Saturday, August 22, 2009

rippin' and a grinnin'

Ok, maybe not grinnin....

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

You Know You've Been to the Dump too Often When...

You bet your spouse for who comes closest to the total bill. And you get pretty damned good at guessing the amount. We broke our personal best on Tuesday. The dump personnel recognize you and ask if the cabin is empty yet??? Seriously! We thought we were done with major dump hauls. Not so - we had forgotten the rotten cans of fruits and veggies and meat in the meat locker. There was also at least 20 POUNDS of white sugar in gallon mayo jars. Yeesh! That was a seriously barfy load. I'll spare you the gory details. It was NASTY! Just when we thought we had a load, we discovered at least 20 small boxes up in the rafters in the bedroom. No kidding. It is just insane! We found about 10 rolls of adding machine paper. Heh. And all but 4 boxes went straight to the trailer to haul away. Old styrofoam projects that were not completed, mice/squirrel-chewed boxes of ribbon, and my personal fav: the disco Christmas ball (large styrofoam ball covered in Nyquil-style clear medicine cups, edged w/glitter). The four boxes we kept? Old glass Christmas ball ornaments. Some very 60's and look more like easter eggs than Christmas ornaments. Oh, and we have two artificial Christmas trees (I think...) Gary was trying to figure out how to get beneath the new section of the cabin. I suggested cutting an opening in the meat locker floor. Seemed like a good idea - great plumbing access. Well, after we cleared enough crap that we could actually SEE the floor, aha! I had such a good idea, somebody else had beat me to it. Behind the meat locker door is a trap door for entering the crawl space. The funny part of the crawl space is....... .....yeah, Gary spotted another BOX! And, ahem, several empty whiskey bottles!!!!! Photos soon, I hope.... Terry

Monday, August 17, 2009

I just can't believe it....

There's stuff in the rafters!! We found a real gem yesterday..... One of those old thick albums full of cabinet cards!! Too bad it's not the Harris side... It's the Pearce side...

Friday, August 7, 2009

What's Missing, Part 2

I meant to include some photos - but not yet - takes too much time I don't have right now. Went back to work yesterday - right into a 16 hr shift (and I'm getting too old to pull 16 hr shifts!!!). (stupid blogger - even tweaking the html code, this stupid thing won't break into separate paragraphs!!!!)
Ok - the dead refrigerator is gone! We had not even thought about the washer/dryer, but we'd tossed enough crap that we could finally get to them...the washer had "clean" clothes in it. A 5 yr old load of laundry(!). The dryer was completely rusted inside....ick.....and I had found the receipts for all three of these appliances! They were purchased in 1971. When we'd moved the washer aside, you could see where the gearcase oil had dumped all over the floor. Ok - that was it - all were destined for our favorite destination: the penninsula transfer station!!!
We hauled countless books (I LOVE books - this about killed me) that were moldy beyond mention. We also tore down the old pressboard wardrobe in the bedroom. I had emptied it of clothing and knew it was falling apart and moldy. I had no idea that it was contributing about 95% of the mold smell in the bedroom!
Both defunct music organs are gone, the couch in the study was extremely gross! Hairy white mold all over the back of it (barf!) - ditto with the old tv unit. I was not happy about having to toss this stuff - but it had become quite clear that they were ruined beyond the point of rescue -how horribly sad....
The net result? We got up Wednesday morning and went to the house to make morning coffee. Wow! While there is still a very slight musty odor, it is such a huge improvement that made all this work worthwhile. We both felt pretty satisfied with what we've done and both feel more confident we can rescue this old cabin!
Next trip: tearing out the ceiling tiles in the addition.... Estate situation: still fighting MLynch. Sending income tax stuff to CPA. Likely will have to pay some State of Oregon Estate tax. Both atty and myself hoping for dispursement by Dec 09 at the latest....

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

let's play what's missing!

We're hoping to have made the last of the "major" dump runs! The house is actually becoming more bearable. Oh sure, there is a slight musty odor, but what a huge improvement!

Am going to see if any of my photos can be uploaded using this new app...
Can't get photo part to work just yet. Guess I'll have to do that at home.

And I say, the more, the merrier - hoping you can all come over for the holiday weekend!


Mobile Blogging from here.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

blogging from the beach

Just checking out my new blogger app for the ever-handy iPhone.