Merry Christmas...and all that...

Did some painting and decorating for Christmas on the "Manor" as Kathy calls it. We got some solid maple flooring from Kathy's boss, that he got from a gym floor being replaced. This will become our central floor area downstairs- the heated part. I also went shopping for fireplaces. It's gonna be great.

...and a bit alarming...

Okay- for the second time, one of our motion sensors has triggered an alarm with nobody around to set it off. Same sensor each time. So I have bypassed that one sensor and the security company is sending a guy to check it tomorrow. I could just see getting a false alarm while I'm out of town and can't check it personally. The city will charge an arm, a leg, and three fingers for too many false alarms.

And by the way- when I went down to check said alarm malfunction, the eastern walls and the refrigerator were dripping water. I checked...no leak; it was just room sweat I guess. Really? It just doesn't seem right.

Okay, sooo......

I got the railing painted and for decorating. I did not finish getting the overhang fixed, so I still have that to do before I can hang the lights. Kathy and I have decided to install two fireplaces- one in the living room and one in the main hall, one right above the other. Should be easy to put in, but it will be later.

When pulling out the rotten boards of the entry hall, I found that not only was the floor joist rotted, but the space between the floor and the ceiling below was filled with dirt and pecan shells and shredded cloth= rats! I filled three trash bags with the detritus and removed the remains of the floor joist. I'll replace the joist, re-deck the floor, cover with hardi-backer, and then tile the entryway. Working just a couple of hours a day should see this done well before Christmas.

Shocking, just shocking!

OK, since the slowdown associated with the start of school and the end of money, I have gotten the power up to snuff and the lights on. Tomorrow we'll be getting an alarm system installed as well. This holiday time, I'm going to decorate the building a little bit with lights, a wreath, and a decorated and lit tree in the big windowed doors. I'll also try to paint the iron railings on the balcony and touch up the paint some.

Jim and Jan gave us a beautiful gift: a brass plaque for the front of the building. It says "THE LAMBS 501 AVE A". It looks great! I installed it a couple of weeks ago by the front door. It adds just the right touch of class and, well, ownership. Hope to get a lot done over the next few weeks.

If it ain't broke...it ain't me.

OK...As everyone told me, the new place is a money pit. I know it will be worth it when we're done, but it's a hard slog to get there. Right now we're robbing Peter to pay Paul to pay the roofer. The problem is that our loan did not come through, so money is (to say the least) tight.

This is Labor Day weekend which means no work on Monday and a general excuse for food and fun with friends. We humans seem to love to celebrate things with family, friends, food, and fermentation. It's a way of cementing bonds- the sharing of food- leftover from ancient times. It's one of our holdovers of which I highly approve. Bon apetit, mon ami.

When in doubt...C4!

Since school has started for me a couple of weeks ago, I have not had any time to work on the building. I've had long days and short nights. As with everyone else, money is also tight. This weekend, however, there will be time to do some framing and some rough landscaping.

On another note, we gather the books for sending to Kenya this past Friday. We took them to the Artifacts, Inc warehouse until we could "palletize" them. They should be sent off soon. It's one of those great coming togethers that happen sometimes. PISD donated the books, the local Rotary gathered them up, Rotary International is paying for shipping, Jean Mollard is storing them for us, a local freight company is carrying them to Texas City for us at a significant discount, A shipper will cargo them to Kenya where a Peace Corps volunteer and a local educator will pick them up and distribute them. All this in the name of education halfway across the globe!

I'll post pics of what I can accomplish this weekend.

Steel thinking about it

The roof is half done. Looks like really good work. The roof is quite solid underneath. Gonna be great!

While looking at metal for pillars in the basement, I saw beams that might do for the ceiling in the main hall. That might allow me to be rid of the pillars in the middle of the floor. If it's not too expensive...maaaaybeee.

There will be a slowdown of work on the building as school is about to start. That means work only on weekends and some evenings. I'll just do what I can. I want to be done with the inside work by April '11.