A Late Start This Spring, But Moving Forward

Saturday:

Well today’s weather was cold and windy.  On these days I tend to hide in the house, but decided I had too much to do to hide away.

Remember my two month project last spring that went on for about 7 months?  The back porch?  Yep that one.  Well I didn’t get it finished then and really didn’t want to work on it this spring either, but I can’t stand to leave things undone.  Didn’t get all the railings on, nor the fan, nor the light, nor the ceiling installed.  Unfortunately, no little sprites or fairies finished it either, this winter, so it is left to Annie the novice carpenter.

Decided to tackle the railings.  Discovered as I was shutting the project down for the winter, that I had made a few mistakes on installing the railing.  Lynn said he would never have noticed if I hadn’t told him.  But I knew, and I couldn’t let it go.  Not that it is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but didn’t even measure up to my lowly standards.  So I had to take off two of the railings and put them on correctly.

What was the first thing I did, in the first 5 minutes?  Hit my d*** finger with the hammer!!  I hate short nails.  I hit it a good one too.  Said a few words that would have made a sailor blush.  Man, that baby throbs still and it looks like it is going to be black, or have a huge blood blister.  Klutz, that what I am.  Not only should I not play with power tools, I need to stay away from hammers and hammers on ladders.  If it is within 10 feet of me, I will get hurt.  Moving forward.

One of the things I did remember today, after hitting my finger, was the little tricks it took me 7 months to learn last season.  Like pre-drilling, or punching a starter hole with a longer nail.   Better late, than never, as I still have a few digits that are not throbbing.

Didn’t quite get it done still, but should be able to finish up in about an hour tomorrow, then it will be ready for primer and paint.  Maybe pictures tomorrow.

Oh, and by the way, we will be contracting out the rest of the Dream House, and could have it done by Christmas.   I am still overwhelmed with all the decisions I will need to make in the future.  Over the last 15+ years, the decisions didn’t need to be made in a hurry, now that will change.  Wish me luck, and I will keep you updated.

Sunday

Well today did not go as planned, but that’s the way it usually goes.  Awoke to rain and wind.  So much for finishing the porch today.  That job will have to be done later this week or next weekend.

So what to do with all my excess energy today.  I have oodles of indoor projects, so it was just a matter of getting to it.

Guest room.  That is a project that I started about a month ago.  Having company in about 2 weeks so that project can’t be put off.  Painting an old chest of drawers that Lynn said he bought 51 years ago.  How does he remember those thing.  It is a kind of blond wood, and not very attractive.  Tried stripping the dresser that went with it and that didn’t go too well, so I have decided to paint it with white paint and re-use the decorative knobs.  First I primed all the drawers and the chest, then I have one of two coats of semi-gloss white.  Looking good.  Will post a photo when I get it finished.  Also, the porch when I get the railings done.

I have curtains to make and hang then that room will be almost done.

The weather here is awful now with 22 mph winds.  The weather station said that this week will be warmer and clear of course during the week when I have to work.  Ugh, that is something of which I can’t control, so I just move ahead.  It all needs doing, so it doesn’t really matter in what order it gets done.

Oh, and the update on my finger.  That baby is red and swollen.  That, I do have a picture of:

Annie, the reluctant carpenter.

 

 

Working Our Way Up the Porch

The railings are starting to go up.  One at least.

Lynn went to Spokane this past week for his consultation on getting a pacemaker.  He is a candidate for the modified pacemaker, but to satisfy the insurance company they have to monitor him for the next 3 months and then get another heart echo, before he is eligible.  Irregardless of the fact, that they have been trying to control his arrhythmia with medications for the last 5 years.  The doctor also changed his heart medication and that has really caused him to be extremely tired and lethargic.  Hopefully, after the pacemaker is in, and functioning well, he can get off of some of the medications he is on.   He feels he is over-medicated, but which one do you get rid of?  Alright this is a blog about DIY Building projects, just thought I would let you know that my significant other has not been able to get into this project, too good.  I am amazed at what he can do, as he will be turning 74 in a couple months.

We didn’t get the scaffolding moved like we wanted this weekend, so I had to settle for working on the railing.  I really wanted to work on the porch by the stairs leading from the side yard, but we have some other things that need to be done first and that involves the scaffolding.  Next week we will tackle that.

