1. - The Beginning

May 11, 2008

Construction begins tomorrow. I'm waving goodbye to my yard. Everything you see will soon be gone.

The 3 big trees were the first to come down. Pay attention to the lilac bush next to the wishing well for perspective. Remember the camper was parked right behind there. (For now it is up in the middle of the trail.)

Tues, May 13, 2008 Here's the view after cutting the trees. Can you see the lilac? Can you see how far behind that we cleared just today? Larry has removed probably 10 dump truck loads of stumps out of this area.

Here's another view with the lilac in the middle and the tree stumps off to the right. Behind the lilac - way back - is a hugh brush pile. I was really worried about them burning it because it was so hugh. Luckily there was a light rain when they started which made me feel a little better.

This was the view from my craft room. Pretty cool, huh? It literally looked like an inferno outside the window.

Friday May 16, 2008

Larry dug up all the rest of my perennials - lilys & iris' - with the excavator and put them by the well.. We made many people happy sharing them and the rest Doug planted along the side of the driveway - the only place we figure won't be disrupted this summer - I hope! It's so light now with all the trees cut.

Monday, May 19 2008

more clearing and leveling. We're up to 25 loads of fill to level the site. It got a little soft at one point and Larry got stuck- luckily he knows how to get himself out of a predicament.
See how far away from the house he has cleared?

Friday, He moved the Shed and the swing. The shed went to the back woods that had been cleared and the swing is in the front yard. We can't seem to give it away so Larry eats his lunch on it each day. He cleverly put 2 boards under the shed in a V shape and hooked a chain to the V point. Worked slick.





This is the remains of my perennial garden, not much left anymore.

While all this is going on I've been trying to empty everything from my craft room. Who knew how much I had accumulated there. WOW. Doug kept saying I'm going to kill him with all the boxes I kept packing. It took 3 of us an entire week to empty it. Now everything is in the garage.

Monday May 26, 2008

Memorial Day, Larry showed up in the afternoon itching to work so he and Doug first picked up the deck and moved it in it's entirety to the back by the shed.

Next came the oil tank that was under the deck. They were able to empty it into the tank Doug uses for the garage. Larry took the tank. Can you see the shed and the deck steps to the left of it way back there?

Sunday June 1, 2008

We finally got the craft room empty about 3pm. Don't think we could have done it without help. (I'm not sharing those pictures!) Mom moved a ton of stuff with her wagon, my friend Kathy helped pack my scrapping stuff one day, and Deb & Larry helped to move my computer to the bedroom temporarily.

Doug then started dismantling all the cupboards I had in there . We'll save them for use in the new house.

Monday morning He was at it before I even got out of bed! First he had to cut the roof apart. When Larry built the addition, he left a space against the house. Turns out it was perfect for us now. Notice there is little damage to the house when it was pulled away. See Olive, she had to check out the addition one more time. She kept going in and out of both.

Notice the kneewalls (slats of wood) under the addition.

Now you see 'em

Now you don't. They had a little slip but by afternoon it was jacked back up and on it's way to the "back 40".

Ok, I guess that's it for now. To read in order next read "New Home Adventures" and the the one after that.

I'll try to keep up with it now.