Dh has been trying to get me to go Christmas shopping all week. He has invited his entire family for epiphany - 6 adults, 5 kids. Our youngest at least will be here. We have four bedrooms and one of them is buried in post-basement flood stuff. The basement is unusable. I don't know where they will sleep!

[Chicken lady]

Oh, and one of those "bedrooms" is twice the size of the twin bed that is in it. As in - would hold 2 twin beds and two suitcases with room to walk on the floor. But has a dresser and a desk instead of the second bed.

[Teacher Terry]

So sorry to hear about the flood. I think you should slap your hubby silly for inviting all those people when you are busy, overwhelmed & have no room:~). Men can be so oblivious sometimes to what's going on around them.

[iris lilies]

So sorry to hear about the flood. I think you should slap your hubby silly for inviting all those people when you are busy, overwhelmed & have no room:~). Men can be so oblivious sometimes to what's going on around them.
Geez, I agree with this. This doesn't seem to be the year for you, Chickenlady, to house a big crowd. Based on your posts about progress at your house, next year at this time you'll have a big new addition to entertain a large number of people and thing will be more tidy. I hope this entertaining event doesn't interrupt your great progress in tidying up stuff.

[Chicken lady]

Well, he's adapting and mellowing a little too. I still have the antique wooden cradle that all three of our children slept in - yes, it's quite safe for tiny ones - the first few weeks and when watching them sleep and rocking it with your foot. It was my grandmother's.

Anyway, It was balanced on top of some stuff in the basement, and then the flooding happened, and I moved it to the livingroom, and tonight he offered to put it in his office or a while because there isn't really room in the living room.

I have no idea where we are going to put a Christmas tree this year. I really want the basement guys to come back and take away their jacks and supports.

[mschrisgo2]

Is your basement being used as storage for the jacks and supports, or are they still in use in there?

I think your hubby must actually be a big softy- he rescued the cradle from the construction upheaval.

[Chicken lady]

At this point they are just storage. There is a little "finish" work left to do and they are supposed to do it and take the jacks, but I think they are putting it off because of the jacks. The jacks are no longer functional. I know it is the holidays, but if they don't come back this week, I'm thinking I might call and let them know that we are going to stack their jacks in the (muddy, unsheltered) yard for them. They don't get paid until they are done, so I don't know why they don't just come finish it off.

The basement flooded again. We need to get the porch floors poured and flashing against the existing house. Also windows in the walls of the new basement.

[Chicken lady]

Last night dh called his siblings and uninvited them. His parents are coming for a few days after Christmas and leaving new years.

Dh told them that after having 5 extra adults in the house for thanksgiving he realized that space was going to be a problem. (also his mother had announced that everyone would just bring all of the presents and we would have her big christmas here - as my friend jill would say "hell to the no!")

His brother said "I totally get it. Next year would be better!". His sister said "oh good. [ds] has been begging us not to go and I was really worried about allergies" (indoor/outdoor cat, farm, live tree, my filthy house...).

To put the "allergies" comment in perspective - we have dear friends with a daughter who gets severe hives and respiratory reactions to cats - she has been hospitalized. And every year at christmas, we put the cat out and clean the house and she comes and eats and sings and sits on our furniture and doesn't so much as sniffle.

sil's son is supposly allergic to everything. He's an extremely picky eater, so he eats few of the things she says he can have, he's pale and frail, and constantly stuffed up and he spends his entire life plugged into electronics in an airconditioned carpeted house. He whines about everything. Dh says he needs to be dropped in the wilderness for a week with a fishing line, a knife, a box of waterproof matches, a water purifier, and a sturdy pot. maybe a good dog.

[Tammy]

For perspective on allergies - I've been allergic to many things for 30 years and the worst one for me is cats. I get asthmatic reactions within 10 minutes and it makes no difference if the cat is put outside and the house is cleaned. Months can go by without a cat in a house and I still react. It's the microscopic allergens that stay with the carpets, drapes, air ventilation system, blankets, and overstuffed furniture.

I even react if I sit next to a person in public, with a cat at home, when they are wearing a coat or sweater that isn't laundered regularly.

