Since we finished the house up at the end of July I have not really had much interesting to write about.  But that does not mean that we have been sitting completely idle.

We took about 6 weeks off once the house was “completed” to rest and let some of our aches and pains heal up.  But I did manage to make a couple more cabinets for the laundry room.

We also planted some trees.  We put in 3 apple trees, a peach tree and an almond tree.

Of course, within 2 days of planting them, the rabbits had chewed the bark on all 5!  I do not know if they will survive or not, but we put tree wrap on them to prevent further damage.  We’ll find out how well they faired in about 10 weeks when the buds start coming (or don’t).

Tina absolutely LOVES Christmas.  We have not really been able to have Christmas for the last 2 years.  The first year down here, we were living in the rental house and all of our stuff was packed away.  Last year we were in the middle of the build.  So this year, Tina decided to go all out for Christmas.

Tina has also been going crazy on the baking and cooking.  She made something like 8 different kinds of cookies this year!  She even made me a double batch of homemade lefse!  I have not had good homemade lefse for 3 years and did not realize how much I missed it until she made it.  The first night she was frying it, I think I ate 8 pieces as fast as she was taking them off the griddle.

Between the post house build slow down and Thanksgiving and Christmas, my middle has started to swell again.  I have even had to let my belt out a notch since we finished the house.  So to remedy that problem, I decided to start another construction project.

Tina’s Art Shack

We have been planning to build Tina an Art Shack since even before starting the house.  It will be a place where she can set up her drawing table and painting stuff and sewing and quilting stuff.  So about a month ago, I sat down and put pencil to paper and started figuring out what we are going to build and how we are going to build it.

We decided to hire a father-son team (Jerry and Greg) to come over and pour a concrete slab as a base.  I have never liked doing concrete work and frankly, I am not very good at it.  So it was a wise decision to hire that part out.

Our friend Danny came over with a tractor and leveled out a good spot about 50 yards from our house.

Then Tina and I spent the better part of a whole day laying out the size and position of the shack.  It is angled from the house to give her the perfect view of the mountains directly behind us.

Jerry and Greg came over Wednesday and Thursday this week getting the forms set and getting the base perfected for the concrete pour.

Today they poured the concrete.  It was an absolutely perfect day to pour concrete, about 60 degrees and a bit of humidity so it will not dry too fast.

They did an outstanding job and we could not be happier.

While Jerry and Greg were doing the finish troweling, Tina and I went off and ordered most of the lumber we will need to frame the Art Shack.  I say “most of” because after we got back home, I realized I forgot to include the 12 pieces of 2 x 4 that I will need to make the overhangs.  Regardless, the framing lumber is being delivered next Wednesday and Tina and I will be back in construction saddle!  WOO HOO – MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!

Just a word of caution, do not expect this one to move as quickly as our house build.  The Art Shack is only going to be 10 feet by 20 feet.  Thus, I did not have to pull a permit so I will not have a county deadline to work against.  Also, from this point forward, Tina and I are doing all the work and we are not nearly as fast as the professionals on the bull work.

So again, Merry Christmas Acre-Heads!  It is great to be back working on a fun project!