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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Gotta Love Old Houses

 
Normally when I ask for help digging a hole, I would like to be planting a tree or two. Not accessing plumbing and sewer pipes. That raised bed all askew behind my husband used to house some onions. Notice he did not dig up my flowers? He really is a nice guy. I am absolutely positive this is not how he planned to spend mother's day and the day after.

 
He carefully dug down and only destroyed as much as necessary. His mom even moved all my onions to a new bed! Very sweet. I have a great family and good friends. Doyle replaced the sewer line to the septic system and hopefully fixed the problem. Our home was the old RR Depot that they moved to it's current location many years ago using logs and chains. Then they began adding onto it and raising 5 kids. Our home is mishmash to say the least and our fixer upper projects are never small and cheap. They are always big and expensive. The family before us lived here 60+ years and died here. They are wholly responsible for the wonderful soil and good bones of the gardens. I just expand on or remodel what they started.

 
Ouch, huh? I worked so hard to hand dig out every dandelion last year so as not to have any this year. And guess what? I didn't. But all bets are off now as the soil has once again been disturbed. But I have a working bathroom again. Yep, in a very old house, there is usually only one bathroom as is the case with ours. So having it non-com was really an issue. Doyle put all the sod back in place and hopefully in a few weeks you won't even be able to tell this fun trench was even here at all. One can dream!

21 comments:

  1. Ohhh. You poor souls. My friend has spent many years in a fixer upper--they might have just as well built the thing. However it is becoming beautiful. Yours is too.

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  2. Bilbo is in Canada :). Go check him out and leave a comment

    http://hereontheprairies.blogspot.com/2009/05/welcome-to-winnipeg.html

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  3. oh no ! glad it fixed .
    hugs, Cherry

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  4. So glad your problem has been fixed. Isn't it a pain to have plumbing issues. I too am dealing with serious plumbing issues. I haven't been able to use my kitchen sink since Friday and it still isn't fixed yet. It is the drain system. On top of that yesterday the outside water spicket exploded (busted) at the back of the house. That part was fixed yesterday. The guys will be back tomorrow to fix the rest.

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  5. If it isn't one thing it's another right? Hang in there...it's all worth it in the end! Thanks for all of your posts, I have been inspired on more than one occasion!

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  6. Glad that the bathroom is working again and great that everyone pitched in to help. It will look good as new before you know it.

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  7. Ah, yes. When my parents bought our family (Colonial) home, it didn't have any bathrooms! Fortunately they added a few before we move in. One bathroom per family member seems about right to me!

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  8. I remember living in old house hell when I was in high school - as my mother (by herself) took it on herself to remodel a 100 year old house with two teenage girls(she was raising by herself). Yeah - she is crazy. But regardless, there is a charm to an old home no matter the inconveniences and headaches. It is just a matter of decided what you like or dislike more. :-) I am sorry your DH had to do all of that though! :-( I hope he gets this weekend off, hehe.

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  9. I'm glad everything is fixed now, How nice of her to save all your onions!

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  10. I agree, if it isn't one thing it's another. Lucky you have a man who can fix things - keeps the cost down a bit. I have to laugh because when I was going to marry Bob - at 35 no less - my father asked what he did for a living. Like I was an 18 year old. I told him and he said "Grab him, you'll never have to fix anything." So I did - and we don't! ;-)

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  11. Oops - he meant we'll never have to hire anyone to fix anything!

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  12. Heather, horrible about your bathroom adventure! But at least you are back on track with that. On a lighter note, what beautiful soil you have, anywhere you dig apparently! It is so dark and rich looking, and looks much fluffier than the soil around here. Interesting!

    RainGardener, my husband is absolutely the world's worst handyman. The tales I could tell... :)

    Plant Lady

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  13. Oh wow, that was a big job!!! Glad it's fixed now. How sweet that your husband took such care not to destroy your plants!

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  14. Heather, your story reminds me of the major plumbing fix we had to do the day before HH's surprise 40th birthday party! Of course, the bill was horrendous as it was a weekend emergency! Glad you are up and running again..lol :)

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  15. Glad the bathroom is working again! We have a fixer upper too. The previous owner was a plumber so thankfully the one thing he did do was put in good plumbing, but everything else has been a struggle for us including the yard so I know how you feel.

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  16. What a mess. On a good note, very nice of your family to move all the onions and not dig it all up! I think with a bit of rain you'll hardly know there was ever a trench there in a few weeks just like you said.

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  17. Oh I would have been freaking out.....all that beautiful grass dug up? It had to be done though. Glad its all back and the bathroom is working good again.

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  18. Wow! Hope it all works out..we only have one bathroom too. Most of the time I don't mind at all. We encourage dandelions here..our bunnies LOVE them! lol

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  20. Plumbing problem, those are the worst. I always hate when something goes wrong with the plumbing, it's such a pain in the ass job. Although it sure helps if you have a handy man to take care of it :) ... glad you got it working after all...

    Take care, Elli

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  21. I loved your stories and pictures. I am also so glad we decided NOT to buy the 1790's house (which needed "some fixing up" - yeah, right) and instead built a new house that just looks like it's been here a 100 years. Good luck on everything and drop by Seven Oaks soon!

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Thank you for your ideas, suggestions or greetings. I love to hear from you and read them all.
-Heather

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We started this blog in Feb. of 2009 to help us stay motivated and to track our progess in the garden. We live on 5 acres surrounded by Idaho farmland. We have wildlife galore and are attempting to attract more in the bird catagory. This is our journal. Welcome!

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