Day 4 -- The Filthy Outdoors

Not much to report today. 

After work, Joey went to his job interview and got the job!! We are so excited!!  It’s with the Kirby Company selling modular homes.  It’s much different from the steak house, this one is not door to door- people set up appointments and it is base pay and commission.  Finally we can get the walls in this place torn down and redone.

Upon returning home, Joey went to the food store and I went to work on the yard.  I filled two wheel barrels and a large trash can, raked the leaves/ trash wrappers and pulled the old, dead plants and weeds from the gardens.

I met one of our neighbors and he suggested that we rent a dumpster.  The park owner suggested it and we didn’t think we needed it but we might if the old owner doesn’t want the stuff in the shed.  I hope she makes up her mind soon because I need to clean out what will be our bedroom so we can put the walls up.

Well, I’m going to finish my late dinner, watch some TV and go to bed… I’m so sleepy!!

 

Enjoy these before and after photos-- I worked my butt off!!!

Day 3 -- I almost die, Joey wishes he completely lost his smell

So you’d think that after working 8 hours that time at home would be uneventful…WRONG!!  After stopping at my parent’s house for mail and bouncing ideas off my dad I picked up Joey in Manchester and headed home.  Upon returning to our lovely home we instantly got to work. 

We started on the corner with the two trash cans.  Gosh, they smelled so bad!!  I thought that this spot would make a fabulous flower garden so we decided to tear out the small, strange, bent tree and the other weeds and greenery that was sitting under the enormous pile of trash.   

We began by getting all the big stuff; strange metal poles of various lengths, colors, widths, and shapes, some kind thick moldy tarp, a ton and a half of every kind of wrapper out there, New Hampshire state license plates (the second set found so far), and two very full trash cans… oh let us talk about the trash cans.  I’d get a vomit bag if I were you—oh yes I’m gonna go there.  Don’t stop reading though because as good of a picture I will attempt to create just remember—you didn’t smell it in person!! 

These trash cans were full of the obvious as well as a half full large bag of dog food and bags of dirt.  Why the dirt wasn’t just thrown on the floor the world may never know.  Now close your eyes and let’s imagine – no peaking—let’s picture the above mentioned trash cans.  Now let them sit in the sun for many moons.  Now let’s add water to each can, about half full each.  Now let them, once again, sit in the sun for another undetermined amount of time.  Let’s add in the aroma; old trash mixed with lots of dirty diapers, in a small enclosed area.  The smell almost made both of us revisit our lunches; Joey barely has a sense of smell so if it was so overwhelming to make him sick for the rest of us it was 10 times worse. 

After getting rid of three full wheel barrels and two trash cans we raked out the whole area, pulled all the weeds and the aforementioned tree, oh yeah and threw away one of Joey’s work gloves because there was a Brown Recluse on it (with my hand still in it) we filled one more box and called it a day around 7:30pm – or so we thought. 

We got back inside and I began to pet my Lady and noticed the little black bugs.  OMFG ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!  I then checked Buddy because he is blonde and he had a few also.  So now my two cats and dog are no longer speaking to Joey or myself because they all got baths.  Babygirl and Lady dried off pretty quickly but Buddy is still wet and it has been almost an hour.  It’s kind of funny though because Buddy shakes his little feet every time he takes a step. 

Well, I’m beat!  Joey is already in bed; I think I’m gonna get some Lucky Charms, finish an episode or two of Roseanne and go to bed myself. 

Goodnight all!!

Day 2 -- Bleaching the kitchen and part of the porch

So we got up pretty early today (6:30am) and got right to work.  It seems that this previous owner has a dog, bunny, and a couple of ferrets.  Apparently the ferrets lived in an open cage on the KITCHEN COUNTER.  She also said that she would be back for her couch and recliner on Monday (tomorrow) because she ran out of room in her box filled apartment.  Since we will not be home tomorrow I told her we would put them on the porch.

Joey immediately got to work on the porch.  There was literally a mountain of poop and also a small pile of hay along with tools, toys, wire bathroom things, a couple of old recliners, a 300 year old dishwasher, and most likely everything else in the free world on said porch.  There was even a rug under it all so some of the rug got torn up today and the wood was scrubbed with bleach water.  He got about half of it done when he had to stop because the park’s dumpster got pretty full.  The rest will get done as soon as the dumpster empties.

