More satisfying tear-out

We spent another evening ripping up the house. It's pretty fun to whack with a hammer and have a wall come down in the name of progress!

We finished taking out the downstairs bathroom, including the stud walls. All that's left is the bathtub, a heavy metal beast that we'll haul directly to the scrapyard.

The kitchen ceiling tiles and furring strips are gone, are the linoleum floor tiles. Upstairs I began to remove the bathroom cabinet. Bob tore carpet out of two rooms.

Next we need to recycle or burn the results of the last two days. So far we have carpet, paneling flooring and wood on the front porch. Hopefully we'll be able to use Mark's tractor to haul the lumber to the woods and the rest to the burn pile. Anybody want to roast marshmallows?

There is flooring to be pulled up in the downstairs bedroom, mudrooms and dining room, and maybe some upstairs. There's a little stuff to clear out of an upstairs bedroom — old window screens, etc. We're still too timid to whack at plaster, moulding and door frames until we are positive they will go.

New lawn tractor
On the way out to the farmhouse yesterday I pointed out a Cub Cadet lawnmower for sale in front of someone's house. I noticed it on another trip by and Bob said he knows the owners well, parents of a classmate. They live just a mile north of the farm in the same section. Coincidentally, it's the same model lawn tractor we sold 5 years ago when we left our 10 acres in Marshall. It's even in about the same condition, but with more hours on it. Had we known how short a time we would live in Reed City (postage-stamp lawn we mowed by hand), we would have kept it. Instead we sold it for less than it was worth. These folks last night were only asking $50 more than we sold ours for, so we agreed to buy it. We didn't even start it up because Bob said the owners are more than trustworthy. It will be nice to have neighbors like that!