Exterior Scaffolding

Sacred Heart had scaffolding sitting in back of one of the buildings that was not in use. YEAH!! The sections are just tall enough to reach the top of the building. We put it up near the turret for now and will get that repaired and painted and then...the porch will come down! We are so grateful to the church for letting us use the scaffolding for a while(and to the Kemner's for the use of their truck!)

EEEEEWWWWW!

Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom made a surprise visit to Sturgeon this weekend... First there was the rather large snapping turtle that visited the front yard. I am not sure if it was relocated by the 4 inches of rain or if it was a female trying to find a place to make her nest. Either way, it was big enough, literally, take off part of Teddy's arm and so was sent to the turtle heaven...which is REALLY disgusting on so very many levels... It was an impressive specimen though.

Before the funeral pyre could be built, Bailey came out of the house after using the restroom and reported that there was a snake trying to get into the bathroom. Since the only functioning bathroom is on the second floor and the window is 15 feet in the air, I poo-pooed her at first. Then she said, I am serious, come and see. Which I did and this is what I saw. The second picture clearly shows a 4 foot black snake trying to get into the bathroom screen 15 feet in the air.


After being flung from it's perch, it was quickly bisected and was added to the turtle funeral pyre. (what is really funny is that if Charles would have been enjoying a few minutes in the Christian Science reading room instead of his 7 year old daughter, we would have heard screaming and would have needed several years of counciling before he could enjoy his potty time ever again!!)

Attic Ventilation

For 140 years, people have apparently been living with an oppressively hot upper level in this house because there were only 2 hat vents on the roof. There were no eave vents either. We have added 7 vents to the north and south facings of the house. The first day, Charles got two in and we all were swearing we could feel (and smell) a difference in the upstairs. With 7 vents in, there is a HUGE difference in the air quality of the house and in the amount of heat that is held in. It feels much more comfortable upstairs.

The south face of the house with 4 new eave vents.

Now it is on to the roof. We are installing a fan with a humidistat and a thermostat. We can set it to come on when the attic space reaches 85 degrees and it will come in and pull the hot air out. We can also set the humidity level and the fan will come on when the humidity is high. Next step is the attic fan!