*there is actually one more picture but I couldn't get it to load*

I, on the other hand, require a sanitary kitchen (I know I’m a freak, right?).  Every counter was full of ferret poop, cabinet doors coming off the hinges (some of the doors missing), the freezer works but the fridge is broken with mold and dead flies caked inside (not to worry, my dad has an extra one in his garage he is letting me have), and the portable dishwasher is broken and caked with mold.  The floors have rabbit and ferret poop all over, oh and the cabinets still had some of her dishes in them with dead flies and dead spiders all over.  All along the celling corners was covered with daddy long leg spiders along with their webs same with underside of the breakfast bar.  Food 2 or 3 years expired.

I bleached every inch of that kitchen, literally floor to walls to ceiling.  I can still smell a faint whiff of poop so I think either the bunny must have gotten under the broken cabinet or the smell is permanently embedded in the wood.  Either way, the kitchen is the very first thing that is getting gutted so I will try not to stress to bad about it.

When Joey stopped doing the porch he helped me start the living room and got the TV set up while I set up my desk top computer.  Dish Network won’t be called for at least another week or two so just the DVD player and HDMI got set up.

I have plans going on in my head for when we gut the kitchen… what do you think?

I currently hate the layout and can’t wait to change it.  Taking out the bar will make it look so much bigger. 

Oh and, my dad and I were talking on the phone today about whether or not to reinforce this wall or that, this floor or that he said “don’t throw away those tools she left on the porch, I’ll need them when I come up to fix everything.”  I told him not to worry about fixing my place and to worry about the projects at his own house but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  “I wanna get under it and check the floor and I wanna get in the roof crawl space and check for rodents and we need to get those windows fixed before the winter.”  I was in shock and really didn’t expect him to say such things.  It is really exciting that we will have daddy/daughter time together.  Anyways, I digress. 

After doing all this cleaning it makes me wonder how someone can live in such squalor.  It looks like no one has lived here in years but she has for about 2 with her ex-husband.  She is currently about a month pregnant and I grow concerned for her and her baby’s health.  Let’s just hope she gets better with her cleaning.

We did so much today and we are both exhausted!! Can’t wait for the days to come: demolition, construction, cookouts with family, and just having a good time.

Oh yeah… and after doing so much bleach cleaning today most of the flies and spiders are gone!!

Day 1 -- Moving Day

Okay; so I’m not the blog writing type but I thought it would be interesting to keep log of the misadventures of fixing up a run down home while living in it.  Well… here it goes. 

About a month ago, I bought a mobile home for $5000 from a young girl who is recently pregnant and divorced.  After the monthly loan and land rental fee I will be saving about $200 a month to own my own home.  I know what you’re thinking “ARE YOU INSANE!?!?”  The answer is probably. 

 

Our new home is just under 700 square feet (I think 680 actually) has two bedrooms, a bathroom with laundry, and of course a living room and kitchen. 

Yesterday was moving day and it was great!!  With the help of my parents, Uncle Jack, Rodney, George, two SUVs, a minivan, and a 17 foot truck we made it all in one trip.  It took all day and had to dodge the psycho lady that use to live above me (she wouldn’t leave us alone the WHOLE TIME!!!) but it got done.  I got a bunch of emails from the girl I bought the place from and she said that she’d pay us $50 if we cleaned out the porch for her.  “Throw it out or keep it, I don’t care” I’m thinking sweet deal and instantly agree.

We finally get to beautiful Hillsborough and I got super stressed out.  My parents and uncle get really nervous about the place (as they should because worrying is what family does and that is okay) because… well… it needs A LOT of work; that and I’m the type of person that will clean for a week just because my mom is making a quick trip over for tea and cookies.  After pizza, I finally de-stress and things move along.

Joey found his computer first and put a DVD of the Simpsons in it for us to fall asleep to.  The entire time I keep thinking that the volume is up very loud and kept turning it down until I remembered that my home is no longer attached to anyone else’s so up the volume went.  It was pretty tough to sleep because it doesn’t feel or smell like home just yet but that will soon change.

                                                                                                        *Back (ignore the mess)*
*Front*