It takes me a few weeks to recover my lung function after every exposure. It's just not worth the risk to "come over and see! I cleaned and other people don't react to my cat. She's hypoallergenic! You'll be ok!" I've heard this so many times and they are never right. I always suffer. So now I just decline.

http://www.m.webmd.com/allergies/guide/cat-allergies

[Chicken lady]

We don't have carpet or drapes and I wash and put away the blankets and pillows and wash the couch cushion covers and dust and vacuum with a hepa filter, and I realize that there are people for whom this isn't enough. I was really worried the first time Amanda came over.

But at mil's, my nephew slept in the same room with his cousins who had been playing with barn cats and riding horses and left their clothes all over the beds and carpeted floor and was no worse than usual (I personally think he might have chronic respiratory infections from lack of exercise and nutrition.) so I don't think he's more sensitive than Amanda.

I would never insist that you come over. I would offer to clean for you and then wash my coat and meet you elsewhere.

We heat with wood. I would have totally understood if she had commented on the wood heat, but she thinks her son is allergic to my entire lifestyle and that my house is far dirtier than her carpeted, upholstered, heat pump regulated, fish tank and plants in the kitchen, shoes in the house, garage sale overstocked environment.

I mean really, if your kid is "horribly" allergic to dust and mold and mildew and pollen and animals and nuts and gluten and corn syrup and dairy and dye, you should not buy books or stuffed animals or possibly tupperware at garage sales!

[Tammy]

True. Second hand stuff is problematic.

I don't even borrow library books anymore cause about half of them make me sneeze. It's ebooks only for me.

[mschrisgo2]

YAY for your hubby!! It's awesome that he uninvited, and that they took it so well. That must be a big relief for you.

[Chicken lady]

Huge!

Did I mention that dd is getting married in August? She was supposed to go wedding dress shopping with her best friend dec 29. But she remembered that she hates shopping. So she has found several places online that offer free shipping in both directions and is ordering a variety of dresses to be delivered here (because it isn't safe to have boxes left on her porch) and I will be hosting dh parents in a construction site/wedding boutique.


The framing is up for all of the walls except the three feet that connect to the house on each side. They will do that when they are ready to roof because they have to cut into the siding and gutter. Next, Today? We get a ridge beam.

[mschrisgo2]

Ridge beam, and roof trusses? oh, wait, I can't picture this now, is this under, or beside, your existing house?

I know you said shingles will have to wait for warmth in the spring, but I'm wanting you to be free of flooding and subsequent squeegeeing.

[Chicken lady]

It's beside, but it has an under, which connects to the original under because large sections of the original, crumbling, basement wall were removed. So the "new" basement has three sides and opens into the "old" basement on the 4th side, and the "new" space at ground level has subfloor - which is not watertight, and walls on most of three sides which are not bicycle tight. And no top yet.

We now have a date for the last of the concrete (two small slabs that will be "front and back porches" big enough for a couple of chairs). Dec 12. Then the final grading can be done to encourage water to move away from the house. Although, basically the problem is not water coming in from the sides, it's water coming through the cracks in the subfloor.

[Chicken lady]

Half the rafters are up.

I am continuing to work on clearing out and organizing my studio in the barn in order to be away from the construction during the day. I am slowly finding things I can part with.

Last night I went to a Christmas party at the studio where I am taking a class. There was a "pot exchange" (which is not a retail outlet for legal marijuana) and I took a piece I had made and came home with a new mug I really like - my karmic reward for choosing a package smaller than the one I took.

dh and I have agreed not to exchange gifts is year - we are building an addition.

[mschrisgo2]

Oh, and such a gift it will be when finished!
I love that you're able to continue in your studio while the house construction is in progress. Great progress on the rafters! Sounds like they may be finished, along with the concrete, by the end of the week?
Oh, and I'm a bit envious of the mug- mine very utilitarian and not very pretty. Hmm, may be time to start swapping things out? I like that idea!

[Chicken lady]

The concrete go postponed until "later"

The carpenters didn't work yesterday, but they are here today. It is a two man father and son crew, so not superfast.

Shingles get delivered Monday so I'm hoping the weather holds.

I'm making a "take or toss" pile in the workshop barn for the kids. Dh noticed I've been cleaning up out there.

[Chicken lady]

All the rafters are up. There is sheathing and tar paper on the little overhang section of my roof. Unfortunately that is over a window on the side away from the house. And it is pouring rain. The water has started coming in already. They won't work today.

