Today Brent did alot of work outside, he cleared off that huge bush/tree thing off the patio, so that now we can put the table and chairs there and sit. That was only phase one, phase two will be to cut them down below the railing atleast, so that we can enjoy an unobstructed view. Turns out that it is a rental house and the landlord most probably won't care what we do. But hopefully we can catch him one day to ask if we can just get rid of it. Last night we went to dinner with Brent's colleagues, and we got some great dish on the house! Turns out that six years ago it was owned by another professor in Brent's department, and he was forced to leave. Before that he was restoring the house. Then he sold it to the preacher and his wife, and they just let the house sit and rot, they did no maintenance or upkeep 5 or 6 years. They really let it deteriorate. The department head and his wife live literally right behind us, and the wife was friendly with the preacher's wife. She had helped her to plant strawberries, and red and yellow raspberries. Apparently the ONLY time that these people cut the grass was when they left and were trying to sell it! It is so unbelievable how they let this house start to fall apart, but I guess that's our problem now :)
Enough complaining. . . we got the foam insulation into the cracks between floor and sheetrock, and the strange old house smell is really gone from that room. . . either that or we are just completely used to it. Brent and I were able to get the baseboards up for one wall this morning, so here's hoping that tomorrow is super productive! Just three more walls to go!