The East and West Walls

We had lots of help on Monday - 15 people, in fact! Half of them were under the age of 10, but they all helped. It was a great day despite the drippy weather.

Benson had a school writing assignment recently - this is what he had to say:

"A Snapshot of My Dad"

Benson West

January 31, 2008

"My dad is working on the house. He is big and strong and can lift a heavy wall! Dad is wearing jeans and a bright red tee shirt with white stripes on the neck and sleeves. On his waist, Dad has his toolbelt. He has a hammer on one side and a square on the other, there are nails in the front pockets. In the big pocket he has a pencil for marking and a punch to get the nails in if the hammer can't. The toolbelt that he wears is a leathery tan with a black belt. When he walks the toolbelt bounces up and down. Dad has another toolbelt that is in the basement. He is working hard to get the house finished. You can see sweat run down his arms and his muscles when he hammers the nails. I like to see my dad working on our house."

Eli discovered a marvelous new method of carrying wood. And I'm sure the extra fiber must be good for him.

Mindy is keeping things steady while Robin (Andy and Chris' sister) cuts some sheathing for the walls.

Andy, Matt, and Matt's brother Andy work on the framing for the North wall. The East wall is visible here also. There will be three windows on the South East corner and two more on the North East corner.

This is Hunter, Andy and Chris' nephew. He's working on the East wall, and doing a very fine job of nailing our wall together. He's pretty happy to be helping.
Nathan is cutting, Mindy is holding the sheathing steady, and Benson and Ethan are supervising very closely. It's always fun to have cousins in town. They're cutting pieces of sheathing for a few spots on the East and West walls.


Hannah and Robin (two of Andy and Chris' sisters) work on sheathing the East wall. The mist in the background hung around all day, and looked really neat. The stream was quite loud with all the rain and meltoff over the last day or so.
The North wall framing. This will be a bathroom and a closet soon.

Andy, Matt, and Matt's brother Andy are working on the framing for the NW corner. The West wall is finished up to the rafters. It's really cool to see the spaces for doors and windows now. The East wall is also finished, though it's harder to see from this angle.