However, we noticed that someone had been inside to remove any salvageable historical pieces, like trim, windows and mantels for resale at one of the many historical salvage yards in the area. So, that indicated good news--that demolition day is coming soon!
From this view, you can see how much open space our house will have in the back with two empty lots beside it, and it will not only allow for not only a nice view of the rest of the neighborhood, but also allow for much more light to filter into the windows.
Hopefully, they will remove the massive dead tree along with the house. The leaves you see in the photo are misleading, they are actually reaching over from another tree that was behind the area where I was standing when I took the photo. In fact, the dead tree has not one single green leaf--it's a definitely a goner. I'm actually a bit concerned about some some of the branches, or the whole tree, falling onto our house. It needs to go!
Since we had not been to the property in a few weeks, and we have gotten so much rain, the weeds had completely taken over the front and back yards. I entertained our two little ones inside the house while Brian hacked away at the overgrown weeds in the rear yard. Look at him go!
After going inside with the girls, the next thing I noticed was ceiling drywall on the ground. Evidently the recent rain and heavy winds did a real number on the roof over the downstairs bathroom, where there was a smallish leak before the storm hit, causing a much larger leak and two-thirds of the ceiling to fall into the room...what a mess!
While the girls and I were inside, three-year-old L (who has been potty trained for months) had a little surprise for me. I was walking down the stairs when I heard her cry out, so I ran back up to see why she was so upset. As I rounded the corner in the stairwell, I saw her peeing all over the stairs. I don't know why she decided to do this, but I can't help but think she was marking her territory in the new house! Ha! She does like to pretend to be a puppy sometimes, but this is going a bit overboard.
We had planned to go to the Richmond Folk Festival, but those plans were soiled, I mean foiled, with the problem of pee-soaked tights and boots! I tried to remedy the situation by stopping by the closest store to pick up new undies and shoes, but the shoes hurt her feet and she was miserable. So we decided to head out without finishing clearing the weeds from the front yard, as planned, and skipping the Folk Festival altogether. You can see the overgrowth, and two little ladies peeking out from behind the weeds (notice one without tights and wincing from her uncomfortable Dollar General shoes). At least they got a smoothie out of it. Maybe that was her plan all along.
I think that whole episode was a reminder of why we are not taking this renovation project on by ourselves, kiddos in tow, and rather, we will have a general contractor to do the hard stuff. Two ornery little girls running rampant when mom and dad have serious work to do = bigtime distractions, low productivity and inevitably many, many more unfortunate events! Not to mention that when the real renovations begin, there will be nails and other potentially dangerous pitfalls abound. Where there is trouble to be found, our two little ladies WILL find it!
While we were running around buying underpants, shoes, and taking pit stops in McD's (of course R had "to go" too) Brian managed to make some huge improvements with his weed wacker and rake, and managed to haul two large truck loads of debris to the dump.
Before:
After:
Way to go hubby! It looks so much better, but we still have quite a bit to do to beautify it. We will be tilling, fertilizing and seeding in hopes of seeing some fresh green grass in place of that dry, brown stuff you currently see.
Next on the agenda--we'll take on the overgrown front yard!
Tomorrow, I meet with the contractors to discuss the renovations. According to the terms of our construction loan, we have 60 days to complete the rehab, which will be no small feat! Due to the tight timeline parameters, they will begin work this week, and we are excited to finally get moving and see some real progress. Stay tuned for updates, and if you would like automatic update notifications emailed directly to you, you can subscribe to my blog in the upper right hand corner of the page by entering your email address.
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