Christmas, Gertie, and Our House

Okay, time to show you our house.  I have been very careful in the past three years not to show too much of it, because, you see, our kids think we're nuts for living here.  I'm not so sure Keith's parents don't, too... and I KNOW my sister did.

The thing is... Keith and I are satisfied and happy here, and that's all that matters.  It's someone else's problem when we are gone.

We have had various discussions about this house.  Keith built a gorgeous deck for the front of it... and began to build what we would have used as a three seasons room on the west side, the dusty, road-side of the house.  That stopped when we realized there was going to be a problem with the roof and it was dismantled, except for half of the decking.  We'll get to that next year, Keith will finish it off so that it looks nice, but it is doubtful we can use it because it's exposed to the dust of the road constantly.

We thought then that we would replace the whole house with a modular home, and we actually have looked at some.  The nicer ones, however, were equal in price to what we paid for this house and the acreage.  Then we talked to a remodeler about re-doing the kitchen, the drywall in the living room and hall and one bedroom, and replacing the ceilings and painting.  $20,000.00.  That sent us back to "modular home" again.

We adopted Gertie two years ago last week.  All we knew about her was that she was a full-bred pug, and that she had been re-homed several times and was approximately a year old.   We soon found out why she was re-homed... she is not potty-trained and really, really, is the only dog I have never been able to break.  After she came, Abby began also pottying in the house, though Hannah never did, even when almost completely blind.

This exacerbates things, because even though people have said "Get rid of Gertie"... we just cannot do it.  She is loyal, faithful, would defend us tooth and nail, and the most loving little girl.

 

Here she is, waiting for her Daddy to come home from work on Friday night.

 

We have 1000 square feet, and three bedrooms, with one bathroom One bedroom, the smallest, is our "office", and holds the desktop computer and my scrapbooking shelves.

 

Our own bedroom is large, but I can't show it to you... the back wall is not finished (you can see the insulation) and the ceiling has plywood attached to it because of a long-ago leak.  In eight years, I have never hung drapes, because the windows need replacing. 

 

 

Welcome, and come on in.  No, there's no storm door at present.  I left Lilly's paw prints on the glass, because that is how it usually is.

 

 

This is the whole living area, seen from the kitchen.  The bathroom is the first door on the right, then the furnace closet, and the light at the end of the hall is coming through the office window. That's our door at the end of the hallway, and there is another bedroom on the left.  I scored the plaid couch at an estate sale for 40.00.  The loveseat actually matched a fold-out couch we had at the beginning of our marriage that we gave to someone who needed a bed.

 

I put up a small tree this year, because it was the easiest to get to!

 

 

Turning around, we look into the kitchen, and yes, that's all there is of it!  Incredible, isn't it?  I have no counter space, and what's there is now occupied by my Christmas Baking Supplies, that I should be using instead of typing a blog post.

 

 

That's the heart of the home, the kitchen table.  Chicken buckets, mail, the morning paper, some devotional material... napkins... and right now, boxes of Christmas lights intended to go on the front deck. (Note Ranger under the table)

You can barely make out the Santas and nativity set on the sideboard.  I still have not found my parent's nativity set, and I'm beginning to really worry. 

 

So, that's it. 

 

Wanna know why I took today to show you?

 

The carpets were cleaned!!!!!

 

Yee ha!

 

In all seriousness, Keith and I are worried about the fungi growing where Gertie has soiled over and over... we know there has to be germ growth.  In mid-January, I am withdrawing some money and replacing all the carpeting.  We wanted to go with vinyl, but the cost was outrageous.  We'll leave the vinyl in the kitchen, and then re-carpet throughout the house.  I am attempting as of today to try to get Gertie trained (again)... if we put her out immediately on getting up, and immediately upon eating, she can run around outside for fifteen minutes, come back in, and soil the carpet!  That's what has to change, so the little squirt gun has come out to be used when she and Abby squat.

 

Stanley Steemer has a special for a three-time a year cleaning that averages out to paying only twice.  I may be signing us up for that service... but we can't have the first cleaning until the new carpet has been down for six months, so maybe July or August next year.

 

They did a great job for us again, and we appreciate the way the carpets look today.

 

I'm painting at the point we put down carpeting, too, so that Everything Matches for once in my life. 

 

So that's our little house at Calamity Acres.  It's warm and snug, and to us, that's what matters.  I love to look at shelter blogs... but I'm happiest where my heart is.