Our do-it-yourself center that is closest to us, is Home Depot, so that is where we buy all our paint and most other building products.  I have found that their paint is good if you use a good foundation primer.  I prefer the Kilz Premium Primer as it works the best.  It is worth the extra money if you want the finish to match.  I had primed the balustrades and the 2×4’s before putting them up, then quickly put on 1 coat of the Behr Semi-Gloss White.  It will need one more coat.  Hopefully, I can paint the whole porch before bad weather sets in.

I guess I will be in the roofing business one for time before I hang up my hammer.  We have decided to put up asphalt shingles to match the rest of the house, if we can match the color.  If not, we will get as close as we can.  I would have like to put up metal roofing, but that should be done professionally, and that isn’t in the budget.

This particular blog will be short as I am pooped.  Gotta fix supper, do sock fairy duties, take a shower and get ready for another week at the salt-minds.

Take care,

Annie, the porch wizard.

Storm rolling in from the south on 9-5

First railing goes up

Kinzie the building inspector, fell asleep on the job.

The Weekend Warrior is Back on the Porch, Ye-haw

After a few weeks doing other stuff, I am finally back on the porch.  Time is running out before we start getting the fall rain, so we have to get it done.  Lynn hates working on it, so it is like pulling hen’s teeth to get him to work on it.  He says I am working him to death.  I have resorted to bribery.  He would do most anything for waffles.  Not to be mislead, he has some real health issues, and if all things work out he will be having a pace-maker inserted in in early October.  I hope that makes him feel much better.

Yesterday, we did our grocery shopping.  Creatures of habit, plus the dog and cats needed food.  When we got back home, I did some painting and repairing and putting up tin to repair some of the fascia and made it critter proof.  Didn’t work on it too hard.

Sunday, I got up with a plan.  I was going to get some of the crown molding up and calked and more painting.  Wow, did it turn out good, even if I do have to say so myself.  It’s wonderful when you are able to see the vision in your head actually coming out the way you envisioned it.  Also, lets talk about caulking.  It’s a painter’s best friend and can cover up a multitude of mistakes.  The crown molding went up just how I planned.  Whew, I’m glad it did because I didn’t have a backup plan.

We were able to get 3 roof rafters up (that’s where the bribery came in).  We are putting them up with blocking instead of joist hangers.  Then we will have to do blocking along the end of the rafters too.  The boards are twisting.  We got kiln dried, but they still twisted.  Very frustrating.  It will take clamping and muscles to get them where we want them.

I need Lynn’s help with the nailing because, the darn nail gun weighs a ton.  I wish Bostitch or Porter Cable or Makita would make a nail gun with the power of the big ones, but that a woman could handle.  It is all I can do to take it off and on the porch.  It’s awkward and heavy.  Oh, did I mention, I am the tool packer, I pack to the porch and then pack it back into the house when we are done for the day.  I see that as my contribution and my aerobic workout.  Tonight I added moving about 30 2x6x8’s and 2x6x10’s from the side yard to the back yard.  On my feet for 8 hours straight and I am tuckered out.

Doing this porch has been a challenge from the beginning, but so rewarding to see the fruits of my labors.  I have to keep reminding myself why I am doing this project… and that is the porch was going to fall in on our heads.  Maybe it will last for another 100 years.

Now for the pictures.

Annie, the weekend warrior back at it.

The crown molding’s looking good

A problem corner, had to do some creative patch work.

Crown molding from the distance

The building inspector, aka Kinzie.

Tools of the trade

First Porch rafters.

1 – 2 – 3 roof rafters. More next week

Vacation, Anniversary and a little porch work

Took a much needed vacation from work to celebrate our 25th Anniversary and to work on the porch and maybe a little rest.  The weather has been in the 98-100 degree range so that has hampered some of the work on the porch.  I love it, but  Lynn, not so much.  The mere mention of the heat and he is hunting for a cool corner, man cave, with a TV.

What we have done since the last blog post, isn’t much to write about.  We went shopping and got more lumber.  2x6x8 and 2x6x10 for our roof rafters and ceiling joists.  More of those doohickeys that go on top of the posts and joist hangers, and ordered some crown molding that will be used on the trim on the house.  Not able to match the existing trim so we will just have to make due.  Picked out a sagey greenish grey for the trim.  Home Depot called today and said it will not be until Monday, so I won’t get to paint and instal it until a week from Sunday.  Ugh, I hate waiting.

What I did manage to do was put up a trim 2×4 and clean and prime and paint the fascia board underneath.  We also got some aluminum to put under the drip edge to further sheet the water from going down on the crown molding.  The actual trim board around the house is not a good design to keep the water from rotting it.  Living in a very dry climate most of the time tends to help it last longer.  So the aluminum will not be all that great to look at, but it will function better and besides, you really aren’t going to be able to see it that well, and it is only going over the back porch roof.

