Remember this? It was what my screen looked like.

And the camera place told me it was soft ware related.

Notice anything different?

Jon cleaned the camera!

Now I KNOW we were being scammed. But at least we didn't have to pay them to clean the camera and I can take pictures again.

Camera drama

Jon and I leave in a couple of days for our anniversary trip. My in-laws are on their way, the bags are packed, the car cleaned, the kids prepared. But I'm still waiting on my camera. I purchased the camera used with the knowledge that it needed a good cleaning. And since I could see spots in the upper section of the picture when I took light pictures I went ahead and took it in to the shop about a month ago. The man promised me that I'd have it back in two weeks or less. After two weeks I called him. It turns out that the spots are a software problem. The camera is perfectly clean. Since the software problem is estimated to cost over $400 I decided to just have them return it. The shop that I took it to had it sent off to be evaluated since he doesn't do extensive cleaning or repairs. Apparently no one in Cookeville does camera work. So now I'm waiting for the camera to get back. I'm getting a bit anxious because I'm afraid that I'll be going on my trip without the camera. And since Charleston is a gorgeous town I can't go without a decent camera.

I've been bugging the poor guy every day for a week now and he said it should be here tomorrow. Otherwise I'm stuck with my point and shoot. So hopefully I'll have my nice camera and can post pictures while we are gone. And I'll need to invest in Photoshop so I can delete those annoying spots.

House Renovations - Not mine!

Many, many years ago my parents purchased a piece of property with plans to build a home while they lived in their rental house. My dad had been promising to build my sister and I a play house for several years and so he started work on that first. Then he had the idea to make it slightly larger and have the front section as the play house. Then the back would be a storage area so they could move everything from the storage unit they were paying for. Things sort of snowballed and my parents decided to add a very steep pitch to the roof to add more space upstairs and move in to the little cabin to save on rent money. This would allow my dad to be closer to work and home. 

After many years and quite a few additions and renovations my parents had a home that looked normal from the outside and was definitely liveable inside. But my mom wanted a master suite and there still weren't regular stairs in the house. This ladder has been there since I was in high school. 

It worked fine while kids were staying upstairs, but my parents weren't feeling the love and decided to add yet another addition to the house. But the roof was all wrong and several changes needed to be made. 

So this summer my dad undertook the largest and most difficult home renovation he's ever done. 

And that's saying a lot since he's a builder.

He removed the roof and walls from the second story and took the house down to the sub flooring on the second level. This way the house would look cohesive and flow well both upstairs and down.

Jon and I went to help last month. I went to document with pictures and Jon went to really work. =)

That weekend we had several rainstorms and now my dad has to replace the ceilings in the entire house. 

 Rain was pouring in everywhere and we spent part of the night mopping up water and moving things.

But the main priority was getting the house back in the dry. So at 5am I was jarred awake by the sound of sledge hammers destroying the 2nd story.

This picture isn't a complete before since my dad had already started framing for the addition and had removed shingles, trim, siding, etc.

The day couldn't pass without a game or two. So we all guessed what time the roof would be off. My brother won. 

It was miserable hot and I was kept busy delivering Gatorade and water.

 

 When I went to can pears Daddy had me take some pictures so I could show Jon the progress he'd made since we were there. 

I was really impressed.

 

It's going to be a beautiful home when they are finished. And my mom is over the moon about her new pantry. =)

My dad DID end up building my sister and I a play house. We played in it for several years before we abandoned it for more "mature" things. So my parents then turned it into a guest house.

It now has an abandoned feel since it's been neglected for several years while my parents focus on the house. But it holds some great memories so I thought I'd take some pictures before my dad's reno bug hit it as well.

These last few pictures were taken with my new (to me) camera. So more pictures of my play house and a blog about my new camera will be coming in the future.