Grunt and groan

Aug 3

The heat here has been enervating. We’ve had only two days of normal temperatures in the last six weeks. Every other day in the period has been in the upper 80’s and nineties. But, by far the humidity has been the worse problem. We sweat just standing still. The afternoons are often unbearable. As a result the progress is slow. We have the sheeting up on four of the eight walls. A rudimentary staircase is in to the basement and the second floor, and I have begun to frame out the interior walls on the first floor. Today the electrician stopped by to begin wiring the exterior walls and to set the electrical panel. The cupola is framed and six of the eight sides are roofed. We have also begun the stone facing in order to prepare for the setting of the electric meter. This has been one of the hottest summers on record here and has delayed progress by at least three weeks. We are hoping for a long cool fall in order to catch up. Jim

A real pattern has set in. In the morning I grunt, Jim groans, and we decide to start the day working on the house. Depending on the humidity we are able to work until ten o’clock and have a tea break. A few complaints from Jim about the weather and arthritis, and I smile, nod, and wipe the sweat from my brow. After we are recuperated, we head back to the worksite to either continue on the task we had left off on, or as the sun turns full bore from behind the maple and hackberry that shade our site shift to a shadier spot and start a new task. A groan from Jim to show he still moves. I grunt to acknowledge and move in the pattern of our day. Sam