When I bought the house, the floor under the bathtub was all jacked up from water damage. Now it is literally all jacked up.

I bought this 4x6 beam from a local sawmill and borrowed the 12 and 8 ton jacks from my dad. With the middle of the beam pressed by hand against the sagging floor, there were ~2” gaps between the top of the beam and the floor on each end. I’m slowly closing these gaps over a period of days using some pretty complex structural engineering formulas that equate the horrible creaking and splintering sounds to how many times I feel like pumping the jack handles.

The goal is to have the beam in place with real posts under it by Saturday so that I can take a bath.

It’s an old New England saying that the easiest way to knock down a barn is to put a small hole in the roof and wait. Apparently someone at the bank has been testing this theory on my barn for the past few years.

I got a tarp over the hole just in time and will replace the rotten timbers and the roof next spring. Who wants to learn timber framing?

I have a long list of projects to finish before Cat gets here in two weeks.

Fixing the stairs to the basement was not at the top of my list, but some subtle comments by the chimney cleaner and plumber moved it to the top.

First project complete.

This is a picture of a Maine Refrigerator (pat. pending). It keeps my water and milk from freezing so I can make tea in the morning. It doubles as a nightlight in case I get scared.

December 30th. The first day at the house and tonight the first night. It’s 20 degrees out with light snow.

The chimney inspector says the chimney needs a new liner, so we can’t turn on the oil heat. Without oil heat, we can’t turn on the water because the pipes will freeze.  Well, at least we can turn on the propane heater in the bedroom… No the propane tank is empty. Well, it’s getting dark, let me turn on the power for lights. The one breaker out of thirty that’s labeled says “Hot Tub”. There’s no hot tub….. is there?

I guess and check turning on and off breakers until some lights come on. Hopefully I didn’t accidentally turn on any water pumps. We curl up in our winter sleeping bags and turn out the lights. 

Lets buy a house in Maine. Okay. And move in in January. Okay.

Flew up in October.  Found a foreclosed BnB on a river in Bristol. Perfect? Two months of paperwork. Our lease in Annapolis is up. Time to move up. 

Christmas Eve Eve. Load the Uhaul all day. Dunkin Donuts Medium Regular. Drive all night. Dunkin Donuts Medium Regular. Cat likes the house. A relief. Unload all day. Dunkin Donuts Medium Regular. When is the last time we ate food? Drive two hours north to my parents house. It’s Christmas Eve. Fall asleep.