Eickhaus

an experiment in communication....for family and friends of our blog to "keep in touch" and provide pictures and information about the latest and greatest adventures of Eickhaus. Also see http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/person.aspx?tid=831833&pid=-2042210641&pg=0

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Fall is almost over




We have had the most beautiful fall here, and it has lasted a solid 6 weeks, which is a long time for any season to last in Colorado! But, alas, the snow has returned. And although it probably won't last more than 2 days before melting away, we have gotten 3 inches of it already this morning! It is beautiful. And, for his part, Tanner, our 8 month old "puppy", loves the snow!

As with all things "new" in our "new" house, we have been getting used to the different sounds from the wind, which blew very hard last night. Creaks and groans from the house are in different places than in the old one, so it makes us a little jumpy getting used to it. I must have woke up three or four times last night asking Lori, "what was that?", and "shall I go see?" After some of our early experienes with basement flooding, skunk invasions and such in the first weeks here, I am a little overprotective of our property, as you can imagine.

The basement remodel is coming along nicely. The bathroom is underway now, and we are about ready to start some painting.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Extreme Home Makeover...sort of

Well, the saga with the "fixer upper" house continues. We have had a new roof put on, ripped out a weedy yard and overgrown bushes, repaired a walkway, repaired the cause of our flooding, had the sewer line replaced, demolished half the basement, and are now in the process of having the basement remodeled.

We have an excellent contractor, Matt, who also happens to be from our Home Care/Bible Study group. He framed some new walls this past week, and then Lori and I , and "cousin" Joe Abdo spent two nights putting up insulation after school.

Now it is ready for drywall. Hopefully it will be finished and ready for paint before the end of the month. Then, hopefully, carpet by Thanksgiving, courtesy of our insurance company. Remember the sewer line flooding we experienced in August? It took out a lot of carpet, which prompted us to say, why not just do the remodel while everything is torn apart anyway...

Here are a few pictures....


the first one is out front, before the projects began, in mid August. Wesley was standing on the brick walkway in front of the house.














This next one is the day in August when we tore out the old weeds, the very uneven walkway, and 30 bushes that were 4 ft. high. See the tractor! (They wouldn't let me drive it, though!) That made quick work of the bushes, roots and all.









This photo was shot the day after we installed 1750 sq. ft. of sodwith the help of Joey Callaway, a former student form 14 years ago turned landscaper and building manager....you can also see part of the new walkway we made with salvaged brick and flagstone from the old walkway.










On the right is the laundry room, looking through a wall we took out and toward the other area we domolished, which will soon be a new room on the other end of the laundry/storage area. This should add about 140 sq. ft of useable space for a project room/guest area.







This area is the same view, taken today!
And this one is from the other side of the new room, looking back toward the laundry area. Yes, it is a mess, but hopefully not too much longer!

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