Mold Be Gone

Tomorrow, two guys will come over, seal off my bedroom, and demolish the wall under my window and tear out my carpet.  I have to pay them to destroy my carefully crafted room.  In exchange, I can be sure that *B* and I don't get sick from black mold toxicity.  I guess it's a good trade off.

The mold on the corner of the window trim was really obvious.

 

It wasn't until someone came out to give us an estimate that we found out it was underneath of our carpet, too.

I disassembled our room today, and it's a little sad.  Slowly, it's looking more and more empty.  At the same time, the rest of my house is filling up to the point of being uncomfortable.  Given that *B* was at work all day, I was on my own to get the whole room emptied minus the bed.

I have just a few more things (painting supplies) that I have to pick up before they get here tomorrow at 9:30

On the upside, Evie and Wicket like the fact that they now have new playtoys in strange places.  

We've picked out paint, and we've picked out new carpet.  I'm hopeful that this will turn out to be a good thing, a blessing in disguise.

Productive, But Not As Expected

The last three days have been both very productive, but my spring break plans have gone woosh right out of the second story window.

On Saturday, I worked all day long.  I used a coconut I picked up last week to have some coconut water, make coconut milk, and make some dessicated coconut meat.  Yum!  I fed my sourdough starter, and I am researching recipes for sourdough breads.  I started peas and lentils soaking for Curried Lentil Soup.  I made crispy pecans from Nourishing Traditions that are oh-so-tasty!  *B* made paneer, and I saved up a TON of leftover whey.  With the whey, I made whey biscuits to pop in the freezer.


Yesterday, my little brother was inducted into an honor society, of which I am a member.  It was a long drive - two hours each way - but it was good to spend time with him and his girlfriend.  I'm very proud :o)

Today was the day that everything was supposed to happen.  My mom was to come over at 8 am, we'd patch some joint tape that stripped away from a wall and repaint most of my bedroom.  We needed to power wash some chairs, and paint a metal table I had outside.  A lunch of fried oysters was our treat. 

Well, she got there at 9, but we weren't too bad off.  When she cut the tape off of the wall and removed our electric heater, there was black mold on the wall.  We went onto a website of which she knew, ServiceMagic, and looked up people to get estimates to fix the problem.  Within two hours, we had someone at my house!  While we were waiting for them, we did get the table painted and the oysters fried and eaten.  Yum :o)  I also managed to finish making the curried lentil soup I started two days before. 

So the company came over.  It turns out that there was a problem with the siding where the windows meet it, which had allowed water to enter the house.  Though I have another company coming for an estimate in, oh, about 15 minutes, it seems like we're going to have to tear out our carpet, cut out the wallboard under the window, remove the trim, and scrub and encapsulate the floor and studs.

So I've taken two things off my list (table and soup), postponed one (painting), and added dozens of more things that I need to do this week.  When spring break is over, I'm gonna need a vacation!

Our Bird Friends

*B* and I have been actively trying to encourage birds to come to our humble backyard.  My father-in-law made us a little bird feeder, we have a suet feeder and a finch feeder, we have two bird houses, and we strung up some dog fur for them to use as nesting material.  Thankfully, we've seen a fair amount of bird activity.  I've actually gotten fairly good at identifying these pretty little things.

This is a male Northern Cardinal that we've had every year.

The lady friend of our Mr. Cardinal.

I was, at first, amazed by all the Mourning Doves that visit us.  Now they're so commonplace, I barely notice them.  *B* can actually call to them, but I'm not that skilled yet.

It's very hard to see the little bird in the Forsythia bush, but I think he might be a Song Sparrow.  I've only seen him once, so if he comes back, I'll do more research.

I believe these are Carolina Chickadees.  I had always identified them as Black-capped Chickadees until I consulted our field manual last night.

One huge problem we've had with keeping feed around is squirrels.  We put out corn for them, but they are definitely more interested in sunflower seeds.  In the background is an American Robin.

I think this little one is a White-breasted Nuthatch, though I'm not sure.  He's a newcomer as of yesterday.

This wonderful little guy is a Downy Woodpecker.  I had never until last night seen a woodpecker before in my life.

He came by twice to say hello, though he didn't want to show his face.

I think this one is a Dark-Eyed Junco.

This is the bird of which I'm least sure.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's a House Finch, but I have no clue really.

I think this is a Boat-tailed Grackle.  I'm very unsure about him though.

I'm fairly certain this one is a Tufted Titmouse.

All these pictures were taken recently, some as recently as last night.  Over the weekend, we were in Assateague Island, MD, and I saw a ton of birds there as well.  But that's a whole nother post :o)