Tuesday, July 17, 2007

A lot has happened around my house since the May 29th blog, when you see lumber that has been sitting on my back porch for 20 plus years being carted off. And, from where I sit right now, the project is far from being done.

Pictured this morning is the start of a path to the sidewalk towards the street at our home. Three blocks wide, makes a nice 21 inch wide sidewalk where before a cracked 18 inch walkway stood for 70 years or more. Its not finished, believe I have about 4 more feet to go before I reach the gate, and it may not get finished today, as I woke to a nice gentle falling rain. But that's okay, I can use the break today, have another project in the basement going. But, wait, lets go back a few days.

Saturday the kids, their wives and all the grandchildren were here for a work day (wasn't my idea, but one of our kids idea) and we broke out the old sidewalk, and put sheetrock on the ceiling of the laundry room. Took awhile for everyone to get here, and by the end of the day a lot had been accomplished. The temperature was in the 90's which didn't make for too nice a time working in the sun, and I'm sure one of our group suffered a mild sun stroke, as he chilled, vomited, and had rapid heart beat for a short time. I'm very happy to report he's okay, and it reminds us however how fragile our bodies are.

One of my joys was watching Karl swing the sledge hammer to break up that old sidewalk. He's not very old to be doing what he was doing, but the concrete yielded to his continuous blows. He is a winner for sure in my eyes today. The taller guys were busy holding the sheetrock to the ceiling while others used cordless screwdrivers to secure the sheetrock to the joists with screws.

But, now comes the fun part??? for me???. I get to finish the projects. There is still that 3 or 4 feet to the gate, and from the back porch to the alley which runs behind our house, there is another 25 feet still needing sand, and paver blocks to put down, and I'm just guessing it will be my job to do it. Oh Yes, there is screws in the ceiling that need to be covered with sheetrock cement, seams to be covered, (several layers is recommended) and of course, later comes paint to cover it all.

I'm not complaining for recently I've found a new zest in living. I'm not sure when it arrived or just why God has allowed this in my life but I'm enjoying it. I'm still working on that bathroom project at Sue's house, and when its all done, I'll try and insert a picture for you to see. There is a slight delay on the bathroom project, as this week I've been busy with my Kansas family being here, and next week is our church's Yearly Meeting and I'm a delegate from our church, so next week's time will be in a different direction.

Maybe just maybe, I'll squeeze in a few more bricks, and smudge a few more gobs of sheetrock cement to finish off my many projects.

To my one or two readers, I pose this question, is this really worth my time sitting here and blogging away to myself???? Can I hear from you? Do you ever tell your friends about this strange father or friend who is trying to brighten the world in this way? Let me hear from you, my email is howardonna@aol.com.

Cheerio