The Christmas hoarder thread made me think about decorations. I have 12 18 gallon bins. That includes lights, one bin of "tins for gifting", and about 70 ornaments that belong to my kids (my mom gets them one every year). I doubt dd1 will take her ornaments this year even though she has her own tree, but maybe. Her tree is in a pot and it's 2 ft. tall. They are spending Christmas eve with his family and Christmas day with us.

I think next year will be the year for thinning out the Christmas decorations.

Ds and his gf and their dog arrive today. The dog is new. We have never had a dog in the house before, so I am a bit nervous of how this will go. The cat was ok when we brought the baby goats in, but they stayed on the porch. Also he didn't like it when they sniffed him. And we normally leave the catfood out free choice.....

[Teacher Terry]

I would downsize the xmas decorations while you have them out instead of waiting until next year. You sound like you could really use the space. I did it gradually through the years and am now down to just 1 box which is plenty.

[Chicken lady]

dd1's lease runs through April and ds moves in may. Next year hhopefully our addition will be finished enough to have a big tree out there, and I will know how much room I have for lights. So I figure we get everything out at thanksgiving and they take the stuff that actually belongs to them. Then I put up the stuff I like best until I am done and they get a chance to play "take or toss" with whatever is left.

The cat is hiding. The dog went to the feed store with me and we got dog cookies!

[Chicken lady]

Sheathing and tar paper on all of the roof except the entryway (little hall from existing house to addition)

The concrete guys said they would pour today or tomorrow - not holding my breath.

[mschrisgo2]

YAY for sheathing and tar paper! Holding good thoughts for the installation of the rest of the concrete.

[Chicken lady]

We have concrete. All the concrete has now been poured.

[mschrisgo2]

Wonderful!!

[Chicken lady]

We decided exactly where the woodstove will go and dh is ordering the parts to install the chimney in the roof. He also went out this afternoon to get the hardware he needs so that he and ds can put the basement windows in their holes tomorrow.

I cleaned the dining porch and removed all the things that don't belong here. I need to do the same for the living room and later/tomorrow we will add a layer of Christmas decorations.

Dd2 brought home two new decorations that were gifted to her at school. She also made the difficult decision to toss out an awkwardly sized and shaped art project that has been dominating her desk for almost a year, so overall improvement on that score.

[Chicken lady]

Today we got the tree. Also dh and ds put the basement windows in and the door except the molding and knob.

Dd1 asked me to pull out her ornaments as we were decorating the tree. There were a couple she gave to me. (two part of a set and one I just really love). I am giving her one of the Christmas bins with her ornaments. It's not full, which means I have to thin out the Christmas decorations by half a box by the time I pack them up. Ds asked if we could put his ornaments in a seperate bin when we pack up this year so that he can take them with him when he moves. I'm not sure I can thin out that much - it wold mean a whole bin besides what they are taking.

[mschrisgo2]

Sounds like you might need to either buy another bin for DS or, better still, re-purpose one from some where else. I love that your kids are claiming their ornaments, and not waiting for you to say they have to take them.

Windows and door in! Wow! Moving right along on the Big Project. Isn't it wonderful that your DH and DS are able to do some of the work?

[Chicken lady]

They are able to do most of the remaining work, but they don't have time. Roofing, ceiling drywall, and installing the new electric service box are beyond them. Well, roofing probably isn't beyond them, but neither one of them has a head for heights.

Yesterday all 3 kids were here helping put up the tree and they were discussing where everybody is going to sleep Christmas eve (here - even though dd lives an hour away she'd rather "rough it" in the loft than sleep at home in her own bed and not wake up here with everybody else) and then how that will change when they all are married and start having kids and ds said " I'm going to finish the basement so that's mine." And I thought "really? I hadn't even considered a finished basement.". I didn't say a word though.

I've become set on getting ds his bin. Ten bins of Christmas decorations should be plenty. Then looking around, at least a full bin belong to dd2, so going from ten to nine will be easy. I might move the white porch lights to the thanksgiving bin - which is barely half full, because I like to get them up early.

[Chicken lady]

Sheathing and tyvec on everything but the entryway. We are "under cover" although a small part of the entryway has a temporary roof that will probably leak a little bit - it's supposed to rain for the next two weeks. The basement has a door that locks.

We are now done making progress until after Christmas.

[mschrisgo2]

Congratulations! What a huge part of the project done! Wonderful, wonderful.

[Chicken lady]

Today the basement guys who did the straightening/waterproofing part came out, finished stabilizing the last three beams and securing them and took their equipment away.

