The day the dump truck came

Did anyone see the holy beam of light shine down in this area not too long ago? Well, it brought forth a miracle in the form of a dump truck and digger-thingie (technical machine terms are not my strong point). And boy did they go! Most of the junk behind the house left (there's some paint and solvents we need to sort through) and a bunch more from around the scary barn. We had enough junk to fill 5 dump truck loads (and then some).

Cooking in the trailer

I haven't been able to cook normally for two months now, and the meals in a box get a little old. When I had a little time (and patience) to cook in the makeshift kitchen one evening I decided to make some spaghetti bolognese from scratch. You know, the type with the veggies that cook down for hours and turn into a lovely tomato-y sauce? (And said sauce requires at least an onion...or two.) Here's the lesson I learned:

Cooking onions...

...in a small trailer with bad ventilation, equals unbearable teary onion eyes:

Putting a roof on it

What a difference a month can make. This week the new fascia boards and roof were completed. Just in case anyone out there needs the specifics, we went with a combed finish on the fascias (supposed to resist the paint from peeling off in the future), and a 30-year architectural finish asphalt roof with high-profile ridge caps, a ridge vent in the top of the roof (instead of those ugly black box vents) and zinc strips up the ying-yang to stop the mold from clinging on.

Whew.

Next up, we're painting the siding, trim and soffits, and trying to take advantage of the sunny early fall days. (That's a nice way of saying we're neglecting work on the inside of the house right now.)