Gardening, painting, housejacking, more surprises (pictures below)

We went to the Cold Spring farmer's market and gorged on some nice plants. I can't remember the names of them all but for the Bee Balm, Lavender, and the fountain grass.

Jennifer decided to tackle painting the porch deck, trim, and all the shutters, and as she sanded away she discovered some rotten wood and ants which we chased away with spray. Jennifer used some nasty chemical stripper (it burns skin on contact) and the orbital sander to remove the paint. Most of the wood beneath is good but for one corner. We peeled off the aluminum siding to get to the bad spots. I don't think we'll put it back afterward.

The last picture is of a bottle jack on a stack of cinder blocks. I have raised the house something like a quarter of an inch or more already. The jack is about 1/3 of the way along the main beam from the front of the house. After I raised the house a bit the existing poles came loose so I tightened them. Already the first floor seems more solid, but some of the remaining walls are cracking here and there, and you hear small snapping noises from time to time.

The photos are bad quality because my nice digital camera is in the repair shop - I fried the LCD one day when it got wet in my shoulder bag.

Not shown but done this weekend as well: installing shelves, unpacking more things to PUT on the shelves, making platforms for the washer and dryer,