View from the Continuous Arm Rocker

It's been raining since we closed on Wednesday. The monsoon conditions are showing us to all of the water problem spots in the house. The issue we (really, he) are tackling first is the issue of sagging, most likely caused by rot, of the first floor beam. Then we will move upstairs and address the problem from that angle. 

Here's a sneak peak at what's happening upstairs.  Andy found this little surprise beneath the kitty-hair infested, weird stained carpeting

 So, I am sitting here in the rocker, enjoying my morning coffee and watching the beam be exposed. It is only 9AM and I already fixed part of the staircase that was making lots of noise so I deserve a little break.

I tightened one of the rickety loose metal bulbs on top of the posts - it's more complicated than it sounds,  I swear.

Watching Andy unwrap the beam from the comfort of this rocking chair is sort of like Christmas morning. Except I do no celebrate Christmas and I do not think I am looking forward to the "presents" this beam is going to surprise us with.

We have brought up enough provisions to be comfortable while we clean and investigate the punkiness of the rot situation. This morning was buckwheat waffles with apple topped with Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike's gift of Canadian maple syrup. There are little pieces of friends and family all around the house that are making it feel like ours...

-Snake plant from my Mom

-Blanket from Peg

-Owl soap dish from Will and Caity

-Salt and Pepper shakers from Wendi

-Ceramic bowl from Josh

-Test tube vase from Grandpa and Grandma

Oh and the fact that Andy is tearing it apart also makes it feel like this place belongs to us!

We are learning a lot from this experience. If I could go back in time and offer one bit of advice to myself it would be: Take your time with the walk through. Do not let the excitement of closing cloud your vision. In hindsight, I know we might have been better served by not rushing the walk through and waiting. Nothing major has cropped up yet, but we quickly learned that the front burners on the stove do not ignite. In our rush, I only checked the back two. What luck! Our buyers agent and the sellers agent both agree this is something the sellers should have disclosed. They offered to buy the replacement pieces for us. It's definitely a nice gesture and we will be grateful for their support but it shouldn't be their responsibility - it might have fallen on the sellers if we had carefully and slowly gone through the house. Lesson learned: take our sweet, sweet time.

We are investigating the CSA up the road later today and I am desperately trying to rally enough dirty clothes to test out our new washing machine. Laundry had never been so appealing. But I will be patient. For now it's time to clean the kitchen.

XO, Sarah