Upsetting the Apple Cart

So the apple cart got upset and then it threw a huge tantrum and screamed at all it's friends. No wait, that was Jay. Things didn't happen in the proper order (the porch wasn't supposed to come down at that specific time, siding wasn't supposed to come off yet, etc), but it did and that's okay, because we took a step back and then a deep breath and then a short time later, when the smoke cleared, we had people back out here beginning to work. In October.

The plan was to build pillars for the foundation, but codes or something require us to put those pillars on concrete pads. All good and well except that those pads have to be in the ground, 18 inches deep, and recall that we live on a gigantic slab of rock.

After about a week and a half of jack-hammering (thank God I have a day job), we had 17 2x2 foot holes for the concrete.


And then early one morning, a day that I happened to be home, the concrete truck arrived. They poured the concrete pad for one bay of the garage...


and then the concrete truck moved around the front of the house, intending to back up to the west side of the house and pour the concrete directly into the holes. Instead, he promptly got stuck, with his front wheel going off down into the pond.


That truck was SERIOUSLY on the verge of tipping over into the pond. Jay tried to wench the truck back up over the small hill he couldn't make it over (in the driver's defense, it was really muddy and slippery that morning)...

That scene wasn't working too well either and my heart couldn't take it anymore so I left. I learned later that they decided to leave the truck where it was and carry the concrete around to the holes in the BobCat bucket. It worked and nobody died. However, with the amount of concrete and gravel left in the front yard, we could probably have poured the second garage bay. Oh and B saved my dogwood tree from the concrete truck back wheels.

Once the concrete dried, some magicians worked their magic with mortar and bricks and we got these:



Once that was done, things started picking up - lumber arrived and I came home one day and the magicians had left me a wood beam foundation.

And they kept coming back and bringing me more glorious things - framing for the walls:


Snow,


Well, not the snow itself, but they continued working even tho we had snow and it was cold as crap.

In the meantime, the kittens are getting bigger..


And they do mean things to us while we sleep...


In the freezing cold, they put up the walls on the outside and supporting walls and beams on the inside. Not the kittens, the workers.


That's the wall between the kitchen and the mud room.

More walls, the bedroom off the back got framed in and then the roof ...



Recently, they cut the window holes and wrapped it up like a late Christmas present.


And how awesome is this screened in porch going to be?

Then about a week ago, the powers that be said, "Let there be stairs." And lo, they appeared, albeit with temporary treads.


And the beauty of those stairs brought tears of joy to my eyes. And I imagine they brought tears of joy to the eyes of the workers as well, because they no longer have to carry heavy things up a ladder.