When I got home from work Wednesday, our dear old house was there to greet me, as always. Except this time, something looked a bit different. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.
As I got a little bit closer, I became more and more concerned. Something about the front of the house looked a little off, maybe just a little disheveled. (If a house can, indeed, be disheveled.)
The mystery was solved when I discovered we had been visited by a Really Big Gopher. A Really Big Orange Gopher.
The Gopher was not happy with just making his own mess outside; he also arranged for some compatriots to go to the basement and create their own versions of disarray.
This guy is adjusting something having to do with something. (Don’t you miss Steve’s knowledgeable explanations from last week?)
The drill used to get through the wall and out to the tunnel was so big, it took two big men to handle it. (For reasons unbeknownst to me, they didn’t ask for my assistance.)
This is a metal thingamabob poking out.
This guy is (I think) breaking up concrete with a jackhammer. I could be wrong about that but I think it sounds like a nice explanation so we’re going to go with it. (I’m hoping Steve doesn’t read the post this week; he may become overwhelmed with jealousy at the technical brilliance of his wife’s explanations.)
And this? Hmmm. (Thinking hard.) This is a modern art installation that is going to be on display in our basement. Admission is $1,000 a ticket. (Hey. We have to pay for this job somehow.)
Steve very helpfully recorded a video to explain things in a better way than I did, but unfortunately it was too big to upload here. I just grabbed a couple of screen shots to show the final result.
The work was finished on Thursday and on Saturday, Steve rented a U-Haul van and went to Lowes to pick up wood to build a storage system for the basement in which we will house a bunch of big plastic storage boxes which will be filled with all the stuff we have left after we do yet another huge purging of the belongings. (Yes, that was a run-on sentence but I just couldn’t seem to stop. English teachers, take deep breaths.)
We also used the van to load up all sorts of stuff for the dump, followed by stuff for Goodwill. You can’t see them all but there are three–count them–three portable toilets in the collection, as well as a couple of walkers and a pair of crutches. Steve and I tried to do some calculations on the time-space continuum to see how much of that stuff we should hold on to for our own elder years but finally decided to leave the decision for another day.
Saturday night, we were at Nathan and Meagan’s for dinner so it was a good day–hard work, progress made on the house repairs, and time spent with beloved people.
I celebrated my one-year, work anniversary–hard to believe! In three weeks, I am taking ten days off of work which I ‘m thrilled about We are taking a staycation with maybe a couple of day trips thrown in here and there. But mostly, I just want to get stuff done around the house and in the basement. To me, that sort of work is wonderfully therapeutic and it will be great to go back to work with so many things accomplished.
In the meantime, we are so glad that we can check off our list the Really Big Gopher Project.
But in their place, we had the Really Efficient Squirrel Guy come and start the process of ridding our attic of squirrels. I hear them up there, having parties, galivanting, doing backflips, and chortling amongst themselves. As hospitable as I try to be in sharing my home with others, that hospitality stops when it comes to attic critters.
I just have to ask: Don’t you wish your life was as exciting as ours? Big Orange Gophers. Galivanting Squirrels. Portable Toilets. The whole reason I blog is because I hate to keep all the excitement to myself.
I hope your week is a good one and that only good kinds of excitement come to visit.
What about you?
Do you have any interesting words in your vocabulary along the lines of doohicky or thingamabob? Sometimes we we hear those words passed down from our parents and grandparents and it’s interesting to resurrect them and re-enjoy them from time to time.Have you ever had (gallivanting) squirrels in your attic? What was the outcome?
Do you find it therapeutic to work around the house and get overdue projects done?
Do you have anything interesting planned for the week?
Don’t forget Thingamabob’s first cousin Thingamajig. In our duplex squirrels got in the attic, but fortunately the landlord had it taken care of – after making sure all squirrels were out for the day, they did some kind of patching so they couldn’t get back in. Nothing exciting planned this week – I’ll just live vicarioiusly through you! (That whole gopher project did look rather interesting – how they can do all that and the basement not shift or cave in) And we now have only THREE more Monday’s until schools out for the summer!!
Sue Ellen,
Yes! Thingamajig! Love it.
I’m counting down the days with you since my vacation starts around the same time as school getting out. But I don’t want it to come too soon because then it will be over!
Glad you got your squirrels evicted.
