{"id":25280,"date":"2016-05-10T02:41:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T09:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/?p=25280"},"modified":"2016-05-10T02:41:07","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T09:41:07","slug":"plans-plans-plans-blog-and-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/plans-plans-plans-blog-and-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans, plans, plans (blog and house)"},"content":{"rendered":"

:So the big question is: what do I do about the blog now that BHM is no longer paying me to do it? You had some good thoughts<\/a> on that.<\/p>\n

Actually, the big questions are<\/i> both that and how do I plan for\/budget for the final enormous project(s) on Ye Olde Wreck, which I hope to tackle next spring and summer?<\/p>\n

These big questions dovetail. Bear with me a moment.<\/p>\n

The back half of Ye Olde Wreck needs a new foundation: replacement of three beams 24 to 38 feet long, all new posts, jacking the floor up four inches, and replacing or sistering some as-yet-unknown number of rotted floor joists. Oh yeah, a little earthquake engineering and bug treatment, too.<\/p>\n

It’s also time to address part of the reason the foundation is shot. To wit: drainage. On three sides, the surrounding ground is higher than the foundation and slopes sharply so that runoff goes — guess where? — under the house.<\/p>\n

Like so: <\/p>\n

\"ESideofHouse_Before_052614\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the worst slope. But elsewhere, where the slope isn’t as drastic, the area affected is wider. We’re talking earth moving, retaining walls, gravel, and possibly French drains.<\/p>\n

Foundation and drainage: two beastly, tricky projects that need to be tackled as one.<\/p>\n

After that, the house will be fully sound — at last. Years of work remain, but it’s work like siding, deck building, painting, drywalling, minor electrical and plumbing, flooring, and landscaping that can be done in bits and pieces. <\/p>\n

Ye Olde Wreck will be a wreck no more. Just an everlasting hobby.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

I’d started to save for the twin monster projects and was paying down house debt from the last couple years of improvements when I got the word about the blog.<\/p>\n

Now, I have to stress again that Dave and Annie are talking with me about other work that, if it comes to fruition, will more than make up for the lost blog income. They’ve been great. And of course you guys click those Amazon links and keep me going. <\/p>\n

But in the short run, I no longer have a source of income I was counting on. And frankly, even if I still had it, I’m not sure I’d have been able to swing that foundation work.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago when the roof was leaking and part of it eventually collapsed I held a “roof raiser” and you bowled me over with generosity. I’ll never forget the flood of help you poured over me. Maybe that was once in a lifetime. Maybe it’s too much to think it could, or should, happen again. <\/p>\n

And right now … I’m not asking. I’m not even close to asking. You can keep your wallets in your pockets and your PayPal accounts untapped. <\/p>\n

Here’s what I am going to do about the blog, though: For now, nothing.
\n<\/strong>
\n—–<\/p>\n

I’m just going to go on blogging as if nothing’s changed. For the next three months, that’ll still mean fairly “lite” blogging because I’m offline at home. But come mid-August, expect almost-daily posts again. With no donation button. No bleg. No whining. Also no moving away from BHM unless Dave kicks me out. Basically … no changes. (Well, not quite true; following the advice of Commentariat members who suggested possible ways to monetize the blog without tapping into BHM’s scarce funds, I’ll definitely be talking with Dave.)<\/p>\n

Then, sometime late this year or early next, when I’ve gotten a better idea how much I can earn and save toward the foundation work on my own, I may need to hold a “foundation raising” and turn to you again.<\/p>\n

If so, at that point I hope that everybody who benefits from this blog will kick in a little something. Or a big something.<\/p>\n

If not, then not. Who knows what the state of the world or the state of anyone’s personal finances will be then, in this crazy time? I remain humbled and grateful for the way you all put a better roof over my head. Always will. <\/p>\n

But however life and finances work out, sometime between now and this time next year, I need to put my best efforts into ensuring that this crazy old house gets a solid foundation — one that will stay there until the day I die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

:So the big question is: what do I do about the blog now that BHM is no longer paying me to do it? You had some good thoughts on that. Actually, the big questions are both that and how do I plan for\/budget for the final enormous project(s) on Ye Olde Wreck, which I hope to tackle next spring and summer? These big questions dovetail. Bear with me a moment. The back half of Ye Olde Wreck needs a new foundation: replacement of three beams 24 to 38 feet long, all new posts, jacking the floor up four inches, and…<\/p>\n

Continue readingPlans, plans, plans (blog and house)<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","category-home-improvement","category-money","ratio-natural","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}