More Damage Than We Thought

Ramona, at the Japanese Redneck... you will identify with this post! 

We had more damage from the water than we thought. 

After not hearing from an adjuster yesterday, I began 

to worry that we would go through the holiday weekend with the carpets that 

were getting smellier, and the humidity in the house that was getting heavier. 

The wet drywall downstairs smelled awful, too. 

So, after working in the old place gardens this morning... 

I called the insurance company. 

I have to say... they were totally responsive, and 

within two hours, a restoration specialty company called me and was on our doorstep in another hour. 

The extent of the affected places grew and grew.  Keith told me (he came home 

from work after they had been here an hour) that when one piece of 

drywall was removed, water came raining down on the workers.  Ugh. 

The lower drywall in the two affected rooms downstairs was removed, because 

moisture had started to wick up them.  The pad has been removed at this point, and the rug rolled back down.  The restoration people will replace the pad and drywall. 

I don't know if you can tell... there is a line of moisture in the doorway, and then around the corner into the closet, which is on the other side of the wall from the washer and dryer.  It turned out the carpet was 

all wet in there, too, and they emptied the closet and took the trim off in the hallway. 

The hallway itself is now stripped of linoleum because they could tell there was moisture under it. 

There are fans everywhere, and big humidifiers.  

I was told on the phone that the increased electric bill will also be part of the insurance settlement. 

These fans will run for approximately four days. 

Tomorrow, someone will come from the restoration company to check on the equipment, and 

take readings on their meters. 

We are blessed by the fact that the temperature right now is 68 degrees... I have the patio door screen open, and the windows open here in the tv room. 

The restoration boss told us that if we had waited past the weekend, we would have had a mold problem for sure. 

This is the first time we have ever made a claim for an insurance settlement... and we are 

stunned at the thoroughness that is being done here. 

Yes, the machines are loud and noisy, and Lilly, who was at the vet today for a trim, was bewildered when she came home... but she will settle down, and Keith and I can cope with all this for a few days.  We have a good spare bedroom, with a comfortable bed in it, and we will be fine. 

Before I contacted the insurance company, I went to the old place and worked in that weedy trellis bed. 

The green you see in the bed closest to the camera is the nasty Bristly Greenbrier, that will tear your hands up   It has been in that bed for four years, and I am always careful in it.  This time... it's going.  I mean GOING.  I'm going to put Roundup on it, so that no one will be hurt in the future.  It's nasty. 

Thorns clear up the stems to the ends of the branches... horrible. 

It has an innocuous little flower on the end... which is so deceptive.  It was growing amongst the weeds. 

However... there were rewards, as well as more work... I am going to have to weed the flower beds again, intensively.  

These are tiny little daylillies, and they are going to come over here to the new house to grow in 

one of the half whiskey barrels.  They are such a pretty color. 

These large darker daylillies are growing behind them. 

We have tomatoes on the volunteer plants in the vegetable beds!

And, if you can see it around the weeds, the volunteer tomato plant in the south flower bed is getting HUGE and a branch has grown out into the yard. 

I could not have had a better morning, it was in the high sixties while I worked, but I was 

careful to keep it to two hours, because of getting so sick on Friday. 

See that tree... or... those trees?  They are coming out tomorrow... but what I really wanted you to see

is the faint purple blossoms of the "dead" buddleia.  Friend Jill told me some of it would come back, and it DID.  I'm going to cut away the dead wood so it can be seen. 

I hope everyone is getting ready to have a safe holiday.  We are treating 

son Jim, his wife Amy, and the four kids to the T Bones on Friday night... they are 

going to have a big fireworks display afterwards.  We're really looking forward to it! 

The Rest of the Story

That's the washer agitator. 

That's what I found when I took the wet clothes out 

Uh huh.  

Remember my repair job in the pasture last week?  I didn't clean my pockets out well enough, obviously. 

Keith will tell you (rat on me) that it's not the first time, though it is the most serious. 

I thank God nothing worse happened. 

I thank God I decided to sit and do the post before going to WalMart. 

I thank all of you dear readers for your kind sentiments expressed last night. 

And now, back to the regular post. 

Even with the fog, you can see how beautiful it's getting here. 

There!  There you go! 

It's a blessing to walk down in the pasture and look down on the Spehar's big ponds. 

And the little ones are making good use of browsing time. 

Fort Apache is already being put to good use.  As you see, the chickens moved the straw that was loose around a little.  (!) 

I pushed the bales a little closer together so there were no gaps.  

And of course the ducks used it last night....

NOT. 

However, I found an egg under there this morning, so they are getting the idea! 

Abby could not wait to get out to do chores this morning.   For such a chubbette, she is a very game little dog.

Note the destruction caused by our angel kitties, Nickie and Gwen. 

And here come the girls up out of the pasture, where they made sure nothing was lurking around. 

And, guess what? 

They aren't going to make it by Halloween, but I'll have some more porch decorations for Thanksgiving, and for the goats and chickens to enjoy!  

And here's the little home last night in the fog descending, but lights shining, and still intact and welcoming.  

Thank God we were all allright. 

P.S. 

Our little friend Tweedles is very sick and in the specialty hospital, several weeks after her surgery.  Her mama, Georgie, is very worried sick right now.  Won't you all take a minute to send up a prayer for Tweedle's quick recovery?  If you have ever looked at their blog, you will see that Tweedles writes wonderful blog posts... and we hold her in a special place in our hearts.