This morning we got kids up earlier than normal so we could take advantage of the free continental breakfast before the girls went off to school. Fortunately Tony had the day off so he was able to bring them to school. I called the school transportation office while Tony was bringing the girls to school and left a message. My Mom came by at 11am with the pizza we left at her house yesterday, some leftover "scalpt tayties n ham" from yesterday, and some necessities like paper towels, paper plates, plastic utensils, and plastic cups. Tony ran to the bank to get the check for the home inspection, and we were off to the new house to see what the inspector had to say.
Tony and I sat down with the inspector, who was prepared with digital photos and a computerized written up report. As anticipated, there's some drywall issues, some stained ceiling tiles from a previous leak, a chipped laminated tile in the kitchen, and the smoke detectors are not working. Then there are a few surprises. The siding needs to be replaced at some point, the electrical was installed incorrectly upstairs (but can be fixed with new outlet covers?), the gas line into the stove is missing the valve to shut it off from the inside, there's some water issues in the crawl space under the bathroom allowing the insulation to sag (it needs a moisture barrier), and there is a mouse problem in the house. The two big things though that he found were the roof and the support under the living room. The roof is missing several shingles, almost all of the gutters are missing, causing further damage to the fascia and siding. He strongly advised it be replaced, but said in a pinch it could be spot-repaired for the short term. When they built the house they built it a little funny. Under the crawl space below the living room you can see there is a long 2x4 held up by stacked bricks that was used as a support underneath the floor. He said this has caused sagging over the years, which is why the rest of the house has cracks all over the walls and ceilings, why the floors throughout the house are tilted and uneven, and why the door to one of the upstairs bedrooms will not close (the door frame is too far off due to the uneven floor). For this he said the damage has already been done. It's happened over many years and isn't likely to get any worse. He also said it would probably end up costing more than the house was worth and causing more problems to try to correct it now. It is just part of the charm of an old farmhouse now. The pump is good, the well is fine, the heater is old but works. The big patch of daylilies in the back yard is actually covering a big door. My mom pointed it out, the inspector hadn't seen it but suggested it was probably an old cistern. It might be neat to check it out, but probably safer to keep it covered and planted over. I found a patch of chives growing behind one of the outbuildings, and a patch of the beautiful purple siberica flowers like we have in our side garden in our current home. The yard has random tulips coming up where the big flower patch was last August - someone had mowed the whole thing down since. I hope they don't mow it again so the flowers will come back up! The one smaller outbuilding has a couple of very old desks in it and some work space. The drawers of the desks are full of mouse nests, and one had a dead mouse in it. It's going to take some cleaning, and I think having a barn cat is going to be a good idea. We will need to scrape and repaint the entryway, replace fascia and gutters, put up screen in the porch, take care of the mouse problem, replace some carpeting that's coming up, fix the three big holes in the drywall, repair some peeling paint, and get a moisture barrier into the crawl spaces. The siding will have to wait until next year. The one cracked window will be fine for now.
We came back to the hotel and had lunch with my mom before heading back out to pick up girls from school, do some shopping for basics (a bag of apples, swim trunks for #2, shoes for #5, work pants and shoes for Tony), and swing by home to feed and water the rabbits and the cats. Turns out neither of us remembered to call the girls' school, and despite trying to explain the situation to the teachers, the girls were sent home on the bus anyway. Glad I happened to be home working on rabbit chores and Tony had the day off! I emailed the school this evening to let them know what was going on. I also called the transportation lady again and finally talked with her. Tony will be dropping girls off at school in the morning, but he works from then on. Transportation lady assured me that she would get them back to the hotel after school tomorrow somehow, and have something a little more structured in place by Monday. I sure hope so. Now I'm worried they'll end up on the wrong bus, or not know which bus to get on, or when to get off, or they'll end up back at the house. And if they get off at the wrong stop, or get on the wrong bus, I will have no way of knowing, since I have no idea of timeframe of when to expect them. Add in that only #1 is allowed to have a cell phone in school - that means that #3 and #4 (who go to a different school than #1) have no contact with me and will only have what the staff there tell them when making the journey back tomorrow. I worry because we're all on the spectrum - and change is hard... But sudden change like this can be catastrophic. I'm having anxiety attacks about it now, #1 is worried, but has her phone so I can call her or text her to let her know what's going on. I think we will have #3 sneak her phone to school and keep it in her backpack so I can text her the information too just to be sure they all end up safely back at the hotel. It's going to be a very long weekend with five kids penned up in a tiny space where they aren't allowed to run or shout or wrestle or play loudly. Fortunately there are three televisions, a computer, and a handheld game plus two card games (Cribbage and SkipBo) between the two rooms. I hate having them all veg out in front of screens, but I don't see much option with Tony working full time for the next eight days.
All baby bunnies are doing well. I feel bad for the cats as they are trapped in the house with the nasty smell of septic - but I have nowhere else for them to go. At least they are contained upstairs away from the sludge in the basement.
No word from the insurance today so I'm not sure when we'll get someone in there to clean the basement.
We have 29 days left until closing on the new house.