Catching up...yet again...

I can't tell you how many times I've said to myself, "I"m going to update the blog today."  Apparently, just saying it doesn't make it happen.  The proof?  That would be the lack of an update since the beginning of May, despite numerous trips to the house. *facepalm*

So, let me catch you up.  Our house in Ohio is for sale, I'm still learning the new MI job, our youngest son graduated and was accepted into the music conservatory at Capital University, we held two graduation parties...one each in OH and MI, and I and my oldest son have moved to Shangri La while Shelly and our youngest son are still in Ohio.  The last is brutal in the extreme, but necessary.  The new job is difficult to manage from Ohio, and we really need to start getting some things done on Shangri La.  Shelly will be moving up after we get settled Kyle settled in at college, at the end of August.

Now, let's get you caught up on what this blog is supposed to be about...restoring Shangri La.  I made a few solo trips up before our oldest son Mike and I moved up here, which was two weeks ago.  During those trips I cleared out the small barn of its remaining "stuff", and changed the tractor over from winter to summer mode.

The small barn had quite a bit of junk still left in it from the previous owner.  I was able to get it all cleared out, load it in the trailer, and haul it off to the landfill.  This freed up space for parking the quad, and for the gear I would be moving up from the garage in Ohio.  The tractor, I removed the snow thrower and tire chains, and after sharpening the blades I installed the mowing deck and changed the oil.

As I mentioned above, Mike and I are now living up here full time, along with our boxer mix mut...Peanut.  We've been trying to get into something of a routine, but it's tough with so much in transition.  We have had some success in knocking down a few projects.  The first project, Mike created a list of projects.  :)

One of the big things we've been missing to make this truly feel like a home...A MAIL BOX!  There was a pole already in the ground, so Mike and I headed up to ACE to buy the mail box.  It's official, folks!  We're on the grid at Shangri La!

Some of you might recall a previous post regarding our considering the purchase of an outdoor wood boiler.  (A Heated Topic)  Back in May we made the purchase, and last week the boiler arrived at the dealer.  They're going to store it for us until we get the pad poured, likely delivering it in August.  Here she is, and yes...we went with red!

We're rural enough that high speed internet via cable or DSL are not an option.  That left either satellite or Verizon.  Satellite won't do for work because of the latency, and Verizon's signal is fairly weak.  We can't fix the satellite issue, but the cellular booster has us up and running with pretty good indoor coverage for voice and data.

The house is equipped with a mix of vintage wood windows and vinyl replacements.  The screens on the vintage windows are in pretty rough shape.  There is a good amount of new screen material in the barn, left there by the previous owner, and I had some screen spline from a previous project.  Mike and I were able to replace the screens for two windows, one in his bedroom and one in my and Shelly's.  The cross breeze in the house was immediately noticeable!

Lastly knocked off the to-do list, the spraying of insecticide outside around the foundation and inside around the baseboards both on the main floor and in the basement.  We've been having an ant problem, and while working the other day a big, juicy wolf spider ran across my notepad. (((shudder)))

Shelly and our youngest son Kyle will be heading up on Friday, and will be staying for a week.  I know that my productivity today has a lot to do with knowing they're heading up.  All of these major life changes we've taken on all at once, and then right in the middle of it we make the decision to split the family in half.  It's fair to say that it's been a bit overwhelming, and staying motivated can be difficult.  Just knowing they're coming up has put a spring in my step.  Can't wait to have the family all together!

Mike and are planning to tackle one or a few items on the list tomorrow, but we're also planning on taking the kayaks out for a paddle.  Mike has never been kayaking, and we're planning to head over to Ocqueoc Lake for his first run.

More coming soon!