"Mondo" Spider Sighting (04-02-10)

While I was explaining something to Julia, she started pointing at something behind me, got up from her chair and ran out of the dining room screaming. Not sure of what this was about, but suspecting it may involve some creature with more than six legs, I started running after her, also screaming. We ran around the house, from the dining room to the laundry room to the kitchen, and back to the dining room where I caught up with Julia. While we were both shrieking and jumping up and down in one place, I got enough visual information from her to realize that she had seen a huge spider crawling on the back of my pajama pants. Still shrieking, I threatened to remove my pajamas on the spot if she didn’t check if the spider was still on me (it wasn’t). I then ran to the bathroom, grabbed my hairbrush, brushed my hair (no spider), ripped my clothes off (no spider) and jumped in the shower, patting myself all over, just in case.

Contractors (04-02-10)

Today, two guys came to look under the house. Needless to say, they gave wildly different reports.

The first guy works for an outfit that installs fancy steel jack “spikes” 30 ft. into the ground, like one would see used for new Happy Valley houses built on the side of cliffs, -whatever-, and he looked horrified that this house had such a small crawlspace, as opposed to a new suburban-style foundation.

The other guy was moderate in his comments; in fact, he didn’t see much to do to the crawlspace (despite it being accessible to rodents, a few posts needing extra support, etc.); he indicated that the patio area was the problem, since rainwater pools near the back wall of the house.

Cleaned out the shed, etc. (03-29-10)

I am amazed by everything Gary and I did today.

While Gary took down all the ratty shelves inside the shed, found a rats' nest and killed a bunch of ants, Julia and I carried dozens of 2 x 4s and put them in the trailer. After that, we took a load of lumber to the recycling yard, then went to the dump.

Later, we picked up a huge red bookcase for the living room and, best of all, we met with the tax accountant.

And I forgot to mention that all this was done in POURING RAIN, and I also met with two tree guys for estimates...

Pretty Mosaic Glass Windows (03-28-10)

I went by Portico to pick up the windows that were on hold. They are absolutely beautiful, especially the one with flowers. I placed it over the front dining room window. The one with a sort-of metaphysical hand design on it will be in my closet.