Wilma in her OSHA Babe-approved gear - available at a boutique near you
Loyd and Bo "berming" not "bumming"
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Webb said he wanted to help. Did he expect this?
Mary Dean and OSHA Babe - Buds since Mexico City Days
Distance Award winner from England
FOR THE WEEK ENDING March 11, 2007
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. I can understand your questioning my sanity to make "This Old House" more than a TV program. But what do you think about Loyd and Wilma, founders of the Work For Ribs program? We met them at church during our Houston years (1979 - 1983) and they became like dear family, loving us like their own. Every mother of three little boys under the age of five needs a Wilma in her life. Since we left Houston, they have visited us in Dallas, St. Louis, Mexico City, San Jose, and San Antonio. In addition to being fun, delightful people, they don't like to just sit around when they come. Loyd helped put in a wood floor in San Jose and they both "Worked For Ribs" here in San Antonio. What did they do this time? Read on.
2. The small upstairs bathroom needs to be completed before we call the plumbing inspector back out. Loyd and I set a prefabricated shower base, connected the drain line, and got the shower walls ready for tiling. Loyd is meticulous by nature and understands that, when you're working with a 100+ year old house, sometimes you just have to make it work. We got it done and then moved into the kitchen.
3. The kitchen now has a dishwasher installed. Loyd's experience with creative carpentry was helpful to make it level, plumb, and fit into the opening. Power and water supply are available and cabled. We're just missing the drain. That will follow the installation of the granite counter top. We're scheduled to drive to Kerrville on March 20 to "lay out" the slab, i.e., pick out what part of the slab gets cut for which surface in the kitchen. After the slab is cut, polished, edged, and installed, it will be time for installing the garbage disposal, setting the faucets in place, and connecting the water supply lines. It's getting closer to brisket time!
4. Who knows what a "berm" is? Yes, it is a ridge of dirt that we built along the foundation line on the east side of the house yesterday. Another visitor, Webb, signed up for the Saturday detail and helped unload the dirt from the truck. Don't we have great friends?
..What we're trying to accomplish with the berm is channeling run off water from flowing under the house. The piers underneath the house shift when the moisture content in the surrounding soil changes. When the piers shift, the house moves slightly and can throw door openings off slightly. The timing of our berming was excellent. Rain is forecast for the next 2-3 days. Tomorrow morning, I'll see if we were successful bermers.
5. Are you bored with "Scrape, Sand, Paint, Repeat" yet? My apologies if you are but there is a lot more of that for the trim around windows, doors, and baseboards. Ugh!
6. The visitor record was shattered again this week.
.Lenise came by on Monday and offered encouraging words.
.Loyd and Wilma arrived on Tuesday and stayed with us until Sunday. After full days working, we enjoyed evening meals together (including ribs cooked by OSHA Babe in the Magic Pan), (note from editor-the ribs were in the pan, not OSHA Babe-the author has been disciplined) dominos, hand-and-foot card games, and great walks down memory lane. We thank God for the wonderful friends He has blessed us with along the way.
.Mary Dean, whose family was in Mexico City while we were there also, stopped by Thursday. She had seen the place back in October and was able to recognize the contrast between what it was and where it is now. Mary Dean, thanks for the kind words. It's getting better.
.Webb, a friend from church here in San Antonio, had mentioned several times about wanting to come by and help. He did on Saturday (see him in one of the pictures above unloading dirt from the truck). His wife and children left earlier this week for a visit to England so he said that he had some time on his hands. I hope the shovel didn't scare him off from a repeat visit.
..And speaking of England, we have a new Distance Award winner. A neighbor who lives down the street from us and his father who was visiting from England stopped by on Saturday. OSHA Babe gave them the guided tour.
..When are you coming? We really won't make you shovel dirt or install a shower ---- unless you want to.
NEXT STEPS:
1. In the small upstairs bathroom, we need to select the tiles for the shower and floor, get the walls prepped for beadboard paneling and paint, possibly install a medicine cabinet, tile the floor, and set the new lavatory and toilet. (Does "water closet" sound more sophisticated?)
2. Kitchen work will continue. The cabinet maker started putting the glass in the wall cabinet doors this past week. He did find 2 panes that were cut the wrong size by the glass company. He took them back to get them trimmed down. Hopefully, we'll have doors on the wall cabinets by the end of the week. As mentioned above, granite fabrication is scheduled to take place the week of March 20.
3. Window repair needs to continue. The contractor was away on other jobs this past week. I expect to have him back this week for a day or two.
4. We need to scrape, sand, and paint the trim upstairs. There's a bunch of it left to do. I did break down and buy a good Bosch random orbital sander. It works so much better than the small hand sanders we had been using. There is, however, a long way to go on this one.
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