More house stuff

Well, we made it through the hideous winter of '07-'08 without any major catastrophes, house-wise, touch wood. There were a few issues, though: cold floors on the 1st floor (very cold in the basement), very cold along the west wall of H's room and our room, freezing of radiator pipes on west wall, occasional sounds of bats near east dormer, west wall of H's room and in an interior wall on the 3rd floor, very cold mudroom/entry, occasional dampness in SW corner of basement, and, just lately, apparent water infiltration above master bath ceiling. We've already addressed the biggest of these, partially at least: we've had the box sills and west wall "dense-packed" with blown cellulose, which seems to have made a significant difference already. We've also put up insulating blinds on the big living room window; enough with the free neighborhood show, already. Next, a basket of relatively small jobs: 60' cedar fence along w property line, concrete patio/landing for back steps, new front porch/steps, new front walk, general landscaping of front yard, etc. The bat guys are scheduled to start work next week, as are the roof-repairers and maybe the landscapers, along the w property line. So, progress. We're waiting for the first real warm day to have dinner on our fabulous screen porch. Tomorrow, maybe.