Spiders, Bats, and Owls...Oh my!

Saturday was the first day in the past week that we were able to work on the house.  The weather has been unusually cold for this time of year.  Some say winters are becoming like they were 30 years ago.  It may be true, but it does seem a little more fun to make a big deal of it all and have snowstorms with names, and titles for cold weather like "Polar Vortex".   Through it all, the old brick house is standing strong.  Those bricks can resist the wind easily, but once everything is cold, it's like a freezer in there.

We had lots of projects to choose from, but we decided to start cleaning out the basement.  The previous owners did a great job of clearing things out of the house, but the basement had a few "treasures" left within.  I'm not one for collecting stuff, but it is a lot of fun weeding through and finding things that were household items long ago.  We didn't find anything of much value, but fun to look at nonetheless. We found usable canning jars (including many 2 quart size!), old furniture hardware, a marble bathroom sink, vintage hockey sticks, and a washboard that I plan on hanging in our future laundry room.  

Before you get fuzzy feelings of nostalgia, I must tell you that we found some half frozen hibernating bats (they likely came downstairs when the weather got too cold to stay in the attic), moldy white spiders, and an owl (I actually found him in the attic when I went to get the broom).  The spiders and owl were dead, so they really didn't cause me any grief.  But the bats squeaked and wiggled when we turned the work light on, and I almost lost my lunch.  Thankfully, Jack came to my rescue and cleared them out for me.  I cannot wait until he is able to seal this house up tight, and they will be history.  We worked on until dusk and then called it a day.

Even though the dirty work can be rough, it's still an adventure for us.  It won't be without it's ups and downs, but the end result will be worth it.