In preparation for the labor of Labor Day, and a visit to our little farm house project by our good friends, Brandon and I took the time to pick up most of the construction debris in the downstairs of the house and put away some of the most dangerous looking tools that we habitually stumble over while we are working. I even unplugged the air compressor, which has a bad habit of re-pressurizing with out warning, making an incredibly loud noise that gives everyone a jolt. Once the construction site was tidied, I threw a table cloth over our mangled old work table, and all of a sudden, this place sort of looks like a house! Brandon even finished installing the ceiling fan in the living room, which made it seem even more like a real room. Remembering to bring light bulbs so we could turn the light on would have been nice, but I'm not complaining.
When I look at the photo above, not only do I see the new ceiling fan, I see the stairway that we built with our friends, the ceiling we leveled and installed one little strip at a time, the window on the right, that Brandon put in where there was no window, the floor Brandon and Dan worked so hard to jack up and patch together after the termites had their fun, the beam our friends gave us that we used to hold up the second floor on it's posts, insulation and bits of drywall, and the door we installed in a place where there was only a wall. We did all that! It's not perfect, for sure, or finished, or even what everyone would want, but I'm excited to see it all coming together.
Look what we found just outside the front door. Mole mounds! They lead from the back yard all the way around the house to the front, under the pear tree. Once it rained, they were soft and muddy, and luckily they are strategically placed so that on trips to the house from the campfire I can step in the mud and track it inside the house.
Seriously, how big is this mole?! The mounds are bigger than the dog! Should I be afraid of what is under the ground? Could it be a giant sandworm descended from Dune?
One the Sunday before the holiday, we were given a reprieve from the rain just in time for a campfire dinner of hot dogs and various homemade hot dog toppings - home made ketchup, pickled watermelon rinds in mustard, and grilled garlic and tomato creation. In true summer style, we started our feast with watermelon and ended with a cooler of tasty beverages. Since we were out of gas for the grill, Brandon roasted the dogs on the campfire using the rack from the grill.
The other exciting farm house news is the functioning shower. It has hot water and everything! A quick stop at the Dollar Store and we had a curtain rod, shower curtain, and rug. Being able to wash the grime and sweat from house demolition and construction is wonderful, and even with stickers and tape on the shower walls and the unfinished state of the bathroom, it felt luxurious to take a real shower.
We needed a shower too, after working to reorganize the lumber piles in the barn, disassemble the old kitchen sink, and put up insulation in the ceiling of the upstairs. It truly was a Labor Day!
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