One of our main goals is to make it functional, nice to look at and keep the critters out.  At one point a few years ago, we had a family of squirrels living in our attic not to mention a very large (vacant) bees hive.  So what we intend to accomplish in the time remaining before the rain and winter weather comes, is to get the roof on and the molding replaced at least on the east side where we get lots of weather.  And call it good.

Lynn is actually incapacitated with his back, so we are basically at a dead stop at this time.  As much as I know about what to do, I don’t have the muscle to do it alone.  I did get some of the hardware on the posts, but we discovered that we actually need to cut a foot off of the posts to make the ceiling  and roof rafters where we want them.  It will still make for a shallow roof incline, but it will shed water and snow.  Also, it needs to be high enough for a ceiling fan, that we plan to put on the porch for ourselves and for Kinzie (our collie) to bask under.  The only thing I can promise is, it will get done before fall.

In the meantime, I get to kick back and read.  I most favorite thing to do.

Annie, the lazy-on-vacation carpenter 🙂

A little of the trim board.

Getting ready for the crown molding

Some post hardware goes on

Got some tools of the trade.

Porch Project Moving at a Snails Pace

Well, I have the next 7 days off and I’m hoping to get some progress on the porch.  Though the temperatures will be in the upper 90’s, it is at least a dry heat and we can somewhat work in the shade.  Went to Home Depot yesterday and picked up more lumber and paint, plus ordered the crown molding that goes on the fascia.

Today I was excited about cleaning the house exterior which will actually be covered up.  Then preparing the eaves by washing, scrapping and painting.  Didn’t get too far in it when I was moving the ladder with the hammer still on the top.  You guessed it!!  The klutz that I am, the hammer fell on my head.  Couldn’t believe I did that.  I said some pretty awful swear words and got a gash of about 1 inch with lots of blood.  Maybe the elderly shouldn’t be allowed to have sharp heavy implements.  Or should be monitored closely.  Remember a couple of weeks ago when Lynn accidentally hit  me in the head with the 4 foot pipe clamp?  Well, I had just gotten over that.  Now this.  Ugh, I think I will be getting a head ache from this one.  I’m just glad it was my little hammer verses Lynn’s framing hammer.

You know when you are working on a 100+ year old house, you are going to find some remuddling.  Well we didn’t escape that.  Where the fascia boards and crown molding will go, the carpentry was cobbled up.  it appears that maybe they couldn’t do it right from being on the roof so there is about a 2 inch difference in the opening from one end of the porch to the other.  It is something we will have to just do some adapting because to do it the way it should be done would require reworking the whole roof on the house.  That isn’t happening.  The part that will needs to be modified is not structural.  Somewhere along the line, someone put a pony wall in and laid the roof rafters on that which is well done.  It was cobbling the extension of about 6 inches to accommodate the crown molding that is  done incorrectly.  The underneath fascia is straight and level, so that will stay.  When you find something level on an old house you want to leave it alone.  So I did get more old rotten trim boards off and a couple more will be coming down.  So I washed then primed the fascia board with Kilz Premium Primer, (the best primer) and put one coat of paint which is a sage green/grey.  I Like earth tones.  I hope it will all come together in the end.

While I was doing the cleaning, scraping and painting on the eaves, Lynn was replacing the floor in our horse trailer.  That needs to be repaired before we go on our trip in August to pick-up on 4 month old colt.  We are naming him Cheyenne.  I will post a picture of him when he was just a few weeks old.  What a beauty he is.  It has sparked some new life in Lynn.  Something to look forward to.

Speaking of Lynn, we will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary on Tuesday.  With all our projects and working on building our dream home and all the other projects in between, I am surprised we haven’t throttled each other.  Those 25 years went really fast as I look back on it.  We lost both our mothers, survived a major flood in 1996, back surgery in 2004, heart surgery for a stint in 2008 and numerous other life events.  But the fact that it appears to have gone by quickly says that it was a happy 25 years.

More in a couple of days.

Annie, the klutzy carpenter.

1975 horse trailer

Lynn’s photo-op

Fascia problems

The other end of the fascia

Prep Work Behind the Scenes

This weekend saw a little progress.  You know unless I am seeing a lot of physical progress, I refer to it as “a little.”  Yesterday after grocery shopping and having lunch, I went outside and screwed down the remaining decking.  Of course it took a couple of hours.  Slow but sure.  As I get older, it takes longer to get things done.

