What I've been doing

The end of July I went through two weeks of carpenters and painters hanging around the house.  Doing a job that was supposed to take 4 days.  In the end, they did a very good job, but the head contractor really underestimated their time.  There were days that they showed up at 8, days that only 2 showed up because someone worked so hard the day before he was sick.  Other days he couldn't locate his crew in the a.m. so they didn't come till mid-day.  It was very trying.  Yikes, I hate having anything done to the house.

Anyhow, the job got finished just in time for us to leave for Idaho again.  Three weeks there were wonderful, hanging out with family and friends.  While there we had our outside decks painted.  It took 3 days, including the prep work.  The guys showed up at 7 a.m. every morning, which was really nice. They did a wonderful job of removing any traces of the old redwood stain, and transforming my decks to a beautiful grey. The first step in getting rid of beiges, browns and reds.  Next spring we will have them paint the house a nice grey/green with black trim. The interior is already taking on the blue/green/grey theme a bit at a time.  There is still a lot of beige I am going to keep for the time being, such as the carpets. I am choosing color tones that go with it. I thought I might have to get rid of all the beige, if going to grey. But I am seeing a lot of beige/grey together and it looks fine.  I have some rugs that have grey/black and beige in them. I don't want to, nor have the energy to do it all at once. Just a step at a time.

We arrived in Idaho in the midst of another heat wave, and after a few days, and some dry lightning storms, the entire state was burning up with wildfires.  The smoke curtailed a lot of our outdoor activities, but we still had a good time.  Hubby worked in the yard regardless, but I could not have the windows open because the smoke was so strong it made me ill.  The smoke makes for some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but is terrible on everyone's health.

I had limited internet connection while there.  I could read blogs, but somehow Google decided to mess with me and I could not sign into my own blog, and also could not comment on anyone elses with out being signed in to Google. Very frustrating, so now I am catching up on reading blogs now that I am back home.

I got a wild hare that I must do something arty while there, besides color in my new coloring books, which is just for fun and relaxation.  And another subject entirely!  I have a lot of art supplies there at the house, but I always want to do something different than what I have the supplies for. So off to Michaels and Aaron Bros I went and got some spray paint.  I am always so impatient, so I didn't even change clothes to get started. In this photo you will see that I grabbed a plastic bag to put over my shoes, just in case. The plant material is goldenrod. First I tried pounding some, but it was way too dry.

Below, partly finished, work in progress, using 3 colors, the paper is watercolor paper. A good start, who knows what I will try next. Maybe some shadow sketching of the plants.  Might cut some up for collage backgrounds.  Anyhow, it made me feel good to mess about a little bit.

Me and the HOUSE!

We are both cracking up..and not in a good way. Not only is the house cracking up, it is leaning backwards!  Ever since the plumbing fiasco over Christmas, we have had a steady steam of people parading through the house.  More plumbers, the Insurance adjuster, the Engineer, the Inspector, sounds like a board game doesn't it?   Then we have interviewed several foundation repair companies who are trying to show us why their system is the best.  They have all measured everything and each one presented a plan. There seem to be only 3 systems that are used across the industry and of course the one that works best over the long haul here in our Texas soil, is the most expensive.  The fact remains, that for our type of damage, there have to be interior piers under the house as well as around the perimeter.  They all suggest the method where they cut through the concrete foundation from inside the house.  Sounds delightful, no?  I've spent countless hours reading and doing research on all the health hazards from this.  A few of the contractors agree that there are some, but most of them deny that any exist.  We will not be using any of the ones who just say "no worries", I fear.  Anyhow, it will more than likely mean moving out of the house for the time it takes to do the repairs.  This also means moving most everything we own.  Most of my art supplies are already packed up and we have filled both our storage units.  One of them hubby uses for business, and he can now barely get in there to get things he needs for trade shows, etc.  OY!!  My hair seems to be thinning...I must be pulling it out in my sleep.  Which I haven't been doing much of, sleeping, actually.

More Plumbers tomorrow, and the Engineer is coming back to drill several 3" holes thru the foundation (yes, inside the house) to get soil samples. Both these plumbers and the engineer are being paid by our insurance company.  They seem to be spending a lot of money to either prove we don't have a claim or that we do. So far it seems they may pay for some of the plumbing, but not the foundation unless they can prove there was a water leak that caused the foundation issues.  That doesn't seem likely from the bits and pieces I have overheard in conversations.  At any rate we are getting some things done that we would have to pay for ourselves otherwise.  So I am grateful for that.

Yesterday, the first plumbers finally hauled off the dirt and shrubs that have been there since Dec. 27th.  The second plumbers have another section all dug up, they are the ones who are coming back tomorrow.  To make matters even more hilarious, I get a letter from the Home Owners Association, saying I have an "unsightly" pile of debris in my yard that needs to be removed from public view.  I kindly told them that in case they hadn't observed, when they did a drive by to take the photo, there was also an open tunnel from whence that dirt came.  There have been enough foundation problems in my neighborhood that one should know right off, that we don't just decide to stack a pile of dirt in our yards for decor purposes.

Hubby has had to be out of town several days this week for work, so I've been fielding all of the phone calls and trying to keep the appointments straight.  So the beat goes on, with another new adventure every day.

No photos, no artwork, just maintaining day by day.  However, I have had thoughts of running away from home.  But then I put on my big girl pants and get to work on  research, cost analysis and other things that need to be done.  I alternate between that and wanting to sit in the corner with a blanket over my head. This situation is causing both Hub and me a lot of worries right now, but it will work out in time. I know that.  We have so many other things to be thankful for, this is just a temporary setback. I'll just be glad to get through it and move on to other things.