HFM

I am very happy (and relieved) to report that Week 15's misery stayed in Week 15, and Week 16 brought huge progress! Monday They started rebuilding the walls upstairs on Monday: They also put in the heavy duty structural pieces that will allow us to have the wide pass-through in the kitchen: And the uninterrupted 12-foot opening downstairs: They also made progress on the south wall downstairs: Tuesday  The south wall upstairs went up: As did the west wall, where the windows will go: And speaking of windows, they arrived on Tuesday: Wednesday Wednesday was a little rainy, so I think that slowed things down a bit, but they still made progress. Here's half the framing for the roof: Thursday When we got home on Thursday, we were greeted by the most wonderful sight: a completed roof! They also framed the low wall that the countertop will go on -- that's it, there on the right, in the foreground. Progress was made on the north wall downstairs: And here is a shot of how the shear ...

This was a dark week on Mars. Perhaps the longest week ever. It started last Sunday, when I turned on the heat for a few minutes to take the chill out of the house, & neglected to remove a candle that had been set on top of the heater. The wax dripped into the heater & caught fire -- we were quick on our feet & put it out, but the fire department came to check everything out, & the entire affair was both horribly scary & horribly mortifying. But no damage to anything except my pride, so all's well that ends well. Getting the heater cleaned out on Tuesday turned out to be complicated, however -- the heating contractor wouldn't proceed with the job because he felt that the old flue was a carbon monoxide risk, & said that it needed to be replaced before he did the cleaning & left us to our own devices. So, that's going on Mr. Bunkport's list, which means we're without heat for...well, some time, because floors, walls, & the washing machi...