Thomas and I wrapped up – both literally and figuratively – the siding of the house this Wednesday. Admittedly, I still have a whack of work to do with a caulking gun and touch-up paint roller, but the work of leveling, establishing starting lines, transferring starting lines, nailing up trim and siding, sweating on the roof, teetering on the ladders... that's done. Thomas still has all his digits and the equally important nails on his right hand, so his classical guitar practice should continue without interruption.
Frankly, I'll miss having the beer and snack stealing offspring around. He demonstrated a propensity to learn quickly and, over the five or six weeks he worked with me, we developed the ability to work both independently and intuitively to keep the projects moving forward. Thanks much, Tom.
Back on July 21st, after many calls to MTS, I was stunned to see their contractors actually trenching in the line two weeks earlier than the date suggested in conversation with them the day before. As of this coming Monday, we should see our cell phone bill plummet.
What else has been happening? Ruth took the last week of July as holidays and painted hundreds of feet of siding trim, baseboards and door & window casing. She also stained and finished the three main entry doors. 
The pantry, linen closet and loft closet shelving will be installed in a couple of days. And, as of Monday, we'll have a land-line phone, after which I can get on my bike and head to Montana for a rally.
And, by way of looking forward, we had John Morgan of Prairie Habitats up to assess Ruth's Ridge on Wednesday evening. He was excited to find that we have the best stand of hair grass (a native tallgrass prairie species) he's seen. He'll be harvesting some of it for our shared uses, and he has given us a report upon which we can start to rebuild a more original habitat.
Last weekend, I finally pulled everything out of the workshop, cleaned up the two BMWs, set up shelving, unpacked the shop supplies, and actually got both bikes started and out for a warm-up ride. My, my, but I've missed riding.
Last Sunday, Cole came up for our first father/son photo shoot in a long time. I think of it as the unofficial start of my upcoming 30-year photo project, "Within Walking Distance." Thanks, Cole.
And thanks, too, to Ruth for her unflagging enthusiasm about this project. Though I am immensely tired, we both see that we're into the last few months of hard work to get the deficiency list pared down in anticipation of a thank-you party for our suppliers, family, friends and new neighbours. With a little luck, that will still happen before the snow flies.
Well, I'm off to pack and prep the bike.
