Some how to's and some how not to's

This week we spent 5 days straight in Vermont.  What a challenge!  I always wonder why our house has not sold, but after this week I am really thankful that it hasn't.  It is so nice to come home to a shower and civilization.  My father-in-law always jokes about us being pioneers.  It is funny to me to but really I guess we are doing something people don't usually do.  Although if you ask anyone in VT, they all built their own house and are all lumber-jacks.  It is really quite funny.  After five days of working in the sun, well, we were ripe for a shower.  Natasha was stinky, Logan was really stinky, Tom if you went near him you would pass out, and I, well, I smelled like a beautiful Lilly of the Valley.  Right, sure!  I couldn't stand my own smell after yesterday.  Ahhh, the luxury of indoor plumbing!  I have been in places around the world where people have none of this luxury and yet they live happy lives (don't ask the people they live with, though).  Yet as "civilized" Americans we can't even make it without that for long.  My daughter was hoping for a shower by Wednesday.  She did not complain outright but you could see it in her face that she was longing for this luxury.  Well, pioneers don't take showers, they bathe in the stream!  And after last week's rain our stream is flowing good.  However, I haven't been that desperate to try the stream shower yet. 

Our plan this week was to start the walls of our basement.  We decided, after prayer and calculations (I actually did some calculations in my head!), to go with the free standing cinder block wall with the surface bonding cement on the outside and inside.  The first level has to be mortared to the foundation, but the rest does not have to be (I am so glad for that).  We messed around a bit at the beginning of the week, looking at sights around the area and meeting with our new friends up the road, which was a blessing.  On Wednesday we finally got our act together and visited Tom's favorite store in Claremont, NH (30 min North from us).  Please keep that number in mind since there will be some calculations to be done.  After spending 3 hours in Home Depot, Logan even wrote about it in his daily journal, Tom had bought all the necessary supplies.  They needed to be special ordered from another store and would come within 2 weeks.  Well, great.  We still needed to be building this house.  After all, my parents are coming at the end of the month and need to be able to pitch in and help a little.  

So Tom decided to rent the F350 truck Home Depot offers its clients.  It is a great deal, the first hour only costs $20.  So the plan, it really was a great one of course, was for Tom and Natasha to take the bricks and mortar necessary for the first layer to the property in this rather good size truck.  Logan and I were to stay in Claremont and wait.  It would have been a waste to take the Subaru back and forth. Everything was loaded onto the truck; by fork lift mind you.  My husband and daughter took off, smiling and waving.  Logan and I went and did our stuff and decided to wait for them at McDonalds, on account of the indoor playground.  I also called Sean, who stayed in CT because he was shoeing this week, to inform him that his father is now driving an F350!  He was, to put it mildly, quite put off and refused to talk to me (not really but he was quite upset because we didn't wait for him to come up).  First hour passed quite quickly.  Now, remember how long it took us to get to Claremont?  That is correct, 30min give or take a bit.  Now Tom and Tash had to unload everything so give it another 15 min if they are super strong and fast.  Then 30 min back.  Now, you math wizzes out there: how many minutes is that?  That makes it over an hour.  Not a problem, we thought it would be tight time wise.  After about 2 hours I was starting to get a little upset, not to mention bored!  Finally, my cell phone rings.  My daughter informs me that they are leaving the property and she would tell me about it later.  Now I know there is a story to this!  After 3 hours I see them pull into Home Depot.  Naturally I inquired what had happened immediately.  

And here is where the how not to comes in.  When driving a truck, even a rather large truck like the F350, it is really important not to drive on sandy soil, which on top of being sandy is a little bit muddy.  My husband, and I love him dearly, decided that even though he is becoming muscle man, did not want to carry 3000 lbs around the property and so he drove to the house site.  We did this with my awesome little Subaru and drove all around the house without a problem.  Since then we have had a lot of rain.  The sand was a little slippery and Tom decided, for once in his life, not to listen to Tasha's really sound advise.  She advised him to not drive in the dirt!  She could have said "I told you so," after, but she is a wonderfully obedient daughter and didn't.  So for about an hour and a half they were trying to get the truck unstuck!  And that was not a small feat.  Tom smelled burning rubber at one time.  Of course, I had to share this news with Sean immediately and he graciously accepted my call.  He laughed hysterically and felt better that the huge truck got stuck just where his little Ranger got stuck in the fall.

Yesterday we were able to put up the first layer of our wall (hence the how to part).  It was hard work, especially because presently the sun is still beaming down on the slab, making it very, very hot and sticky (hence the smelliness).  Tom and I layed out the blocks (all right, Tom did 99% of the work here) and marked where they would be square, since having a square house would work best.  Then we marked every 4 feet and after we (actually he) moved all the blocks off the marks, Tom drilled holes into the cement for steel bars.  Those we placed into the holes and then we (yes I helped with this part) mixed the mortar and Tom began the long process of putting the mortar down, in the hot sun.  I encouraged him (from the shade) and helped him level the blocks once he finished a series of blocks.  Finally, Tom was quite done, the sun had set, and it was my turn to mortar.  That was fun.  We finished the work at 7:45 last night and wanted to go to the indoor pool to take a shower (refresh your memory to the reason why by reading the beginning of this blog if you must).  It was closed!  So we dragged our smelly selves back to the property.



As I lay up in the loft, hardly able to breathe, I recalled Psalm 23, my favorite Psalm when I can't sleep.  "The Lord is my Shepard I shall not want,.."  I have to warn you about something.  Be careful of what you are praying about.  God will give you your wants.  He is our good Shepard.  It won't be money, or power or riches(in most cases), and we won't have an easy life,  but once we have decided to follow Christ, there is a good chance that He will give us some of our wants just  because He can.  Well, years ago, before Tom went to Iraq, I had prayed about wanting adventure.  I sure got several in the last years.  So, I will conclude with this:do not tell your daughter you prayed for adventure after staying in Vermont for more than 3 days without a shower!  The outcome is..... well, I am still alive.
Have a blessed day.

Here is a picture of Logan in the loft: