I'm coming up, so we better get this party started!

Building permit granted. Further permit fees duly paid. Inspection scheduled. Hopefully the man who is coming will be able to give the nod and won't make us wait five weeks for paperwork, because the drywallers are booked for April. Followed by electricians. Possibly followed by septic people, depending on finances.

I'm looking forward to actually working with my hands on the place, for a change, instead of just doing paperwork. I want to paint, pull up carpet, pry nails from recycled wood, rev up the sander, use some muscles.

One question has been bugging me throughout this latest part of the process. My taxes are already paying the salaries of the township and county people who are issuing the permits. Why do I need to pay for a building permit, a septic permit, a driveway permit, a sewage inspection (especially in light of the fact we're getting an entirely new septic system), and all the other nickel-and-diming? Shouldn't the paperwork all be included already in the mere funding of the office? I mean, I get paid a salary to do my job, and I don't expect extra pay for every piece of paper I produce.

A point to ponder.

Galloping toward spring

We've met with the septic designer. We've had two companies come to give quotes on the brick pointing. (Want to get that done before it's warm enough that we have to worry about wasps moving into the crevices.) Little by little, we're moving forward, picking up momentum as we go. 

I want to find a week where I can focus on doing nothing but pulling nails out of the salvaged wood and sorting it to see what is usable. My husband has pointed out that my plan to put a stretch of bookcases along the front of the balcony won't do, because small children could climb them like a ladder. Oh. Yeah. Duh. So I will have to rethink the shelves I was going to build. We also have to come up with a way to raise that balcony railing to at least 42 inches, for safety's sake.

I am thinking I will have a big book sale in late spring, when people have returned to the trailer park by the lake. I have plenty of books to stock the Book Nook exchange, and plenty more to unload. It could be a fundraiser to save the stained glass. 

We have cancelled our planned trip to Scotland and Iceland yet again, and my son and his partner have agreed to help watch the home garden when I'm away, so I will have a little more time this summer to devote to renos. It would be great if we could get permission to finish the drywalling, because then we could install overhead lights and outlets, which would certainly come in handy.