Today, I painted the 7 posts that I have for the porch.  They are 4X6 posts that will be used for the upright posts and the headers that the ceiling joists will be sitting on.  I know, confusing right?  At least it is for me, so I have to think about it and roll it around in my mind.  I see it kinda like a puzzle and all the pieces have to be put together in the proper order and, you just can’t rush it.  I am learning patients, everyday.

On another front when I was cooling off after lunch, I was cruising the internet in search of fascia moldings.  We have to replace the 5 inch molding along the roof line.  It has held up for 100 years and is finally looking tattered and torn.  In other words awful really really awful!!  We need to replace about 60 to 70 feet of it.  Of course I am not finding the exact pattern.   I think we will probably have to substitute something similar.  We cannot afford to have someone duplicate it exactly.  Even the ones that they have in the DIY centers are expensive.  It’s on the weather side of the house, so I would rather have pvc or urethane as it would hold up in the weather.  On the weather sides, we have a hard time keeping paint on wood.  I am open to any suggestions or if you are aware of a company that is affordable, I am all ears.

I am attaching photos of which I am truly embarrassed to be showing, that we have let it get this bad.  But the inside of this home had been the focus, then the front porch, now the back porch.  In between times we are working on the dream house.  I hope I at least get most of those projects finished by the time I retire.  That gives me about 4 years.

Back to painting.  I began painting some of the slats that will be on the railings on the back porch.  I finished 27 of them.  As with all my painting now, I begin with Kilz Premium Primer.  It is the best I have ever used.  It is exceptional in adhering to the raw wood and makes a great foundation for paint.  It also has to wear off my hands.  I tried many primers over the years and finally saw this primer in Fine Home Building Magazine.  If you ever need really good information, that is the magazine to buy.  We have found lots of good information in there.

I follow the primer with Behr Paint Semi Gloss from Home Depot .  We have so much dust here that the Semi Gloss sheds the dust easiest.  It has shown to be a good paint and holds up well.  I don’t get the paint with the primer in it as that is unnecessary when using the Kilz Premium Primer.  We shop at Home Depot as it is the only DIY center close to us.

Next weekend begins my vacation.  I am going to take a week off to work on the porch and celebrate our 25^th Anniversary.  25 years of DIY, I am surprised we have made it this long, working together on these project we tend to have some short tempers.  My husband is dreading it, because he said I am trying to work him to death.  He dreads the weekends and says he feels guilty if he isn’t out there working alongside of me.  That bothers me because I don’t want him to feel that way.  I know that he does as much as he can, I just wish we could afford to pay someone to get this done, but until I win the lottery, I guess this is as good as it get.  I think you have to play the lottery to win, hmmm, I guess we won’t be winning the lottery any time soon.  Hopefully, we will include a few fun things, like going to breakfast at the Maple Counter and lunch or dinner at a good restaurant.  Can’t be all work and not play.

Well it is back to work tomorrow (the paying job) for another week, then some much needed vacation time.

Until next weekend, stay out of the heat, and I’ll see you later.

Annie, the happy porch lady 🙂

Final coats on the posts

Slats being primed

Posts are done

Slats are done

Sad looking trim

Missing trim

Above the porch.

And the Wall Comes Tumbling Down

A productive weekend.  Never as far as we envision, but I’m good with it.

Spent our Saturday going grocery shopping, then a second trip to town to our main hang-out, Home Depot.  Picked up some white paint and some beveled 2×2’s for the spindles on our porch railings and some 2×4 hangers for the posts and miscellaneous things for wiring and such.  What a project.

Sunday we began this morning with knocking down the remaining wall.  We had only left it up so Kinzie wouldn’t get out of the back yard.  Her wonderful domain, but we want to keep her safe and she is never allowed out of the yard unless we are with her.

I hated this wall, so I was thrilled when Lynn said it is coming down.  Yeah!!!  What can I do to help?  Well my job was to cart all the stuff out to the demo pile for disposal later.  I can do that.  Then we replaced the temporary front framed 2x6x12 that helps to give the deck a picture frame style.  I finished demolishing the old porch floor and further exposed the tree stump.  It appeared that not long after it was cut down the porch was built and the tree had some sprouts that made a mangled nest.  I took a picture of that too.

