A Moldy Week

A couple of weeks ago I noticed mold growing in the wall where a water pipe had been repaired and the wall left open to dry out. I then noticed it growing on my place mat box in one of the drawers under the counter top next to that wall. Maggi promptly put a fan there but I wanted the mold treated as it was smelling quite bad.
So the mold folks came in a week before Mum was due to arrive and ripped out the wall, counter top and units. What a shock to come home and see that!

It looked pretty bleak and I was very worried and concerned that it wouldn't be completed in time for Mum's arrival. It was going to be a stressful week...

This was the underside of the counter top. It had mold growing under it. Maggi 'cleaned' it off and wanted to put it back, see photo above where she's propped it up against the wall by the dehumidifiers trying to dry it out. It had also spent the night outside, where the work men had left it, being rained on. I brought this up with Maggi and brought my boss in on the action as I was extremely concerned about mold being left in the house while Mum was here. Some very polite e-mails went back and forth between Maggi and I with the communication resulting in me receiving a 6 week notice to quit. I was very upset about this but decided not to respond until after the weekend.
Early Saturday morning I went to Warrenton where I was helping WomenBuild, a group of Habitat for Humanity build a house. I got there nice and early to find that it had been cancelled due to flooding from the storm a couple of days ago. But the blessing was going ahead so I stayed for that and met a couple of other potential builders.

All this water has to be gone before the basement 'slab' can go in, whatever that is, concrete flooring I think. There are actually 2 homes being built here, the building is a duplex, and the one to the right will be ours. The left one is being built by Greystone.

The people receiving the new homes were present with their families and the houses were blessed by Barry White. He didn't sing a song...

The new owners both hammered in a few golden nails with hammers laced with gold ribbons, officially starting the job. I was disappointed that we couldn't start the project, but will jump straight on board once Mum returns to England. We may pop down to see how its progressing and if Mum wants to sleep in one Saturday morning I'll run down here for a couple of hours.
I got back home and had no sooner sat down with a cup of tea when Maggi appeared. We both confronted each other with folded arms but before long our grievances were aired, hugs were administered and the eviction notice revoked, and we both went outside to hunt for 4 leaf clovers which apparently are supposed to be in abundance outside the house.
Sunday morning I couldn't sleep, still worrying about the mold and my upside down kitchen, so I walked outside and took a few photos of a wet but sunny early morning.

During the next couple of days, work progressed quickly in the kitchen. I knew work would be completed by Wednesday and I was impressed with the finished job.

The counter top was replaced with a new one, matching the other side and I was so pleased to see everything new and clean with not a whiff of mold to be sniffed anywhere. So my home would be straight and orderly for when Mum arrived, and after completing the clean up, I collapsed contentedly with a large glass of red to celebrate.
This will likely be the last post for a month, the time that Mum will be here. Each post takes me 2-3 evenings usually to prepare, (not this one, this was rushed!), and I'm not going to want to do that with Mum here. The daily blog, link below, will still continue but Lucent Moments will grind to a temporary halt as from now.
But there will be plenty of post about in a months time!

http://2012daybyday.blogspot.com/