Ch-ch-ch-changes

No sewing going on around here right now.  Sometimes things occur in life which make changes necessary.
I am sure that you may remember my mention regarding our home which I call "The Fortress of Solitude".

Be kind, she is over 150 years old, she has the original standing seam steel roof, and was framed with ship lap, with Michigan block (a cement molded block which was done on site).  The old girl has had multiple makeovers, adding a bathroom in the 1940's, adding a family room/great room onto the old kitchen in the 1980's, and a sunroom around 2010.  While these improvements have been happening, she has been rewired, new windows, and most of the old lathe and plaster walls have been removed.  When the older rooms have been updated the walls have been sealed, and insulation has been installed before the new  walls were put up. 

 This summer DH removed the siding from the addition which was done in the 80's and put house wrap and some insulation up, which has helped immensely in warming up the house, and DH and I had already discussed "fixing" the junk room since that is the one room which had not been updated.  That room is cold since there is no insulation, but what started the big push was Friday the youngest daughter advised me that the SO had walked out and she decided it was time that they went their separate ways.  After reviewing her income, and her bills we as a family determined the best course of action would be for her and the three little boys to move in with us.  She will pay rent, and I will continue to care for the boys during the day while she is at work.  Our home is a much better place for the boys to be, and they will have room inside and outside to roam.  Friday evening the big move began.  DH and I cleaned out 3 bedrooms, and our sitting room by Saturday afternoon.  

 Sunday the demo started.  Of course I can't find/nor did I take a before picture.  But this is what it looked like when we started to tear out the lathe and plaster.  Sorry the pictures are not great, but there was 150+ years of dust in the air from the demo. 

See the gorgeous wallpaper?  We only took two walls down, and we were not prepared to take down the ceiling. 

 Yep we had a wall full of bee and wasp nests. 

This is why we decided to do it in the winter, that way if there were any which were alive they would be dormant or dead. 

Then wall 2.  Yep paper wasp nests, and more bees.

 There were actually 3 different types of nests in the walls. 

In just a few hours the two walls were down, all the nails pulled, the lathe was bundled, and plaster cleaned up until we ran out of garbage bags.  (The paper chicken feed bags are fabulous for cleaning up debris!  They don't tear very easily.)

The walls were sealed where there were some holes, and insulation installed.  DH also installed 2 more electrical receptacles so there is more power to the room.  The boy's toys, TV, and dressers will be in this room.  Our bedrooms are a wee bit small so their ginormous bunk bed will be in one room, and this is the room for their clothes and to hang out, play and watch television.  The daughter will be in another room which is kind of on the small side also. The other room which was cleaned and organized was our sitting room, which has never been used in that manner but DH was thrilled to see it cleaned up and out.  We actually ended up with a pickup full of stuff for the dump, and so organized that it is almost frightening.  

Today I have a wee bit of cleaning to do....we had a dust drift into the hallway.  Oh well.

While I know that the daughter really doesn't want to live at home with mom and dad,, we all want what is best for the boys, with such a huge empty house it needs to be filled with laughter, and stinky little boys.  Also it will give me more opportunity to sew during the day, since I won't be driving to her house daily. 

So changes are going to happen fast.  How appropriate that I was singing the song Changes by David Bowie this weekend, and how sad when hearing of his passing early this morning.