Monday, April 20, 2009

House- Day 1: not great weather

Well, closing went smoothly and the property is now ours.  YEAH!!! We made the trip to Lowe's but didn't place the big orders yet.  We decided to get a better idea of what we're up against.  I really wanted to get out and get digging but the weather didn't cooperate with me.  It was low 40's with passing squalls of rain and/or sleet.
The view to the North with an approaching storm.
Every time I went outside to see what I could get done it started raining on me.  Luckily, while it rained off and on all day, it never rained so much that it got too wet so hopefully the weather will behave tomorrow and I can get my strawberries planted.
Can this become a strawberry bed????

Can this become a garden?????
Since the weather didn't cooperate with outside work I did get some work done inside.  I vacuumed the kitchen drawers to get out the mouse poop (we set some traps before we left).  We have discovered, much to our dismay, that the mouse problem is probably bigger than we had thought.  It's a good thing that we were planning to essentially gut the basement since we found that mice have been living above the ceiling panels in the basement.  The mud sill is so poorly sealed that the mice have easy access so sealing the house is one of our first priorities.
I did get the boys' bedrooms taped off to paint.  They are the rooms that need the least work so they will become the repository of boxes when we start to move out.  I want to get the mouse problem more under control before we start moving too many belongings.

The previous owners only 'kind of' painted the walls

The windows also need lots of work.

J14 works on demolition.
When the children got off school, we brought them out and started demolition of the basement.  They actually had fun taking off the trim molding.  This was when we discovered how bad the mouse problem is.  I'm hoping (probably vainly) that since there hasn't been anyone there and the food supply has dwindled, that there aren't that many left.  V did find a long dead family in the air intake of the furnace.
We're going to make sure we take down the ceilings when the children aren't there and we plan to wear masks and such when we're working in the really mousey areas.  We set 4 traps when we left, I'll see how many are full in the morning.
Now, it's time for bed,  I've had a full day and tomorrow will be even busier.

16 comments:

  1. Oh, do wear masks, mice can carry some nasties!
    N95 is what's recommended, along with spraying the area down with a weak bleach solution before sweeping.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on the closing! I imagine getting rid of the mice won't be very pleasant. yuk. It's nice that the kids got to help with some of the demolition - being as kids love to tear things apart! lol Good luck tomorrow!...debbie

    ReplyDelete
  3. congrats! I'll bet it feels great!! :) Have fun eliminating the mice, I can't even figure out where they're getting in at our place. They can get into the bottom drawer of my cedar chest though :( we foudn a nest there and they shredded my 4H stuff from when I was a kid to make it! GRRRR!!! Kill all mice!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations! So glad that you were able to close and have a chance to now start to make the house your own. Blah weather for the first day though, that doesn't help. Be careful with the mice! I hope the traps and the demolition gets them flushed out and then removed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on finally getting in! As for the mice, good luck with that! I've yet to see a country house that doesn't have mice. Its just a fact. But, you'll learn where they come in from, and can at least catch up with them. Its usually just bad in the fall when they are looking for a place for winter. My husband jokingly calls his winter mousing "running the trap lines". LOL

    ReplyDelete
  6. I see a lot of potential in the new place. I can't wait to see you let it out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh wow! It's just like yesterday that you were making an appointment with the banks and now! NOW you are closed and marching into the future!! How exciting!! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on the closing and getting to get to work on your new place. These are some exciting and exhausting days, my friend. Be careful not to overdo it! :) Take Care and thanks for keeping us up to date.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh congrats on the closing and getting some work in! It'll be so wonderfully exhausting for you - take care!
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on the new place! Also for the mouse problem you can get a cat or two (males so you don't have to worry about babies) if they get out.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So exciting! I can't wait to see the transformation!

    ReplyDelete
  12. WAY TO GO! I am so very excited for you. You will have to find yourself a good mouser!! Kris

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Judy, it's been awhile since I've visited, but congrats on the closing!

    Love the pics, and I know you will be able to tackle the mouse problem :) And what wonderful outdoor space!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That was one quick closing! Congratulations on your new home. How about a cat to get the mice out? You could always utilize the cat in a barn later.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks all for the mousey advice. Of the 4 traps we set, we didn't get anything. I'm hoping that most of them have moved back out to the fields. We're planning to be very careful with the demolition and clean up. And, yes, a cat is in the future. J14 has been lobbying for one for weeks but we'll probably wait until we finish most of the construction. I wouldn't want it to get lost or hurt in the process. We'll also have to be very careful introducing it to the dog. He will most likely think it is a new chew toy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congrats!!!!!

    You may be right on the mouse move. They do tend to swarm and rapidly reproduce when places first get vacant, then dwindle just as fast when they reach overload. Not pleasant at all. Usually a significant problem is preventing their return when they see the food source is coming back.

    Great pictures too. Have fun out there. :)

    ReplyDelete

Glad you stopped in. I would love to hear from you.