With the melt off of winter storm Stella came some more adventures for us. When you buy a house that has not been taken care of for a couple of decades, or more, it is to be expected that the old will die and need to be replaced. This past week it was the sump pump, but thanks to our dear friend Richard, we have a new one. My daughter learned from him some more home maintenance, and he's the kind of gentleman that doesn't mind explaining. We cannot thank him enough for all his help. Along with the sump pump issue came the issue of the foam glued to the wall, and water damage to the basement walls.
Yesterday, with the help of Emily, she and I filled seven large bags of this Styrofoam from the walls in the last quadrant of the basement. It could wait no longer. We also filled six bags with decades old insulation, that at one time had housed some mice, and we came across some spiders and ants while pulling it down too. Oh insects. What can I say? At least it wasn't wasps.
It is looking much better and now there are literally miles of old cable wires, ancient phone wires, and who knows what other wires that need to come down. This all has to be done before we can get any new insulating done.
The walls have suffered some damage, but for now they need to dry out before we can scrape off loose cement, re face it, seal and paint, but it's work we expected to do this coming year any way. Yes we had enough intelligence to cover the sump pump to prevent anything getting into the well.
On the more exciting side for us is the bee garden. We got a very good deal on a water bath this past weekend, and it is holding it's spot in the garage next to two new rain barrels. The tilling has been scheduled and weather permitting we will have the garden ready before the bees arrive.
The safety signs arrived this week too. the orange caution sign is metal and will go on the locked gate to the back yard. The red sign is for the garden itself. Everything is coming together well.
With every home comes the necessity for tools. We had a good start, but we still need more. This past weekend there was a yard sale around the corner from us. In the 36 degree cold, with pouring rain, we stopped to look. We got a six foot aluminum ladder, a decent wheel barrow,, a garden rake and weeder all for $15. We were feeling quite elated, especially with the wheel barrow, because it's a bit difficult hauling stones, fallen limbs and trash to the curb, even though it is just half an acre of land. Needless to say with Springs arrival we are getting better situated to handle all the chores.
This last picture is that of two boxes of non perishable food that I am donating to a college food share. For the last five years, maybe longer, I have fed hungry students, but not in the capacity that I wanted, or even could actually. If there were hungry students in an office where my daughter works she would tell me and I would send whatever I could to help. I recall sending individual pot pies, soups, home made loafs of bread, banana bread, cookies, and bags of potatoes so they had something. The student government opened a food share that my daughter recently discovered and from now on I will make a monthly donation to them also. These two boxes contain 45 pounds of food, egg cartons for egg distribution, and Ziploc bags for them to provide smaller portions if needed. My new philosophy about stopping hunger has come through Instagram. I follow "secondhand_swagger", who started this program in February this year, to push the fact that so many charities need food supplies. So now any time, at any store, and for no reason other than to fight hunger, I will pick up two food items, plus when I do my monthly shopping I will pick up what I can and fill two boxes. I am so ready to put in a large vegetable garden so my giving can grow, but for now I'll do what I can to show how grateful I am for what I have. That's some of what's been happening here at the Town House Homestead, and I can't thank you enough for stopping by for a visit. Have a wonderful week and keep up the hard work. It does pay off.
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