in which we work and work and work

It's been a couple weeks since we started working on the outside of the house.  Much has been accomplished and there is still so much left to do.  Here is the side of the house, which is now mostly done, that you saw a couple of weeks ago.  The kitchen window (2nd one down) is now here, just not installed yet.  But the siding is done!  Next we have to finish caulking and paint.

 

 

Here is the side next to the front door.  See all those plants?  They HAD to be removed, as no plant life can touch the walls of the house.  Goodbye daffodils.  You have made me smile. However, I'm not sad to see that ugly fern and the creeping azalea bushes go.

Here is the side with the plants removed and over half the nails pulled out of the old siding.  Looks awful.

No plants still, but new siding!  Also new vents, which cannot be seen in this picture. 

 Now here was a great mystery to us.  If you look closely you will see that what that thing is under the window is actually CARPET!  Who does that?  I'm not sure. The carpet got pulled up and what was under that?  Sand, packaging peanuts, more sand, more packaging peanuts, dental picks, dirt, potting soil.  At one point, I asked Dad if we would find a dead body buried in there.  We didn't.

 This is what the area looks like now. No more carpet, sand, packaging peanuts or other trash.  It's just dirt and a ton of rolly-pollys. We hope to get a patio in soon and much later will come a porch swing.  Doesn't that sound fantastic?