Knocking out a bit of Construction
During the very short period of time we spent in Brady, Texas with Matt’s parents around March-May we worked on several projects. As mentioned in the Jen’s Alaska Trips once we moved the Bus from Houston to Brady, we had about 2 weeks before I was to get back on a plane to Alaska. We used this time to work on a small rental house that Matt’s parents were fixing up. The plan was to tile the Kitchen, Bathroom & entry as well as lay laminate flooring in living room, hall and 2 bedrooms. We had to clean up the concrete floors first and remove old linoleum. Once that was complete we started laying the tile. I usually will lay the tile while Matt does most of the cutting, it makes the process go much faster when you don’t have to stop every time you need to cut a piece. We managed to get the tile down in just a few days, then started the laminate. It went pretty well all things considered.
Matt’s dad wanted a baseboard of tile trim in kitchen and bath so we knocked that out in about two partial days, again Matt and his Dad cut the trim pieces so it went pretty quick. We were just finishing up the trim when it was time for me to fly back out to Alaska again. So I left Matt to finish the last bit of trim on the laminate once I was gone. It had been a few years since I had tiled but I think It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. J This project helped improve our skills as we will likely be using this skill in the next few years. I would tile any day just don’t make me sheetrock anything. That is a skill I hope to never perfect. Included are some before and after pictures so that you don’t have to just imagine it.
When I returned from Alaska Matt and I spent about a week and half working on cleaning up a huge yard which was located at another location in Brady. This was an amazing yard but had been severely neglected over the past several years. We hauled over a ton of leaves to the dump, literally. We also moved rock, and cement blocks, picked up trash, repaired a couple fence pieces, trimmed some fruit trees and cleaned up a patio area. This yard has some absolutely amazing potential.
We found it really interesting on all the random things we found there from people who had lived there before. One interesting thing was that there was a storm cellar which was really good size. The weird part was there was a name and two dates carved into the stone on the cellar. Not sure if it was supposed to be in memory of or something else. I love old houses because you can always wonder what stories must have taken place before. I feel that way every time I drive through the old Texas ghost towns with old dilapidated buildings and homes. All the history that came before us is incredible to think about. I can’t comprehend the difficulties that must have been normal day to day life for the early pioneers and settlers throughout this country. Most of us seriously take for granted how easy are daily activities are now days.
