It has been a busy week at the house. The end of last week we finished going through our stuff, and deciding what we were keeping and what needed to be thrown away. That was exhausting. We had salvaged alot in the previous weeks, but several things, such as the weather and heavy ceiling tiles, kept us from finishing the job. We also had to address the basement, which was a wreck. But Paul recruited lots of help and they got the job done in one day. That only left the attic, which wasn't touched until yesterday. There was not much left in the attic that was salvageable, but I managed to find some treasures. We lost all our Christmas books we have collected through the years, our Christmas trees, all clothes I was saving for children to grow into, Fall decorations, hiking backpacks, sleeping bags, luggage, etc. It was sad to see all the fire had ruined.
I had not been able to find Jack's quilt and another blanket I made for Paul Jr. in Kindergarten. I had looked and looked everywhere I thought it might be but couldn't locate it. I asked the demo team to keep an eye on it, but no one had seen it. Some of the team cleaned up the kids room so I would be able to look, but when I got there I still couldn't find it. I was afraid it was thrown away, so Joseph helped me dump out some of the bags from that room, and we found the white blanket. It was wet and smelly and moldy. On a whim, I looked into the washing machine and found Jack's quilt! I was elated to find it! It also was smelly and moldy, but I felt better knowing I could at least try and get them clean.
This is the back porch. Right inside the window is the kitchen where the fire started and was the biggest.
We bought this violin about 18 years ago for Zack. It had been sitting in my closet, waiting for another child to take an interest in it. It was sad to see it go.
The clock in our room was still going and keeping time.
I made this blanket for Paul jr. when he entered kindergarten in 1995. He used it for naptime, and all my children have used it since then. It was in rough shape when I found it. It looks better now, but I'm still working on it.
Jack's quilt had been in the washer since before the fire started. We started a load of dirty clothes, and then a few minutes later the power went off. These wet clothes had been sealed in the washer for over 7 weeks and were quite smelly and moldy. But, Jack's quilt is now perfect! All the mold is gone and it smells clean. I was thrilled.
Some of the pile that came out of the basement.
A little boy's shoe that was in the attic. It obviously was burned and then fell down through the ceiling the night of the fire.
One of the many full dumpsters.
After many hours of work removing everything from the interior of the house.
Looking down the hall. Girls room on the left, and boys room right behind.
The crew helping in the basement.
The two brothers discussing something important.
This was in my bathroom. I was amazed at the thick soot everywhere.
The soot was very evident when the bathroom rug was removed.
All the circles are where my bottles of essential oils were in the medicine cabinet.
The dismantling of my bedroom.
A random box from the basement with Paul's ski boots on the top. He's not used them, in, oh, about 30 years.
My wonderful washer and dryer. They worked so well and did such a good, quick job on the laundry that I hated to see them go. They were fairly new.
The beautiful log bed Paul bought a few years ago.
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