The homestead is improving!!!

Phew, I haven't written a post in a loooong time and I'd like to apologize for that. Things have been a little crazy around the homestead the past few weeks. We've had some major renovations going on and the house was a HUGE mess. We recently applied for a save-on-energy home assistance program, which - as the name suggests - helps people make their homes more energy efficient. About 3 weeks ago we got a call, telling us we had been approved for new attic insulation. Paying that out of our own pocket would've cost us about $1,000. Needless to say we were ecstatic, because money is tight and we take all the help we can get. Problem was, they had only one date available for our area (which didn't give us much time to prepare) and our ceilings looked like this...

It's been kind of gross and cheap ever since we moved in here a couple of years ago, and winter was pretty harsh. Also, the melting snow in the spring wasn't kind to us. The result was some major water damage and nasty stains. When we moved in, I wondered what the duct tape was about, so I pulled off one of the corners to have a peek. BIG mistake! Turns out the tape was the only thing saving us from a nasty mouse poop shower. We knew there were some disgusting things going on in our attic and we knew there wasn't much space to maneuver. We also knew we needed some more lighting in the house, since it was pretty dark and there was no lighting whatsoever in the dining area. So Adrian wanted to get the work done and replace the ceilings before they blew in the new insulation, and add some vents (there were also none) to prevent future water damage. So, down came the ceilings and, OMG, was it ever nasty!

 

There were so many mouse and squirrel nests in our attic, it looked like they'd been running a housing assistance program for critters since the early 70s. Every time we pulled down a piece of insulation it was raining mouse droppings. Needless to say, having the kids around the house while that was happening was kind of a problem, since Mia is in that stage where she likes to put everything in her little mouth. I do believe that a little dirt won't hurt them, but draw the line at snacking on mouse poop. Then there are all the other hazards a construction site provides for little people, like screws, nails, power tools, ladders and so on and so on. Mia is also not a fan of loud noises and hates the vacuum cleaner, so it was either get away or this (which she only tolerated for so long)...

So Gramma and I had to take them out for day-trips and keep them occupied for hours, which I can tell you is tiring. BUT it forced us to get out of the house (even when the weather wasn't great) and find new things to do. We took them to a public pool and realized that this was something we should do more often, and also took them to an indoor playground, where mommy had more fun than the kids and pulled a Miley Cyrus on the wrecking ball.

They had a great time and loved all the different and exciting things they got to do. Here's a picture of us after we had lunch at an amazing pub by the docks.

    

The next weekend wasn't too bad, since all the dirty work was done (thank you Grampa ;-) and we had moved on to putting the drywall up and cleaned like maniacs. Adrian also moved the attic hatch into a spot in the house that was more easily accessible, since it was located in Noah's tiny closet before, which didn't make any sense. You had to take out all of the clothes every time you needed to get up there, which was a major pain in the butt. He also put in a beam between the kitchen and dining area to level out the ceiling and give it some extra support.

 

Furthermore, he added one more light above the dining area and two pot lights in the living room and, FINALLY, installed the ceiling fan and plug in our bathroom. So glad I can see myself in the mirror now after my showers and actually get to blow dry my hair in the bathroom, instead of the living room. 

 The whole thing was hectic and stressful, but we got it all done before the insulation guys arrived. Adrian still has to do the mudding and painting, but we decided this was something that could wait a couple of more weeks. After all the stress and no downtime for weeks, we were exhausted, needed a break and, most of all, we needed a weekend of family time. We hadn't done that for so long, we didn't even remember how good it felt to simply be together. We played in the yard one day and took them to the beach the next. We had an amazing time, a ton of fun and even saw our first moose of the year on our way home. 

The homestead is slowly but surely improving and it is such a nice feeling to see some results. Next project is going to be preparing the vegetable garden and the planting of the veggies and herbs. We're running a little behind this year, but hope we'll still get to harvest a lot of goodies this season. I'll post about it and let you know how it goes. If you're interested in planting your own veggies check out my last post "The NON-professional beginners guide to starting your own organic vegetable garden" and don't forget to subscribe, so you won't miss a post.