Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The sky was still overcast when I got up this morning, but I could see tinges of color in the clouds which I took as a good sign.
Too long without sun makes me morose. My carpenter called to say the wood we'd ordered from the local sawmill was ready sooner than promised and he wanted to know if it would be OK to pick up the wood today and start construction tomorrow on our creative space.
I had to juggle my schedule a little but I was happy to get things rolling. I took "before pictures" today.
The place looks really rough right now, but I have faith that by early next week, it will begin to take shape.
My nephew has a trailer that could haul all the wood, but he had the audacity to go out of town with his wife and young child for some R&R. The gaul! :)
Anyhow, in order to haul all the wood my carpenter needed me to take my truck too.
That was fine with me because it's been years since I've seen a sawmill in action. The last time I was at a sawmill, they had circular saw blades as big as tractor tires. The newer sawmills use a much smaller setup with band saws.
Once the mill-man was finished, we loaded both trucks. My light-duty pickup was loaded to the point that it seemed like my front tires were off the ground as I drove off the lot.
We unloaded in front of the old house and I headed off to Home Depot for nails, blocks, and a new garden door for the back of the house.
I know it looks like a lot of work, but my carpenter is confident that I won't actually have to raid my 401k to pay for all the work that has to
be done. It would be easy think my carpenter is an optimist that over promises but under delivers, but we've worked together in the past. He has that unique ability to see beauty and order in things that other people overlook.
I sometimes envy that gift. My carpenter is a simple man that's made his living through the years with a saw and hammer. He can glance at a job and tell you whether it will be easy and inexpensive, or whether you should get a part-time job to help finance the work.
He works as if his pants were on fire. He takes a few minutes for lunch to eat a baloney sandwich and drink a jug of ice tea and then he's back to hacking and nailing.
He's in his late sixties and I asked him once why he was a carpenter. He smiled and said "I like the smell of fresh sawed wood, and it's all I know how to do."
Anyhow, once my carpenter is through, the real work begins. I'm guessing it will take the best part of a week to get the junk inside hauled off. Once that's done, then my interior decorator (Jilda loves it when I say that) will swing into action.
I believe that by spring, we'll be blissfully working in our new creative space.

9 comments:

  1. Over promising and under delivering seems to be a national past time some days, and then you run into a guy like your carpenter and life seems good again.

    Good luck with the project....Marsha

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  2. The before photos are a great idea. Some of those pieces of furniture look interesting. And I love the two chairs that look at though you stood at the door and tossed them as high as you could to get them in the corner on top of everything else....

    Ms Soup

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  3. These pics are great - they're rough not but I can totally see your creative space shaping up nicely!!!! Patience, patience!!:-)
    Take care
    x

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  4. Gotta love Home Depot. I love the smell of newly cut wood too.

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  5. a bit run down but what a fabulous old house! Just my style. I would have thought that hauling off all the junk inside would have been first on the list.

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  6. I'm so glad you've taken the before pictures. It'll be so fun to see them compared to the after photos. I also love the smell of fresh sawed wood. My husband and I built our home. It's a lot of work, but well worth the effort. Have fun with your project! (loooove that old building, btw)

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  7. What a project. You certainly seem to have found your niche. How cool is that!

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  8. If you are morose when it's grey out instead of sunny, it's a good thing you live where you do and not where I do, Rick!! But then I think having a new creative space would bring sunshine with it right over my head!!!! :-)

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  9. It is tough while in the midst of the project but so worth it in the end. Keep those pictures coming.

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