The fixer-upper

Painting sealant on the deck

There are many kinds of fixer uppers. There is the kind where the entire house needs a remodel. There is the kind that looks perfect but upon inspection needs some crazy things like a new shower. There is the kind that is in great shape and you fix it up because it doesn't suit your needs. When I was a child we bought the kind of fixer upper that needed a furnace and ducts installed, 50 gallons of paint on the INSIDE, and the first winter it leaked from the ceiling in the kitchen on the first floor (two story house). Needless to say, I have grown up liking old houses, but also feeling that "fixer upper" was bad language. That house, my mom's house now, is what I'd call a capital F.U. (Fixer Upper). She has poured countless hours and funds into that house and it is much better, but it will continue to be a Fixer Upper until the day they tear it down.

We bought a lower case f.u. When we signed the papers, neither toilet worked, the ducts needed cleaning, we needed to replace a structural support and the kitchen faucet... It was a long list, but the things to fix were small and fixable. We have mostly level floors, new windows, a new roof, updated kitchen and bathrooms. And so we have been making repairs a little at a time.

With the arrival of good weather, we have focused our attention outside. J has repaired latches and hinges on fences. Scott and J have pressure washed and painted the deck (a stop-gap until we can deal with some wood rot next year). Scott took down the fallen arbor, put wood chips in, has pruned, weeded, and generally made our yard look amazing and has pressure washed and is sealing the fence (it is absolutely gorgeous!). We are getting ready for house paining. Each step of the process, the house feels a little more ours.

As I listened to the power drill upstairs as Jason fixed the hinges on our bedroom door this afternoon, I thought about the work that we have put into the house and how it hasn't felt like work. I take that back. It has been hard work, but it has been joyful, productive work, not the drudgery I imagined. Of course we now owe Scott BIG TIME.

Newly cleaned and treated back fence.