Catching Up

In case you've been wondering what we're up to...

In between visitors coming and going and life in general, the hubs has been working on our studio/garage. The materials to finish the roof are due to arrive this week. Meantime, he's been working on completing the bridge that goes to the side door.  He's pretty handy with a welder.

And there's been lots of weeding...constant weeding, it seems. You think you have weeds? I think we can probably top that...

And the boyz...well, they've just been the boyz...enjoying life to the fullest.

Taking One for the Team

Earlier this week my funny friend, Vern, noted how awesome it was that my husband would "take one for the team" by letting me post that photo of him in the safety harness. Unfortunately, the safety harness didn't help at all when he accidentally triggered the pneumatic nail gun and sent a 3" ringed nail through his shoe and subsequently through his foot.

Sorry if you're squeamish...don't look any further.

Anyway, I was just returning from my morning run when I heard a few choice uncharacteristic words coming from the roof (trust me, they were choice, but mild for the circumstances). He climbed down, had some ice water and extra-strength Excedrin, and off we headed to the ER to see how they would handle the situation.

First off, he helped them cut his shoe away from around the nail. (I'm sure they appreciated that his feet were clean).

Then the ER doc performed surgery on the shoe leather so he could see the true extent of the injury.

At last the  wound was exposed. Yay!! Totally missed the bone and the tendon. Nice piercing, honey. Should we leave it in and call it jewelry?

A nurse then came and irrigated the wound...OK, probably too much info, but note the stream of water coming out of the right side of his knuckle... cooool! 

 And finally, the remains of the shoe and the misguided missile. 

Thanks, honey, for working so hard on the roof...AND... for taking another one for the team so I could practice my texturing technique. You're the best!!

Safety Before Fashion

I'm certain that my hubby doesn't love the idea of this photo being posted on my blog, but such is life. Working on the roof of the studio is no joking matter. At its pinnacle, the roof is approximately 45 feet above the ground, and at its lowest point, it's still about 13 feet. Needless to say, a fall would be dangerous, if not disastrous. So, although he looks like a dangling monkey when he's all harnessed up, I'm glad that he's safe and I can still laugh at (with) him.

Love you, honey!

Bit by Bit, Board by Board

A productive day, indeed. The roof on the garage/studio is starting to take shape. And probably not any too soon. I was reminded when I was looking at some earlier photos that there was snow on the ground October 2 last year. The roof needs to be finished before the first snow falls. There's still lots to do, but with the awesome work crew we have, I'm optimistic.

Monsoon Monday

It rained today. Hard. Really hard.

It rained so hard that our new studio now is an indoor wading pool. Well, I guess technically it's not indoor, since there is no roof.... maybe that's why it's a wading pool, no?

The dogs enjoyed splashing around in  it....

...and Jake, who easily gets fixated on things like bugs and butterflies, enjoyed trying to bite the water as it hit the ground on the hillside about 18 feet below when we used a pump to syphon it off the floor. 

Before I Die*...

If I were Amy Winehouse I might reconsider saying "Yes yes yes" to rehab before I die*. The only thing I'm stunned about are the reporters who are saying they're stunned that she's dead. Sorry. It's not that I'm unsympathetic. It's more that I think it's very sad and a huge waste of a good human life, but the last thing I am is stunned. What part of "if you do drugs you're likely to die" don't people get?

Had her death not hit the news today, I might have said "Before I die*, I want to finish construction on our home". That statement is true, but hopefully it'll be done LONG before I die. Sometimes it seems that we live in an endless construction project, but I can't really complain. The work is coming along nicely.

(Our carpenter brought his boys along today...I think they would have preferred to be up on the beams with their dad, rather than watching from the ground). 

 

My step-daughter and her husband came to visit with their yellow lab, Blue. Jake and Albert were happy to see Blue (Jake, especially...) and they tried to teach her how to play fetch properly. She didn't quite catch on (or maybe she did and decided that she'd just relax while the little scottie dogs did all the work). The scottie boys had fun and were thoroughly exhausted by the time everyone went home again.

 (Oh treats! Does someone have treats for US!?)

Happily, I'm not thinking much about death these days. The reality is that before I die*, there are LOTS to things to do...of all kinds. Long may we live!

*another Saturday which means another Saturday Centus!

...by the Dawn's Early Light

As I gazed out the window from the bed early this morning, the sky was dotted with little cotton ball clouds, edged gently in the pinkish gold light of sunrise...the light that comes and then goes in an instant. The Star Spangled Banner's first line came to mind..."oh say can you see* by the dawn's early light..."

It's the Fourth of July Weekend. As many others were preparing picnics and boating trips and family gatherings, we were preparing to raise the walls of our garage. It wasn't quite like the old fashioned barn raising that we've all read about. We had the benefit of a couple of skilled carpenters and a crane. Good thing, too... since one of the walls we were erecting weighed 2400 pounds and the two beams weighed 1400 pounds each...not to mention that the surface on which they were being set was already 18 feet off the ground below. Yikes!!

The crane operator worked it with the ease of a skilled video gamer. Our carpenters scurried up and down the ladders placing a nail here, a nail there to lock it all in place. And then,  just like that, the walls were up, the roof beams dropped in place and the job was done....all before most people had their breakfast dishes cleared off the table.

Oh say can you see* what a morning it was?!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Maybe we'll go for a picnic now, ourselves.

*Saturday Centus