Living room repairs underway. . .

 All the living room carpet has been ripped out, and about 1/4th of the floor as well.  We have it opened enough to access the situation, and well, we have a lot of work on our hands.  Old farm house problems, or should I say the last people cut corners causing us problems.....

Not the best photo, but we knew that there was an issue around the hearth where the woodstove is.  First discovery - they didn't use concrete anchors (or whatever you call them, can't remember what he called them).  Anyway, they did exactly what we thought.  Well, on one side anyway.  On one side they put in blocks with random stacks of wood that sank over the years, and on the other, there was literally nothing holding the floor up between last joist and hearth.

Our handy man got the underlayment boards removed, only to discover they literally put it on top of the houses original floor, and that was it.  Instead of removing the original floor, and replacing it with new, they covered it with thin underlayment boards and carpet.  Shaking my head.  The original flooring rotted, and our handy man almost fell thru in one area.  So we are removing the entire floor, fixing joists, removing broken joists, etc etc.  He's also using my truck to haul it all out of the house, so I am limited to a day to town for errands.

I'm running upstairs early this morning, just to make sure I have enough yarn for the week (or two).  I may not be able to access the stairway, and I cannot get into my office for anything (where the smaller pantry is as well).  Frustrating, but I know we will have peace of mind when it's finished.

We also discovered a huge random copper pipe under the floor.  The last source of heat was a boiler, and the pipes where just left under the floor.  I'm wondering how the pipes were left and no flooring was lifted out....anyway...

We also discovered there was one patch work done on the floor, letting us know they already had an issue but didn't take care of it properly.  

I'm shocked the floor never caved in when we hosted Christmas and had over 50 people in our house.

Half the living room is crammed into our kitchen, office and bedroom for the time being.  Pray we don't lose sanity and don't go broke getting the floor replaced.   I'm told some lumber prices have gone down.  Also pray that we get the old floor all out and at least subfloor all in by the weekend.  It is going to dip to the 20's by the weekend.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 Over the weekend, we got the chicken coop mucked, and ready for colder weather.  We were lucky to be walking around outside in t-shirts.  Oddly warmer weather for November.

They say we may not have to deal with this time change stuff next year.  Let's hope and pray.  We are not happy with dark skies at 5-6pm. 

Our Christmas tree is now up in the master bath.  I need to dig out my tree topper.  It may be the only tree we get up this year, depending on how long it takes to finish the living room.

Speaking of living room, I told my husband that if our handy man delays our work, I will start ripping up the carpet myself.  He didn't come all weekend, and we want this done ASAP.

Joining up today with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . .  .

60's and sunny, but weather is all over the map this week, and we dip to the 20's over the weekend.

As I look outside my window. . . 

Sunny.

Right now I am . . .

Getting ready to post this.

Thinking and pondering . . . 

I'm thinking of making my own homemade turkey breakfast sausage.  We have to really watch the lean meat and veggies.  My husband was sneaking donuts at work, and his last doctor visit was not good.  He promised me he'd pass on them from now on.

How I am feeling . . . 

Tired, but excited that my husband only has to work these very early hours for 2 more day.

On the breakfast plate . . .

New recipe.  More on that later.

What I am wearing . . .

Jammies.  Sipping coffee.

On the reading pile. . .

Haven't had time to read.  

On the TV . . .

Lonesome Dove.

On the menu. . .

-crockpot meatballs and home canned sauce, quinoa, and steamed broccoli
-Butternut squash soup 
-Chicken Bruschetta Casserole (new recipe to try)

Looking around the house. . .

Daughter T finally came over to pick up an area rug I needed out of the living room.  By the way, she is in school to become an RN.  She is now working a few days a week in the hospital, and trying to get used to working the night shift.

On the to-do list . . .

-make a breakfast casserole
-work on cleaning up hallway where things were put during kitchen/bathroom repairs.

-take down all the living room curtains

-..still working on the to-do list

From the camera. . .

Devotional . . .

Prayers for Daughter E to have a successful hair salon business.  She's had many cancelations and I'm so worried (as all mothers would) that she won't get enough business to continue to be her own boss.  Her rent for the booth is high, and she still has to pay her apartment rent, and as we all know, everything is extremely high in costs right now.