Thank you!

This week we had our annual appreciation banquet for our First Baptist Library Workers.

In past years, we have had potluck dinners.  At one point, someone said it's not a party if they have to work before they get there - - - - so we started going to local restaurants.

Our church's food ministry has cooked for us before and we chose to let them bless us again this year.

They decorated the tables and served our plates individually.

The menu was steak medallions, baby bakers (potatoes), vegetable medley, tossed salad, dinner rolls, and dessert was a choice of pecan or apple pie.  It was absolutely more than delicious!

We had a man we all admire present an after dinner talk.

 

Our library workers are the greatest people to work with in ministry.  We all enjoy each others company and accomplish a lot of work when we are together.   One meal a year hardly seems enough appreciation.

And a big THANK YOU goes to my sweet husband.  He finished the painting on our new wall.  It has the Dry-loc and a Satin-Finish coat of Sherwin Williams "Snowbound".

As you can see, we are beginning to put "stuff" back where it belongs.  I have missed my basement pantry.   We aren't hoarders.  It's just nice to have ingredients when you are ready to cook.  The reason for so much soup is sales and coupons.  For those of you who cook with Swanson's chicken broth, the cans are fifty cents at Wal-Mart and fifty-nine cents at Target this week.  We stock up for the winter since this sale seems to only occur around Thanksgiving.  About the Chunky Soup - - - Bill likes it if he comes home for lunch.  It's quick and quite tasty.

 The gray wall you see will also be painted.  It is the one that was repaired with the fiberglass screen and concrete.  It seems to be dry but the color is not all consistent yet so we are waiting a few more days to be sure before paint is applied.  It feels sooooooo good to have some things back in place.  There are many more hours to go down there because there is dirt on most everything - - - - but dirt is fine to deal with when you have walls!!!

 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers . . .

1 Thessalonians 1:2a

5 Steps Closer

This post may not be that exciting to you but it is to us.  You don't have to read it all but I want to blog about it so I can put it in my scrapbook. 

Earlier this week, "the men" came back to the house.  As you can see in the above picture, our house is now resting on our new wall.  They put the wood beams on top of the block and under the house floor.

The same day, the 12" blocks were capped with masonry mud.  You can see that first a wire mesh was placed on top of the block.  The pictures will not show it well but the cap is at an angle.  It looks a bit like a triangle.

With construction done on the inside wall, Bill started painting with a Dry-lock paint for the primer coat.

As you can see, he has finished the primer coat.  The wall that collapsed is on your left.  The wall on the right side of the picture was also cracked.  You are about to see the repair on it, too.

The wall was pushed back into place with no bulges on October 19.  Today the cracks were repaired with fiberglass net/screen and masonry mud.

 

Fiberglass net below.

Close-up of repair in progress.   The entire wall was then covered with the yellow screen and completely 'mudded'. 

It looks brown in the photos but we were told it would dry to a lighter gray within about three days.  It will be another wall for Bill to paint next weekend.  That is a new electrical outlet for either our (extra) refrigerator or freezer when we plug it back in.  My thought is I am ready for the freezer first.

 

Also, today, the outside wall was waterproofed.  I don't know what you call the below machine but the "cooker" is probably appropriate.  It has a propane-fueled flame that heats blocks of tar to 500 degrees.

The tar is applied to the outside of the basement blocks.  Then a layer of fiberglass felt is stuck onto the tar - - - a second layer of tar - - - a second layer of felt  - - and a third layer of tar.  The felt is applied in the same manner as shingles - - but sideways.  The felt is of course 'hung' vertically.  Each sheet laps over the previous one with the last one being at the beginning of any water flow.  That way any water will always flow over a seam and not under.

Here you can see the steam coming out of the bucket as the first coat of tar is mopped onto the wall.  It's a shame you didn't get to smell it with us!  We are sooooo thankful for persons who enjoy doing this kind of work and doing it well.  They walk in wet mud for part of the job; work in all kinds of weather; and go through one to two sets of clothes a week because the dirt and tar that gets on them cannot be washed out without ruining a washing machine.

 

Both walls are completed.  The masonry cap was waterproofed, too but for some reason, it reflected the light in all my pictures.  The workers said this method using the fiberglass felt is supposed to keep any water out of the basement for seventy-five years!  Guess we will leave someone a note about that since we won't be here!

The ditches around the house will probably be there for another week or two.  It will take that long for a backhoe operator to be available again.  That's okay.  We have the basement back and are able to begin putting it back in order.   It's just wonderful to be at this point.

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it . . Psalm 127:1

Semi-Normal

I love a yellow tree on a rainy day.  It seems more brilliant against the gray day.

 We love even more that the basement stayed dry!

The pic above is the same tree the next day with the sun shining.  It seems to fade into the background now.   Something else that is brighter is our basement.  The electrician came last week to repair the electrical wire that broke with the wall.  His crew took out our single bulb fixtures with pull chains in the four corners of the room and installed 4 fluorescent double light fixtures - - - with a double switch-plate at the base of the basement stairs.   What a wonderful difference!  (Remember this is an unfinished storage basement.)

 No more work was done this week with the basement.  The wall is still curing.  At the end of last week, only the bottom corners seemed to need a bit more drying out.  That wall is a thing of beauty to us - - even if it is grey cinderblock.

 Do you remember when my husband was a volunteer at the Honors Course for the above tournament?  If not, it's okay.  As a reward for the workers, they got to play eighteen holes of golf there today. 

 He had a WONDERFUL time - - - great weather, played decently, and enjoyed talking with his partner - - who happens to go to church with us - - - but they never met until today.  These things happen in a big church.

