Deryl Brook had already finished his inspection of the garage pad when I arrived with Nathan a few minutes after 8 a.m. on Friday morning. I really appreciate his enthusiasm for this project, because I am continuously impressed with the fact that Ruth & I allowed our inexperience to drop us in the the deep end of the housebuilding pool. From the site conditions, to the excavation, to the walls and on up to the roof trusses, this is a complicated house plan and project.
Thus far, that fact has manifested only one notable variance our budget, that being the excavation and back-fill. In hindsight, I should have recognized the challenges presented by both the 6' of sand and the constraints of the tree-stand around our build site. It was clearly a case of "don't admit to the logistical costs and they won't materialize." Still and all, we have no complaints – other than the incredibly substandard summer weather Manitoba has been awarded this year.
Sometime during the process of assisting with bracing the main-floor walls on Friday morning, I happened to glance out of the master bedroom doorway. It was one of those crystallizing moments. Suddenly, I could 'see' my new home. I was standing in our bedroom, able to take in the entire front yard and the driveway approach. I walked to the kitchen window opening and visualized the seasons flowing by down over the Jackfish Creek a mile away as I made lattes each morning, the oak tree waxing and waning just outside the window. I threaded my way around the sheathing and cut-offs into the great room and time-lapsed the sun's various angles and paths sweeping repeatedly across the floor.
I have become entirely enraptured by this little place on earth. The silence, the Pileated and Redheaded Woodpeckers, the Sandhill Cranes, Don & Diane Larson's cattle roaming the adjacent fields, Rebus looking so happy and content, the changing colours all around.
After Thursday night's dinner, Delaeno and I had prepared and emailed another material order to Parkside. I phoned Joe Klassen, our contractor sales rep, during Friday morning to ensure we had everything covered off and that we would receive the shipment on Monday.
Jim Rodger stopped by mid-morning with a bounding Freya, their high-energy Border Collie cross. Given that I'd been threatened with dismissal or pay-cuts by the rest of the crew for my three visits on Tuesday, I didn't descend from the loft floor to chat, but Jim was enthusiastic in his surprise at the progress over the past three days. Davis had finished up the bracing on the garage forms early that morning, and was now on the roof with his purpose-specific screw gun, reefing the sheathing down to the joists.
Davis had showed off his brute strength earlier, by single-handedly heaving the 3/4" 4x8 sheets of sheathing from the main floor up onto the loft floor joists. While Delaeno cut the sheets to size (interspersing this activity with prepping wall plates for the mudroom), Nathan, Davis & I positioned and secured them.
Shortly after noon, Davis screwed down the last sheet and we decided to call it a day. I know how tired I am most evenings, and I could see how drained the fellows were from the intense physical effort they'd put out over the week. With the temperatures more conducive to construction and the rain – in the words of Burl Ives – having mostly "gone around," we had had a great productive week. I called it a week, with express wishes that we all get some rest and refreshment over the next couple of days.
That said, we may be getting the long weekend we didn't take around August 1st; with over an inch of rain forecast for Monday, we may get to catch up on non-Ruth's Ridge activities tomorrow.
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