Morris and Elisabeth and the House

After last week's post, I got some comments off the blog worried that we had been duped into buying a house with a terrible roof. Good news is that we KNEW we were buying a house with a terrible roof and did the thing anyways. There must be a way to phrase that which makes us seem smarter...  But we knew about it from the very first time we saw it - right after the terrible wind storm that hit the DC region at the beginning of March and the lawn was covered with shingles that were blown off the roof as we first stepped out to walk up to it. That feels like forever ago!  But yes, we knew it leaked and in some places probably leaked for a while based on stains of some of the ceilings, and we arranged financing for a new roof with the mortgage company ahead of time. And great news as we went into what was a drizzly weekend - we have a new roof!  The contractor had his guys come out last week between Tuesday and Wednesday and it looks great, no more leaks, but it's nearly im

. This past long weekend we spent with everyone over at the house, including our supervisor-in-chief, Suki.  Here's a great photo of her enjoying a sunbeam in the master bedroom. She's pleased with our progress, but still thinks we can do more. We keep telling her that we're doing our best. And throwing her some rawhide bones. This weekend also proved to be VERY DRAMATIC, and there's a lot of stories to share, so buckle up! It's gonna be a long, wild ride.  If you came for the crime drama, that's at the end, otherwise, enjoy our story time. So, last week in DC (for those who don't know) was a surprise monsoon season. It rained an incredible amount for over a week straight, with some really impressive storms. This was great for some of the plants (the ones that didn't get flooded/drowned), less great for houses with leaky roofs whose contractors couldn't pull permits in time to get work started before the rains began.  Mor

Just a heads up, our next post will be a little late due to our attendance at the royal wedding. Haha. JK. We both are doing more work on Monday and will post pictures and updates when we finish.

So this weekend was a little different than most - I actually was out of town to attend my sister's hooding (she completed her PhD last year and finally had the opportunity to do the formal ceremony at the same time as her boyfriend... awwwwww). Yay, sis! So Morris was on his own to get some rest and then start in on some craziness.  The big craziness was that he found a source for nearly 3 tons of brick for just $200. Between the trailer and his truck, the half of it he managed to drag back this weekend was making the trailer and truck ride so low that there were some smoking tires on the trailer and the truck looked like someone had lowered it to look cool. Here is what a ton and a half of brick look like stacked in the back yard. All the brick! (Don't mind Morris mowing in the background - again, the lawn is growing VIGOROUSLY thanks to his fertilizing it.) In case it's not clear, it's REALLY FREAKING HEAVY. Just so you know. Wouldn't wan

So apparently I have a small following which means I can finally say: "I'm a big deal on the Internet". Thanks, y'all!  Sorry for the delays. But I have been under the weather, but fortunately Morris is still a machine! The news for the week is that there is some SERIOUS progress happening in the kitchen.  Previous posts saw how Morris took out the old drywall ceiling and the sink and some of the old caninets. This weekend saw a lot more getting ripped out and much of it going to the dumpster. Thursday and Friday evenings were about laying the concrete backer board for the kitchen floor, and this was some serious stuff. This is the anchor for the tiles that are going on the floor so they have something strong that won't move like wood will as the house settles and shifts over time. (I am learning so much through this process). For the curious, in the time it takes me to screw down one board, Morris can do 3 or 4.  Morris inspects the work, and