And a Little More Landscaping

 Another day on the jackhammer.

 Tools of the trade... power tools, plants, irrigation tubing, pitchfork....

Here is what we have down at the other end of the driveway. 

Another of those attractive dry riverbeds.

 And here's the big dog again with the jackhammer.

Here I am, on the shovel.
Photo courtesy of  Sport.

 Me again.  So happy.

 Then after hours of work, the sun comes out, and this is what the job looks like.  Chris has delivered us a load of bark and I've completed the irrigation lines.  Including water to the new tree by the street.

 Yes, this tree right here.

 Here is Chris looking pained.  Probably at the quality of workers he is forced to endure. 
Meaning his wife and sons. 

 In this photo, you can see Sport forking bark into his handy trashcan for carrying.  Trash cans hold more than wheelbarrows.  Just so you know.

 Chris is tying the tree to the stakes.  So it doesn't blow over on the gusty days.

Sport picking up his can of bark.  He's thinking "somewhere there are children who are spending their summer playing.  Not shoveling bark".

   

Here is the progress thus far.  Now I have to leave to go to work.  Well, first I must go home and take a quick shower.  You did see those pictures of me, didn't you?

More Kitchen, More Dirt

So this is what the kitchen looks like now.  The cabinets are all in, the knobs and pulls are on, we're just waiting for the countertops.

Here's my usual vantage.

The big cabinets.

This is the peninsula side.

And the stove/refrig side.

This is the tile we picked for the entryway, and the hardwood for the living/dining rooms.

While I was walking around inside photographing, Case posted himself at his usual spot on the front porch.

This is what we have planned for the morning.  Picking up the pile of dirt the boys dug out of the planting strip.  You'll notice there are three shovels.  As much as the boys try to say I don't do my share around here, the picture tells the tale.

Still with the "no pictures" policy.  I fear he may try to run me over with that wheelbarrow.  Luckily, I am nimble and quick.  As long as I don't trip over anything as I start my getaway.

Sport hasn't yet noticed the camera.

Obviously he just did.

My, that's attractive.

I told the boys they should be grateful for all these pictures of them laboring away.  When they are grown men and telling their children how hard they had it as boys, and how much they had to work, they'll have photographic evidence.  I just can't help them with the walking to school in the snow uphill both ways.

Sorry boys.

Some Digging, Some Cabinets

Here's ole Caser keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

And Sport digging out the dirt in the planting area between the sidewalk and the street.  He and the Big Dog have recently instituted a "no photos" policy.  Look at that face.

And look at that face.  I'm beginning to fear for my safety.

So I'll go inside and snap the men for a little bit.  Chris and Dan don't glare at me - they just ignore me.
Here they're starting to install the kitchen cabinets.

Dan is setting up the transit.  Because we don't just throw cabinets in all willy nilly.  They must be exactly level.

Here's the kitchen again, sans men.

And here it is from another angle.  Thats the wall where the big cabinet will go.  See it still out in the garage?

Thats okay, there are plenty other cabinets to install first.

Now I will surreptitiously photograph the boys through the living room window.  Heh, heh.

You'll notice the ground is so dry and compacted that Sport has to use a pick to loosen it before they can shovel it out.  Watching that, I'm about to break into a rousing round of "I've been working on the railroad".....maybe my humorous asides are why I'm no longer allowed to photograph them?

More Misc.

Obviously I couldn't post pictures of Sport playing ball and not the Big Dog.  Considering a bulk of my life is spent at various ball parks watching the boys play, I could post baseball pictures every day.

Not only does Sport catch, so does the Big Dog.  In fact, the Big Dog is the reason Sport is a catcher.  He just wants to be like his older brother.  Isn't that sweet?  Speaking of sweet, maybe they'll be like the Molina brothers -- now that would be sweet.  Not likely, starting with the fact that they aren't Puerto Rican, but...

Here he is catching for his travel team.

And here he is hitting.  That's some power.

Back at the house, Chris is starting to wire the electrical.

Tools of the trade.

This is called "pulling wire"  because he's pulling the wire from that roll through the walls.

See where it goes through the  holes drilled in the joists?

Then down the wall.

Here he's securing it to the stud.

See, this one's all done.  It's called a home run, because it runs home, to the electrical panel.

And here's the electrial panel. 

Still Stripping Roof

Yes, it's true, the nightmare continues.  We're back on the roof again. 

We finished removing the asphalt shingles, then started on the tarpaper and cedar shingles.  I really can't think of any way to convey to you how hot and utterly miserable this job is.  Oh, and it was right about here that I pulled back some shingles to find......latch hook yarns.  Apparently a rat had built a nest under the shingles and lined it with yarn.  Chris found another one that had Christmas ribbon in it.  Like a little Martha Stewart rat.

Do you like how we've stuck the end of the shovels between the boards so they won't slide off the roof?

Take a good look at that.  It almost makes you want to hurl yourself right off the roof, doesn't it?

This is me, in what is quite possibly the least flattering photo ever taken.  I was so hot and miserable I didn't even care.  Still don't.
What I'm doing here, is hitting the cedar shingles with that little crowbar thing and breaking them away from the boards they are nailed to.  If you keep the bar between the boards and hit hard enough, you can break several at a time.  Its super fun and relaxing, and not at all hard on your back to stand like that all day.

There's a better look at the shingle smashing tool in Sport's hand.

Typically, you stand and work on the shingles uphill from yourself, but Sport is getting close to the edge, so has to work the other way around.

A bunch of shingles loosened, but not yet thrown off the roof.

Careful Sport, don't fall.

After the shingles are removed, we have to crawl over the entire roof and nail down every nail that's sticking up.  All the nails that held all of those shingles on the house, need to be nailed down flush.  If you don't, there will be a lump when the guys start to nail down the sheeting.  I don't want to be around when they have to deal with nails that were supposed to be nailed down but weren't,  while they are wrestling sheets of OSB on the roof.

Here's the Big Dog and Chris nailing down the roofing nails.  The best thing about this part of the job is the sitting.

Sport is still finishing the last corner.  I'm just standing up by the chimney, crying.

This is what the garage looks like without a roof.  So light and airy.

And here's the eating area and kitchen.

The kitchen.

The master bedroom.

One last look before we leave for the day. 

Yay!