Construction Update

I guess this is the last picture I gave you of our construction project. The kitchen was framed in, and there was a 2nd floor, but I didn't put an exterior photo of that, for some reason.


At any rate, we're moving along. Actually, at a slooooooow rate, we're moving along. We've had more of our share of rain this summer, and have had to knock off early or throw in the towel entirely on several days. We've also had to ride out a few horrendous storms, soaked to the skin as we hustled to get tarps thrown over wood, sweep rain of of the not-yet-finished floors, and get power tools out of the rain.

Here's where we are now. The kitchen/bedroom are all sheeted and roofed, and the frame for the garage went up last week.


Here's Homer & Junior (Tom & Ryan) helping sheet the garage roof yesterday:


And where we left off last night:


Again, when I say "we," I mean "they." I'm still doing what I can around the place, but during this phase of the construction, I've taken on mostly traditional female roles: bring the food, bring the water, hand the tools, tidy up the place. I'm Girlie Gopher Extraordinaire. I do what I can do when lifting trusses is something I can not do.

Oh, hey! I mow the yard, that's helpful! I'm really getting the hang that riding mower. Except I don't do the ditches because I'm afraid I'll tip over. And I worry about running over bunny nests, and I watch for crossing frogs. Also, I have a tendency to let the clutch out too often, which makes Clint grind his teeth, and makes me nervous because I know he's grinding his teeth. I'm working on that. FYI, vinyl tractor seats don't breath at all, so don't wear nylon shorts when you mow, or your butt will get wet. Vrooooooooooooooooom!

Clint, in the meantime, is spending every spare minute out there. Now that the rain seems to have passed (except it's raining today), he's duking out 98-degree heat indexes for 14 hours a day. I honestly don't know how he's still standing. I met him there yesterday after I got off work. He'd already had 9 hours in, and worked steadily away. I hauled wood-scraps around for about 45 minutes in that heat before my brain started pulsing against the inside of my skull, and I had to sit down for some water. 3:00 arrival, 3:45 time for a little rest. That's how I roll.

It's all good though, because I know my time is coming. 6 months from now, I'll be picking out colors, and taping and painting, and ordering HIM around: "Hand me that roller, will you? Where did I put my towel? What's a girl gotta do to get a martini on this ladder?"

We work, we dream.

We can hardly wait til it's done.