The crew is gone!

Well, this has been quite the journey!  We began lining out the driveway 84 days ago and have had the construction crew here ever since (except for weekends, rainouts, and cure time on concrete).  I knew Dennis was a patient man, but he amazed me at how well he coped with this group of men!  He had to not only stay out there with them to keep them moving and doing things correctly, but most of the time, he was working right along beside them.  He is definitely looking forward to having his own schedule, rather than having to be out there anywhere from 5:45 to 7:00 every morning (until 5-7:00 in the evening).  I’m looking forward to having our privacy back…as well as being able to spend time together again.

We still need to get the exterior of the shop painted to protect it from the elements.  Then we will transfer all the materials and stuff left in the den to the shop, so we can start getting it finished out.  We only have 3 weeks to get it ready for company before time to leave on vacation!  (Actually Stephen, Mandy and Jesse plan to be here in 2 weeks; and I hope to have things to where they can stay in the guest room.)

So, here are a couple of pictures - outside of the shop: 

The inside of the shop:

 

While Dennis has been busy with construction, I’ve been trying out my new stove.  I won’t have time to do much baking when we return from vacation.  (We get home on the 12^th of October and our meeting starts on the 16^th.)  So I’ve been baking sweets and freezing them.  I also got the freezer defrosted and reorganized.  It will already be bow season when we return, and Dennis will be ready to hit the deer woods as soon as the meeting is over.  This new shop will really be great then!  He’ll be able to back into it with the deer and hoist it up using the O-ring he has built into the ceiling for just that purpose.  Then after dressing it (in a tight, air conditioned room, if necessary), it will go directly into the refrigerator in the shop for aging.  It is great having the right equipment to do a job!

I’m excited as we enter this new phase of construction.  We will work on our time schedule…still making time for other things that are important.  And we’ll be doing it together.