One Month In

Closing was on October 7th, so we've got one month under our belt. We've got months of work yet ahead of us, but all in all I'm pleased with the progress we've made so far.

The weather the past few days have seemed like days left over from Eden. Below was the view from our kitchen window yesterday. Farmers are out in droves taking off corn. It's nearly impossible to drive anywhere without getting caught behind at least one grain truck or combine (or both, as was my case on Friday).

On the house front, we no longer have a gaping hole above the front door! The masons completed this work on Monday. They were back on Tuesday to brace the springhouse and load up their equipment, and they've called it a year at the Einsel House. We've been thrilled with their work and look forward to having the south side of the house repointed next spring.

Although I was at work while the masons worked at filling the hole, my mom witnessed their work and told me that one of them would be up on the scaffolding and would place a stone while the other two stood back and debated if that stone's placement looked natural, or if it would work better in another spot. Because these stones came from several different locations there is some variation in color, but we think they did a wonderful job. The masons also paid very close attention to detail. Check out the picture below.

Other than the beautiful downspout (I think the color works wonderful next to the stone!) check out the only complete stone shone. This is an original stone on the front of the house. If you look closely you will notice faint vertical lines in two rows across the stone. Almost every stone on the house has these, but we had not noticed them until the masons pointed them out to us. According to our masons, each of those lines represents a hammer stroke to a chisel back when the house was built. The amount of work that went into the construction of this house is almost impossible for me to comprehend.

But - back to the area above our door. A few of the stones our masons used to fill the hole are new stones. But the masons used a hammer and chisel to etch lines into each new stone they put in the house so that they would blend with the original stones. That's attention to detail!

So the masons' work has wound to a close for the winter, but thanks to this weather we're still going strong. Below is a picture of yours truly painting the peak at the north end of the addition. Who needs a ladder when you have a loader tractor? :)

Below are my mom and her sister touching up the trim around the new storm door. We had several visitors today, and Aunt J in particular was a wonderful help. She came bearing food, drink and an eight food ladder that we can use for "a few months". (Thank you Uncle K, too!) Unfortunately, the screen door they are standing by does not get such a glowing review. Although it looks very nice and should be quite weather-tight, its installation caused my mom much grief and took her most of the day.

Some days the jobs seem to take so much longer than they should, and the list of projects still waiting can seem endless. But we're moving in the right direction. And since a picture says a thousand words, I'll emphasize this point by closing with a picture from October 19th.

Yeah. It's been a busy month.