One full work week is in the books! Things really started happening around here, too! First of all, we began sleeping here last Monday, and we got our official driver’s license change of address cards, so we’re now officially card-carrying Jim Thorpe residents! It’s been great. We handed out candy to the trick or treaters last weekend, and this weekend, we walked up and watched the Carbon County Veterans Day Parade, which ended just one block up from Pigeon Manor. Thank you to all who served, and thank you to everyone involved in such a nice parade!

And now, back to the house! Remember all that “debris” I talked about removing in my last post? A dent has been made! Room by room, we’ve been separating trash from treasure. The salvageable things come downstairs, the trash goes in the dump trailer. Two dump trailers later, and the third floor is almost entirely emptied. It’s a beautiful thing! Guy & Dominic were the all-stars that helped make this job happen. Hooray! 

Meanwhile, outside, Bo helped empty out the precarious outbuilding, and Ron & Ian managed to load up and haul away two full trailer and truck loads of scrap metal. Bo also helped helped us make space on the first floor for treasure sorting. Thanks, Bo!

The lift arrived Wednesday, and got its first real workout right away! Do you recall the picture of the collapsing chimney with the giant hole? It got taken down with the help of our dear old friend and expert mason Ted and his helper Andrew. Ted boldly got that lift as high and it could go and, bucket by bucket, lowered the stone cap and the bricks to a safe level. This work had to happen in order for the roof work to begin.

This is also the area of the roof that houses the pigeons, who very quickly vacated the premises once they were disturbed. Bye friends! Unfortunately, they left behind the sweetest little present— a fuzzy headed fledgling! After consulting with our dear friends at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center, we got some tips. We knew the adults were still in the area and could still access the baby, so we left the situation as-is until we would confirm that they were indeed not coming back to feed him, and that he was not old enough to fly. Once that was confirmed, I had to wait until he finally hopped close enough to the opening in the wall where I could reach him. Once he finally did, I boxed him up snug as a bug with a towel and took him to the center. Before I even left the premises, he had already been given warm fluids and was super happy and thriving again! They assured me pigeons are quite hardy, he will be absolutely fine, and he will have no trouble at all finding friends when it’s time to release him.

Here are pictures of the lowering bucket (I swore I got one of Ted on the lift but I guess I didn’t!), the looong way down to the basement that will now safely be ensconced inside the wall, and the little fuzzy headed cutie! I think he looks like a Skeksis from the movie The Dark Crystal. Do you agree?

And now back to the chimney! As I’m sure you can imagine, heating systems that involve chimneys with giant holes in them aren’t exactly safe or usable at all, so we’ve yet to have a functional furnace or hot water. That’s not so great, especially since this week’s temperatures plummeted hard, going down in the low 20s a few nights in a row. The space heater kept it warm enough that we were fine with a sweatshirt and socks, but there is something about not ever being able to wash your hands with hot water that just makes you stay cold in your bones.

This is where this week’s real MVP comes in. A highly sought-after local plumber has been here in the wee hours of the morning Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Even as I write this, I hear him in the basement below me, installing a fancy new gas condenser thing with a direct vent. (update: it is now Tuesday. Yesterday he was here from 6am-4:30pm, not leaving until we had heat and hot water. Hallelujah for warmth and showers!!) I am certain he is slammed with a ton of other work, yet has been making this [very annoying and tricky] job a priority in his free time so we can live like normal people instead of making do with pots of hot water on the stove, a single space heater, and showers elsewhere. He shall remain nameless only so that others won’t expect this kind of burnout-inducing treatment. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

The most obvious and dramatic work that got done this week was by Max & Jeff, the super amazing tree trimmer guys! They hopped on the lift and used it to take down the two half-dead maples that were leaning precariously in front of the building. They also took down the remainder of the silver maple that had previously been hit by lightning, and trimmed a few branches from the maple off the driveway. I’m glad we could save at least one tree! WOW is this place huge though, right!?

Once all the outside work is complete, we’ll be planting new street trees, but in the meantime, let there be light! Now that the trees are gone, the east side of the building is getting some much needed air and sunlight to help dry up and kill the mold, mildew, and moss that’s been growing on the bricks. 

As my dad would say, “That’s the complete report.”  A reminder, I’m trying to remember to post more pictures on instagram under @pigeon_manor. See you there, or see you next week!