snow delays

what can you do, absolutely nothin, good god, say it again. Weather delays are expected and the snow is beautiful but theres only so many Fine Homebuilding magazines I can pour over. I've taken several walks to fight off the cabin fever, gone down to the site with Robyn and Matt and planned and dreamed. The roads are bad enough that theres no reason to risk a trip into town, and the temp. is hovering around 17. Every time it rains or snows, you have to clean out the footings again, water tables rise, and more debris falls in. This dance can go on forever, need some good weather and it looks like it could be awhile. Oh well, my dad taught me that every minute spent planning was 2 minutes saved on the job. So by the time we start, there wont be much left to do.

Today was a day to rest my back and contemplate why life is what it is. It takes a while to get your head back on straight, and my thoughts still return to Jeff throughout the day. I made a roadtrip to Parthenon today to visit the Scott Phillips sawmill. He had asome cedar logs that I wanted to look at for our home. I was very pleased with the product and am eager to do a little bargainin with him to see if we can afford them.. I enlisted Robyns help to finish laying out the house footprint, and we are ready and square. It's up to the concrete crew to push us to the next step. unfortunatly the weather is throwing us a curve ball.  oh well, all you can do is push foreward, be as ready as you can, complete other projects that always get done last, and keep a clean worksite. Pretty boring stuff right now, but the good stuff is soon to begin.

sad day

Friday was supposed to be the day we finished the footings, istead it was a day of tragedy. Jeff Gwaltney, the awesone dude who was helping me throughout the project, was killed in an wreck on the way to work . This was no accident, a first responder speeding to another accident WITH NO INJURIES, decided it was ok to pass another car in a NO-PASSING ZONE--------UPHILL!!!!!! Jeff had no chance, and the officer called it stupid and senseless.  First responders are needded in some situations, but the most dangerous time around here is when these untrained tragedy chasers race to the scene to direct traffic. They are supposed to be protecting the public.  Jeff was such a talented guy, and we were so looking forward to his imput and energy contributing to this great project. I was lucky enough to purchase a piece of his artwork the day before he was killed, and it will have a special place somewhere in the Cabin in tne gorge. REST IN PEACE BROTHER, WE WILL MISS YOUR GENTLE SOUL.

Sunday, January 30th Observing the site and enjoying the day with family.

1st phase of Osage Feb 2011