Quiet time

My apologies to those who swing through here regularly looking for updates. It's been kind of difficult to work up enthusiasm for house projects when I'm wading through a ton of quotes for work I didn't anticipate having to address just yet. The dollar signs are starting to stack up. While I'll be very happy when it's done, and I likely won't have to deal with most of this ever again (for this property) it's a bit demoralizing. My friend Chip sent me this book though, which looks super helpful. I'm sure I'm going to get good use out of it.

Thanks, Chip!

On top of the flood of contractor quotes, I received notification that my employer is going to be going through "divisional headcount reduction" - a fancy phrase for layoffs. I really don't know what to think of my situation, so I'm taking the tack of hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I've got my work backed up, a bunch of boxes packed, and I'm trying to tidy up so that if I'm made to walk away I can with minimal fallout to who ever is left behind to pick up the pieces.

I did do a bit more brush clearing last evening. With it relatively clear of snow, now's a good time to pull bittersweet, and man is there a lot of bittersweet to be pulled. It's providing great cover for the local rodent population. I'm going to borrow a trail camera from my sister and try to see what's been wandering through my yard - something large-ish comes right up the front and then crosses in front of the shed to go up into the woods. The snow was too powdery to get good tracks last time.