There is a pile of jacks (think red dance pole for a grizzly bear) in my basement that belongs to the guys who poured the foundation - I'll be moving those out into the "new" basement where they still have jacks holding up the stoop, which should have been solid enough to remove them weeks ago, but I'm sure they're waiting until they can't work outside.

There I also a small pile of used lumber in various lengths which apparently belongs to us now. Dh will have to decide what goes in the shop and what goes on the burn pile.

But, I can start cutting out more carpet - just in time, the last of the first batch goes up to the curb on Thursday. - I have six can a week service, I refuse to pay $10 and deal with the hassle of duct taping it into rolls weighing less than 50 lbs and scheduling a "special pick up" - so I just toss one untapped "roll" into each can each week and then dump the wastebaskets in with.

We almost never fill a can with household trash, sometimes it takes three weeks to be worth rolling it up. I tried to reduce our service, but it's six cans or nothing. I finally feel like I'm getting my money's worth by not renting a construction dumpster.

Fil, ds, and dh installed the box for the new woodstove chimney in the new roof over Christmas break. The pipe is on order. Soon I will get to choose a tile to go under the stove!

Today I also got to experience the joy of a smaller elephant. I've reduced the amount of stuff in the animal barn, and I had stashed a huge windfall of ceramic molds in there (shocking enough that there was space for the molds!). But today I cleared out some of the molds, which made it possible to move a milk stand, which allowed me to BACK THE TRUCK IN and CLOSE THE DOOR when I got home with a load of straw! So I don't have to unload it until tomorrow.

[mschrisgo2]

Ah, the Joy of being able to use emptied space to make your life easier!
How nice!

[Chicken lady]

It was nice.

it is now twelve degrees F and there is snow on the ground. Construction has basically stopped, but there is enough tar paper on the roof to keep the basement pretty much dry.

dh is working on wiring diagrams. I need to get back to the clearing out.

[Chicken lady]

So dh thinks he has the wiring worked out. Yesterday we had a snow day and I used up an old gallon of paint on the basement wall (the patched areas look awful) and attacked my closet a little.

dh bought me two new dresses from an online store I love (big sale) and I felt motivated. When he saw the basket of stuff to go he asked "great, what do I buy you next?" The answer was "a replacement coffee filter". Because the one in the free coffeemaker a friend downsized to me about 8 years ago is cracking. I looked in the cupboard and we had 4 back up filters. None of them fit, so they are all going to goodwill. - exit one 6" cube box. - 7 more of those and I will have freed a cubic foot. >8)

I'm still working my way through the ceramic molds. Not much else to report.

[Chicken lady]

Working in the basement a little more today. A lot of cleaning up concrete dust, moving stuff off the last large area of rug and cleaning it as I go. Finding a few small things here and there I can part with.

dh says when I'm ready we can buy a new storage rack for the basement. - he took the old one out to the shop when we started clearing for construction.

[ToomuchStuff]

Working in the basement a little more today. A lot of cleaning up concrete dust, moving stuff off the last large area of rug and cleaning it as I go. Finding a few small things here and there I can part with.

dh says when I'm ready we can buy a new storage rack for the basement. - he took the old one out to the shop when we started clearing for construction.

What was wrong with the old one, that you would have to buy a new one, rather then bring it back in and reuse?

[Chicken lady]

What was wrong with the old one was nothing. But it replaced a teetery-tottery conglomeration of old rusting metal shelves and assorted boards and cardboard bins in the shop.

today I took all the linens out of the cupboard in the basement. The cupboard is chipboard and no big deal and was damaged in the flooding. My next task is to sort through the linens, put sheets and blankets in the bedrooms, find a space for the table linens we use, pass on the rest (?) and get rid of the cupboard.

[mschrisgo2]

Now I have a mental picture of you parsing out the chipboard into the trash cans over a few weeks...

[Chicken lady]

Chipboard burns. I'm still getting rid of rug.

[Chicken lady]

I have removed all of the rug from one half of the basement and taken it up to the road.

The other half of the basement has 4 small pieces of rug left - one under the water softener, one under a heavy cabinet, one buried at the bottom of a closet, and one stuck to the floor in the corner with god-knows-what super industrial strength goey stickum.

[Teacher Terry]

Sounds like you are making great progress!

[Chicken lady]

Thanks, some days the progress feels really small, but I just keep trudging in the right direction.

