Demo Time

We began some demolition on Saturday by taking down the drywall in the old kitchen and bedroom.  Tough work, but it didn't take too long.  Unfortunately we have to pile the drywall pieces in the yard and wait for an opportune time to rent a dumpster again.  Hopefully we can prep most of the house for construction in the next two weeks and then get started on the foundation and framing soon.

























On Monday Russell kicked down the ceilings and pulled out most of the bathroom.  I joined him after work and helped to pile up the drywall outside and pull the nails out of the walls.  Tedious, hard work! 



















Now you can stand in the old bedroom and see all the way through the bathroom to the kitchen window.

Russell did a fantastic job of cleaning up the rest of the drywall before we started on pulling up the floors...

Fruits of Our Labors

Shortly after my mother's visit in July, the big cacti by the driveway and garage bloomed-- but only for one day! The huge buds appeared overnight, and then the blossoms the next day. Gorgeous but too short-lived. Maybe we can coax them into blooming again with a little water...

The fruit tree in the backyard has two trunks, and one definitely has spines.  Maybe it's a lime tree?  I cleared out some dead branches and accidentally cut off the only branch with any fruit growing on it.  Brilliant.  It smells like citrus, so hopefully it's lime or lemon.

The real mystery tree sits at the southeast corner of the house.  It looked feeble when we got the house but has bounced back nicely since we started watering in July.  Even our local landscaper and arborist could not identify the tree, so we are waiting for the fruit to give it away.  Some buds have appeared, and they still don't give us much of a clue.  Pomegranate?  Your guess is as good as ours.

UPDATE!  The tree is a cherimoyas, a Peruvian fruit also known as a custard apple.  You can find them in the supermarkets nearby for about $7/lb.  They grow as big as grapefruits, so we will keep watering it and see what happens!

The old washing machine that escaped the dumpster is now a planter for geraniums, and the bougainvillea is blooming nicely.  Watering certainly does wonders...

The Waiting Game

There is plenty left to do in the yard, but we are itching to get started on the house itself. Right now it is just a matter of waiting... mostly waiting for the architect. My patience is wearing very thin, but Russell has remained calm and level-headed. In the meantime, we have sketched some of the more complex and expensive parts of the house, like the kitchen, and even mocked it up in the actual space with some plywood. Very helpful, especially in order to see whether the island would make sense spatially.

I downloaded Google SketchUp7 software for free and did a rendering of the kitchen space. Probably should have read the directions first... but after a few hours of tinkering, I got some decent results. The major questions that remain are: Do we have to install a hood over the cooktop? Is the fancy Advantium wall oven we saw at Home Depot worth it? Where should the garbage cans go? Will the lack of overhead cabinets look odd, or will all the nice south-facing window area make up for it?


Just want to close with a thank-you: the county administrator who auctioned off the property in March stopped by today for a visit. That was very kind of you, Kent! Come by again in a few months when we have the house itself fixed up.