Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Life on the Fly

Stopping in at a dead run to say hi.  It's been crazy busy around here.  I had major furnace work done last week, and it wasn't cheap.  The plumbers were also out last week and fixed myriad plumbing problems.  That's my old-fashioned toilet on the left.  They had to rebuild it.  And below that is the other part of my bathroom.  Now the faucets no longer leak, nor the sinks, either.  Gone with the buckets under the sinks!

This week I've been crawling over electricians every time I turn around.  I guess it was worth it.  One of them said, "It's a miracle your house didn't burn down."  Now I can get rid of all the extension cords that my microwave, fridge, washing machine, lamps, etc. were plugged into because half the outlets in the house had quit working. 

I'm still washing dishes in the bathroom sink, which is a major pain, but it'll be a few more weeks before I can afford to have the septic people out to fix one of the septic systems so that my kitchen sink will be useable once again. 

No, that wasn't a typo.  Septic systems, as in two.  The people who built my house eons ago must have had plans to convert it into a two-family dwelling at one time.  Upstairs I have one septic system.  Downstairs, I have another.  It's a daylight basement that I converted to an apartment years ago, but quit renting it out when the septic system for the apartment began acting up.  Little did I know that the upstairs kitchen sink drained into the downstairs septic.  And when that failed, all that dirty dishwater began flooding the apartment downstairs.  I didn't know this, as I seldom go downstairs.  When I discovered the flooding, I was sick.  Brand new carpeting ruined.  Everything musty.  It's heartbreaking.

So Thursday I have a neighbor kid coming over to help me tear out the carpet and begin the process of drying out.  In the meantime, I'm up to my ears in work, and really can't spare the time for such nonsense. 

So to all 2 of my loyal followers, I may not be dropping in as much as I'd like to.  At least for the next month or so, while I deal with a gazillion old house issues.  Ahhhh, the joys of sinking my life's savings into a 100-year-old house!

5 comments:

NinaP said...

Good luck, Sherrie! You can do it. Post pics.

Hugs,
Loyal follower #?

News From the Holmestead said...

LOL, Nina! You're loyal follower #1!

I'll post pics when this is all done. It's an ongoing project that will take months, I'm afraid. Have used up all my money and must wait for more to come in!

Sherrie Holmes

NinaP said...

The good news.... more is coming in. :-)

Thoughts, prayers and wishes to you, my friend. I'll be popping in every so often to send more.

Hugs,
#1

Lori said...

I know it will be worth it when everything is finished though!

News From the Holmestead said...

Nina, I appreciate your support! I'm still heavily involved in all this construction stuff, but it's so nice to have things fixed.

Lori, you're right. It really is nice to have faucets that don't leak and electrical outlets that work again, just to name a few things that had to be fixed. Best of all so far: the outdoor hot water spigot works again, so now I can give the dogs baths outside using a garden hose attached to the hot water. Actually, I use a Y-connector so that I can adjust the hot and cold water to the right temperature for the dogs.