Why you haven't heard from us . . .

When you move into a smaller home, you seem to have a few (70) boxes left to unpack, with nowhere to unpack them!

On a hunch (given the black stuff on the basement wall), we got a little test kit at Lowes, and sure enough we were breathing this yucky stuff - yes, this is growth after one hour of exposure to the air without even using the swab test!?!?!

So, I called this nice company, who showed up the same day to take care of the mold problem.

Sealed off downstairs bathroom.

Sealed off basement.  For five days! (Where, of course, the laundry is.)  We spent our first Saturday in town at the local laundromat.

We are assured by Air Safe that our problem is taken care of, and if we use a dehumidifier in the basement, nothing will be able to grow again.  Which leads me to dehumidifiers - amazing!  Coming from Colorado, which may very well top the list of dry places, I did not even know that DEhumidifiers existed.  We always used a humidifier to keep our skin from cracking, and the kids from coughing all night long during cold season.  Well, here in Mass (I've learned that nobody says Massachusetts), it is so wet that everyone has a DEhumidifier to keep their homes comfortable, and to keep them from growing dangerous mold.  (Everyone, except of course for the family who just moved out of our house.)  The humidifier I can understand.  You fill it with water, and it has a little fan that blows or mists water into the air, making it more moist.  The DEhumidifier on the other hand is quite perplexing.  It sounds like a fan while running, but somehow it sucks several gallons of water a day out of the air, and into a bucket that must be emptied.  Every time I empty the bucket, I am still amazed at how much water was in our air, and how quickly it fills up.  Sorry if this is rambling and boring, but I just had to share.

Now off to disguise boxes as furniture.