"4 Years Later"

  September 4th, 2009 was a Friday........the day we left a different life behind us. Four years later, sometimes we try to recall certain things we have done, or had done to our house here in the Ozarks. Or we try to recall the different things we have done for entertainment here, compared to the things we did in Nebraska.
  Despite our "Home Inspection Report" that we paid $300 for. I strongly recommend doing an inspection yourself, and then you really know way more then they tell you. Just come in, spend a day by yourself, and go room by room, looking at everything and trying everything yourself. Have a good ladder and a good flashlight. Look from top to bottom.
  The house has taken on a complete new look, inside and out. Inside, the only thing we have not changed yet is the carpet. On Labor Day, 2009, I removed the previous owners "Sun Room". This was one giant collection of rotten wood, that had 1000's of ants in it, and it had to go immediately!
   We have removed what the previous folks called their "Bonus Room". It came off first thing in the spring of 2010. It was literally pulling away from the house, held on only by 4 or 5, 16 Penney nails. The space would have been nice to have kept, but the cost of building it correctly, I felt was a poor idea. Kath to this day wishes we still had that space in the house.
  We have replaced all, and added two new windows in the house, the old ones were inoperable.We had to replace the water heater on week #3. We had to replace the roof shingles, gutters, all 3 exterior doors, and garage door.
  We painted the house in the spring of 2010. That really started the house taking on a new look. Yard work was a priority that first spring, and still going on to this day! 20 yards of topsoil have been brought in to make planting areas for Kath and her flowers. A number of varieties we have found just don't make it through the hot summers. She has the flowerbeds growing good now, and we continue to try and add something every year to the garden areas.
   This year Kath had a chain link fence installed in the back. It was the first time to our knowledge, that the deer were so desperately hungry they entered the back and started feasting on the Hosta's and Rose Of Sharon bushes. This fence put a stop to that real quick!
   Last fall we had a company  install a roof over our front porch. Sure makes it nice to sit outside no matter how sunny and warm it might be. It makes the house look very different from the street.
   All the ceilings throughout have been redone, removing the "popcorn" ceiling look. All the rooms have been painted and re-trimmed with white casing and base. The bathrooms and kitchen also have been gone through, top to bottom.
   So that is about it for getting the house in order. Now it is time to just keep it maintained from here on out!
   Kath has been doing quilting, she has got the knack for that I think. She also enjoys not only watching the wildlife that we have here in our view out front, but she has a new camera that takes some really great picture from a distance. It seems that everyday there is something different.
   I continue to enjoy fly fishing, and fishing with Kath on the river. Just nice to be able to go out, and not have to travel so far to enjoy the outdoors!
   So that pretty much winds up a real quick over view of what we have done here in the last four years.

Bob and Kath