Tennescenic

The drive down to the farm this morning was lovely. There was a little bit of sun, some fog, and a magical glow that was good for my spirits. As usual, the cell phone picture doesn’t do it justice. I arrived at the farm around 6:30 and my dad not long after. We immediately took advantage of the new porch and started putting up siding above it. It went pretty smoothly and I continue to be pleased with how it looks. I think it will be pretty fantastic once all the trim pieces are in place and it’s caulked and painted. We had a late breakfast at Waffle House then continued. The temperature was really mild today and it didn’t feel too humid. Having the big fan on us as we worked helped as well. Overall we made good progress. Being able to use the new scaffolding on top of the porch kind of spoiled us, as the gable walls will be a lot higher and more difficult. There was a threat of rain all day, but it never materialized. After my dad left I went to Lowe’s and bought almost $200 worth of caulk and some more heavy duty trash bags. Back at the farm I cleaned up a little bit and mowed a little grass with the push mower. Google Maps said there were wrecks and big delays on the interstate, so I took the back roads back to the condo and arrived just before six.

I arrived at the farm around 6:30 and resisted the urge to take a nap. Instead I put down the rest of the screws on the porch. It was boring and tedious, but thankfully now finished. Next I organized the tools inside the house and set up my two new scaffolding sections. The will come in very handy for putting the siding on the front of the house and installing beaded board on the ceilings. The HVAC guys came to start on the duct work and I talked with them briefly. I went to the roofing/insulation supply place, but the office was locked. I’ll return next week to speak with them about insulating the house. After a late breakfast I went by the Cub Cadet dealer and briefly looked at lawn mowers. They had some nice ones, but it’s hard to get excited about spending so much money. Back at the farm I just loaded up the cardboard boxes from the scaffolding and hit the road. I could have done some cleaning up outside, but it was really so muddy that I didn’t feel like walking around in it. There was also a chance of thunderstorms, although I don’t think those ever materialized. I’ll be back down tomorrow.

This will be brief because I’m pretty exhausted. I got to the farm just before six and my dad arrived soon after. I slept very poorly last night. My neck was really sore and every time I moved it was painful. Fortunately that went away mid-morning. We spent a little time repairing a siding issue and adding a lot of nails to the existing boards with the nail gun. Once the wood for the porch was delivered we started working on that. The 20 foot pressure treated 6×6’s were huge and heavy and a pain to deal with. Eventually we got them into place and it felt great. Lunch was at Sonic. Rather unusually I didn’t feel sick afterwards. We put the band in place and then my friend Emilie came with her three kids to see the farm for the first time. Unfortunately it started raining not long after they arrived. They left and the rain continued. It made a real mess of things. Once it finally stopped we put in the joists. That went pretty well. We started cutting the deck boards but got pretty tired. My dad left and I cleaned up a little. On the way back to the condo I stopped at Home Depot in Spring Hill for some deck screws.

Tomorrow and Friday there are supposed to be thunderstorms. I will still go the the farm tomorrow with the hope that there will be enough dry periods for me to finish the porch’s decking. Once that is done it will be a lot easier to put siding on the front of the house. The electrician and plumber worked today and are saying they will be finished tomorrow. One bright side of the rain is that it has been a bit cooler. I only took one picture of our handiwork, but will get more tomorrow.