Brother is re-burning the shed so there's less to bury. It's been very wet here lately, so makes it safer to burn.

So there's a nice fire going - where are the marshmallows? and the sticks?

Mmmmmmm...

Oh, yes, I have homeowner's insurance again! Whew!

with painted roof and deck. Looks like the awning is still brown with white spots in the picture, but it's now red too. The deck still needs some work, but I'm hoping he'll finish while he's house & pet sitting while I'm in Utah. There's still a small spot of vinyl siding that needs fixing too, from the fire.

But the house looks great!


Oh, and don't get excited about the apparently scantily clad dude in the picture. Workers were NOT cabana boy material. Good old boys, yes, cabana boys, no.

( House work and annoying cousin )

Now I need to go look at plane tickets ::beams::

The landscaper came back for his money. Darn ::snap::

They're going to come back out and grind down the stumps, so they don't resprout (or have other things sprout out of them).

While he was here, he pointed out some other things that needed doing :) And he is right - the house needs to be pressure washed, the deck needs to be cleaned and refinished... He says he could make the place beautiful.

For a beautiful price, too, I'd imagine. But it'd probably be worth it.

Some of it I think could be taken care of by jerky brother's friends for lots less money, but that involves talking with jerky brother and working on his schedule - still waiting on him and his friend to come look at the hallway that needs ceiling tiles - and now I need drywalling to fix the holes the electricians made (if I'd had them do it, it would have, of course, cost extra).

I did cross off one more thing on my 101 list thought - besides the actual landscaping itself - I asked him for a quote for screening in the deck, so that the kitties and I could go outside and sit. $3000 - which seems a good price. I'm sure it would actually be more - some of the wood on the deck might need replacing, but it's definitely something to think about. Mostly I just have to wait until the roofing gets done so I can see how much money is left.

I took a nice chunk and invested in CDs, but kept the larger part out for home improvements. Once I get the necessary things done and get my homeowner's insurance back, I'll look at extras. The extras would be nice, both for me and for increasing the sale value of the place.

If I had any idea of what I'd be doing in the future, it'd be easier to make decisions ::sigh::

The enemy is a twit? :)

( house stuff )

Also I've decided to jump on the twitter bandwagon - just to read, at first. I'm eviltammy there - what's everyone else's Twitter name, so I can stalk follow you?

The enemy has returned.

And actually Mr. Squirrel spent last night down here in the house. One of the electricians got him out for me this morning ::sigh::

And apparently they'd already gotten around the piece of wood he put up earlier *and* had been chewing on the new wiring. So now I've got a call in to an animal removal place, with a number for a second guy in case the first can't get here soon. The electricians are supposed to finish up today and I'd hate to have to have them come back and redo stuff :(

So the landscaper is getting new instructions tomorrow too - no pruning, just cut the bushes down. Maybe the 2 bushes at the front of the house can be pruned down, but the ones in the back are roof-level and will just have to go.

Crap. I had to shell out extra money for getting my car window fixed Monday, now the animal removal guy. They say they'll animal-proof the house and their ad says 5 year written warrantee.

But, again, I do have to admit Mr. Enemy was damn cute and fluffy :)

The enemy, cute but fuzzy, has been momentarily thwarted :)

While in the attic, one of the electricians saw a shadow - a squirrel venturing inside through a hole near the old chimney. He scared him out and later put up a piece of wood over the hole :) (I think he found a second hole too - I'll need to try to remember to ask next week.) So at current, I seem to have a squirrel-free attic.

Maybe.

Either that or one squirrel is trapped inside, because I can hear gnawing noises.

Maybe I'll have the landscaper take that bush by the chimney down, instead of just pruning it. That might make it harder for the little vermin to get up there.

And I have lights! In places that lights haven't been working for a long time! They still have 2-3 more days worth of work to do in the old part of the house. And I need to go out this weekend and buy 3 inside and 1 outside fixture because the old ones were ancient and in horrible condition.

the face of the enemy - a cute and fuzzy face, yes, but the enemy nonetheless.




This is why I didn't have internet. This is why, while the electrician is redoing the old wiring, that I'm going to have to have extra rewiring done. This is why I have holes in the ceiling and shredded bits of insulation on my floor.

*&$%#*$&@$#$%&!!!!!!!

When the roofer is here, I'm going to ask him to hunt for the holes they're using. And I'll probably end up having to hire someone else to make sure they're all out of the attic before the holes are sealed.

Cute and fuzzy, yes, but right now I'm thinking evil, evil thoughts...