The fence is done...but oh the bathroom

The summer of the fence is finally over! Last Thursday Bryce got his Grandpa, Dad, Cousin, and Friend to come over and help hang up the double gates, the last part of the fence. It only took about 10 minutes with so much help and it looks beautiful! The dogs were so excited to be free to run around again. Neighbors have walked by honked and waved, given us the thumbs up, and commented on how great it looks!

And while we sat around in the backyard celebrating this huge accomplishment with beer and cigars, Alan (Bryce's Dad) decided to tell Grandpa Gus about our shower. Now the tiles in the shower have been getting soft. We have known for a long time that moisture was behind the wall and it would need replaced. The plan was to remodel the whole bathroom so we were putting off doing the shower until it was necessary. So Grandpa Gus comes in the house and goes into the bathroom to investigate. As he gets close to the shower he slips on the rug and catches himself on the back of the shower. When he pulled his hand away tiles fell. I heard them hit the tub and my stomach sank. By the time I got to the bathroom this is what I saw:

So they decided since all the help was still around to rip out the tile and the wet sheetrock and insulation:

By the time everyone left last Thursday I no longer had a shower. I had to laugh or I would cry. We were not at all prepared for a bathroom remodel, and I was really hoping for some free time after the long fence project. But here we are, continuing the work to the house. As I write this Bryce and his cousin are removing the bathtub. Next week we will be tub and tile shopping. It will be fantastic to have a new shower, but oh the money!!! On a side note, NEVER buy a house without two showers, if I didn't have a shower in the basement I would most certainly be CRYING!

Hanging out to dry

I was able to pull Bryce away from the fence for a few hours to install a post for my clothesline. I bought it last year, its a retractable clothesline with 5 lines. I was thinking about being "green" and wanted to save energy by not using my dryer quite as much, but last summer we couldn't figure out where to put it. As you all know, I had a baby this year. I figured out that it costs somewhere between $2000 and $3000 to diaper a baby in disposable diapers. I also wanted to avoid adding to the landfills with disposable diapers so I convinced Bryce that we were going to give cloth diapers a try (he was totally willing!). We were very spoiled when Bryce's Grandma and Aunt went together and bought us 6 weeks of a diaper service. We added to it and had the diaper service for about 10 weeks. The diaper service dropped off clean cloth diapers and all we had to do was put the dirty ones on the porch once a week and they were magically replaced with clean ones! It was so easy and awesome.

But then we did our budget again and decided that since we had been given many cloth diapers at our baby showers we could easily learn to wash them ourselves. So we cancelled the service and I started doing diapers myself this week. (For anyone who is interested the service costs about $80 a month, this is pretty similar to the cost of disposable diapers so if you were going to do that anyway and you have a diaper service in your area you could choose that instead for the same cost!) In reading about care of your cloth diapers they suggest hanging them to dry, because it saves energy and the sun helps to bleach them out. So Bryce put in my line and it has been working great. It's so fun to go outside and be in the warm air hanging up the diapers. Plus they look so cute on the line!

I remember reading this poem about clotheslines a long time ago and I just found it again today:

The Clothesline Said So Much

A clothesline was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by.

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets

And towels on the line;

You'd see the company table clothes

With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth

To folks who lived inside

As brand new infant clothes were hung

So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed

You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.

It said, "Gone on vacation now"

When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged

With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy gray,

As neighbors raised their brows,

And looked disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past

For dryers make work less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.

It was a friendly sign

When neighbors knew each other best

By what hung on the line!

Author: Marilyn K. Walker

What did you do this weekend? Worked on the fence...

So we continue to work away on the fence. This is becoming the summer of the fence. I'm pretty sure that is most of what we will remember about 2010, Bryce building the fence. He even dreams about it, poor guy. Bryce had to dig out the cement from all the corners but decided to dig new holes so that he didn't have to remove the cement from every post. He dug holes that were somewhere around 4 feet deep, filled them with gravel, and then would get the gravel wet and pack it down. Apparently this is one of the best ways to build a fence, at least it's a little easier than mixing and pouring cement.

Oh look, here's Keely helping with the building of the fence. At least this is as close as I've come all summer, I'm outside while Bryce is working on the fence. I am finishing up the last classes of my Master's degree, this is the first time in my life I have had school in the summer. Summer is a terrible time for school work. Dietrich is there in his bouncy chair being as helpful as can be!

Here are the set posts! I cannot believe how hard Bryce had to work to finish this part of the fence. He heads out right after work and doesn't stop until it's nearly dark. He literally falls asleep while talking to me.
Check out that pile of cement in the dog kennel just from the corner posts. It would have been a pain to remove all the cement from the previous fence.
Taking a break with Thisbe. Oh yeah, talk about fun, not having a fenced back yard and two dogs! Whoo-hoo, the joy, the long walks the dogs need and the short cables they are on while outside. Today Thisbe begged me to let her just lay in the lawn, "see mom, I don't have to go in, I promise I'll lay right here and be good..."
The fence is starting to go up! It's beautiful!

Bryce actually has this entire section done now. It covers up the space where we park the old yellow truck, I'm sure our neighbors appreciate that! Only three sides to go...