The trench and raccoons

FINALLY we have air conditioning!!!! We had a geothermal heat pump installed last week. It only took 2 and a half days for the company to dig a trench, lay the tubing and install the heat pump unit downstairs.

It started out with a giant trench being dug on Monday morning, running all the way from the side of the house....




...down the strip of land we've been calling the "go-kart track".




They laid in the tubing...



...removed the old unit from the basement....


...and installed a brand spankin' new one!


I spent the week painting, painting, painting and one day braved a mass of hornets that were having a meeting to discuss undoubtedly evil things up on our front porch's light fixture. I gathered my courage and a can of hornet killer with a long range sprayer and fired. I came away without a sting! Colleen: 1, evil stingy bugs: 0



Last Thursday, Dave started ripping down the insulation that was hanging from the rafters in our pole barn.

BEFORE



Turns out there was a reason so much of it was falling down: Raccoon poop. Imagine as much raccoon poop as you could possibly imagine fitting on the top of that white insulation and then multiply it by seven. Then again. It was DISGUSTING. Beyond disgusting. I know you're thinking "why did she share that?" You wanna know why? Because it was far far far grosser than just that little bit I typed about it above. So consider yourself spared. You didn't have to smell it. Or see it. That's right, I am not posting pictures of the poo - you're welcome.

Here's an AFTER picture


Notice the rotten, sagging wood stacked up on those shelves in the back. Also covered with raccoon poop. On Saturday, Dan and Amadou helped Dave yank all of it down, a horrible and disgusting job. Suzi and I helped sweep up afterwards and for that Amadou, Suzi and Dan deserve the award for "bravest friends of all time".




AFTER


We rented a dumpster to throw away the myriad of junk/garbage that was left in the house and pole barn. Unfortunately, the rule for returning is: nothing can stick out of the top of the dumpster. As you can see we were failing miserably after the clean up:


Amadou stomped around on it, mashing it all down.


AFTER


In closing, here's a picture of Moose and I in front of the giant pile of hardwood that is going to be installed tomorrow in all 3 bedrooms. Moose was trying to lay down in my lap, yet again. I have less of a lap these days so he fails pretty much every time. It makes me laugh.