It’s been one of those weeks.  You know the ones: you start with great intentions to get lots done, then something happens out of your control, derailing your plans –  and before you know it, you did half of what you planned and some things you didn’t plan.

For example….

Between my last post and this one, we had some more severe winter-weather: an ice storm, to be exact.  Close to an inch of ice accumulated on everything:  the cars, trees, the house – everything.  Well, the east side of everything anyhow.

I have to say it was pretty spectacular to look at.  It reminded me of the prehistoric insects that got entombed in amber – only there were no insects.  Or amber.  Well, you get my drift.

Not pictured: insect in amber

Anyhow, regardless of the weather now, we’re under the gun to get several things done before the new foundation is installed.  The rear addition (that we’ve used as a temporary storage area) has to be removed – which means we’ve been moving all of our unpacked boxes and items into the barn or the upper level of the house.

The chimney has to be taken down.  I’m just waiting on a nice, warm, ice-free day to venture onto the roof to get the upper portion removed – the rest can be done from inside the house.  I’ll have to patch-in the opening somewhat – but nothing too fancy right now.

And lastly, the front porch needs to come off.  I’ve already stripped the trim, soffit and fascia from the roof structure and removed the deck railing.  I figure the roof can stay on until we’re ready to start the foundation since it’s providing some protection from the weather as we come and go from the house.

The weather has taken a turn this week: it’s been quite mild the past few days – and the long term forecast remains the same.  The snow is quickly melting which is good for us in hopes of getting the excavation underway for the foundation – but it’s making for a terrible muddy mess around the house.  Not unexpected – just another source of aggravation.

The plan is to have the rear addition mostly removed this week.  A pretty ambitious plan I admit, but hey, even if it takes twice that long, we’ll still be ahead of schedule.  And I really want the garbage dumpster gone before the ground softens too much.  At least the weather looks to be on our side for a change.