Another thing I did this week was mend everything in the mending basket (well, one top that was marked for altering I decided just to donate)

Some of that stuff had been in there for years, and the little basket had overflowed and been put into a laundry basket that was overflowing and just got moved from room to room. Now everything is washed and put away, the little basket is downstairs with the other baskets (category I haven't reached yet) and the laundry basket is back in the stack in the laundry room.

of course my closet is too full again, round and round and round I go.... But every iteration is an improvement.

[mschrisgo2]

Chicken Lady, did you get to pick out your tile for the fireplace yet?

[Chicken lady]

No. Dh told me was jumping the gun on the tile. He says the woodstove isn't going in until all of the exterior work is done. He just needed the chimney installed before the shingles. Yesterday we capped and stabilized the chimney though (well, he did, I sat on the roof and handed him things.)

[Chicken lady]

I washed 18 molds today. I'm making the molds a weekly chore. Wash and lay out near the fire on Monday (dh gets home really late on Monday) close and move to the far and of the porch to finish drying out of the way before dh gets home on Tuesday. Take to school Friday morning - no molds in the porch on weekends.

some of them aren't going to be totally dry when they get to school, but they can finish drying there.

i no longer have any molds in my animal barn, which is a good thing. And the moving blankets I had lying over them are in the washer to be washed, dried, and put away on the storage rack in the shop.

down side - there are still three large piles of unwashed, unsorted molds in the pottery/shop barn, and I am keeping some of the molds (7 from this batch of 18, which is a lot higher than usual) because they aren't all good for class, but some of them I still really like.

since I had two molds back when I started eating the elephant, something is going to have to go in the studio cleanout to make room.

still, starting next week, any mold that gets trashed, donated, or taken to school is one less in the studio.

[Chicken lady]

So I did a load of molds last week and they are at school (mostly) or in the studio (a few). The moving blankets are washed and put away.

this week's load of molds is 19 (the piles are still too big for me to count remaining work) but only 8 of them are going to school. As I'm working toward the bottom of a stack, there are more that are too big for my class, plus this stack had a few on top that are too delicate for my classroom. Still, washed is better than unwashed and 8 are going.

i'm also starting to see enough progress to become interested in working on the studio, but today I have a lot of house cleaning to do.

[Chicken lady]

Today is the last day of the first year of the elephant. I am feeling strongly motivated for a big push!

yesterday dd1 and her fiancé came out to do car work with my dh. She helped me move a few things around in the studio and took home a cardboard box of craft supplies, her box of unfinished "paint your own ornaments" from childhood, and a big tote of toy animals to play with the heart grandson when he is over.

i also found another example item I could toss out.

last week's molds are dropped off and a new batch get washed today.

[Chicken lady]

Sorry that I am serial posting.

i sorted through all the remaining molds. I have washed 21 - 8 for school and 13 for me. I threw out all the rest of the damaged/part missing/too dirty ones. There are 33 left in the barn to be washed. 12 for me and 21 for school. That is going to takes at least three weeks because they are the largest molds. But honestly, I am feeling pretty good about having them down to where I'm not afraid to count the remaining work!

[mschrisgo2]

Don't ever worry about serial posting success! YAY for you! Conquering the molds is a huge success!

[Tammy]

I've said almost nothing on this thread, but i've enjoyed it immensely.
just so you know.
you are doing a huge change up in your life and i love following the story.

[Chicken lady]

Thanks. I'm thinking about starting "year two of the elephant" as a new thread tomorrow so I can put some expectations in the first post.

i didn't do as well as I would have liked today, but I found 18 partial bottles of kid paint I am taking to school and dropping in the "trash" can one of the classes has out for a found art project. They want any food free non- hazardous trash, so I'm trying to take this as a challenge to do some cleaning out! I have until March 15.

i talked to my mom on face time for about an hour while we cleaned our houses and worked on our linen closets a little. I found a few sheets and some cloth napkins I can part with. Also a table cloth I want to offer dd when she comes back to do car stuff. Unfortunately my mom also found a table cloth she is holding for her daughter (me) to look at.

i picked up trash in the yard so it looks less like an active construction site.

and when I broke the Tupperware lid to my sugar bin, I took it out to the studio to cut into pottery ribs and grabbed a new one from under the stairs. Positive reinforcement for keeping the extra lids, but one less thing in my storage closet.