We have a basement!

It may not be dry yet, but there's insulation under that concrete!

It's looking like a house!

Although we knew that roofing & siding were in process, nothing prepared us for this sight:

We are so excited; this means we are rebuilding and not just demolishing!  That's HardiePlank on its way up, preprimed.  This will NOT be the new color of the house (stay tuned for that revelation).

Mandibular Mystery

So, when we returned from California, the house update during our absence included, "we found some kind of jawbone in the basement".  Of course, we were curious, and brought the jawbone and other skull bones home.  Definitely not human:

Look at those molars:

Here's all the rest:

We looked online and believe it may be from some type of herbivore (did you know that cows do not have upper incisors?).  Jen contacted the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and hopefully we'll have an answer sooner than later.  We'll keep you updated, but a pretty interesting finding, nonetheless.

Howdy, Strangers!

Well, then, that's been an absence!  We've been busy with house things; apologies for the absence, for those who are reading.

So, when we last left off, we had no electric, apple trees that were overtaking the backyard, large holes in the burnt roof, siding that was charred... you get the picture.  A disaster.  Trees are trimmed, we have electric, the roof and gables are restored, a semi-truck full of foam board was delivered and unloaded, the new roof is going on, the siding is stripped, the house is now insulated and wrapped (twice), and the interior framing is almost complete. Plus, we've been working, raising kids, and took a trip to San Francisco, in addition to house stuff.

Over the next few entries, we'll be discussing decisions, such as insulating, window decisions, and furnace choices, plus historic house colors.  Much to come, much to come...

More discoveries

Well, we found more fun stuff at the house yesterday.

First, despite a site visit that OK'd the electric hook-up, if your apple trees are overtaking your lines, you will not have electrical hook-up.

We learned that apples from said tree are quite tasty.

Next, it appears there was a 15' x 15' ft structure in the backyard, whose foundation remains. We now have patio placement! (plus bricks)

We discovered that insulating this beast will be more challenging than first thought due to all the decorative trim; hopefully our choices will lead to improved and economical DERs elsewhere.

We found sitting on the porch overlooking the park (with pleasant breezes blowing) is quite delightful.

We also learned that that the port-a-potty is quite handy.

Lastly, the nastly-appearing shrub is evidently a lilac who needs a sound pruning. Unfortunately, that will wait until the fall and its sweet-smelling blooms.