Saturday and everyone is completely exhausted.

Wow.  So much has happenend since my last post I almost don't know how to start this update.   The last post was a list of projects I hoped we could complete or maybe even just make some progress with.  I knew it was a very ambitous list but we are fast approaching cold weather that would make it nearly impossible to work outside.  Already the mornings have been as low as 35 degrees - too close to freezing for my comfort  considering how much work we have ahead of us. 

So on Thursday Jason and I head out to Home Depot for supplies.  We arrived about 6 a.m. and spent over an hour shopping and then had a problem with checkout.  By the time we got home without our stuff, Debbie was already late taking the kids to school and Michael didn't have a ride as I had taken his truck to the store.  I needed to meet Deb at the mechanics to drop off my car but the damn car wouldn't start. 

Finally the engine caught and I was in such a rush to meet  Deb that I forgot my Ipad was on top of the roof of the car.   Halfway to the mechanic's I caught a flash of something falling and looked in my mirror.  Yep the Ipad had crashed to the pavement and it's glass screen had shattered.  

Near tears I met Deb at the mechanics and dropped off the car where I learned that Mike had been late to class and the instructor refused to allow him to take a test.  Katie had dropped the little boys off to school and they and her had been late.  Deb had looked for me and Jason all over home depot and later was late to pick up her mother to take her to the hospital for a procedure. 

Now back at home depot, Jason and I waited for Deb to arrive after taking her mother back home.  We finally arrive at the lake at 1:30pm.  And we had started at 5:30!

But we made some great progress.  Jason worked tirelessly and without complaint.  He dug two holes to about 4 feet in depth and not once stopped more than a few minutes.  These holes, once filled with concrete and cured are intended to support two posts which in turn will prop up the sides of the house which are sagging. 

I finally installed a working plumbing system and new toilet.  The house now has a workiing water supply and a flushable toilet. 

Running water and an actual working, flushing toilet!  Like a dream come true...



 

On Friday we got a better start.  Jason and I arrived first and he began working on his support holes again.  Encountering layers of hard packed clay he had an incredibly difficult time digging his way through.   Below is a pic of Jason smoothing out the concrete filled hole after the sun had set. 



Jason muddied and bloodied working concrete and placing rebar at dark with a smile on his face... The past two days Jason has been a monster, working hard, thinking straight and with a fantastic attitude!  What a pleasure it was to work with him these two days...


Deb, Mike and the kids arrived a bit later and together we all worked on the siding for the front, installed our third new window for the house into the master bedroom and cleaned the grounds.  These pics are of the front of the house after we put the last piece of siding on in the dark.  

Siding half done on the front, a bit wavy so we have some nailing down to do but the difference in appearance tells us we are on the right track.

The 4 foot support hole Jason dug, filled with high strength concrete and rebar.  The railroad tie is supporting a jack which raised the slanting deck a good 3 inches...

During all this work we took a water delivery and minutes later, we had our first serious fire.   The fire traveled from a burn pile on our U drive and traveled to the tree at the center and then the fence in front of the house.  The flames actually had traveled under Deb's van before we hauled enough water to put them out.   Unfortunately I don't have any video or pics of this but I do have one of the burned grass and tree.



The fire had traveled in a line in two different directions from where it was started in the driveway.   It went toward the tree and under Deb's van and the other way in a straight line to the fence.  Brush and grass on both sides of the fence caught fire and threatened to take the entire fence.  The tree in the center of the pic was also on fire.

 Today the crew of Deb, Mike, Katie, John, Nathan and Andrew unexpectedly took on the roof.  Completely unscheduled, Deb somehow found herself on top of the house and began to pick through the shingles.  Finding more damage than we had expected she picked off about 20 feet on the end from top to bottom and then began to pull off the rotted sheathing.   Katie and the little boys then installed insulation and Michael heaved up 4x8 sheets of sheathing for Deb to nail in place.   The following pics are of the roof and the repairs.

Katie taking an insulation handoff from Mike on the ground.

The hole that started it all.  As I was leaving to go to work I found Deb on the roof sweeping off leaves.  I knew we were in trouble when she found this hole.  Once she started peeling back shingles she started the "Lake House Roofing Project"

These are the two patio doors we bought for $30 on Craigslist.  Each is a right opening door which is perfect for what we need in the great room.  Now we have to remove the patio door we just installed and swap it for one of these.  The other door will replace the glass sliding doors on the porch deck.

Mike humped up bags of insulation and 4x8 sheets of 5/8ths plywood while tending to his mother's arson tendancies by keeping the burn barrel blazing like the furnaces of hell.

"Princess" somehow managing to look cute and gorgeous while covered in insulation and standing on the roof....