Shakespeare once mused how all the world is a stage – and between the very public nature of blogging and now the actual state of the house, I’m relating to that verse on both a figurative and literal level… You will see what I mean in a moment…
It is done. The Back Of The House was finally, um, “deconstructed”. It was pretty wild. Tuesdays are usually crazy busy at baseline – I am off from work but there’s preschool, swim class and me typically trying to smush in a long to-do list in between everything (with two toddlers en towe). Plus “night school” (my beekeeping class). Oh and yesterday had the added bonus of bringing my car to an auto body shop – I hit a deer over the weekend! It happened in Ipswich so I am hopeful that it wasn’t one of the visitors that come by the house but either way it was pretty frightening. But I am ok!
Anyway, I digress. There was already a lot of activity in the house by the time I was leaving to bring Evey to preschool. I got the girls into the car then zipped in real quick to see what was going on…
The banging in that video was actually from the machine (Tractor? Excavator? Robot Arm Thingy?) behind the house, methodically chipping away at the old foundation…
It’s hard to see in the pictures but it was pretty nasty back there.
Later, while the girls were napping, I was able to collect some more footage. I had to edit the video to cut to the chase, but it was pretty dramatic…
Pretty sweet skylight!
I had to run out again at this point so I sadly missed a lot of action after this happened. It was kind of torture, because I just wanted to stay and watch and help! I obviously couldn’t have the girls around the site though. This situation has happened a lot with all of the house renovating. Being with my little ladies is the best, but sometimes the FOMO can be tough! Way back at the beginning of all this, I had this vision that I would be in there with my painting clothes and utility gloves, maybe some stylish protective eyewear, painting and sanding etc… I clearly forgot that there would be toddlers in the mix. They will obviously win my attention every time. Which is also why I tend to post later at night – they are finally sleeping!
In any case, when I got back to the house……
This is exactly the scene I walked into! Crazy right? My honest first thought was that it looked like they were rehearsing a play! It’s so Death Of A Salesman:
We could just leave it and host some fun outdoor theatre in the summer, ha! More appropriately, we could make The Crucible happen. In fact, someone recently told me that the Porters are even mentioned in that book…
Don’t worry, we are saving lots of what is coming down, and are already brainstorming ways we can repurpose everything. We have a ton of great salvaged wood, and some bricks from behind one of the walls.
Side note – Hopefully all of these pictures are coming out ok. My laptop is still toast so I’m trying to do this on my cell phone browser. Not ideal. Also, keep an eye on the instagram account, it’s just so much easier to post a quick picture on there.
Anyway, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures here. Goodnight! 🙂
(Look at that handsome, hardworkin’ fella! ?❤️)
Judi
First of all, oh my! That is for you, your car, the deer. Oh my oh my! I hope you are okay. I would have been there in a heartbeat if you needed help. Second, oh my for the back of the house! Destruction is so much fun but then all that pick up….. but then once the repairs start and the house starts to heal, it will be amazing! Just think, all those trees will be budding and blooming soon in the front of the house to make up for all that action in the back. Happy Easter!
porterbradstreet
Thanks Judi! Yes it was pretty scary. Car’s still in the shop! And the demo has been exciting and scary, but I keep telling myself it had to be done and it will be worth it ??
Janis Clifford
Jessica,, this is the most amazing project.. You were spot on with the Death of a Salesman setting. I’m in FL, but when I return and start riding my bike again,, can I drop by?
porterbradstreet
Of course! Just let me know when you want to come by. I hope you are enjoying Florida ?
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