My new house. Wherein there is mass destruction.

Termites. I hates them. They eat things they should not and ignore the things they should. Because of them, this is what is in my living room right now. Bastiches. Did I mention that I hate them? I'll stop now before I start spiraling.
Seriously folks, if you haven't updated your termite bond, do so. Termites are teh suk. You don't want this happening to your home. See where those nails are sticking out? There used to be a 2"x 10" piece of lumber here. Now it's confetti. And the board it's nailed in to? Confetti too. Except that the party was had by bugs and not me.
What? That looks expensive? Why yes, yes it is. Thanks for noticing. When you fix something like this you should get a big, big bag of money and just hold it out to contractors repeating these words: "Go ahead, help yourself. No really, it's fine, I'll just pull more out of my butt. Take more, please! Don't be shy!" Until you pass out. I'm almost there!

But enough of painful activities. I have a new friend. This new friend is the bomb. And if you don't have one, you should because it's loads of fun. It's called a reciprocating saw or sawsall. And it does. Saws all, that is. I will love him and squeeze him and hug him and feed him and call him George.

This is what my subfloor looked like after termites and before George and I went to work.

There. Isn't that better? Cheapest therapy I've ever had. Highly recommended. Zippity, zippity. The reason I needed a reciprocating saw is that they don't build 'em like they used to. This is an example of the beams under my house. I hear they are in the attic too. 6"x12" solid timbers! Oy! The nice peoples are going to come tomorrow and put in new wiring because it currently looks like someone tied Medusa's hair together with a rat's nest poured glue on it and called it a day. No kidding, almost everything is original. That makes the wiring 73 years old. Say it with me: Scary, yeah.

Someday, it will be a nice house. At least, that's what they tell us. Donations are welcome. If you don't have money, you could also just come by and point out how we're doing it wrong or how we're crazy for doing this. I'd believe you.

It's been a bit busy out lately

Let me tell you, this has been one crazy period of my life. This has kept me from doing anything that isn't absolutely necessary. And thus the long delay in posting, which everyone is used to by now.

As you know, the husbeast is working in Charleston, SC. We have been looking for a house. Well, after a long and frustrating string of addendums, firefights and rude gestures, we finally bought one. The whole deal would have gone very smoothly but for seller's agent. Never in my life have I dealt with such a petty, unprofessional and blatantly rude person as this. If you live in the area, avoid this twit like the plague. I suspect that he knew he was going to get told off at closing because he brought one of his children with him as protection. Cowardly little man.

End rant. We bought a 1935 Craftsman-style house which, except for the windows and vinyl siding, is pretty much in it's original condition. It needs HVAC, a complete electrical rewire, termite damage repair, and updating in the kitchen and bath. Why didn't I take a picture of the front? IDK, but here's a few pics of the interior:

Last Saturday, we spent the entire day pulling up old carpet and exposing the wood floors underneath. That was so much fun, I wish I could do it every day. Especially in 98-degree weather with 80%+ humidity. This week the contractor guys are looking at the areas where termites feasted on said wood floors. Thankfully, the damage isn't as bad as we originally thought.

Here's some after shots:

See the little heater in front of the fireplace? That's an unvented gas heater. Carbon Monoxide poisoning, anyone? Me first!
I like the haint blue on the stair risers. Perhaps I'll keep it. At least then the boogeymen won't be going upstairs. I'm sure it won't do a thing to keep the cats downstairs, though.

And I've been refinishing my master bath, but that's another post altogether.