Age Doesn't Stop This Family

So I had the first-time task for me of taking out the chimney in my house.  I think I might have mentioned in an earlier post that I thought I could get a head start on this project while I waited for a carpenter with roofing skills and I would take down the chimney myself, and let him patch the roof.

Funny how roofs don't seem that high or steep until you get to the top of the ladder and literally crawl on the roof with claws like a cat. Anyway, I was determined and I made it to the chimney with sledgehammer, hammer and chisel in hand and ongoing prayers for coordination.

When I got ready to take the first swing, I noticed a wasp flying out of the chimney, and then another, and then another.

I quickly got back in cat-claw, must-crawl position and was now praying out loud to Jesus to please get me down that ladder safely and I will never be this stupid again.

He answered.  I made it down safe.  I went inside and tore up the couch.

The carpenter had a busy schedule, and said he didn't have time to take the chimney out in the attic. I was really hoping for since I had no access to the attic other than the tiny dormer outside, which would require more prayer to get up a ladder and likely Spanx.

Well, I had thought about taking the ceiling out of my kitchen and doing something different there, so what better way to get to the attic.

So what looked like this...(I know, not a pretty site as it is)

Soon looked like this...

Once I got into that attic, I realized I had a lot of storage space here, if I could eventually finish it a bit.  I had even hoped I could brainstorm a way into making this into a third/kids bedroom, but not likely.

In any case, I once again prayed for coordination as I walked from beam to beam, and placed a few scrap pieces of plywood down to provide a boardwalk to the chimney in the center of the house.  

I quickly learned that the process of taking the bricks down, across the boardwalk, and down the ladder was not going to work.  I began tossing the bricks down the chimney, only realizing the chimney was clogged from other bricks.  Ugh...eventually, I stacked out enough bricks to allow me to keep unclogging the chimney, and kept repeating the process.

When I got down from the attic, there was a knock on my door.  It was my cousin Jayne who is 78 years old.  She had on her jeans, sweatshirt, a ball cap, gloves, and tools in hand.

She had advised me to take out the chimney as one of the first projects and like the Talley side of the family will do, analyzed just how it should be done, how long it will take, etc.  So when I was in the living room removing the rest of the chimney, she took every single brick into the bedroom for me and tossed them out the window.

In this shot, you can see the shelves that resemble a Christmas-tree shape to the right.  It was the creative solution of Roscoe and Margaret, a couple that I remember fondly from my childhood and lived there more than 50 years.  The creative solution was not working for me, though, it was in the way, and that's why I took it out.

Here it is with the shelves and panel board removed...

and this is my spunky, full of life cousin Jayne, ready to knock down the world.

This is a lovely shot of me showing as I often do these days, the importance of wearing a heavy-duty mask for tasks like this.

With just the right tools and attitude, it was proven to me once again that there is nothing a girl shouldn't try (even when they realize there are wasps in the chimney while on the roof) and that age doesn't have to stop us from these kind of adventures.  My cousin Jayne reminded me of that fact that day and so many other days.

We conquered the task that day.

And we created a pile of bricks that I (along with the help of an adopted brother, bless their souls) stacked behind my garage for future use.

Stay tuned for upcoming post regarding the kitchen, but that's it for now. 

Jennifer