Eleven days now in my new old house. First phase of the process, making it livable, is essentially accomplished. By livable I mean a functioning livability. I have the basic necessities. A toilet, running water, a stove.... I have much more than that. I have a very descent abode as is. Yet, least I relax, it is, of course, far from- lets say livable with a capital L. But livability is a milestone, and no small accomplishment. I had to run a gas line to the new stove, a 220 amp circuit to the new used dryer. Make short water line runs to a new washer box, and run a new 110 outlet circuit for the stove and micro. These steps were all expected. I did not expect to have a battle royal on hand with piss ants. See previous posts. I have my furniture basically in place and things basically put away. No pictures up yet. And very little decoration. I may yet paint some rooms. But that is in the next phase. I still have a bathtub drain to rebuild. It is leaking onto the basement floor. Fortunately a cement floor sloping to a floor drain. I also need a dishwasher. That means a cabinet space and some counter top space to create. It takes a lot of energy to move and set things up. But it is also a good distraction and a creative process. So I am ok with it. It will take a long time to get this house the way I want it to be. I will have to be patient and persistent.