Waiting….

We are out of our house six months today.  Hard to believe.  Hard to do.  We are scheduled to be lifted at the end of this week or the beginning of next week…..  Cannot wait.  Hopefully I have some exciting photos to post next week.  Until then.

The Lift – Phase 1

Five months out of the house now and things are finally beginning to happen.  The house is undergoing big changes!  The extension in the back has been torn off!  Shed torn off!  Roof over back stoop torn off and shingles torn off!

The chimney has been removed from the center of the house!  There is a column of air straight through from the roof down to our “indoor pool”.

The shingles have been stripped and the house wrapped up just waiting to go up in the air!

There is what is left of Larry’s Lounge….not to worry.  The new Lounge will be far better.  I’ll be back when the house goes up in the air.  Should be very soon.  Exciting!!!!!

The Latest.

It has been over three months since we are “out” of our house.  We are luckier than most as we have had two beautiful, gracious homes to live in during that time.  We are at my mom’s now and are quite comfortable.  Though it is still not home.  Most people have forgotten the storm now.  That is hard.  Especially on the children.  Mostly, we all just want to go home! 

On the brighter side, we are doing things to our house that we NEVER would have done and in the end, it is going to be magnificent.  We are bumping out our kitchen, making an entry into the soon to be much larger den.  We will have a new, incredible Water World master bath and I will get a new office/laundry room.  We will have all new, dark wood floors.  And the icing on the cake will be the new kitchen.  Should you be so inclined, you can check out my ideas on my Pinterest page.

The house is gutted and we are waiting…..waiting….waiting…for permits.  Oy.  More to come…..

Sandy is a bitch.

It has been two weeks since that bitch Sandy came to town.  In one night, our lives have changed forever.  One month ago, the last nail was driven repairing our house from Hurricane Irene.  We had 40 inches of water through the first floor and 91 mile an hour winds….  Our first floor is gutted from floor to ceiling and is uninhabitable.  Staying with a very generous friend until the end of November and then…we will see.  The planning and details of fixing the home are overwhelming.  At least we are alive and well and that is what I need to focus on.  The road ahead is going to be long, exhausting and expensive, but we will come out stronger on the other side. 

Fortunately, Miss Gracie’s rub rail did it’s job and saved the boat.  The rub rail can be repaired.  All I can write right now.  Too much going on.  I plan on documenting the house raising, etc…. so stay tuned.  Let me know how you made out and what it looked like on the news where you lived….I didn’t see TV for 12 days….no power or heat.  Hope you are well.

Nutsy

Watch Hill Vacation 2012

Wow, it has been a while since I’ve been here.  Busy, busy, and more busier.  But hey, I’m back.  I’ve got lots of great photos from one of the best vacations we have ever had.  We sailed to Watch Hill and stayed for SEVEN days!!!  We towed the Whaler and the Sunfish.  We clammed, sailed, stretched and swam in the ocean for about 3 or 4 hours every single day.  The weather was 80 degrees and partly cloudy for the entire week!  We had 4 of the kids friends come visit.  Two different sets of cousins and friends of ours came and stayed Friday night.  We went to the Casino in Davis Park for a fabulous dinner overlooking the ocean!  Marvelous in every way.

This is the marina with the entrance from the Bay being in the bottom left corner.  We had the slip on the end of the top T dock.  This makes your boat into a summer house!  Here are some of my pics:

Yippee!  We’re here!

Great weekend at Hemlock

Well, we finally made it for an overnight.  We had a great weekend – Saturday was sweltery, but we got to the beach and swam in the bay as well before having a nice dinner of bbq’d brats and burgers.  I made some fresh corn too – nothing better.  Everyone turned in early – the heat just wipe us out.  It was uncomfortable to say the least.  Too hot.  Then, to make matters worse, we had two thunderstorms during the night.  I got completely soaked closing the portholes and hatch.  But that actually felt good!  After that, there was no air at all.  Ick.  We woke up late Sunday and headed straight to the beach.  It was a 10!!  Clear, cool water with nice waves for boogie boarding.  It was heaven.  We had a nice sail home and then cleaned the boat and hung outside for a while.  Here are some photos:

Dusk floating deserves a quiet night…. but I digress.

Sunset at Hemlock.   The storms came later.

Great day on the beach Sunday.

 

We are a GO!

The Center Console is in, washed, waxed and already been used more than a few times!  Larry came home Friday night to find me drinking Dark N Stormy’s with Carl & Sandy (neighbors most excellent).  We didn’t save him any Bayou Shrimp, but he quickly joined in the fun.  After Galian’s left to go out for dinner, we decided a trip to Frank & Dick’s was in order!  Off we went.  They aren’t fully open (no liquor, just wine and beer and no food other than pizza and deli sandwiches), but that didn’t matter.  We ran into some folks we know and they had their daughter with them, so Gracie was thrilled.  Off they went.  We had a couple of beers before heading home for burgers on the grill.  All in all, a great night!

Saturday and Sunday were filled with more waxing, weeding and cleaning.  Larry finished waxing the sailboat and I cleaned down below and washed the curtains.  I’ve just ordered more Cetol Natural and Gloss for the brightwork.  I also ordered some Marine Tex to fill in various screw holes, cracks, etc.   Now, I will say that Miss Gracie is MUCH drier than the Loon was, but we do have one teeny tiny leak in the rear starboard salon window.  And it really bugs the shit out of me.  Taking the window apart is not an option.  Larry and I both agree on this.  We did it on the Loon and it never worked.  So, I was considering silicone, etc….when I came upon some stuff called Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure.  How can you not love this stuff?  Creeping Crack Cure?  Love it.  Of course it’s British!!!!  Isn’t all the best shit made in the UK?  All the need hardware stuff and repair things I want are made in Britain.  For a country that declares itself so ahead of the times?  Sometimes I think not.  But I digress.  Anyhoo, I’ve ordered me a bottle of Captain Tolley’s.  Seven bucks.  Can’t wait to give you my review!!!  So the next few weeks (after it stops raining) will be spent spiffing up Miss Gracie.  I’ve also got some ideas for a revamp down below – we need new pillows.  The old ones are 4 years old and well….getting a bit “used” and dank.  Since I’ve got my new sewing machine and silhouette cameo, this is what I have got in mind: