Pam – Page 115 – New England's Narrow Road

House Renovations, Day 2

One of the big problems I need fixed with all the renovations happening at my house, is the water leak at the front steps. At the top of the ugly cement steps there is a gap (and probably rotting wood) where water seeps into my basement unless I cover the steps with plastic every time it rains. I can’t imagine what my neighbors think as they see me out there with a sheet of plastic. It looks terribly tacky as you can imagine, but it keeps the water out.

Now that the guys have begun work around the steps, they told me that there was no way to move the steps because they go down into the ground at least 2 feet! That’s right, they are not just sitting there on the ground, they are deeply buried. In fact the guys think that the steps were poured on the spot and a big hole was dug to get below the frost line so the steps wouldn’t be moved by the freezing ground.

So that’s great. The ugly cement steps are permanent! At least they are able to get in behind them and hopefully keep water out of my basement.

See what happened back on Day One of renovations.

My House Make-Over: Off With The Old Clapboards

rotted wood on house — What a Mess – Day 1

I’ve been looking forward to replacing my old, rotted siding, and I’ve been dreading it as well. The outside of my “new” house had obvious signs of rot with buckled clapboards and holes in the wall. The green, wooden window boxes were rotting off the walls and my front steps leak water into the basement.

See before and after photos of my new house.

So once the removal of the old siding began, I held my breath waiting for bad news about … ?? You just never know. So I am glad to be getting the big job done, but as you can see in my picture, the plywood beneath the old clapboards is rotted to the windows. The yard slopes down toward the house from the road, and this house sat empty for about a year. Last year we got huge amounts of snow and I’m sure all that didn’t help with the water problem here.

Today the windows are being replaced, but the openings are a bit crooked. Either the builder of this house did a lousy job, or the house has settled a bit and screwed things up. Maybe a little of both.

Anyway, this is what is happening on construction, day two. I also learned something about those front steps – they are permanent.

The big dumpster was delivered this morning to help with clean up and the weather is nice and sunny, but windy. I hope it holds out so the job won’t be delayed. They have stopped all the banging for now, so I guess I should get some work done – as I enjoy the view out my new windows!

Foliage Season Winds Down In New Hampshire

fall foliage — Fall Foliage Near a Summer Home

At first it seemed like the leaves were never going to change. What happened to foliage season? I was at the bank a week ago and a friend made a comment to the teller about how stinky the colors were this year. I realized that it was already the middle of October, and she was right, where was all the glorious color? It should be just about going by at this point.

Then my sister told me that she had heard that the change was about two weeks behind schedule. Probably all the heat we had confused the trees. October has been quite warm and is still pretty nice.
Suddenly it seemed like the leaves changed all at once – at least in my area. It was looking good, but not extremely impressive if you ask me. Of course I am living in a new area now and not near Gregg Lake where I love to walk and get photos this time of year.
I wanted to get some pictures near my new home, but have honestly not done much walking. I walk on paved roads now, not dirt, and there is no lake nearby and I miss the lake. It’s just not quite as scenic, but still pretty in it’s own way. So my intro picture is an old one. It was taken in 2008 I believe, before the ice storm broke up those colorful trees you see behind that house.
A couple of things have kept me too busy to notice much else. I have a lot to fix on my new house before winter arrives so I am dealing with repairmen constantly. And my online job has been giving me headaches with all the changes being made and the updating to do. I love working from home, but there are many things I don’t have control over, and in the internet world it seems that changes and updates are constant.
I am always learning new things and I guess that is good exercise for my mind.

Sorry, but all these photos are of years gone by. If you live in New England I’d love to hear what you think of the season’s color this year.

My New Little Deck

It’s not quite finished, but this is my new, little deck off the back sliders of my house. I haven’t been able to go out this door since I moved in back in July because there were no steps.

Now I have a pretty place to sit and enjoy the outdoors and I can get to my small backyard a lot easier. Railings will be added in a week or so when the materials come in, but it’s usable and I love it!