Light at the End of the Hallway

The door is here. The siding is on the trailer. The trim is up and painted... somewhat. 4th of July and we're all ready to go.

Last weekend we purchased the trim, painted the backsides, and installed some of it. Yesterday I painted the front sides of the few pieces that were up. Amazing how little gets done around here.

Forgive my curt text. Yesterday was tough. I was trying to catch some rays, but just couldn't manage to do it. The baby was having marathon feedings and it seemed every time I managed to get outside - clouds. And then, the icing on the disappointing 4th of july cake, I found a snake laying eggs under the living room rug.

Yup. I'm not scared of snakes, but it shocked my skin off. I was just walking through the living room when I stepped on a lump in the rug. I'm thinking - cat puke. Or something along those lines. So I lift the rug and there it is. I screamed and jumped back, but then got a grip and captured the thing in a tupperware.

Black snake with one orange stripe around its neck. And a freshly laid egg. There was a second egg some distance apart from the snake, which I threw out. When Mike got home I had him release the snake across the street by the herring run. But now I'm worried how many other eggs are under the rug... and how did the snake get in to start with?

We used to get them all the time before we had a basement - big snakes that Mike had to suck up with the shop vac. One of the main reasons we wanted a basement. Mike does not like snakes. I don't mind them. I'll even hold them if I have gloves on. But I do not like them under my rugs.

Anyway - so we'll be taking up the rug today. At some point, TJ will be over to help Mike get started on the siding and to install the door. I have to run out to Lowes and get a lockset. They have these nifty ones that let you change the lock to work with any key. It's so cool. You just stick in this special tool, stick in your old key, then stick in the new key and then that key opens the door. I have one on my french doors already, so one on the front door will mean I can use the same key for both doors and deadbolts. Highly convenient.

So take one last look at that old door.

And take one last look at the house front.

One last look at the french doors.

And hopefully I'll have some new pics later... they better be snake free. And maybe I'll have some color...