Paint, Paint, Skunk, Pod

I am sure every muscle in my body is maxed out.  After a marathon session of priming two rooms over the weekend, my hand has gone completely numb and I am unable to close it accept around a paint brush.  I woke up Sat morning with the realization that most of the walls in the hippie house need to be primed first and then painted because ALL of the walls were done in semi-gloss ( and the trim in flat- that is a reversal of my paint world).  We tried putting samples on the wall but they almost slid off - hence the primer which took me 4 solid/no-bathroom-break hours to finish.  

The ex-cons showed up during the week without permission or an estimate and did a bad hair job on the weeds but at least you can see the barn...see Lewis strolling in front of the barn.

Then Saturday the 'Pod' arrived with our furniture.  Irv and I struggled to empty it (which we did but I can't feel my legs anymore).  One of the neighbors stopped to say hello and some how to let us know that the neighbors to our right (on the dead end street) are all alcoholics (including her) divided into 'those with guns' and 'those without guns...well maybe not but they don't drink and shoot'.  Nice.  I am not making this up.  I only hope they don't hit the boy scouts in the camp behind the house. Perhaps there is a reality show in this- Barn Island Marsh People!  The neighbors to our left had on Sat night the biggest bon fire in their yard that I have ever seen in any yard...kids running around with men drinking beers watching the fire.  Beers, guns and fire are big here.....is this the real Stonington CT here?  Oh , yes and pizza (big Italian population here).

 And the skunks. As a kid, I remember there were lots of skunks in that area.  The dogs get me up at 5 am Sun to go out and as soon as we go outside a skunk the size of a bear crosses the road.  The dogs GO INSANE. Lewis went from being 13 to being 2 yrs old...I almost lost my arm keeping them from pulling me face first down the street.  Irv was sleeping sweetly during the skunk near encounter.  

Week 2 - The 'Tin Man' arrives along with the dogs

Within a few days Irv and I take what will be many high speed competitive drives from NJ to CT at the crack of dawn to begin to tackle the house and get it ready for winter.  My father hires The Tin Man who looks and talks like Joe Pesce except with biceps like Popeye to haul away the broken stove, frig, two microwaves and one wood stove.   We get the low down on some neighbors as an added treat.  My stepmother Marion hires 2 'navy ladies' (husbands are deployed in submarines) who are very nice, look a bit haggard, charge way too much and only get to the kitchen and some bathrooms (and not well done-I spent the weekend recleaning).  Oh well. Support the troops.  

Irv and my Dad assess the electrical system and the furnace.  Good news.  The wiring works as does the plumbing.  Bad news.  No fuel oil and the furnace might have been cobbled together.  Oy vey.  Irv calls his brother Richard, a heating and fuel guy, who will try and come up in Oct to assess the situation before we and the pipes freeze. Its only $$$$.

The dogs are a bit freaked out...

Norman's face says it all - what is going on?

The yard is a mess which Marion bravely and expertly begins to tackle....she then informs me she has procured a 'team' aka gang of ex/cons and the homeless to clean up the yard.  Whattttt??????  They arrive this weekend, along with our 'POD'  of cast off furniture.  Again, oy vey.

We have eaten so much junk that the gym/weight loss/walking regimen establised pre-closing has gone out the window.   But a new fridge arrived and was quickly filled ( in this order) with a) beer, b) vodka, gin and ice and c) hot dogs.  We find out the previous owner left lots of sausages in a freezer we found in the basement.  When I asked him about it he said 'take some, I believe you met the piggies last fall'.    Oink.

Week 1 - The Closing and The Reality

We closed on the house about 2 weeks ago after a wild toad ride through the dark and frightening world of short sales, banks and mortgage. Needless to say, our experience affirms to me why the American banking system is still a mess and why lots of people are continuing to get hurt by these institutions.  Ok my rant is over.  We take possession of the house with the owners not quite moved out.  Ok we are not happy but go with the flow (soon to be our motto - ok, just chill and go with the flow.)

The house does have charm (albeit it was and still is hidden under a lot of dirt, neglect and stuff).  The topping on the cake was the text I received from the now former owners letting me know , BY THE WAY, that neither the refrigerator or stove is working........one of many soon to discover 'non working' items.  

Irv and I just bought a Hippie House in Connecticut

After a year of looking for a relatively affordable house near the water in southeastern CT, Irv and I finally closed on the house I call 'The Hippie House'. 

When we first saw it, it had (really, no kidding) 2 turkeys, at least 12 chickens, 1 horse and what seemed like a dozen people living on the property...oh I forgot the 2 pigsty on the front lawn.  The property is not zoned for farming but  the owners were, well, pretty free spirits - she a colon hydrotherapist (which perhaps explains why anything with water is the only thing that works in the house) and he an Austrian bodybuilder stone mason (which is why the house looks European and full of stone work).  But more about that later.  

The house has several out buildings and is located in the Barn Island Wildlife area of Pawcatuck CT (aka mosquito-ville as we have come to realize).   I will be using this site to blog chronicle our journey of taking the house from hippie sad to hippie chic.