Our Latest Project

Back in April, we bought one of those outdoor furnaces and were hoping to have it installed in May. However, we had a lot of work to do to get ready for it, and so it finally came this past weekend. In June Bryan and I cut down several pine trees one the other side of the driveway alongside the house. Then one of Jerry's friends came with a brush-hog to clear the brush and smaller trees. Just before we left for Maine, Jerry brought his new tractor over to start levelling the ground.

This is how it looked in the beginning of August. Grandpapa and his tractor were a great source of entertainment for the kids, who set up their lawn chairs to watch the action. The second picture is how the spot looks all levelled out. Eventually we'll build a woodshed, garage, and barn there. It was a lot of work, and we are very grateful to Jerry for spending so much time on the project.

One of Bryan's chores was to cut a hole through the foundation in the cellar. Luckily the spot where the hole had to go was through the section of new foundation poured when four years ago, and not through the old three foot thick stone foundation. It was still a two evening job for Bryan. I wish I'd gotten a picture of him with the big drill and his geeky safety glasses.

We couldn't drive all the way up the driveway for a few days because of the trench for the water and electric lines. The kids had tons of fun playing in the trench and on the sand piles. Carter, Bryan, and Jerry are standing on the "island" waiting for the furnace Saturday morning. You can see the cement slab that Bryan made a couple weeks ago. The furnace guy arrived right on time with the furnace. The big roll is the black water pipe that goes from the furnace to the house. The trailer had a boom and cable on it that lowered the furnace onto the cement slab.

Once the furnace was in place, the guy put the water pipes in place, connected the electric, and put up the chimney. Bryan and Jerry worked on the electric and water conduits to where the woodshed will be. By the end of the day, the new electric panel was up and the trenches across the driveway were all filled in. Now Bryan has quite a bit of work to do in the cellar before we can hook the furnace up to our heating system. Of course, we also have wood to cut, so we'll be very busy the next few weeks.