The Beginning of the Stories

Hey Ya’ll!

               

As I haven’t updated this since I’ve begun renovations, decided that it was past due time to update on the current progress of the house.  As of right now, there are no substantial changes that anyone would notice.  We’ve added a coat of primer to the hallway and a coat of primer to the master bedroom.  After cleaning out the closets in my master, I found twelve suitcases (three of which are pre-packed), two boxes of toys (one of which contained a creepy dummy head…that can’t stay in the same house as me, and since I’m paying the mortgage – it goes), seventy years of clothes, three bedding sets, and if I keep digging perhaps a partridge in a pear tree.  So right now I’m (along with the help of Mother) sorting through the overwhelming pile of 70 years of memorabilia that has been stashed away in these closets.  There is nothing hard about renovating a house when it comes down to the actual work – it is the details leading up to the work.  Each piece of clothing, each toy, each knick knack – they all have a story.  I’m so proud to hear them – to know they exist and the stories of the people that had them.  

So alas, that is the challenge I face. Moving past the stories. But they are worth hearing, and they are worth the additional time. 

I have, however, managed to begin the monotonous chore of pressure washing the driveway.  I have a feeling I’m going to drain Wilson Lake dry in the process.  I also found out it is indeed a good idea to move one’s foot from the path of the pressure washing, but I digress. 

My other task at hand is removing all the unwelcome non-rent paying tenants from the house.  I’ve got a family of furry little friends living somewhere in my basement.  I caught one of the baby boys with a plunger and a plastic bag.  Dad took the liberty of sending it on to glory.  Mice typically don’t bother me that much – spiders are where I take issue.  So when I saw the black spider the size of my head crawl down the louver door of the closet I was cleaning only to dart across my shoes and under the door into the abyss of the closet did I decide to take action.  I calmly shut the closet door, walked to the kitchen, phoned Terminix, and told them I want their “Kill Everything that Moves in My House” plan.  So for a nominal fee of $162.50, they are going to spray my house, yard, granulate my yard, remove all spider webs, cobwebs, wasp nests, and bees nests from the premises.  After that, they will service the house every quarter for $82.50.  Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking this is a price to be bargained.  Well, I would have given them $1,000 if they can get rid of the spiders and the mice. I’ll gladly pay the quarterly fee in return of having a house where I am the only occupant. 

Now, if I can only catch that God-forsaken armadillo that relentlessly digs in my yard.  However, all good things must come to an end. His time is drawing near...I have no shame in sitting on my front porch wielding a shotgun and having a go with this creature of the night. But that rendezvous is for another story. 

 

Warm Southern Days,

Russ

Irises circling my driveway during this Spring