It's been a long time

Yes.  Wilma tells me it's been too long.

It's been winter here.  Winter like we had for the last number of years back in Wheaton.  That is not what we were expecting here in Kentucky.  We had snow on the ground for 6 weeks!  I am so tired of it!  And it snowed again last night - another inch.  I know those of you in Wheaton are saying, "Be glad it is not 5 feet!"

There has been progress on the house, but oh, so slow.  Because of the cold temperatures, our contractor was not able to dig the trench to bury the electric line and get the permanent connection to the house.  So, it is cold inside.  The drywall is actually all done (almost).  They brought in a torpedo heater so they could work and left it on when they left so the mud would dry.  It feels wonderful to walk in from the garage - where it is still a gravel floor, through the doorway - which doesn't have the door in yet, and come into the space.  We love it!  When the sun is shining, it is exactly what we had envisioned.

The explanation for the (almost) above is that the contractor decided not to cut through to Charley & Jackie's house because of having no heat, so there will be a second drywall project.  At that time, they will cut the openings, drywall Jackie's closet, the openings connecting the 2 houses and the bathroom in the upstairs of the existing house which we never finished.

The drywall mudding, of course leaves a lot of dust.  In the basement, we brushed down all the walls and ceilings and then swept and vacuumed.  It warmed up last Saturday to the 50s, so I went ahead and painted primer.  I did the cutting in all the corners and Charley rolled the open spaces  We got about a third of the basement done.  Now it has turned cold again.

Our contractor has been able to get the trench dug, the electrician got it wired up and inspected.  We'll see when the heat gets put in.  Then we will have a marathon painting party.  We still have to clean up the dust upstairs.  That is a big job to brush down all the walls and ceilings.

Bob has been helping Charley with the animals.  Charley had bought some hay, used all of that and now we are getting old hay from a friend for the cost of hauling it away.  His first calf was born last Sunday.  It is a really cute little girl calf.

We are looking forward to spring.  The seed order is here.  As soon as we have heat in the house, I plan to start some seeds.  Charley bought the beginnings of a greenhouse at an auction last fall.  We need to get that built and clean out the small greenhouse they have already.  It has been so cold and dreary that I haven't been able to get out there.  I am excited, (although scared because of my lack of experience), about what we will be able to produce in the garden this year.  Bob has promised to build me 4 more raised beds.

Things should start moving very quickly within the next week.  We'll need to keep things going both in the garden and in the house.  We had hoped to be moved in before the garden season, but we'll have to deal with it.

So, that's how things are for us here in the Bluegrass.