How Do You Eat an Elephant?

Answer: One bite at a time. That phrase has become my prompt to just keep chipping away, little by little. A procrastinator at heart...learning to break big tasks down into smaller and get over the all or nothing attitude I have has taken some real effort!

It has been a productive last few days. Saturday, Rich and Steve spent hours trying to hang the original shed door in the new shed section. They couldn't get it to work because the door opened out and there was a rise in the concrete. The door kept getting jammed. After hours, they gave it up and threatened to throw that door away! Instead we used it in the shed attic as flooring (LOL...it was a homemade door out of plywood). Steve decided we were back to buying a door which he did, and he and Rich learned how to install an exterior door last night. It looks great. The shed just needs externally panelling now, trim, and water sealant-then we can get some of this stuff out of the house and store it out there!

Next, they headed indoors for the fireplace. Rich was so worried Steve was going to take that down without him! We all donned masks and went to work on it. We weren't sure what we were going to find behind there. What we did find was panelling, a window, a left over curtain hook still mounted on the window, and lots of evidence of rodent activity. Steve and Rich took it down one brick at a time so we could save some of the brick. Doreen and I cleaned mortar off the brick and stacked those up. It isn't completely down yet, but will be by this weekend.

We have a call into a roofer, a contractor, and a plumber. The roof has to be repaired where the chimney is, we need help with windows, and need a plumber to take out the gas line to the fireplace. After that...we are ready to rebuild!

It has been moving so slow, but now that we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel...I am hopeful life will return to normalcy around here!