So, Gary and I bought this house almost three years ago. I remember the first morning that I woke up in the house I had a horrible sinking feeling and wondered what in the world I was doing. It was too late and there was no turning back at that point.

Our previous house was from the 1920s and had been beautifully cared for. This house was a complete wreck. Dating from circa 1885, it had been hacked into three apartments and still contained five dumpsters full of garbage from the previous inhabitants. All of the plumbing had frozen and burst and we had no heat. Only one faucet would let out a little water and there was no water heater functioning at that time. In the next post, I will describe how we managed without heat and running water for two months.