They're here! Our cabinets, that is...

Oh, M'Gosh! That's a lot of cabinets!!!  But, it's for the whole house, not just the kitchen.  Brian, the cabinet builder, came back with another load about an hour later, so we have cabinets all though the living room and sunroom.  I'll post more photos later, but this will give you and idea of what he's done so far.

You can see just the end of a bookcase on the left.  A tall cabinet is along the pantry wall.  Three of the base units are in the kitchen... The bar with the space for the lazy susan, then the sink with trash bin and a set of drawers... Space for the dishwasher, then the next unit.  I'll post photos of each piece later.  I need to get started getting ready to paint.  And, David & I are working on the deck to our other house.  It has several boards that need to be replaced.  

16 & 17 June 2011 Work on drainage system...

I was thoroughly impressed with the driver of the concrete truck.  He had to get that big truck up our driveway and through our yard to get to the cabin.  In the picture you can see where he drove across the grass.   It was hot that day... probably in the upper 90's.  Those guys worked hard, too.  I'm skipping a lot of pictures, but the concrete truck got here about 8am and didn't leave til 4pm. 

They did all of this and under the house they poured between 10 and 15 footings to level the house. 

It looks really good.  At some point we'll get this all cleaned up and finished.  It's been two months since we had this done and it hasn't rained enough to see how the drains will work.  It's been over 100 degrees for 2 weeks or more.  We've been under a burn ban for a while.  The water department has notified everyone to restrict water usage... no outside watering until further notice.  So the green grass in the first photo sure looks nice!  I'm watering our yard and our neighbor's yard with their water... they have a well and we're on city water. 

Wednesday's progress... Lots of digging.

Wow!  That is going to be great!  They have all three of the downspouts tied in to the underground drain.  We will put something at the top to stop leaves and stuff from clogging up the drains.  Some sort of screen should work. 

You can't see very much of this, but there are two catch basins in each inside corner.  That is where most of the water runs when it rains.  These guys have done some serious digging around our cabin!  They've already covered the main part of the drain system.  Concrete is coming Thursday.   The last photo is of the West side of the cabin.  It will go all the way to the end of the back porch.  That should stop any run-off or drainage problems we're having.

They're here!

Here's the truck and trailer full of all sorts of stuff.  I saw lots of concrete blocks... those concrete tube forms... lots of black drain pipe... a big roll of re-bar...   I wanted to get closer photos, but didn't want to look ... odd?  LOL!  I did get a short video, but don't know if I could put it on here.  They would have been here earlier, but they had two blow-outs on the trailer... One of each side.  Not a nice way to start a new project. 

  

Bob is down there showing them what to do and where. Earlier, I saw him running a string, then going back with white paint to mark something. They will be putting in a PVC drain line under a concrete walk.  The walk will be about 2 feet wide.  Bob said it will be similar to a sidewalk, but will be lower in the center to collect the water.  There will be eight or more drains/grates along the walk that will follow the outline of the cabin...  following this end where the trailer is parked, along the wall to the porch, around that corner with the gutter, then along the walkway with the railing...  I'm not sure how far down that way it will go, but at some point they will run the drain line over the the retaining wall.  It will hang over the top so all the water will drop out there instead of running across the yard, causing more drainage problems.   

More measuring and marking...  It might look like a pretty simple thing, but I never would have thought of doing this.  I was all set to start digging a trench for a french drain.  Oh!  That makes my back and shoulder hurt just to think about it!!!   I sure am glad David found their ad in the phone book!!!

You can see part of the concrete blocks next to the white truck.  The bed was half full.  The guys will be staying in a motel in town while they're here.  After they leave this evening, I'll get photos of what they've done.  Sorry... I didn't think to get "before" photos this time.  Oh... I might have photos of the last time it rained???  I found them... May 2nd.  Will put them on here later this evening.   

June 14th update...

