Getting It Done

We may be slow, but little by little we are getting this place fixed up.  Spent the day yesterday mowing, pulling weeds and watering while my husband did some tree and brush trimming.  This time of year everything grows fast and we need to do a whole lot more in the way of cleaning and trimming brush.  I have been concentrating on getting things planted to produce food, my orchard is almost set...I had a peach tree die, so I will probably replace it...maybe when they go on clearance?  Still have a lot of planting to do in the garden too.  Maybe I can get that done in the next couple of days.  I have been doctoring roosters for the past two months, but I am about ready to send them back out to the yard.  I really need to power wash my house and the back porch needs to be cleaned off badly.  But, we are working on remodeling the master bath too.  

Today we actually got the shower pan poured.  Ok, maybe poured is not the correct terminology.  I guess it was more like shoveling large blobs of the mortar in the form and smashing it into place...then trying to smooth it out.  That sounds more like it.  My husband mixed it and shoveled it in, and I moved it and tamped it down and smoothed it.  We haven’t ever done it before so hopefully we did a good job.  We have done a lot more than just that, but that is what we did today.  It is just a small piece of the bathroom remodel that has been happening since October maybe?  Yeah, things kind of expanded...problems found and fixed and we are finally getting things closed up.  My bathroom was so cold, hopefully once everything is complete, I won’t freeze to death taking a shower anymore.  We removed the non-working jetted tub and redid all the plumbing in the wall.  We will be actually attaching the toilet to the floor after I tile.  I got metal legs to make an Industrial looking vanity, and we are going to use a piece of Walnut butcher block left over from the kitchen remodel on top.  We are installing a vessel sink and new fixtures and such too.  When I have time and we finish it up I will post pictures.  We are upgrading the floor from vinyl to tile too.  I have never tiled a shower surround, but there is a first time for everything.  They just put some kind of fake wallboard up to begin with and it was falling apart too.  Nothing like living with that nasty bathroom for five years, but it is changing...but because of other issues, the other two are getting something of a facelift too.  We just want to get ours finished before we start working on them.  Plumbing issues are getting fixed, so all are getting new ceramic flooring, some new fixtures and paint after the walls are repaired.

Yep, a lot of it we are attempting to learn and do on our own.  We didn’t count on having to do three bathrooms at once.  But, it is what it is.  I just need to get ours done before the garden starts producing and canning season is in full force.  Just not enough time in the day sometimes.  I am thankful my husband will eat a sandwich or hotdogs or a premade frozen pizza, because gourmet cooking will not be happening for awhile.  

In the mean time, I have to finish my drainage project too.  I have only done one French drain that is about 20 feet long and dug trenches for more.  But, because I didn’t get the pipes in the trenches...I will have to redig them a bit, then a drainage pipe I was going to attach them to collapsed...so I need to dig it out and replace it too...I need materials.  I also found a bunch of cinderblocks and paving stones on a sale site and need to build a retaining wall and fix some coop foundations too.  So, if I don’t write again for awhile...it. Is because I have so many projects to do.  We are not rich...so we tackle everything ourselves.  A lot of the time I am working by myself and this old body of mine ain’t what she use to be.

On a wonderful note...my grapevines that I transplanted are growing.  I was afraid I might have killed them.  We used cattle panels this time for them to climb on, I think they will last a long time.  You can’t cut through cattle panels with a weed eater string like you can with 2”x4” welded wire fencing.  Three of the rose bushes I planted have bloomed too.  So I got to do a little to pretty up the place some...they smell good too!  I have peaches, pears, apples, plums and blueberries growing...and have harvested some strawberries already.  I need to stake some of the fruit trees I planted, but my little orchard is doing good and starting to produce.  Even the wild plums I transplanted three years ago have lots of plums on them now.

I am happy, I feel like our hard work is starting to pay off.  We still have a long way to go and I am still behind on a lot of chores, but...tomorrow is another day.