Posted on

Before and After ~ January 2020

Terri and I have a lot of people to thank. We’ve had so much support from near and far throughout this year, and we don’t know what we would have done without it.

 

 

 

 

Last week we started sending out progress photos in emails, but we don’t even have contact information for many of the people who came to our aid. So I’ll be posting those photos here, along with a lot more as time goes on, more than is practical to send in emails.

We were able to move back in a few days before Christmas, a year and a fews days since the night of the fire. The house isn’t done, but it’s close, and we can continue the work more easily and comfortably now that we’re back. The yard is still a total wreck, complete with dumpster in the front yard and debris littered about. We’ll get to that soon.

Meanwhile, the inside is amazing. We still mourn what was lost, but that gets easier every day. Easier still, because we’re so pleased with the results of all the hard work.

Here are some before and after photos. In some cases, even the before-fire before for reference.

 

Living Room two days before he fire

 

Living Room the day after the fire

 

Living Room now

 

 

Living Room. The fire uncovered a doorway we always suspected was there originally.

 

Same wall with the doorway restored.

 

 

 

 

Kitchen Window before the fire.

 

 

 

Kitchen Window today

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had just finished the renovation two months before the fire.

 

 

Same view today

 

 

The sunroom a few months before.

 

 

Sunroom today. The arched ceilings are gone, but it’s full of light again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Boat Buddies Bookshelf

 

Back around Christmas,  a bunch of the guys in the sailing group started asking about making a delivery from Philly, Delaware, and Jersey – “a major award” they called it, and promised it was neither a leg lamp nor Brandi, the  rubber mermaid fender. This week they showed up for a tour, with the goods in tow.

 

 

Most of us sailors are also readers. There was much relief that the boats were safe, but it hurt them to hear that my library had burned. So they banded together and brought me a new handmade bookshelf and four crates of books to fill it. Totally blew me away.

 

 

Apparently, this has been in the works for some time. I may not have this exactly right, but apparently Paul S., a teacher, salvaged some clear Douglas Fir from the old bleachers during a gym renovation. He delivered it to Kevin B. at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival  in St. Michaels, who then drove it back to DC to build the shelves. Meanwhile, over a dozen of the guys pitched in and put together a collection of books. Emily says they contacted her to see if she could suss out what I needed.

Many of the titles they sent were those I had before the fire and were on my list to find again and replace if I could. Many I have not heard of, but now look forward to reading. Add these to the books from Doug L. and Dave G., and I’m well on the way to restarting the library again.

Pete P. even tossed in a framed print of me sailing in Caesura with the tops’l up, taken on one of my last trips with the crew.

 

 

Thanks guys!

All of the above, including just seeing good friends again, made me realize how much I’ve missed it. By the time warm weather returns I should be ready to get on the water again. Even Steve E. has been prodding with a standing invitation, so it’s long overdue.