 On Saturday night, Bill and I enjoyed a fun couple of hours at a couple's home.  They invited quite a few people in for delicious finger foods and  fabulous fellowship.

Some of you mentioned Trick or Treaters in today's blogs.  We generally get none since we are at the end of a hilly street and the houses in our subdivision are too far apart for kids to walk.  (Plus with ten foot deep trenches around two sides of our house, we don't need kids in the yard.)   Also, our city has two HUGE festivals tonight in addition to activities in our indoor shopping mall. 

About your blogs ---- I have read most of them but will never get caught up on comments.  Sorry about that but . . . . Y'all - - - - semi-normal feels WONDERFUL!  It's a great respite from the stress of last week!  Catch you next weekend - - probably!

Its leaves were lovely . . . Daniel 4:12a

 

Maestro Masons!

Just some pics of artists at work.

 

 

 

 

The "cool" thing is nothing is getting into the basement now unless we invite it - - - that would include deer, possum, raccoons, and skunks!  Those were more of a concern to us than household items disappearing. 

I do have a different set of pictures to post - - - not house related - - - maybe you'll get to see them sometime before more house repair.  If you get tired of it all, you don't have to read it.  However, I am doing it for our scrapbook.

. . . . See, the Lord has called by name . . . . and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship . . . . .   Exodus 35:30, 31  

. . . . . every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work . . . .   Exodus 36:2  

 

More Beautiful than Legos

 

This is inside the basement - - NOT being able to look outside  Praise God!  Our wonderful workers were done by mid-afternoon!  The construction crews are our heroes.

 

There is obviously more to do - - and he told us all the steps including letting the blocks/mortar cure before jacking the house a bit to put in a beam - - and waterproofing, drains, retaining wall, landscaping.  I'll take pics along the way  - - - and have more from today but realized that I am tired.  The relief of having a closed basement allowed me to "stop and rest".

We are soooo thankful for the workers and their great demeanor - - - always polite.  They never tired of educating and updating us on their progress. . . . . so I'll write again in a few days or next weekend but thank you, friends for praying us through and PRAISING HIM, too!

So we built the wall . . . Nehemiah 4:6

Walls on Wheels

See the truck with the concrete blocks - - - - our new basement wall was delivered this morning!  That is not our house you see just past the truck.  Our house is on the right hand side of this picture.  The blocks had to be transported UP the hill and around all of this . . . .

 

This would be the left side of our house if you were looking at the house from the front.  (We know some of the trim near the roof is blue - - - those boards are going to be replaced so there was no need to paint them.) 

I know you are curious about the height of these piles - - - so does this help?

I am sure most of you know that a forklift was used to transport the block.

 It is quite an impressive sight to see a fairly small machine lift a stack of these and haul them up a hill and over some uneven terrain.

The blocks are actually located on the left of this ditch across from the gate.  (Nothing like having your septic exposed for the world to see, is there?!!  We discovered the septic is full of tree roots and needs pumping, too.  Rid-X does not destroy tree roots.)

Do you remember what the front of the house looked like Wednesday morning in our yard during clean-up?

 

Here it is that same afternoon!  Pretty impressive, isn't it?!!

Now you have to hear two more "God-things".  The first is that we were able to have one of the very best backhoe operators in Cleveland available to work on an emergency project with no advance notice.   We were told it would take 1-2 weeks to schedule this excavation work.  Because of the rain the night before, his other job was cancelled for the day.  Because of the rain the night before, our wall fell and we needed him.

The second thing is it is a miracle my husband is alive.  He was in the basement with the shop-vac vacuuming up water from the rain.  His back was to the basement wall that fell.  He could not hear anything but the whine of the machine - - - which became full.  The sound on the machine changes when it fills up.  Bill cut off the shop-vac and immediately heard a popping sound.  He turned toward the wall - - - saw a vertical crack open and widen with mud seeping through - -- - another pop and he said to himself, "It's time to get upstairs."  The minute his foot hit the stair steps, blocks began popping out of the wall.  We ran to the far end of the house until the popping and crashing stopped.  When we went downstairs and saw the demolition, we realized he could have been under the wall of blocks!

As I said yesterday, we are Praising God through all of this because we see HIS Hand of protection in it.

Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!  While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 146:1-3

 

And the Walls Came Crumbling Down!

This is what happened on Labor Day when we had over 10 inches of rain in a very short time.  Our basement wall cracked and bulged inward due to movement of the earth behind it.   We waited on insurance evaluation and got estimates and education from foundation contractors.  Four days ago, we had given an initial payment to the contractor of our choice.  He was scheduled to be here this morning at 8 a.m. to put up a temporary support wall.  He arrived at 7:30.

Well  - - last night we got another deluge of a rainstorm.  The earth moved again and the entire 27 foot long front basement foundation wall fell to the ground.  This picture is inside the basement looking outside into the front yard early this morning.  See the neighbor's house across the street?!!

 

The next two are more of the same but also show the wall on the floor.

And here we are outside - -- looking in before excavation has begun.  Notice under the window on the left - - you can see through the basement out into the back yard.

 

Inside temporary support wall is up - - - in a very short time.  We were impressed.

Keep us in prayer.  It is what literally has kept our house from collapsing.  The contractors said, "Why didn't the house collapse?  It should have collapsed.  What was holding the wall up?

I said, "Prayer."

One of the men said, "It's all you need."

This experience has been more than we anticipated when we became empty-nesters but we have seen God's protecting hand in all of it.

 

Remember chapter one of the Book of Job - - - nothing happens unless God allows it.  HE walks through life every step of the way with us.