Sunday, September 27, 2009

Our Niece Has Inspired Me to Update!

Yes I know that I posted my pumpkins last year but our niece Kerrie finally updated her blog and invited her readers to share their favorite fall decor or recipes. Since I'm indebted to her because some of my favorite blogs have been found through her site, I had to share my mantle in her honor and besides, this year I added orange lights! Kerrie if you check back on Friday, I will try to have made one of my favorite fall recipes and taken a picture of it. I'll even include the recipe! Wow, now I'm committed to 2 posts in one week. I think that will be a record! The picture below explains why we had to break down and spend nearly $10,000 to have a new roof put on our house. We were afraid if we waited until we got an offer (by some miracle) that the shingles would not pass inspection and could cause a sell to fall through. Thus, painful as it was, we took the money out of savings and hoped and prayed we are not throwing more good money after bad. We have already lost a great deal of money on this Florida venture. Anyway.... the picture below is one of many areas they ran into that had rot in the plywood. Our $8,000 roof job ended up being closer to $10,000. They even had to replace some rafters in the garage! When they gave us that bit of news we declared loudly and clearly: NO MORE SURPRISES ALLOWED!
The last picture depicts the biggest frustration of all. One of the main reasons we decided to have the project done was to avoid any leaks that would inevitably come and end up damaging the interior ceiling. The roofers exposed an area on a day when we were hit with a downpour and they didn't properly cover the vulnerable spot. Within minutes, Gary noticed water dripping down from the upstairs ceiling. When he hollered at the roofers who had taken refuge on our covered patio they started yelling at each other, "I told you to cover that area better!" They new exactly where the problem would be because when Gary let them in, they went right to the place they expected to find the indoor waterfall!
Our friend who does excellent dry-wall work is going to try to get it repaired in the next few days. Hopefully he can because we would hate to tell someone they couldn't come look at the house. Those potential buyers here are so few and far between we can't afford to miss out on a single "lookie lou"!
And there you have the oh-so-noticable water stain. Well Kerrie, thanks for inspiring me to update. It is still sticky, sultry summertime here but it makes me happy to know that our family is enjoying the most beautiful time of the year. Check back on Friday for hopefully a yummy, fall recipe! If you read this Kerrie, I would love your e-mail address!


2 comments:

Kerrie said...

Yeah, Diane, thanks for posting. I remember your pumpkins from last year. They are perfect on your mantel with the orange lights. Bonnie and I thought about making some last year, but never got around to it. Can't wait to see your recipe. Boy, you've had quite the year. Hang in there and move over here already! (= Here is my e-mail adress: kmennear@msn.com

Maxwell Family said...

I read about your exciting news on Aubrey's blog! I will keep my fingers crossed and pray all goes well. It must have made for an exciting Christmas! I think about you so often. I misplaced your email address.
Send it over and we can chat. I don't have anything exciting to share and no good news, but we aren't giving up hope. I did get to chat with our missionary on Christmas and it was the best gift ever. We are now working on Scott's mission paperwork as we speak. I'll get one home and another will leave. Thank goodness for kind grandparents and friends who have helped to keep Blake on his mission. I will never be able to re-pay the kindness that has been shown to us this past year. I look forward to 2010 with great hope, and excitement to get my son home from his mission!
Love you and keep in touch. I haven't been much for blogging lately, my spirits have been down. I'm working on being more happy and grateful. Best of luck with the house! Love Cindee