No photos right now.  Will do that this afternoon.  I'm waiting on a construction crew from North Little Rock to get here.  They'll put in a drainage system and work on the foundation.  Every time it rains, water runs under the cabin...  Lots of water!  Straight to the basement.  Along the way it is washing away dirt around the concrete pads the cabin is sitting on.  Needless to say, the cabin isn't as close to level as it once was.  Also, the joists are not close enough, either.  They'll fix that, too.  We really should have had this done way back there, but we hadn't gotten to the point of finding, and knowing, our own limitations.  We have finally come to the realization that we could not do this ourselves... And that there is no one in this area that could do what we needed, either. 

Here's a link to American Structure Repair.  If you are having any drainage and/or foundation problems, give them a call.  But first... look over their website.  Bob came to look at our problems and talk to me.  I was very impressed!   

 http://americanstructure.com/index.html

May 15, 1971 ... 40 years ago today... Now & then

Now and then...  Well. This looked much better on my computer screen.  But it's what we are today.  We have changed a bit.  LOL!!!  But we've lived some, too.  Just like everyone else, some good and some not so good.  To be honest... There's been lots more good! 

 Well, I have to say that we were much younger... and thinner back then!!!  I love looking at all these old photos!  Brings back so many memories. 
From all the stories David has told over the years, he was a nervous wreck.  Well, I guess he had calmed down by the time this photo was taken, but about 30 minutes earlier he was ready to take off out the door running as fast as humanly possible!!!

From the left... Number 1 Attendant, David's niece, Judy. Number 1 "Groomer" David's cousin, Mike. The lovely, and quite skinny, bride, me. The exceptionally handsome Groom, David.  Best Man David's brother-in-law, Jimmy. Maid-of-Honor, my darling and very sweet baby sister, Mollie.

Ok... back to the story...  David was in the back room with cousin Mike and BIL Jimmy...  Being the faithful and completely honest and straight faced cousin that he is, Mike and BIL Jimmy would peek out the door every now and then to see what was going on.  They wouldn't let David get anywhere close to the door.  They told him that every seat was full.  There were people standing along each side of the room and hanging out each window.  (Of course, this was all to see how nervous and upset they could get him before having to actually go out there to stand and wait for things to get started.)  From all accounts, it worked.  I really am surprised that one of us didn't pass out right there in front of everyone!!!  LOL!!! 

These are polaroid photos, so they are not that great, but they're all I have.  Some day, I'll see if I can't clean them up with PhotoShop.

 Oh...  Bless their hearts!  I can't tell you how many times I've wondered how my parents made it through this and the week before.  This was on a Saturday night.  Wednesday, May 12th... I'd graduated from high school.  Yes.  I was just a child... LOL!!!  David was 35 and I was 13!!!  LOL!!!  But that is another story! 
No... I was really 18 and David was 27. 
In the photo... Judy, David & me, Mollie, my dad, Henry... David's step dad, Neland. David's mother, Fay. my mother, Ann.  I sure do miss them. 

And here is David and I cutting our wedding cake.  I still have the topper somewhere around here.  I'll find it when we move... 
While I'm here...  I don't know if I ever properly thanked my sisters for helping put together my wedding. 
Diane... thank you so much for working so hard to get that dress made.  I'm sure I wasn't very grateful at the time.  I'm sorry. 
Libby... I know that you and Wayne took pictures and maybe a video?  and for whatever else you did... Thank you!  I really do appreciate everything!!!
Relda...  I seem to remember you doing a lot of ironing... Seems like the table cloths were permanently wrinkled when we got them.  Thank you!
Mollie...  Thank you for being there!  I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to be my best friend and confidant. 

I guess that's it for now.  David's coming home early.  We're going out tonight.

Catching up...

Here's the bathroom door.  It's hung and trimmed out. 

The bedroom door.  The blue tape is holding the "key".  Those darn little things have a way of getting misplaced when you need them most. 

 This last photo is in our bedroom.  It takes the place of a dresser.  Trying to explain what I want in this space has been very difficult.  I guess there are lots of people who can't visualize very well.  Oh, well... at some point I'll figure it out and be able to put it into words that are easily understood.
More later...