Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Ants!



It's not a movie, but we wish it were. Our little rental home has been invaded by carpenter ants. The exterminator says their nest could be anywhere within 200 feet yards of the house - which means it could be two several houses away! He put a lot of poisoned ant honey all over and says the ants will eat it, take it back to feed the queen, and it will kill the nest. We hope they all die very, very, soon. Painful deaths that match the horror of finding an ant crawling across your lip in the middle of the night. Die ants! Die!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Why we are grateful

This is where we pause and give thanks that all we have to worry about is mud, storage bills, and burned furniture.

Deseret Morning News
Explosion kills 2: Gas leak blamed for fiery blast
Story by Sara Israelsen and Alison Snyder
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two people were killed Tuesday in an earth-rattling explosion that sparked a roaring blaze at a home ...(story here)

Goldilocks construction, part 1



One cloudy, frigid morning, Goldilocks skipped up to the construction site and gazed at the earth. She jumped up and down, trying to make even a small dent in the soil, but made nary a footprint.

"This ground is too hard!" she exclaimed, then broke off an icicle and skipped away. On her way down the drive, Goldilocks slipped on some ice and fell. Mother would not be pleased with the rip in her new wool stockings!

Mother made Goldilocks stay inside the next day and darn her stockings.

The next morning, Goldilocks carefully picked her way through the puddles to the construction site and gazed at the mud.



"This ground is too soft!" she exclaimed, and sloshed away. By the time she got home her shoes, stockings, and even the hem of her skirt were covered in gooey mud. Mother was not happy about that!

Mother made Goldilocks stay inside and wash her shoes, stockings, and dress. It took a few days weeks for everything to dry out.

(To be continued...)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Breaking ground


First you need the heavy equipment. It can be done with a shovel, but we want to finish before Duncan is ready for college. So! February 5, 2007, it began. The snow and ice had to be shoveled and melted away first, then the hidden sewer line had to be dug up and unplugged.


Apparently that was the easy part. The tough part was what to do with all that water once the temperature hit 50 degrees and the ground started thawing. Dennis (Gunn Construction) worked with the heavy equipment to square off the walls, my dad shoveled snow from the back yard so it wouldn't melt and run into the construction site, and my mom swept away the water - with a broom! Let's just say, the driveway - and pretty much everything else - is now covered in mud.