The work begins

We arrived in October. We thought we’d get our 1st winter out of the way. We figured if we could survive the winter after having been in So Cal for so long, we could survive anything. It was a mild winter and we truly loved it. SO much for all those people who said we’d be back ~ sorry guys it’s not happening.

It’s a really great house, but it’s 115 years old. So, we knew we’d need to do some upgrades eventually. We figured we’d have all the time in the world to do them though. After all, the previous owners had just painted some of the more crucial rooms like the main bathroom and kitchen. So, we figured we were set for a while.

What we didn’t know was that they had only temporarily ‘fixed’ the problems noted on the home inspection report ~ things like the electrical box holding water and broken drain pipes ~ that they were supposed to “permanently” fix to complete the sale ~ I guess they truly believe that duct tape and electrical tape are the fixalls they claim to be. The “fresh” paint was actually “camouflage” for a mold problem they’d been having and failed to disclose to us ~ no wonder they were in such a hurry! Ten days after we moved in we were forced to begin the laborious process of tearing out all the walls in the main bathroom and kitchen as well as the plumbing fixtures and cabinets since it was ALL infested with mold. We hadn’t even finished unpacking before we were forced to pack back up and dig in to the work at hand. This was the 1st of 2 dumpsters and MANY more truckloads we took to the dump.


At least the dogs still had their HUGE yard (almost a half acre), but it took us 6 weeks to get anyone to put in a fence. It wasn’t a problem for Whiskey since she’ll hang around, but for Gunner this was murder. He’s a wanderer and couldn’t go outside without a leash.

I love the new garden area though! It needs some serious weeding and updating, but for that there is plenty of time. There must be at least 50 old irises and daylillies. Yeah! Unfortunately, the dogs love the garden too so I’m now looking for container solutions for that area.

Jane

Glad your first winter went well. I love the So Cal weather and can’t imagine going back East at this point. Although for a nice house and a yard maybe.