Our family ‘word’ is cattywhampus. Which to us can mean crooked, or mixed up or just a bit wacky. Lol
It’s extremely therapeutic for me to get overdue projects done. And scratching them off the list is equally as therapeutic and oh so gratifying. Ahhhhhh!!!! If I do something that isn’t on the list, I have actually been known to write it ON the list in order to scratch it OFF the to-do list!! Crazy, I know!!
We have a granddaughter turning 9 this week and our son is turning 38 so we have some celebrating to do. Also a trip back to our home town to golf with our group of friends on Friday. Can’t wait!!
Your house mess will very soon be a thing of the past. Love your eloquent descriptions! 😉
LeeAnne,
Yes, cattywhampus is a GREAT all purpose word!
Very excited about a house mess becoming a thing of the past. And I’m glad you know the joy of crossing things off a list and getting things done. So much fun!
Enjoy your family celebrations!
I think doohicky and thingamabob are much more exciting than my thingy or whatchamacalit. Don’t recall hearing my parents use any specific words.
I think we have had some little critters in the attic, but never had it checked out as hubby couldn’t hear it. Our $$$ problem was the mouse that was toasting sunflower seeds in my muffler, $1,500.00 worth.
We haven’t had many big projects and take everyday things slow. I have been working on spring weeding, which I enjoy, but my back says otherwise so I try to limit my work to an hour a day. It does feel good to get things done. You have had so many projects on your house in the last year. Prayers as you finish up on your “vacation”
We get to go to our youngest grandsons school for “grandfriends day” on wed. That should be fun.
Patti,
A $1500 mouse? Toasting sunflower seeds on your muffler? THAT is not a good thing!
I love the phrase “grandfriends.” Enjoy being guests of honor.
Oh Becky, that made me laugh! I also had an exciting week like that, I had my HVAC system replaced, then found out the self cleaning cycle of my oven was not working so had to have GE come in and replace all sorts of things….my mailbox got hit and had to have that replaced, I had new flappers put in all my toilets and tomorrow I have a company coming in to power wash the house, driveway and porches, have my gutters cleaned and my outside windows washed. An expensive month spent on very boring things but on the upside, I got a letter from the IRS on Friday saying I had overpaid taxes and they were giving me a nice refund!
Dale,
I read your comment and then had to go take a nap. 🙂
But after spending all that money to get a tax refund? Couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Oh, Becky, laugh…chuckle. I love your commentary, and actually understand it better than Steve’s exhortation. 😂
Your fun words just might make it into my Defin-ictionary I have threatened to create someday. I’ve made a list of my own made up words, more than a couple times.
Glad to say we’ve never had pigeon guests. My sister had a bat come down her chimney, and her telling of the adventure chasing it around their house equals your story telling. You two get the prize for winged-company. Ha!
Happy week, dear best-blog writer friend!
Cheryl,
I think made up words are the best kind.
I’d love to hear your sister tell her story. If a bat came down my chimney, no telling what I would do! But it wouldn’t be pretty!
I’m glad my non-explanations of the basement project were so helpful to you. 🙂 Take GOOD care!
How about thingamabob? I think your vocabulary was spot on. Loved your run through sentences and the art work – so hard to describe it – well, let’s just say interesting? No squirrels, but we have ants and wasps. Had some bug guys out and they did their job but we still have the pests. We cancelled our contract just because it was too expensive and really don’t think they got the job done. Yes remember all the work will eventually get done – keep telling yourself that!!!
Sharyn,
Glad you liked my vocabulary and I love your vocab addition! Who says a word needs to be in the dictionary to be useful!
Yikes. Ants and wasps are no fun at all. Flying and crawling things are among my least favorite creatures.
We once had a pigeon problem in our attic. We finally got around to extracting the pigeons, figuring out where they were getting in, and plugging the hole, only to realize we had plugged the hole while there was one pigeon still in the attic. The pigeon was in a crawl space not accessible to humans, so we had to leave it in the attic to die. I worried it would stink up the whole house when it died, but it actually went unnoticed. It’s probably wise that you are bringing in a professional!
Robin,
Oooh, not a good realization to know that a pigeon is in a place inaccessible to humans. So thankful right along with you that you didn’t have an odor problem!
Ahem, the gopher was orange!
Okay, in my defense, it looked orange-reddish in the photo but I changed it to orange. 🙂