This was my 3rd full day on-the-job with the packers in the midst of huge fans & dehumidifiers in the 90 degree heat and 90 degree humidity INSIDE. Outside was much better today, thank goodness. We had somewhere to go to escape the hothouse! The two pods are now packed with most of our belongings - they will go into a climate controlled storage facility until the house is repaired.
However, Frank's office (hard hit) remains the "hot/dry" zone where most of the potentially damaged paperwork is being dried along with the sub-flooring. The dining room is where all the items for the dry cleaners have collected, plus all the fabric from my huge collection. I haven't yet decided how to handle the fabric, but I'm strongly leaning towards collecting insurance money as opposed to dry cleaning the stash.
The furnace is now able to function. The hot water heater will be declared "dead." The appliance repairman says he can repair the 10+ year old machines for around $500-600.00... despite the fact that the gas dryer still has water inside the drum, among other places, and makes strange noises when rotating... I'm calling another appliance company for a second opinion. If it's declared "repair-worthy" we'll take the repair money & use it towards buying a new set - on pedestals.
The downstairs half bath now seems affected by the humidity and reeks with odor. I have all sorts of art/paint/dye supplies in that closet that we had hoped could stay there. Now I'm wondering if that was such a good idea... I'll know more when I meet with the adjustor whenever that happens next.
The garage (directly below the laundry room & Frank's office) is extensively damaged. All flexible ductwork must be replaced - some of it is still falling into the garage. Lots of stuff out there is destroyed. Thankfully, most of it was simply being stored and isn't that critical. We'll have some of it replaced. The rest is already in the dumpster. Thankfully, I moved all my gardening tools out to a plastic box on our deck this past summer, so my tools are OK. The big doll house is also fine - but the doll house furniture was flooded, like our home!
I have little idea of what to expect from the remedial folks tomorrow - I know they are preparing a plan with choices/options for flooring upstairs and down. I get to choose paint colors, too... whoopee. I'm curious as to just how much more sheet rock will have to be removed... I over-heard them saying that one full wall in my studio will go - the one opposite the garage.
We still have very active humor going for us, but our motel room is small - especially with 3 computers and a sewing machine (not set up & may not ever get set up!). I bought a small clothing rack for Frank's work clothes - our closet here is minuscule. I may go stir crazy once I'm not so busy with the house!
Meanwhile, the quilt show I'm curating for the American Quilter's Society Museum in Kentucky next month and must alert all our membership to get their quilts to FedEx ASAP. My own three are at the bottom of the suitcase I packed a week ago for the art quilt talk in upstate NJ - the day of the flood! Guess I'll have to take that suitcase out of the car soon...
And I did go to the pond by our old house to be renewed by the beauty of trees, birds & water. That was a gift to myself! Next week I'll get my hair cut & colored!
Oh, just another interesting tidbit that Frank pointed out:
Both of us have major "construction" going on in all aspects of our lives. The house, of course; the hotel is also being renovated; the hallway where Frank's office is at work is having new restrooms installed; and I just had my website built and am "building" the upcoming quilt show as well as my career. How strange is THAT?! All I know is that both of us are way beyond tired and we both have big deadlines next week for our respective careers!
And to make it even more interesting, every day this week I've found a 2"+ spider sitting in my sink in the master bathroom - the only room in the house that was unaffected by the water damage. The Spider, in some Native American traditions, invites us to consider how we are weaving the web of our lives... it seems Frank and I are definitely involved in weaving "new webs," for sure, whether or not we want to! And it's not in the way we had been thinking - retiring to a restful, nurturing lifestyle in the mountains of PA. At least not right now...
Oh, and did you notice the spider in the daisy at the beginning of this post???
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