Driveway Before Pics

I figured I'd post some Before photos of the driveway in anticipation of it being repaired in a few days.  To me this will be a long time coming as the driveway was already lifting when we moved here 11+ years ago.

We had the tree that was causing all the issues (and was dying) taken out several months ago.
The ground level stump is all that remains and they said they'd take care of this too.

Addition Day 10

No work was done this weekend but today was the last of the rebar to go down.  Now we're just waiting for inspection and then the concrete can be poured.  I'm just about equally excited about getting our driveway repaired too!  LOL

Here's pictures of today's work.

Addition - Day 9

TGIF ! 

Today was rebar setting. The pictures show mostly tarps.  They have a little more rebar to set in place. 

Addition - Day 8

Today the foundation crew got the rest of the sand bagging done and the rest of the forms for the foundation up too.  The need to place the rebar down then get it inspected right before pouring the concrete.  Tomorrow is rebar placement but likely not inspection too but I'm not sure.

I'm excited about getting the concrete poured for 2 reasons.  One is of course progress on the addition but the other is we are finally getting our driveway fixed while they are here.  This is separate from the addition but it will be really nice to get the tree stump pulled and driveway all fixed and smooth again. 

Here's today's end of day pictures

Addition - Day 7

Well I'm not going to count the days that nothing gets done.  Sunday no one worked on the addition. Well after all it is the day of rest. :)

Yesterday, the concrete crew arrived really early as I was headed out for my walk before 7:00AM and they were getting out of their trucks already.  I was impressed!  It wasn't even really light out yet as the one guy had a flash light in his hands.

By the time I got back from my first walk to get one of the fur kids, they were gone.  Turns out they only came to get their tools and head out to another job.  So no one did anything yesterday.  I got in touch with our contractor and he said the plumber had to get a permit and put some piping in before the concrete was poured and also had to be inspected.  Who knows when that would be.

Well turns out the plumbing company came out today and put the piping in.  I'm so glad! When I hear the word permit I think we'll have to wait a while again.  Hopefully the inspector will be out tomorrow and pass it so that they can pour the concrete Thursday.  We're also getting the driveway fixed so I'll take some pictures of that too.  That is a totally separate 'job' but our contractor suggested getting it done at same time as foundation to be the most cost effective (and savings). 

Here's today's pictures.

Addition - Day 6

There was more work done today even on a Saturday :)

I decided to take an aerial view from the balcony for a different perspective. This is looking over the left side of our balcony.  Pretty neat huh? 

Addition - Day 5 (Friday)

Forgot to post the pictures of yesterday.  All these sand bags are formed by the workers to build up the base of the foundation. Yes a truck dumps a huge load of sand and then these men fill the bags.  I'm sure it is a lot cheaper that way than purchasing a ton of already made sand bags. Once it is all sand bagged and forms inserted and secured they'll be able to pour the concrete.  I think they said that should be Tuesday.  They are here today too. :)  Here's yesterday's pictures.

Addition - Day 4

The sun decided to finally come out today! :)   So the crew was there today working hard.  Unfortunately there are some pretty deep ruts in the front yard from where the heavy truck loaded with stones had some trouble getting in and out.  The ground is so saturated that we were not surprised.  I'm not sweating it.  Hopefully they'll address it when they are done.  I just want the addition done and if we waited until it was dry and the ground all hard again it would be days wasted. :)

Here's today's pictures.

Addition - Day 3

We got tons of rain last night (I think over 3 inches) and so the guys did not come today but I'm not surprised.  It was really soaking wet and still raining this morning until about 10 AM.  So no pictures today.

On another note the LAST Fever series book arrived yesterday and I'm excited to read it along with the oldest.  I've only read a few chapters but it is going to be a good one, and hard to put down!

We are going to start to try to clear out a few rooms at moms that are not in use, like my dad's bedroom and another spare bedroom.  Hubby thinks he has someone interested in dad's bedroom furniture which is mid century modern according to my hubby and we've taken some pictures to show him.  The plan is to get all the furniture in the garage so that mom won't feel intruded upon so if anyone buys anything it will be done from the garage with my hubby present. 

Tomorrow it should be sunny and dry and may actually get up to 70 ish degrees out. So hopefully the crew will come and continue to put the forms for the foundation up.  Fingers crossed!

How about a cute picture?  I JUST took this of Merlin :)

Addition - Day 2

Even though it rained most of the day, the crew was hard at work today.  They would just duck under our front porch when it really poured.  A couple times I thought they might knock on the door and tell us they were giving up, but they never did.  I was very impressed!

Here's 4 more photos taken after they all left.

Addition - Day 1

I thought it'd be fun to post some pictures as this addition is being built. 
I didn't take any of the side or yard pre-start but here are a few pictures of this morning and then the final is how it looks now.  Looks like set for some pretty serious work! :)  Woo hoo!!

We did find out an interesting fact too today. Originally when the foundation for the house was poured the living room was not recessed, it was the floor level. But then they added 6 inches of concrete for the rest of the 1st floor, kitchen, etc.  So the step down into the living room was not a after thought but how it was originally done.  Weird!  They actually determined that as we still had the blue prints that the sellers gave to us when the house was built back in 1982.  This small hole they cut out is where they saw the two different concrete lines.

Here is the photo at the end of the day

What a difference a day makes

Although Friday didn't start out great it ended up terrific.  The builder FINALLY  got the permit to start our addition and they are starting tomorrow.  Yippee!!  It is projected to take 45 days, maybe more depending on inspections, weather, etc.  But hey at least it is moving forward.  Mom is so thrilled! 

I also got a call from my vet's office on Merlin's biopsies. Neither of the biopsies from the 2 lumps contain any cancerous cells!  That was wonderful news!!  They are not positive what they are, but we will just keep an eye on them.  If they start to grown rapidly or bleed we will call her.   Our experience with things that our dogs got in the past ended up never being good news. So this is a welcomed outcome for once.  Obi had progressive bone cancer, Kaci was having severe renal failure, etc. So hopefully Merlin will be around for a few years yet.

I have worked some this weekend but not the entire time so there is some relaxation time too.
There is a chance for some severe storms tonight of course around 3:00AM.  I think based on the weather forecast from last night's news,  the chance is slightly less than it was the night before, so hopefully it won't be bad.  There was a tornado touch down in Walburg (where we take our cars to get inspected), just the other day so hopefully all will be fine.

Friday the 13th

Well this day is starting out not wonderfully, but hey at least it is Friday.

Going to write a quick one here before starting work.  I was going to go for my walk this morning but it is raining so that didn't happen.  It isn't that I'll melt in the rain but I'd just rather not walk in the rain. Even with an umbrella, my legs get soaked and so I'll pass.

We have been wanting to make one of the bedrooms upstairs into a music room (yes, Stac already knows about it and has gotten over it as it used to be her bedroom).  Anyway we got someone hubby knows to re paint (popcorn) the ceiling to finally cover the water stains that got there years ago when we had a leaky roof. 

I had ordered a rug from Rugs Direct to put up there as the berber carpet in that room is over 30 years and hubby's back isn't good enough yet to replace it with laminates.  We had that rug totally wrapped up since getting it the end of November. Anyway, when we went to unroll it, there was a mold smell and hubby noticed that it had gotten wet on the edges, who knows when but ugh.  He tried spraying it with vinegar, and then yesterday laid it out.  Last night we opened the door and the room stunk!!  It is too late to send it back or get a refund either as it was over 30 days. 

So first thing this morning, we rolled it up and taped it and it is on the back balcony.  Hubby is just going to cut it up gradually for the trash.  What a waste!  I went ahead and cancelled the order for the rug in the living room that had actually been on back order since August!  We never had a problem with other rugs we got but not taking another chance.  I don't think the damage to the rug was our fault, just because we didn't open it for so long. If it was sealed when dry, etc., that shouldn't matter that we waited until January to open it.

So off to make it a better day!  I'll just take my walk tomorrow and we're going to just check locally for a new rug for the living room and put that one up in the music room. 

Hump Day

This week has seemed to really drag!!!  Has it for you too?
Maybe it is coming off all the holidays, I don't know.  I can't wait for this week to be over.

Not a whole lot is new.  Still no word on the building permits for our addition.
Mom turned 90 yesterday.  I so wanted her moved in by her birthday.  :-(

I got my stitches out Monday from the 2 biopsies. So I'm good for about 6 months now.
I really don't go out in the sun much at all and when I know I'll be out a while, I do put sunscreen on. We'll see how my next appointment goes.  At least it isn't for a while yet.

We took Merlin (our blue merle sheltie) to the vet today.  Hubby noticed a lump a few weeks ago that unfortunately is growing a little. I found another small one last week.  Today the Vet took a little out with a needle and is sending it away as she thinks it may be more than just something a kin to boils which she thought at first it may be.  She also felt another one on his stomach.  I have my fingers crossed it is not that terrible "C" word.  Merlin will be 10 in May.  He's a really handsome guy.

Could use a prayer for this sweet boy.  We're really not ready to lose another one yet.  ..Is anyone ever ready??...

Monday off!

Today since I had the day off, hubby and I decided to head down to the Round Rock Antique mall to have a look around.  It was a fun time and we also ate lunch at Outback which was unplanned but by the time we headed out from the mall it was close to 2:00PM.  We hadn't eaten there in a long time, maybe 5 years?  I had shrimp on the barbie but it wasn't as good as I remember. They either changed the recipe or something, who knows.  But it was still nice for an unplanned lunch out. My salad and the cheese fries and iced tea were good so that makes up for the okay shrimp. I was going to get a blooming onion but hubby doesn't eat onions (among many other things) and I didn't want to make that my meal nor have more than half of it to take home.  I don't know how well that is as a heated up leftover.

At the antique mall they have lots of booths with all sorts of antique and vintage things.  We stopped at a booth where there was a HUGE dog made of cast iron and I got hubby to snap a few shots.  It think it was going for $3500.  I am on one knee and was wearing my floor length gray lularoe skirt so I know the picture looks a little weird but that is why.

When we were at one booth I saw a really cute table with a thick slate top.  It had been hand painted at some point but hubby assured me it was an antique, not that I cared. The price was only $25!! So I got it and it is now my work space table next to my desk here in my office (had a rickety Texas themed shelving unit there before).  I love this!!