The Shed--It's So Happening

Up for the day to start work on the shed. Yep, that's right, actual construction here folks, not just "talk" of construction. It's a damn good feeling. We stopped at Home Depot along the way to pick up some crushed stone and cement blocks for the foundation and had the rest of the needed wood delivered earlier in the day. Oh, by the way, it has rained for the past week and showered off and on today too. Why wouldn't it?

When we got there, we split up-I prepped the foundation and Chris started work on assembling the floor/ joists. Work went quick and before long the floor was ready for action. The leveling of the cement blocks however, took longer. It felt like every time we got one side level, the other side needed to be leveled again. And again...and again. You get the idea. Finally, we got it close enough and said, "Eh, after all, it's just a shed, right?" We also attached some strapping to the bottom of the joists so we can push down 2" rigid board for insulation next weekend.

We didn't have the muscle to lift the finished floor onto the skids (even after a delicious General Store sandwich and a 24 oz. beer for lunch) but next weekend Chris may bring a couple of his friends along, so progress may come even quicker. Or slower, depending on how things play out.

The plan for next weekend is to put up the walls, finish the floor, add the barn doors and steel door, and get things ready for the roof rafters. We should actually get this thing "winterized" before snowfall.

I must say, it's pretty damn satisfying building something with your own hands and watching it take shape right in front of you. Seeing a project through from pencil and paper to the actual real world is very gratifying. Progress is happening.

The damage from Hurricane Irene is still very noticeable and there was lots of road work happening, even on a Saturday. The race to get things done before winter is on. But the new work looks great and I think things are moving in a positive direction.

Come on Irene

Hurricane Irene definitely left her mark on Southern Vermont. Luckily, our land was spared for the most part. We had some serious erosion on the driveway--actually, one culvert overflowed and the run-off ran down the driveway, slowly eating away at the driveway culvert. Other than that though, no trees were down and the damage minimal.

We did however, see a lot of destruction. It was sad, but also hopeful at the same time. Wilmington was in bad shape, and orange cones covering huge sinkholes along the road were the norm. I've never seen anything like it. But, Lisa, our coffee lady friend gave us a lot of heart-warming stories of the community pulling together. She's bringing free coffee for all the recovery workers every day. Volunteers are countless and I guess money is pouring in for people to rebuild. Vermont is awesome!

This definitely puts a twist to our cabin build process. Hopefully, we can still have a foundation dug and poured this fall, but a lot needs to happen for that to occur. I'm not even sure the people who need to get to our land can even get there due to road closures and bridges being washed away. Our street needs work done to it and so does our driveway and I can't imagine we're on the top of anyones "to-do" list. We'll see what happens, but pulling this off would be pretty sweet. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and Chris got a new dog-Birch. He was a rescue from Georgia. He's part Golden part Lab and he's a great dog! Next trip up is later this month when we take our dad to the land for the first time. Too bad he didn't see it two weeks ago when it was looking sweet. Unfortunately, all our hard work has been "washed" away....literally.