A good day of work.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning I left the house at the same time Liz and Luke departed for High Hopes. I drove to Manchester and bought ground plastic at Home Depot. I wanted block sealer as well, but they didn’t have five gallon buckets of it. My next stop was at the market in Pelham for a little breakfast, which I soon regretted. I tried to take a nap upon reaching the cottage, but could only lie on the couch thinking. Finally at about one I headed over to the job site. It was still pretty wet but I was able to remove a lot of tree debris. I also did the initial staking for the excavators. I worked until nearly dark because around four o’clock the excavator texted to say he’s coming tomorrow and I wanted to be fully ready for him.

A different kind of productive.

Posted on by David Maxwell

After dorking around this morning I drove down to the surplus store in Woodbury where I bought 360 sheets of OSB at a cost of over $12,000. That represented a huge savings over other vendors, but it still stung. From there I drove to Lowe’s in Shelbyville for rebar ties and chairs. I drove home as quickly as I could, and made it home well before dinner so that I could play with Luke a bit.

Still not sunny, still not productive.

Posted on by David Maxwell

On the bright side, it didn’t rain today. After using the internet in the library parking lot I went to Eric’s house to help him with a little project in his kitchen. He is getting granite countertops among other upgrades, and needed some help getting ready for the guys who are coming to measure for the granite. After that I drove down to Dixie Salvage in Fort Payne. I wanted to see what they had in terms of flooring, vanities, and other materials. I was a little disappointed but still got a couple of flooring samples. If nothing else it was nice to drive for a bit. I went to the Goat Market once back on the Mountain and chatted with Eric and others for a bit. After leaving there I returned to the cottage and have been relaxing and reading.

Wet and chilly, but good.

Posted on by David Maxwell

I got to the cottage about 11:35 last night and was pretty exhausted. This morning the block guy called about 6:40 to set up a meeting for today. I stayed in bed a little while longer then went to the job site. It was incredibly nasty there. I did come cutting and moved some logs with the tractor, but it was so muddy that I was sliding all over the place. The block guy came about 9:45 and we had a great meeting. His price is good and he will pour the footings too. After he left I grabbed my chainsaw and headed on as well. Back at the cottage I just relaxed, ate some, went with my dad to get gas, tried to nap, and talked with my mother. This afternoon I took it pretty easy. I did some work on my materials lists and starting looking at paint colors for the next two houses. This evening I have been reading a new spy novel.

Doing a little bit more of everything.

Posted on by David Maxwell

This morning after breakfast I went to Kroger and then the gas station, then cut the grass in the back field. The mower did great. After that I went to get straw for our straw bale garden. We just kind of hung out around the house for a bit – I showered and prepared dinner in the slow cooker while Liz and Luke played outside. We had lunch and the rain started while we were eating. We drove up to Lauren’s to have a Mother’s Day celebration with my parents as well as their friend Megan and her son JT. It was a nice time. We returned home for dinner and Luke talked all about our time there. Due to the storms he didn’t have a real bath. I am waiting around for the rain to stop or at least slow down before I drive up to Monteagle.