Ready to go

The last of the garage was cleaned up on Saturday. Only the outline is left, the block foundation that Grampa Al and Dad put in.[I've been informed by my Dad that Ken also worked on this. I didn't mean to leave you out, Ken! kw] Dad said they considered taking the garage down 30 years ago when its foundation was crumbling. It had been a wood shed, and was too short to park a car in. Instead Al measured his car, then expanded the garage exactly that much. They poured the floor in 1976. I know this because it's scratched into the floor, and my cousins and I spent many, many summers "cleaning" the garage. We'd sweep with every broom we could find and make huge clouds of dust. I think this was something our parents cooked up to keep us out of their hair, and it usually worked. Then we'd ride the bikes and trikes in and out. Someone always ended up on a trike, because there weren't enough bikes. And when I say "someone", I mean Janna or Mikey. Sorry, guys!
The photo of the day is of the empty basement. The water heater and water softener used to be here. The shelves on the right were full of canned goods: pickles, canned fruit, relish, jam, and some unidentifiable stuff. More shelves are on the other side. The room was actually perfect for a root cellar/pantry, the dirt floor and "ventilation" kept it cool but not frozen year-round. Aunt Marion says they used to keep barrels of potatoes down here, but it's always been a little creepy. She said when she was a young wife out at the farm in the 30s, she went down to the cellar to get potatoes, put her hand in the barrel, and grabbed a rat instead! Honestly, if the absence of rat stories is all we get out of this new basement, it will be worth it.