Slowly but surely

things are happening.

 More painting (thanks Rachel, Jen and Janelle!!)

 Jesse has been chiseling

 and chiseling

 and chiseling away.

 Cement slab was poured on the back porch last week.

 Our peach tree is still growing!

 First stone laid...

 Jesse is not doing the whole house... just the back corner which is needed for the porch posts to sit on.



Oh, how humbling...

Remember when Jesse and I spent weeks... literally weeks laying block for the master suite?

 The masons came down last week and completed a 3 block wide retaining wall, stairs and outlined the porch section in ONE day.

one day.

Now we know for the future... don't waste your time trying to do it yourself!!  It is not worth it!

The excavators came today to backfull around the retaining wall and porch as well as fill the porch with stone so we can pour a slab and eventually lay brick.  I am excited about our back porch!  We got some old brick that was just laying around in the Stoltzfus' barn that we are going to lay in a herringbone pattern.  I am dreaming of lazy evenings sitting on the porch, drinking meadow tea, reading and watching Cedar run around the yard.

 This week felt like another productive week for us.  We finished building the interior, upstairs walls.

 Along with Mike and Ben's help, Jesse placed some of the exposed oak beams in the mastersuite and kitchen ceiling.

 Thatcher and Oliver came over to help pick up wood scraps and dump them on the trash pile.

 Jesse made a few scarf joints in the oak beams for the porch,

as well as started to hand chisel the chamfers on the porch posts.

This week Jesse and I also completed a big hurdle and decided on our exterior colors!  Jesse really wanted orange shutters, but I didn't think I would swing that... so we went a little more neutral.  We are thinking lots of white and cream with Cedar shakes (and compromised on an orange door!!).  Can't wait to see it in real life!

Last weekend we scored big time at a local plumbing supply store that was having a yard sale to sell some of their showroom pieces.  The deals were so good we felt like we were robbing the place!  We got a copper sink for the powder room, some faucets, and some towel rack misc items for the bathrooms.  We also found out about a local foundry that is going to melt some old iron window weights that we salvaged from a previous LongView job, and turn it into our porch post anchors.

I have continued to paint... and paint... and paint... the soffit and fascia in the barn so it will be ready to put up when the porch is done. Thank you Janelle and Rachel for your awesome help in making the monotonous job more enjoyable for me!

 Last weekend Jesse and I built the top pent roof

 and put house wrap on the sections that won't have straw.

 This week/weekend we built some of the upstairs interior walls,

 the excavators came to dig footers for the back porch,

 and the masons poured the concrete footers.

Jesse hand picked a knife profile for the fascia (outside trim) and cut cypress at the Wooden Plane in Lancaster.

We spent all day yesterday priming the boards during the rain and wind storm.



Last weekend...

I worked on my fear of heights...

Jesse had no problem (see top picture)... Me.. I wasn't sure which arm would be the most sore.  The one that I was hammering with, or the one that I was gripping the ledge with!



Rain Drops on Violets

Lately I feel like I have been complaining about the weather.  a lot.  The sunny, warm weather a few weeks back spoiled me. 
It has either been raining, which means we can't work on the house, or cold, which makes it miserable to work on the house.  Yesterday was one of those days.  It started out raining and basically continued to rain and be cold all day. But, I decided to try and enjoy the weather anyway (maybe because I knew we weren't going to get a chance to work on the house even if it was sunny). 
Cedar and I decided to take our daily walk up to the house and to the mailbox around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  It was misting... enough to make you damp.. but not wet (a good excuse to wear rain boots!).  The geese were honking, the birds were chirping and the pup was sniffing.  There was a faint smell of campfire lingering in the air. Up ahead... about 30 feet away, 7 deer crossed our path (of which Cedar didn't even notice until the 7th walked by... then there was lots of yelling and chasing involved, which disrupted the peaceful setting!!).

I write all this because I am trying to be more conscience of my beautiful surrounds and enjoy them... even if it is cold and rainy and we can't work on the house.

See our house in the distance?

Even more framing...

 Last Friday afternoon Jesse and I built the upper, front pent roof in the middle section between the main house and master suite.  I was even lucky enough to use a saw for the first time and not chop my hand off! *cheers*

Saturday Phil came over to help Jesse build the lower pent roof and continue sheeting and felting the roof.

 Later in the afternoon Jesse's parents came to help clean things up and to help us with the felting.

Hope

"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."

Did I tell you about the peach tree that Jesse and I rescued from one of my co-workers yards?  She and her husband bought a home that had a bunch of fruit trees in the front yard and they weren't interested in the maintenance that goes along with the trees, so decided to rip them out.  She asked me if I would be interested in any of them and of course I said yes.

So Jesse and I made the trek to E-town to pick out a peach tree and attempt to dig a root ball large enough for a healthy transplant.  Needless to say, after digging... working... digging... working... we were left with a bare root ball that had no soil left attached.  We were disappointed and tried to decide if it was even worth driving it back to Conestoga to plant in the back of the lot where it wouldn't get hit with all the excavation equipment that still needed to come through.

We decided to give it a shot.  We planted it last fall... watered it regularly for about 2 weeks... then basically forgot about it. A few weeks ago I walked by the twig of a tree and saw something amazing...

There is growth. Little buds.

Mike let me know that it could still die, because that happened to one of his trees... but I am still holding on to the hope that tomorrow it might still grow... and maybe one day produce a juicy peach that I can enjoy.

Work Day

Jesse and I feel so thankful for all the help that was given to us yesterday.  About 6 or 7 guys showed up to help Jesse continue the framing and sheet the roof.

Kenny was the handy man and runner to the store when the materials ran low...

 Mike and Larry Stoner built the dormers.

 Dave B. worked on the electric (along with Phil's help).

 Ben, Jesse, Jason and Dave W. worked on framing and sheeting the roof.

 Larry and Mike also built the pent roof and little landing for porch on the front of the house.

 Ben sheeting the roof.

 Within about an hour of being there, Dave W. cut down and tree... amazing! 

Lunch break!



A big thank you for all the help!!!