Saved by the Dog from a Horrible Death

It's 3 a.m. There's a fly buzzing around the bedroom. Brio, my faithful dog, is convinced I'm in mortal peril and it's his job to protect me from this lethal intruder. He's lunging at it. Crawling under the nightstand after it. Draping himself on my chest to stay between it and me. Then around my shoulders like a stole. And when I pushed him off, he crawled under my head to act as my pillow. I suspect I won't be getting back to sleep tonight.

Progress: Drywall going up!

We got the nod of approval, so the drywalling is happening this week and next. It really changes the feel of the place, hiding all that pink spray foam insulation. It actually feels bigger now since the walls are "white." It's making a terrific mess of the floor, though. I'm hoping I have time to clean it between the time they finish and the time I have to go back to the city.

Since it makes no sense to clean at night, when they'll just make more mess the next day, I spend my afternoons wandering the country roads with the dog, enjoying the unseasonable heat, the sound of mourning doves, the sight of greening fields. Thinking about my garden back home, drying out. It may be too hot to plant by the time I get back there.

There is some old wood (door frames, shelves, etc.) that we're going to repurpose, so I'll spend evenings getting the old nails out it. Meals are tricky, because I can't access the kitchen, so I have a toaster and microwave upstairs, along with a crockpot and rice cooker, and that's how I'm managing. It's sort of like camping but with a decent mattress.

Meanwhile, my friends Paul and Mary have given me some great old photos of the congregation and the church itself, covering the busy history this place has had. It's fun to peruse them, recognizing some of the names and marvelling how they fit so many people into this little place. It would be fun to do another fall supper, with Doris Tanton's pie recipe.

The tidal wave of spring

Plumber, brick pointer, electricians, and drywallers arriving today. Things are finally starting to roll!

It's all about water here

Anyone who has been following this blog will know the soggy saga of trying to waterproof the basement of this church. [The first time I wrote that sentence, I wrote "bog" instead of "blog" -- Freudian slip!] Paul Davis has been wonderful in their efforts to wrap, trench, drain, and protect this place. This week we had a torrential rainstorm, with epic thunder, and sure enough, the basement foundation leaked again, but this time on the other side of the building, in the water heater crawlspace. There's a drain there to the sump pump, so it didn't spread, but there is about an inch of standing water, showing that the slope to the drain isn't perfect. We'll dry it out and try patching from the interior for now, but when they have to trench and remove the old septic tank at the back, we'll get Paul Davis to come back to wrap and waterproof that side of the building as well. The fun never stops!

Meanwhile, the crocuses are up, a nice Eastery purple and yellowk the dog's tick medication has been restarted, and spring is truly on the horizon!