the sounds of destruction!

So, without much warning, our home renovations have started. The work is being done by David, the carpenter from Vermont who was at our wedding, who built most of the addition. He is a master craftsman (and BTW his fingers are fine, though missing their tips...)

Yesterday, he and Ben completely cleared out the pantry/laundry room. The washer and dryer are now upstairs, and eventually will be functional up there. Today's step was to remove the cabinets in the entry way, and cut a doorway into the pantry, which eventually will be my rat room. (How many rats will fit into a 7 1/2 foot square room remains to be seen...)

There is now enormous chaos at home, and so it shall remain for the next several months. My goal is to have a presentable front part of the house that is clean and comfortable for guests, parties, etc. My secondary goal is not to get too stressed about the process, and if I do, not to take it out on Ben. (I should commend Ben for *actually throwing things away* during the cleanout, though not as much as I would have liked.)

RIP, sweet baby....

I feel sooooo dumb.... I just killed one of Matilda's babies by catching her head when I closed the cage door. She suffocated and was dead a few minutes later when Ben noticed.

This was a Fern cage by the way...