The Surprise Project...

I worked most of the day finishing up a BIG project.

A project I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember.

Unfortunately it's a Christmas surprise for the kids and I have a couple of girls who occasionally read this blog so I can't risk telling you about it.

I'll be sure and show you after Christmas.

I do have a couple of PORCH project pictures for you!

I did a little decorating over the weekend...

I was hesitant at first about the door color but after living with it a few days it's grown on me and I love it!

D gives us more insight on Imperturbability...

In an article by Sterling W. Sill he writes: "The dictionary says that to be imperturbable is to be 'incapable of being agitated'. It means to remain calm and controlled, especially in an emergency or under the pressure of serious disturbances or disappointments. A great doctor once said, 'No quality takes an equal rank with imperturbability'.

Question--If, in an emergency or under pressure, one might curse under ones breath--but not loud enough for anyone else to hear, can one still be considered imperturbable?

Cleaning the Porch/Deck

BEFORE...

THE TOOLS


THE PROCEDURE
I've been watching deck cleaning and staining procedures online so I'm feeling pretty confident about this project.
Before you stain a deck you have to clean it--makes sense, right?

I filled the spray bottle with deck cleaner and then the husband and I took turns spraying--
our hands kept cramping up so we took A LOT of turns.


We let the cleaner sit between 5-10 minutes and then rinsed it off.
It now has to dry for 48 hours before we can stain it.


AFTER...

Here are a couple of other projects that were going on today...

Halloween Cookies!

Take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and throw in all kinds of Halloween candy.

D says Some of her family's best times were found in cooking or baking together.

Your family should get rid of some of their Halloween candy and go bake some of these cookies together.

They were a big hit!

A New Porch!

BEFORE...

Splashes of yellow...courtesy of the great pumpkin!

We hired our great neighbor Nolan to do this project.

He started it in August...

And then waited patiently while we worked out removing the porch.

This space to the right of our porch is so weird.

We haven't known what to do with it.
So we decided to build the porch/deck to include this space.

I didn't get any pictures of the TOOLS but I definitely heard a saw!
As soon as we removed the porch Nolan got back to work and I just LOVE the way it turned out!


AFTER...


Now I get to stain it and paint the front door...as soon as the weather improves.

I guess I did get a picture of 1 tool...back there in the corner are the lights Nolan used while he worked in the dark.

D says Times have changed and there generally is not enough outside work or heavy chores to provide a boy with enough responsibility. So it's all right for a boy to do any type of work around the home. I do believe, however, that the heavier jobs should be his first responsibility. But good work habits, dependability, careful and wise use of time, and thoroughness can be learned whether through milking cows or doing the dishes.

Maybe I'll have my boys do the "outside work" of staining the deck.

No More Porch

Remember last month

when the husband spent 7 hours trying to remove this?

BEFORE...

It was a great effort by the husband with his little jackhammer.

In the end we decided to call in the professionals.

THE TOOLS

THE PROCEDURE
I can't say for sure what the procedure was.
I was out running errands for part of it

and I was in the house for part of it.

I did notice it was very loud and the house was shaking...

which explains the crooked picture.

As I mentioned, the husband worked for 7 hours.

My buddy Craig and his son worked for 4...

AFTER...

D asks the question, What are a husband's responsibilities around the home and yard?
Answer: It all depends upon your point of view.

Tomorrow we move on to removing a very large tree.
NOT one of the husband's responsibilities.

Jackhammering the Crooked Porch...

BEFORE...

If you look at the bricks at the top of the picture below you can see where the porch once was and how far it's dropped over the years.

We are replacing it with a wooden deck to match the wood trim on our house.

THE TOOL

THE PROCEDURE
The husband headed to The Home Depot to rent the tool.
He got to work right away...
I think he started around 9am.


To the left is the beginnings of the new wood deck.
I'll post more pictures of that another day.

We thought this would be a 4 hour project...



Unfortunately, 7 hours later, we were still left with this much porch...

AFTER...

To clarify--we won't be getting rid of all of it.

We just need to remove enough for the deck to fit over it.
After 7 hours of jackhammering the husband is walking like an old man.

He's going to let his back and neck heal and then he'll continue jackhammering next week.

D asks the question--Now, what are the husband's responsibilities around the home and yard? One Saturday evening at a banquet, Marion D. Hanks commented that he had spent the afternoon around his home "honey-doing". When questioned as to what he meant, he said, "Oh, it was 'honey do this' and 'honey do that'.

I don't think jackhammering the porch is a responsibility of a husband.

He's going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the wife gets her new porch in time to decorate for Halloween!

I owe him, big time!