I feel like I have accomplished nothing.

Which isn’t true, of course. I could list a few things, if I had to. Yet, when it comes to the state of the house, it feels like nothing has been done.

The family visit yesterday was great.  It was good to see my family members. We sat around the table and ate and drank (well… they drank. Lol) and talked for hours.  Unfortunately, when my side of the family gets together, it is very loud and chaotic, which made my younger daughter immediately ill, so she holed up in the room they are using. Her sister kept her company throughout the visit.  My husband was able to make an appearance before he had to go lie down again.

We now have the loan of a carpet shampoo-er.  I hope one of the several vacuum cleaners lying around here works. 

A great day, but none of what we hoped to do got accomplished – and our list was modest.

Today will not be much better.  We might get some work done, but we also need to make a trip into The City to return the car.  In the process, we will do a few errands. The girls are going to pick up the supplies they need to start on the upstairs.  Masks. Gloves. TSP.  I will need to remember to get more packing tape so I can put boxes together.  Thankfully, one of my brothers left some packing materials for us. Including cedar pieces to include in each bag and box, to keep the insects away.

Growing up here, I know insects are a thing. You can’t get away from them.  I am still amazed at how many we have been finding.  There are dead bugs everywhere.  I thought that, while empty, family was still coming in once in a while and cleaning a bit.  I guess “a bit” was the operative word.

During our far flung conversations with family, things like our sporadic hot water supply came up.  It was brought to light when someone tried to do dishes and ended up having to boil water in the kettle to get hot water.  Our hot water tank is apparently the only one that has ever been here, and it was purchased used.  I was given an estimated age of 60 years for the thing. At one point, my sister commented that this place is a money pit.

She is right.  More so than I expected.  

I’m starting to feel like my mother has cheated us by having us live here “for free.”

The Re-farmer