There’s a lot going on out there. It’s fun to watch from our comfy home.
Every day something exciting happens. Holes are dug, cisterns discovered, old walls torn down, new walls built.
Watching from my window, I can see the addition take form while I prepare dinner or work in my office.
Sure it’s loud, and I have to be fully dressed and on my best behavior by 7 AM, but it’s exciting!
But the show is coming inside. I must pack up the kitchen, laundry room, mud room and dining room and prepare for the invasion. Dave keeps giving me the 2 minute warning, but I resist. I’m in denial. Once I empty the selves, I am committing myself to four months of constant eating out and laundromats.
I have a 2 stage strategy. I pack up all non essentials first, and survive on only the critical supplies until the crew is literally pounding on the walls to get in.
Then I wave the white flag and pack up the essentials, knowing I prolonged the inevitable as long as I could.
We emptied the shelves into boxes, rolled up the rugs, and covered the furniture with plastic.
After filling the basement with boxes, we used one end of the living room to store the rest of the stuff.
The other end was reserved for “living”.
Our quaint parlor became the kitchen.
Dave made “walls “of plastic to protect us from the dust invasion. Did you know they make plastic with zippers? This is particularly important because the only functioning bathroom ( and water supply) is on the other side of the plastic.
Demolition is loud. There’s a lot of pounding, sawing, shaking and things crashing. It is now right next to me, and it’s all day long.
It makes Kathryn very nervous, so she rips through the plastic when we aren’t home. We tried to patch the holes with duct tape.
As soon as the transition areas had been demolished, Dave replaced the plastic wall with plywood. This is much better!
Nobody warned me about plaster dust. I think plaster dust may just be the finest dust particles in the entire world. It is evil and it has a plan. No amount of plastic, blankets or sheets can keep plaster dust from seeping into every corner of our existing house. (more on dust protection )
Every day, Dave and I get out the wet swiffer mops (remember, no running water on the first floor) and wipe the floors of our ” living spaces”, but by the next day, THE DUST IS BACK! I can feel the dust on my skin, in my hair, and possibly in my brain! This too shall pass.
