Day One-twenty-five: We're on our own now

So now we're into the heart of the "Y" portion of DIY. We're making progress on a number of fronts in about a dozen hours spent at the house this weekend.


So this used to be a vegetable and herb garden. We're not much into victory gardens, so we dug it all out yesterday and will plant flowers in the 20x5 space. It should bring some nice color to the yard and get plenty of sun now that the apple trees are gone.

Elsewhere in the yard, this was the first time we've had to cut one in 13 years. Like riding a bike...except with more sweat, strain, and pollen and less wind whipping through hair. This will be easier once we've had the stumps ground out and sod or seed put down to make a more even lawn in the back.

The bits and pieces of the kitchen are coming together as well. These drawers are all set after we attach the handles. We'll probably wait to install them until after the countertop is put in.

The house has a beautiful front door, but like much of the house it was slightly shabby from a lack of attention (we're hearing lots of stories from the neighbors). So we sanded and stained it today. With a second coat it'll be tip-top.

Back down in the basement, we had our new contracting company come on Thursday morning to replace the creosote-covered 2x4 and a couple others that were rough-hewn and definitely out of place. Now we have spanking new 2x4s and are quite happy with them.

This is where the creosote-covered board was.

Finally, because of the dampness in our basement, we decided to do a home mold test. This is after 24 hours. The proof is at the 48, 72, and 96-hour marks. Here's hoping it's not too bad.