Flooring Started, and then it snows

We started laying hickory hardwood floor in the loft last weekend. One finds a whole new set of muscles exists after crawing around on a floor all day. It snowed 8inches on the first day of spring.

Fun Weekends

Larry, Adele, Kristin & Jenna helped us out a lot! That 3-way bean soup was sweet! Tyler spent a lot of time helping. As you can see, he's ready to go home to Bonnie, the Internet, and KU basketball.

Mudder work apparel

Larry & I have been trying to convince the wives to wear v neck shirts on the job to no avail. Sigh.

Pic for OSHA

Everyone wears a hard hat every minute they are on the job!

Will It Ever End?

We've been hanging and mudding drywall for almost 2 months. Here are some pictures.

Marathon Rock Weekend

We spent two 12-hour days hanging sheet rock. Mason, Larry, and Tyler did an amazing quantity and quality of work. We got the office, living room, and some of the dining room done. About 1/4 done, I think. We're using all gypson sheet rock, made in the USA.

Insulation

We're racing to get this puppy livable.... Had a company spray "biofoam" insulation into the walls on Thursday and Friday. It's "green" cause it contains some small amount of vegetable oil in the mix, I think. Anyway, it not only insulates, but also eliminates air infiltrations.

Front Porch

Over the last week we've been cutting the timbers for the front porch. Two posts, two plates, two braces, a tie beam, a king post, and a ridge beam. We haven't cut the rafters yet. This weekend Larry and I got the hardest part of it put up.

Siding, Stones and Stucco

We're making progress on the outside. Stone work is almost done, as is the siding and the stucco. I can't take credit for any of this work. Had to hire some professionals.

Be a Rock for a few Minutes

You're a rock. You're just sitting in a creek bed, minding your own business. You're feeling pretty good, 'cause it's warmed up enough today to melt some of the ice frozen around your toes. A boy comes by. At first, he walks right over you, but then he turns and picks you up. He doesn't pick up your best buddy that is right there beside you--you always thought you were better lookin'.

The boy takes you back across the creek and puts you on a pallet. It's warm on that wood. Feels good. Pretty soon you're taking your first tractor ride, heading for the front porch of the house up on the hill. Do you think you'd rather be back in the stream bed, or mortared into the base of the front porch. Hmmmmm.

Think about it for a few minutes.

Picked up rocks today for the front porch. A lot of time to think when one spends the afternoon picking up rocks from the creek with his dog.

Madison County News

From the local paper.

A woman called 911 and advised that she and a male subject had been in a fight. The male subject, who sounded intoxicated to the dispatcher, got on the phone and said he was going to get on his horse and take off. After calling back, the male subject told the dispatcher that there had been a fight, but that he couldn't remember what it was about. He said that the female went to "whoop up" on him, and that he then slapped her around. He then advised that she was going to bed, and that if he could catch the horse that he was going to "ride it away for the night."

And we wonder why Arkansas has a less than average reputation in the eyes of folks from some other places.