Put to work

I totally did not interrupt Emily while she was painting floorboards she had lugged into the backyard so she could paint and be with her kids. I totally did not make her give me a paintbrush so I could pose for this photo. And I most certainly did not then make her take the theoretical posed photo. Never!

The yard looks and smells awesome

Sometime in the 1930s, Granddaddy McCauley was caught on film plowing the garden, which was a few plots away from our house.

On Saturday, the little granddaughter he called Susabella took a slightly more-advanced plow to the tough dirt around the house. She was loosening it up so we could plant grass everywhere.

Miked took a turn with the plow, too. Grandpa Teddy said it was because he just likes to play with big machines.

The reason for the plowing and planting: Landscapers came in and removed the silt fence and lots of junk.

Mom and Dad hired them, too, and they cleared everything in their side hedge also. Now, Mom and Dad have work to do, too: replanting and stuff.

This was overgrown and junky because it was outside the silt fence. But they cleaned it and now it is seeded for grass. It smells so good out there because the hay is wet a lot because Team D waters it. But it really smells good because of the ...

CEDAR CHIPS. To give this grove of trees a little extra protection the landscapers covered the area with cedar chips. Emily had them line the cedar-chip place with old pieces of a fence that one of my uncles built before our oldest sister's wedding 23 years ago.

The goofballs and I hung out in the driveway when most of this was going on. Unfortunately, they don't have a vat for Matt.

So nice. And Miked, as always, did a ton of work inside on the wiring and stuff. He is NOT my man-crush, but he is pretty cool. He took time out to remove the hard drive from Mom and Dad's old PC, and Mom and I totally installed it in a little cover so they can get their files off it. Emily is no slouch either. The oldest of the goofballs wanted to take Claren out today so she did, while I played Pokemon with goof 2. Claren pooped, and picking it up was beyond goof 1's ability. But Emily did.

Miked to Matt: "I couldn't have done it without you"

Maybe, just maybe, Mike was not talking about the wiring when he really made that comment to me. Maybe, just maybe, I was lazing in the driveway, playing with Claren, when he was lugging in all his tools. And maybe, just maybe, mind you, I picked up a pair of screw drivers that fell out of his tool belt. And that is when he said it to me. Maybe.

Miked has been slogging through the wiring and now the end is really in sight. He just has to connect the wires to the circuit breakers.

See, this one is all done. Sweet!

There has been other action afoot at the homestead, which reminds me: It needs a name. I at first thought of something simple like the DT Ranch or the DTs. But that seems an unwise name. Anyway, here are the steps to the back porch. They are going to be covered with some wood-like substance.

The goofballs like to play on the back porch when Big team D is out there.

The roof of the back porch is ready for fixtures.

And this might be Emily's favorite pic of the whole blog: The painters had some time so they primed all the rest of the floor boards. No more for her to do.

It's our house and we'll paint how we want ...

I have written, elsewhere perhaps, about being the silent partner in this here home building. Well, except for the blog. This here post is sort of an example of what I mean: I have no clue what some of these pictures are supposed to show, but given that Emily took them I am certain they are showing bodacious stuff happening in the FC.

The painters have finished the red, I believe and the trim near the red. They have been working on the lower part of the house, a very handsome gray, which is much darker than the primer gray.

We even decided to make the bump-outs gray to match the rest of the house. I think our architect would have preferred all-white bump-outs, but ...

This is the bench in the back porch, built in to even out something or other. It also appears that the floor is finished.

And can you tell which member of Little Team D is the showboat?

Here she is again either cabbage-patching or karate-kicking in front of the garage, which looks mostly painted.

This is how the house will look.

I believe workers have started the floor on the front porch.

Behind the dieting member of Little Team D, you can see some of the columns, which are all wrapped in the white board. Near the garage are piles of bricks, which were moved from the front by a forklift.

And this? I just don't know. All I can tell for sure is that a red crock is in the left-bottom corner. Brendan tells me these are the floors he sanded.

Digging a ditch

Team members, including brother Barry and nephew Brendan, spent Sunday morning re-digging a sewer line by hand so a third-party arborist could examine the roots of a pin oak we were saving. He came out Monday and said one of the roots was hurt, but my guess is that it will be OK. According to the Virginia Department of Forestry, the pin oak has "tolerance of urban stresses."

Later on Sunday Brendan and Miked did some wiring with the aid of Eleanor "Little Fingers" Trott.

Brendan moved a lot of wood last week and today he was sanding. He continues to elude the camera mostly, although he was one of the ditch-diggers.

Our floor is so cool

Work continues on the porch. It is all framed in except for the door. Pretty rockin'.

But even prettier than the outside of the porch is the floor inside. How freaking awesome is that? It is like a baseball outfield that has been mowed in a way to make patterns in the grass. Sure, it is not needed, but how cool!

And the garage gable got its red paint.