Sooo behind on blogging

I feel so bad that I have let so much time pass without any new entries to my blog.  Life has had its ups and downs - and getting ready for new tenants for our rental house has taken much of my time.  Where to begin???
We worked up the lease and met with our new tenants to go over the lease and sign it.  A few days later, they called to say that they couldn't handle the smell of the carpets.  So we met them at the house - and after pulling back the carpets - we discovered that the previous tenants' dogs destroyed the carpets. (NEVER AGAIN...NO DOGS...NO CATS!!!).  After a series of estimates and window shopping, (well...sort of) we went through Home Depot and ordered the new carpets to be installed - going with their installers.  12 months - no interest......on my Home Depot card.  At least we can make payments instead of in one lump sum!  Shew....things are difficult right now!

I've been working very hard on the exterior of the house to straighten up the landscaping.  I'm enormously disgusted at the mess the previous tenants left me!  The only words I have to say to somewhat describe the disaster is that they raped my landscaping, cutting down TREES, shrubs, bushes, plants and flowers.  They managed to destroy our landcaped yard in a few short months what we worked on for years!!!  I'm afraid to see the pool....but time will tell when we open it again.  I'm just sick!!!  Why a RENTER would feel they had the RIGHT to do anything at all - as if it belonged to them - is beyond me!

But even more items to be fixed is their blatant disregard about the gas pipes they had installed for their gas dryers and gas stove, which angered me with fury!  It does NOT meet codes and was very unsafe!  The gas pipes had to be disconnected and the floors repaired. (Still yet to do).

We also learned that the gas logs in the fireplace are obsolete - and the valve under the house is broken - so it had to be disconnected too - and we will have to replace them before the fall this year.

Then the arborvitaes, (3 in all) planted by the apartment side of the house must be removed as they are too close to the gas vent - and potentially a fire threat.  Blaaa...the work never ends!  Hopefully they can be transplanted and planted back on the other side of the yard in hopes to create a privacy barrier!

I mulched a good part of the breezeway and back yard next to the house.  It looks much better than it did.

The smell in the house is much better now that the old carpet and padding have been removed and the new carpet has been installed!  I suspect that their dogs must have marked their territory by peeing on every corner and square inch of the house.  We replaced all but the apartment carpet and it needs to be replaced soon as well.  I can only hope that the new tenants won't insist on it right now - as it's all we could do to accomplish what we did!  Talk about stretching our dollars!!! We also mopped and sanitized all the floors before the new was installed.  The new tenant said that he came over and vacuumed very good with his Kirby too - to help remove most of the dust and dirt.  Whew!  It's been quite a task.

We still need to have an inspection of the electrical outlets in the entire house!  Our previous tenant thought that the electrical outlets were upside down.  We lived there with them for years - but oh well - anyway...she proceeded to rewire them herself!  Ahhhhh!  I really think - it is a mixed blessing that they are no longer our tenants.

Ok ok...I have said way more than a mouthful....so I'll stop complaining now.