A house is not a home, and ours has a way to go, but as we decided at breakfast this morning, it’s been one step back but two steps forward.
So far, the good people who have been working with us have replaced the roof, windows and hot water heater, removed a chimney that was falling apart and repaired or replaced bad electric, a crumbling ceiling and out-of-code plumbing.
We’ve had vermiculite and mold removed and/or remediated. Ron and I cleaned up the cellar floor and the yard. The front of the house is not beautiful but respectable, and we are enjoying the discovery of old plantings in the back before adding to them, if ever.
We’ve had the ceiling raised in one second floor bedroom and work on reinforcing the floor in the other has started with the installation of posts and a new header in the basement. The old floor was ripped up in February and it’s taken this long to get a contractor.
We’re trying to prepare physically and psychologically for demolition of half the living room ceiling next week to allow installation of floor joists.
I’ve taken to drinking wine with lunch, having learned that “sun over the yardarm” meant midday in the British navy and thus, the time when sailors would be issued their first tot of rum.
The mountains are no longer shrouded in Nova Scotian forest fire smoke but our hill is heavily forested so we won’t have a view again until winter.
Meanwhile, Bennington Potters, who have covered the Southern Vermont landscape with their flyers, hasn’t been open to the public for the last three years with no plans to reopen any time soon.
Go figure.