Forgive us for allowing this blog to get so out of date. Out last post was in November, about the same time Sam was offered a new job. After a brief 3 months in our "new" two bedroom apartment, we moved again – this time to Wichita, where we’ve purchased a home just down the street from my sister.
Life is good, very good. Sam is settling into his work and I am enjoying being at home with Eliana and working on the house. You asked for pictures, so here they are – with a bit of commentary.
(Our House)We moved in mid-February, and had been hoping the ground would be frozen when we arrived so we could back the truck up on the lawn to the steps of the porch. The ground was not frozen, but to our amazement, the front sidewalk is wide enough to drive on! Loading the truck took parts of three days; unloading took two hours. We even moved the piano with only the help of Sam’s Dad and my sister. (!) This move had zero stairs, unlike our previous apartment moves.
That first week was an adventure. It was cold, and the furnace did not do a good job heating the house. Most of the time I wore an undershirt, a long sleeved T, and two sweaters. Several days I turned the stove on for heat. But every day we’d find a storm window that was open or a door that wasn’t sealed, and things began to improve. The biggest change came when we found that the blower wasn’t able to work because it was completely blocked by a filter that hadn’t been cleaned in decades. So we pulled that filter out and wa-la! – blowing heat!
We had electrical work done first thing to bring our supply line up to modern standards. When the electricians turned the power back on they blew most of our light bulbs. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong (everything was getting too much power), so we spent that night at my sister’s. Fortunately it didn’t get cold enough that night to freeze any pipes, and the electricians came back the next morning and got the power on. (They’d never worked on a fuse box as old as ours, which is why they connected things wrong.)
(Fixing a leaky valve. Our monster furnace, air return and "blower".)
Once it warmed up a bit we headed outside to clean up the yard. We (and several helpers) raked twenty-four bags of leaves in the front yard alone. We’re assuming it hadn’t been raked in a few years – at least I’m hoping we don’t get that many leaves on an annual basis.
(Jim, Katya and Eliana work the wheelbarrow while Gayle washes windows.)
Our house was built in 1920 and has quite a bit of deferred maintenance to catch up on, but we fell in love with the spacious rooms, the leaded glass and built-in cabinetry. We have plans for big renovations this calendar year: painting inside and out, new storm windows, replacing rusted gutters, installing heat pump and new ducts (removed asbestos covered ducts from basement), etc. Most recently we cleared about 180 pounds of dirt out of our gutters. (Yes, I used the bathroom scale to weigh the bags. I was curious.)
(A Hepa5 Kiss)
(Asbestos removal.)
Sam’s family has visited several weekends and has helped immensely, replacing cracked or missing window panes, watching Eliana while I work, and helping us finish our asbestos removal. Christy and Nathan loaned us their truck for several months, which was a huge help.
(Joey and cousin Molly demolish the dog house in the back yard.)
(Joey climbed one of the trees in back to down a broken limb - see the red speck?)
(Nathan and Sam cleaning the gutters.)
(Christy watched Eliana while we were on the roof.)
In the beginning I met with several contractors a week and put together the paperwork that goes along with our renovation (for state tax credits on improvements, for the historical society, for the city low-interest loan, etc.) I’m really enjoying being at home, taking care of Eliana, and researching options for the house.
We’ve met our immediate neighbors. The guy across the street hosts a Halloween event at his house that draws a thousand kids! My sister, who lives a block away, said they had 750 trick-or-treaters last year. Whew. And the house up the street has so many lights/decorations at Christmas that it has become a “must see” in Wichita during the Christmas season, with limos and cars lined up down the block.
I see my sister and her husband, Chris, frequently. We cover child care for each other on occasion. They'll be moving away for two years in fall 2009 so Chris can attend seminary. If anyone knows anyone who wants to rent their house for two years, let me know. ;) Seriously, we’d love some more good neighbors down the block.
Papa and his trifle.
Trifle enthusiasm.
Trifle toasts.
Papa and Franklin.
We got to meet Deserea's brother Rico (not pictured) and her god-sister Misty (pictured with Misty's husband Art and Aunt Nancy).
Eliana discovered the dollhouse. 
Eliana "hiding" in the study with big dog and little dog.
Polishing brass and watching Seinfeld.
Finished. The same carpet is in the study.
Last spring we had two wells put in the backyard with a line into the basement. One well serves as supply for our ground source heat pump. The other serves a disposal for the water. The heat pump was installed in August, providing much anticipated cool air. For those of you not familiar with ground source heat pumps here's the skinny: During the summer, the heat pump tranfers heat from the air in our house into water which came from the water table and is returned a few degrees wamer. During the winter, the heat pump takes heat from the water (a constant 55 degrees) and tranfers it to the air in our house. The water is returned to the ground slightly colder than it came in. Pretty nifty and very efficient. Install one now and you, too, can qualify for a federal tax credit!
Thomas Stover-Watts and Mirjam spent a day with us enroute from New Zealand to Germany. It was lovely to meet Mirjam and to catch up on the news from Down Under.
