Wednesday, May 7 2008

Well the weather held off today, so we were able to work all day. I was on the sheet rock crew. Boy, I am beat tonight. It rained about .30 last night so we had more mud today which we covered with straw in an attempt to stay upright. Here is a picture of my shoes after 10 minutes. Also for todays viewing is the offending step and the only picture of my injuries that I am willing to post.

Also, FYI, my little boy will be 30 years old one week from today!!!

Monday

We were trying to get enough done today that we could work inside the rest of the week if needed. There are forecasts for a good chance of heavy rain the next 3 days. I started out in the crawl space helping connect sewer pipe. As you can see my self portrait didn't turn out so well. We put in all the windows and started trying to get the F-channel up for the soffit.

I took a beautiful swan dive out the front door with many people watching, of course the electrical inspectors were there. I have a bruised elbow, shin and shoulder. Pictures of bruises could follow tomorrow, if there is enough demand! Turned out the front steps were moved aside and didn't get set on level ground. I should have held on to the door. Four feet in flight only hurts when you land.

These are chickens someone has in their backyard about 2 houses down. The geese make lots of noise when we walk by.

Weekend

Well, Saturday turned out to be a nice day. I went to a couple of garage sales Friday afternoon on the way home, but didn't find anything fantastic. Saturday a.m. one of the other women and I went to a few more, but still no great things. Late in the morning we went to Jamesport, about 25 miles away. It is a small touristy (run-down) town in Amish country. We visited a couple of antique shops looking for baskets made by the Amish teens, but ended up at a furniture store to find them. We found our greatest treasures at the bakery and the bulk grocery, both run by Amish.

Weather

Bad weather again. Severe storms in the area. We were in tornado watch all night. Here are pictures of the clouds that I took in the early evening. Matt called me at 2 a.m. to tell me they had high winds, so of course I stayed awake waiting for them to hit. It rained and the wind blew and rocked the camper. The rain let up about dawn. It started raining after we got to the jobsite, and the shinglers were trying to work on the roof,so we did a little work inside the house and quit for the day. The weather looks like it's building again, so that is not such good news for the garage sale weekend.

Backing up

I was reviewing my pictures and realized that I didn't tell you about the roof. The trusses were delivered by the lumberyard. They bring them on a flatbed truck and just drive out from under them. An Amish man was driving which was unusual. I thought I was being sneaky taking a picture through the window, but he waved as he left. Go figure! A local contractor came to set the trusses. The team was responsible for placing the felt so roofers could come the next day. The she-woman going up the ladder is Roseanne, wife of George, from Minnesota.

Thursday, Happy May Day

We are getting a late start this morning as the professionals are setting the trusses and no one wanted to work beneath them. Also parking is at a premium at the site. Most of the streets are so narrow, they are marked no parking. There is a sheltered workshop across from the build where adults make pallets and do piece work (the 5 nuts, washers and bolts that you buy in a little bag at Walmart). They allow us to use their parking lot. Unfortunately that facility will be the view from the front porch of this new home.

I am already making big plans for the weekend. There is a community wide garage sale on Friday and Saturday, so you know where I'll be. I already have the map and will study carefully tonight. I plan to go to the Amish community of Jamesport Saturday and at least have a piece of pie. Wish you were here to go with.

Spring

Spring is really showing her stuff here. There are lots of flowering trees and shrubs in bloom along the roadways. There are several magnolias here in town. This tree (maybe flowering crab) is abundant here at the camp. The other picture is a view from the hill above where I am camped.