UNLE GUIDO MOCKS MY TRASH CAN IDEA

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Well it's New Years Eve. I woke up this morning with what I thought was a tremendous idea.
When we dig the footings, we can store all of the dirt in big wheelie trash cans!

I ran down stairs proclaiming this grand scheme to Uncle G.

"Dusty, Are youa nuts! You gotta' no idea how much 20a cubics feets is...rocks...itsa heavy...busta the wheel...trash can money inathe toilet...then we gotta' throwa the cans away...rocks and dirt... theya still onna da' ground! We gotta' putta dem rocks inna garage and dirt inna da garden!"

Pictured above is a 12'x5'x4' pile in the garage now It's from just the window and six concrete blocks. There are six more to break out!
....+ those two little bumps that stick off the back of the house!
YIKES.
Dusty had no idea.

It had been suggested by someone claiming not to be an insensitive jerk...CARL...that I should probably say good-bye to my Garden expectations this Spring/Summer. We will be moving about 20 cubic yards of concrete and dirt from the addition area. Until we secure a dumpster, much of the dirt will be piled up on top of what used to be this.
:(
The reason I bought the house was this garden!

This isn't my best garden shot...but I'm sure I'll have to dig some up if I get depressed if my Peonies or Butterfly bush buy the farm. I spent the day digging up all of the blue and yellow Iris's, heirloom Daffodils and a Rose bush or two that I was worried about losing forever. Those Irises smell like grape candy and are incredible. I spammed my neighbors yard with them. They rule and I hope they will be pleasantly surprised in Spring.


The other new plan is there's talk of an atruium...with 2nd floor bedroom overlooking it.
Still not clear on Carl and Guido's ultimate vision enough to explain it here and now...but it means more light, no dead space and more plants! Dusty is thrilled.


There were nothing but blue skies when Uncle G. put up the scaffolding yesterday. He and Carl worked on the back window....beefing things up structurally. (Drawing plans for the "atrium" on the wall.)


Carl discovered that most of the bricks in the wall were now sand.
Good to know!
They replaced them with bricks that made up part of my garden bric-a-brac path.
A far more useful occupation for a brick.


This is where we are now.
It started snowing, so it was a good excuse to call quittin' time and work inside awhile.
We'll move more rocks and dirt tomorrow...Judy's meatloaf and mashed potatoes for New Years dinner tonight!!!

Grace Jones Gets Real Mad!

Well, Uncle Guido went back to his mountain lair to re-charge and gather more building supplies. (We were glad that he spent the afternoon with his children and grandson at Grammy T's!) I finally finished staining and sealing the shelves and gilding the wall behind it. The shelves RULE. Carl began organizing the vacation book shrine...important stuff!




The big excitement for the day was when Grace Jones (the cat) escaped from the coal shoot. She climbed up a four foot passage and pushed a heavy chunk of plywood off of the broken window of last post. Carl and I stood in amazement as she pushed and squeaked out. Carl began breaking up the concrete in the yard and it was apparently irresistible to the every cat in the neighborhood. There are about five that live out back and Grace Jones is keen on securing the perimeter. I think she wants to be pals with this little faced cat. Little Face is very likely Grace's wayward sister's kid.



Needless to say, she was pissed when captured and returned to the house.



We cleaned out the basement...again. I must stop my Collier-like collecting! Carl re-wired the living room for sight and sound. We ended the day with cherry glazed pork chops, mac and cheese and Brussels sprouts with apples and onions. Sorry you missed this one Uncle Guido!
We'll eat the rest for lunch tomorrow when you get back!!!




PORK CHOP SANDWICHES!!!

Everyone Should Have an Uncle Guido!

So...I am the "artsy-fartsy niece of Uncle Guido...call me Dusty! Uncle Guido was going to help Carl and me fix up the bathroom. We picked out the tub of our dreams and Uncle Guido was quick to shatter them. He scolded us for putting 10lbs of good $#%T in a one pound bag. Uncle Guido can be very persuasive. We were on our way to building a ten foot addition to the back of the first and second floor...making for plenty of soaking room! This tub is going into a 9'x12' room instead of a 5'x5'.


It will be well worth the work and wait ... a dream in a bigger space.

Guido has taken my dearest Carl under his wing. Here he is with "oneathethings thisa boy has abuilte inathe garage." For a clearer picture go here!





Our first casualty happened today during a closet demolition. While happily tossing lumber out of the second floor window, one of the projectiles rebelled and crashed through the basement window. Carl was secretly pleased. Guido started looking for his hard hat. (Guido was also seen in several other locations...he donned his cape and flew to my sister's place to fix a circuit breaker and has been painting his daughter Carmella's kitchen.) How does he do it???
I need a nap!




Carl built some sweet shelves in the living room. I've been working on sanding and painting, dusting, packing debris and of course feeding the crew.




So far it's been two weeks. Uncle Guido's expert plans have been submitted to the city and we wait. In the meantime, he and Carl built a wall, knocked out a bunch of plaster, fixed drippy broken faucets, fixed plugs, and mapped out some future fixture spots. There's already a ton of rubble and we've barely started. I will be dusty for quite some time!

What we're a gonna do

Hi everyabody. This is Uncle Guido and I'm a the one who a gonna build my crazy artsya fartsya niece a new bathroom. Now the crazy girl, she wants to put a glass roof on the bathroom so her plants they willa grow nice and tall.  This is why contractors theya acta so grumpy alla the time.  Anda not only that, now I gotta train hera loverboy how to do something useful.  He'sa gonna be my assistant on this ajob.  You shoulda see the crazy things thisa boy has abuilt. One of them isa inthe garage and I'ma not sure what it'sa supposed to be.  well thisa should be a fun job.