By this time Lynn was hot and exhausted, so we stopped and had lunch.  I think Lynn is done for the day, but I may go back out and start painting some of the spindles (trying to think of a better name because they aren’t really spindles).

Oh well, you know what I mean.  That is what I am going to focus on this week, and have them ready for next weekend.

So take care, and I’ll update you next weekend.

Annie, the happy novice carpenter.

And the East Wall comes down

See all the tool on the freezer?

Look at the size of the stump

More Stump

Growth from the stump, maybe 75 to 100 years ago

Looking west into the back yard

Looking East where the wall used to be.

Happy 4th of July – Progress on the Porch

Happy 4th of July America.  This holiday gives you pause to count your blessings that we live in a country where we have all the freedoms we enjoy.  If you work hard you can achieve your dreams.  You know we are not wealthy, but we have our health, a roof over our head, food in our belly, and the right to worship as we choose.

Building our dream home is one our dreams.  Granted it has taken a looooong, time but we have worked hard and have enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  With a few detours.  The present one being our back porch in the little house we live in.  So now that I have led into that, here is our progress for today:

A day off work at the office, but a day of work on the back porch.  I did take some pictures as I wanted to record this project and have a look at the before and after pictures.  Today Lynn put up another trim board and cut away some of the obstacles to it laying flat.  Then he cut the deck boards to size, about 10 of them, then went in to get out of the heat and recuperate.  That is when my job began.  I drilled pilot holes so I wouldn’t split any of the boards then screwed them down with 3″ deck screws.  Love to see progress and watching the porch be transformed from something that I was ashamed of to something that I am proud to show off.

My two week project has turned into March, April, May, June & July, maybe August project.  Not regretting doing it.  Just sometimes get impatient with myself that it takes me and Lynn so long to do any project.  We always envision the projects going much faster and smoother.  I guess it teaches us patience.  I should be about finished with learning patience, and I am ready to graduate.

Lynn managed to mow the weed infested back yard on Tuesday.  Looks so much better.  It is dried out weeds, but at least they are all the same height, so it doesn’t look so bad.  Looking at the back yard and front yard, just lets me know what other areas of this house have been neglected.  My wish is that someone stops me the next time I am in Home Depot and offers to do a yard makeover.  I want a rich luscious green lawn with underground sprinklers on a timer and well groomed flower beds with beautiful butterfly bushes and humming bird feeders.  Weeded and no fox-tails in the lawn as they burrow under Kinzie’s fur.   I absolutely hate fox-tails.

Nodded off for a minute in dreamland, but I’m now back awake.  Well maybe someday that wish will come true, but I don’t think it will happen this summer.  Ho hum.  I will just have to settle for a beautiful porch.

Our plan for this weekend is to finish up the deck of the porch and begin the railing.  Back to Home Depot to get the railing material and I will then get out my trusty paint brush and begin more painting.  Oh, I can’t wait.  But for tomorrow I am back to work at being a paralegal and loving that job too.

Take care and thanks for reading my little blog 🙂

Annie, the tired patriot porch builder

This is looking from the back kitchen door out toward the yard.

Doesn’t that look so much better?

Porch Deck about 3/4 done. Then the railing and roof.

Finally got the dryer vent put together and it will stay that way with little screws.

Next to the stump, not able to dig, so we improvised.

We get to remove the 4×8 sheet of plywood and get some more done.

Happy Father’s Day – Porch Progress

First of all I want to wish my Husband a wonderful Father’s Day.  Also, happy Father’s Day to all those out there in Blogville, and I hope yours was special.

Usually, I always have upbeat posts and try to be positive, but this week really sucked.  There just isn’t any other word that quite fits.

I try real hard to be patient and roll with the punches, but I have found this past week particularly challenging.  On Wednesday I ended up coming home and taking my husband into the emergency room.  His degenerative back disease has been getting progressively worse.  There really wasn’t much that they could do to alleviate the pain.  He is scheduled for injections this week and I pray they give him some relief.  That is pretty much why I am the muscle and he is the brains.  But I have become increasingly aware of my limitations.  Having used power tools, some I am comfortable with and others I tend to be a little leery of.  Skill saws and table saws are not my favorite.  Try building a deck without either one.  Ugh.  Though, I do love the palm nailer.  That thing is awesome.  I took a picture of that little gizmo.

Trying to learn from my husband when his fuse it short, is not fun for me.  We end up arguing and the deck still doesn’t get done.  Frustrating for us both.  The dream house is setting next door and I feel like I am running out of time and afraid I won’t get to work on it this summer.  I am stuck on this damn porch!!

