the sound of silence

My house is empty. As wonderful as it was to have a house full of friends and family for a week, the quiet is bliss (as is being able to use the bathroom on a whim) . . . It's also packed with leftovers, likely cleaner than it has been in decades and totally devoid of the piles necessitated by top to bottom restorations done by hoarders. Also wonderful is the fact that I now know not only what food for 60 looks like, but that I can make it all from scratch in a day (with help from my MIL), and that 60 people fit in my house with room to spare, even when the weather dictates we can't roast marshmallows outside.

Although the original plan had been for the schoolhouse to be framed and roofed by the reunion, that clearly didn't come close to happening. Instead, we have what looks like the rib cage of a beached whale rising from the backyard.

as of Friday

Astounding, the frame is going up far more beautifully than anyone had anticipated. A fortuitous posting from craigslist provided a buildings' worth of 100 year old oak 3x12s from a warehouse teardown downtown. There are lengths over 20 feet available for free, this is becoming the sill on top of our poured footings, with all the framing notched into it. It's a sight to behold! The foundation itself proved more difficult. Our topsoil, while beautiful for planting, was impossible to compact, and the grading and base will require more gravel than we had ordered, which means we have more spreading and compacting in our future. We also discovered an underground stream that will create some drainage issues, our building is built up on the footings which will keep the framing dry, and we will likely order some Hardi trim boards which won't rot for the bottom trim work. And no, we're still not 100% sure how we're finishing off the bottom portion that sits off the ground, chances are it'll be stacked stone or brick.

filling the footings from the bucket

footings done, but we still need a lot more gravel . . .

First stud, strapped in for dear life

first notched sill section