Bread, grandparents, Uncle Matt.

Posted on by David Maxwell

Luke slept in this morning and it was great. He was in a good mood all day. This morning we went to the farmer’s market to get some bread. We ended up talking to the bakers for quite a while before returning home to meet my parents. They hung out with us for a while, and played with Luke a lot. I think he was happy to see them. He had a good nap and we read a lot while Liz went to town. I made chili in the slow cooker using some pumpkin that Liz’s parents brought down. This evening Liz’s younger brother and his girlfriend came to stay with us on their way to New Orleans. They will leave in the morning.

Deck day 3, more dirt.

Posted on by David Maxwell

Another early start to the work day. Not as cold this morning. I quickly put down all the deck boards that I could before the blocking needed to be installed. Once finished with that I focused on cleaning up the site in anticipation of Daniel coming to grade. I loaded a bunch of scrap wood in the trailer and stacked the good wood. Also the electricians came and started on the wiring. That felt good. Once Kent came we worked on the blocking together, then Daniel came and we installed the drain pipes and he moved a lot of dirt quickly. After he left we finished the blocking and installed a few more deck boards. We could have finished but I decided to come home to have dinner with Liz and Luke. It was wonderful to see and read to him before he went to bed. Now I am in bed on the computer. My whole body aches. My hands are raw and my fingers split. But it was a good week and I am happy. It will be a busy weekend preparing for Christmas and New Year’s.

Deck day 2.

Posted on by David Maxwell

Another long day. Twelve hours in fact. Cold again in the morning, but I like that because the ground is frozen solid. Once it warms up everything turns into a muddy mess. So I had to wear my mud boots again today, and by the end of the day my knee was really hurting. I started the morning by installing the last joists. Then I started carrying up and cutting the deck boards. I installed some before Kent arrived. He started the blocking and once Jacob arrived with the four wheeler they hauled up some deck boards to the saw while I went to the cottage for a late lunch. After I returned we cut and hauled and cut some more. All 140 boards. We then cleaned up and called it a night. Two of the headlamps had burned out so we weren’t very efficient.

Deck day!

Posted on by David Maxwell

Well I happened to get over to the job site at about 7:30 this morning, and it’s a good thing that I did, because the deck lumber was delivered at about 7:45. Due to the mud he had to leave it at the end of the driveway. My dad came not long after and he helped me set the posts and build the band. After he left Kent, Jacob, and I cut joists. Kent installed the joist hangers, and after he left I hung most of the joists. I worked until about 8:30, then went to Piggly Wiggle for some food. I am tired and sore!

A nasty, unproductive day.

Posted on by David Maxwell

It was still sprinkling this morning and I had zero motivation to do anything. Eventually I got dressed and headed down to Winchester. I was planning on picking up enough of my lumber order to start on the deck today, but it was so wet and cold that I decided just to have them deliver it all tomorrow. I went by Home Depot and picked up a hoe for mixing concrete and then returned to the cottage. I did take a nap this afternoon which was really nice. My dad came up and after his nap we just chilled and chatted before going over to the campus dining hall for dinner. The selection wasn’t as good as last time, but it was still a great meal. It was bitter cold when we walked back to the car though!