This blog is suppose to keep me on track and encourage me.  If I write it down, and know that I plan to write it down, I am more motivated to get things done.  This week it isn’t working.  I did take pictures of some of the progress, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.  Oh, I am really throwing a pity party now.  Anyway, this is where we are now:

We got the front 2×8 on the posts and have a good start on that, then put in some crossbars.  We are almost ready to put on some of the 2×6’s that we will be using for the decking.  I wanted to get at least this half of the porch done so we can move the freezer over and work on the other half.  Usually a patient person, I am almost ready to throw in the towel.  Finishing this half would have given me the inspiration to keep going.  Add to that I have a tooth ache, and my knee is swollen (haven’t a clue what that is from).  Oh, and the “sock fairy” hasn’t finished the laundry or gotten anything else a domestic diva is supposed to do, done.  Thank God for work tomorrow, I can escape into that world where I can master the things I need to.

Have to get back my positive attitude, so I will tell you what I plan to do next weekend.  The plan is to get the porch deck framed ( like a picture frame) and get about 8 feet or so of the 2×6’s down and get the freezer moved over there.  If I manage to get any of the old decking demolished, that will be a bonus.  My 2 week porch has turned in to 2 months so far.  Now do you understand why my blog is “15 years and counting dream house!!”

Annie, a very frustrated novice carpenter

Not a very complementary photo, those are part of the clothes I intend to burn when this is done. Using the palm nailer. Love that thing.

Some of the power tools

Palm nailer.

Front board of the deck

McKinzie, tolerating us ruining her porch.

A little bit done.

Porch Progress – Moving Slow and Steady

Lynn reluctantly spending his Sunday, working on the porch. McKinzie staying close.

April is supervising the operation.

Another detour. Fixing a leak

Love the smell of raw wood.

Staining the boards Rubicon Red. 2X6

I get a little anxious when the weekend comes around as I want to go gun-ho on the porch.  I don’t want to do any of the other things I have to do, I just want to focus on the porch.  Maybe a little OCD?  But Lynn tempers that side of me.  He says groceries first and then we are both pooped by the time we get home.  Well, I have a plan for that…. We go to town (20 miles away) and get the groceries, come home and unpack the groceries and put them away, quickly…. Get in his truck and go to Home Depot (20 miles away) and pick up some lumber and other building materials, because tomorrow is going to be a totally “get it done” day.  We come home and we are doubly pooped.

Then he breaks the news to me, there is a pipe in the horse pasture that is leaking water and that needs to be taken care of before the porch.  Ugh.  Double ugh!!  Okay, I got to rethink this.  If we turn the well pump off Saturday night, the ground will be soft but dig-gable in the morning.  We can do that first thing as that is when the shade is in that area.

Sunday morning, up bright and early and ready to dig and get that out of the way.  I am the chief-whole-digger as I can get down and into it.  (sometimes it doesn’t pay to be healthy)  The whole is dug and the leak is found and the repair is made.  Let the glue set-up and wait a few hours and test it.  In the meantime, back to the porch.  🙂 This is me smiling.

Staining the lumber first with Architect Series Semi-Transparent Wood Stain – Rubicon Red (It is a redwood color).  This is an oil stain and I really like the color.  It is just what I wanted.  I am staining the top and sides so when it is put down, all I will have to do is some touch-up.  Besides its easier to stain standing up (wood on the saw horses) than for me to crawl around on the floor.  I get down okay, its the getting up that is a challenge.

Got out all the power tools set up for the hubby.  Skill saw; palm nailer; nail gun; compressor; hammer; wreaking bar; pry bar; and a multitude of other tools to accomplish the job.  Now to get Lynn (the hubby) out there to do some of the intricate detailed foundation of the porch work.  Some of the floor joists we are keeping as they are sound and oversized compared to the lumber of today.  Some old, and some new.

If you haven’t figured it out by now I am the energetic gopher of this project.  I get the ideas in my head and try to explain them to Lynn, and he does the magic of figuring how to make my visions come true.  He does tend to get a little frustrated at how my visions keep getting modified and more detailed.  They start out simple and evolve, while he stands there and shakes his head.

Took a break from the porch, to turn the well back on, check the leak, and refill the whole.  That job is done until the next leak.  Nothing stays fixed on a Ranch/Mini Farm.  Always something to fix.

Well I got to get back to work, there’s still daylight.

Annie, the energetic gopher  🙂