Demo Day!

I write this post to the dulcet sounds of sledgehammers and big electric drills (or something like that). Demo has begun! Apparently, unlike in Brooklyn, permit delays are measured in days not weeks, so we are back in business. There is a four-person crew here pulling up our gross tiles. Hurrah!

This all happened so quickly that we are still only half-settled in our space. More importantly, the demo plan includes starting with the tiles in the great room (adjacent to the temporary apartment) so that we can put in a temporary floor and actually use that space in its unfinished state. So we'll save pictures of our living quarters 'til that's done.

Our contractor thinks demo will take less than a week. He also says that the horsey bedroom walls are ideal for children to smash through, and that will happen later this week. Kids will get their sledgehammer experience before we know it!

Construction status: Awesome. Demo. Dumpsters. Visible progress. Hurrah!
Murphy Scale: We got four cases of Finger Lakes wine delivered over the past two days, so lots of rose to celebrate getting this construction-party started. 🍷🍷🍷🍷

Finally, we know that all 3 of our faithful readers want to know the status of the snake. The exterminator came last Monday and gave us a fascinating biology lesson. (Seriously. I totally geeked out on the new wildlife info.) Unfortunately, the snake did not make an appearance so we were unable to confirm whether it was a rattlesnake or a bullsnake. The exterminator is pretty sure that it was a bullsnake since rattlesnakes are not common around here--it is too wet for their liking (hah! Seems dry to us but there is a "canal" behind the house which has water in it about half the time, so I guess that counts as wet).

It's clear the snake has been living in our barn for quite a while and it's possible--though unlikely--that it is dry and warm enough for a rattlesnake. To be on the safe side, we've been instructed to take a "snake walk" around the fields before we use them. We just walk the field looking for a snake and once we've confirmed there isn't one, we're good to go. If there is, we just walk away. 😱

The good news is that, while searching for the snake, the exterminator really messed with his hole (nest? lair?). He dug around, stuck in some chemicals to try and smoke him out, and otherwise made it clear that the hole had been discovered. Hopefully, it scared the snake away--we have not seen him since.

And, in the hole, the exterminator found lots of shedded skin. Kinda gross, kinda cool. Still on our barn floor because we are not sure we want to actually clean it up.

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