We Need Normal

I am thrilled that I am starting to see my vision take shape.

Ron and I started framing the roof over the front porch and I am hoping to finish the framing and laying down the plywood tomorrow. If all goes well I hope to shingle it at the end of the week.

This week has to be the week. Living in the camper is not a option next week. We need to get back into our home and start a somewhat normal life soon, or I think we we may hit that point of total insanity.We are all tired and we want to go home.

The only thing we need at this point is electricity restored to the house, and we are thinking positively that it will happen this week.

WE have many challenges, and much work ahead, but it would be so much better if we could get most of our normal life back.
(OK...so maybe normal is not the correct adjective for us)

THINK POSITIVE!!!!

Thanksgiving In A Camper

Thanksgiving has to be an adventure.

My first Thanksgiving with Jeanne and the kids went well until we took our last bite of food and Tommy barfed all over the kitchen.

Our first Thanksgiving together here we had no kitchen sink or counter top and Jeanne did the dishes in the bathtub.

Five years later we celebrate Thanksgiving in a camper. Jeanne had the deli slice some turkey breast into thick slices, and everything was nuked in the microwave.It really was tasty and the clean up after was extremely fast.

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

I am thankful our project has gone as smooth as it has.

I am thankful to the folks with the Town of Mansfield, Fran, Jennifer, John, Mike, who have administered, advised, encouraged, and made this project possible.

I am Thankful for the great contractors I have had the privilege to work with and to watch work.

I am Thankful for Ron and Willie who have put in countless hours on this project.

I am Thankful for Jeanne who has giving me two deadlines that have now come and gone.

I am Thankful for chocolate.

I am Thankful that I can now change out a propane tank at 2 in the morning in about four minutes.

I am Thankful I am almost done with all the stairs ( something like 53 steps ).

I am thankful Oscar joined our family.

I am thankful for pneumatic nail guns.

I am Thankful for the word,"Flexible".

I am most thankful that I still have a little bit of my sanity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Almost In

Winter snow flakes are not far away, and we are so close to sleeping in he warmth of our home.

Although the camper is cozy warm, It is a extra challenge to keep it warm and to keep the water lines flowing. I told Jeanne if we should get back into the house before Thanksgiving, we should bring Thanksgiving diner out to the camper.
After I said that I really thought she was going to hit me with something hard.

Here is a long overdue update.
Cris from CW Knight Heating was here with his son hooking up the oil furnace and this was no easy task. Thankfully Bruce, who is doing the plumbing on the project kindly brought over his Bobcat skidsteer with forks on the front to lift the furnace up into the new utility room. Chris is well on his way at restoring heat to the house.

When I looked at the spider web of wires in the basement, my head spins. The team from Ackert Electric did not flinch. They started running the wires up into the new utility room. I know these guys from Ackert are highly skilled at what they do, but I also appreciate the fact that they are "nice guys".

Ron and Willie spent Saturday here working on the front dock. They did a great job of building a very square deck. It is looking really awesome, and I lost count how many times I heard the words, Love it, and Loving it.

We are so close to getting back in, but I unfortunately, we my not do it by Thanksgiving. We should learn this week when we will get back into our home. I would predict and hope that next week we will be able to leave this wonderful life in a camper, and I will see my bed. Jeanne has made it very clear, " The dog and cats will not be sleeping in our bed".


Update on Oscar, He is a He. He is fixed, and tested negative for all the nasty things. He is welcome in the camper, but I think he prefers being outside. Hopefully when we move back into the house he will get accustomed to being inside more.

Show Off

Bob is so incredibly handsome when he struts his stuff. He also has become somewhat of a mooch. Both Bob and Hope will gladly share a sandwich, like they did today with Bruce our plumber.They definitely are a source of entertainment.
They are incredibly curious,If a contractor leaves his truck open, they are quick to jump in and explore.

On behalf of Bob and Hope, I suggested we skip the Turkey at thanksgiving and throw a couple nice steaks on the grill.
My idea was quickly and firmly voted down.

Meet Oscar

We don't know much about Oscar. We don't know if he is a she or she is a he. We don't know if she is fixed or how old he/she might be.

What we do know, she showed up here and raided our garbage cans looking for scraps of food. At first I thought it was a raccoon paying us nightly visits. Then one night I caught a glance of this small cat running off. When I started to talk to her, she stayed hidden in the woods and answered me with meows. Jeanne took some food out to her and she devoured it, and now she comes back every night for more. She sleeps outside the camper and we set up a little shelter with a heat lamp to keep her warm. She is a little love bug, and so skinny you can feel her bones when you run your hand along her back.

So now we will end up taking Oscar to the Vet for a complete checkup and once he/she gets a clean bill of health, we will welcome her to join our family.

Santa's Door

WE are hoping Santa likes his new chimney.
Because we raised the roof line with the second floor we needed to raise the chimney. We chose Jimmy Ference to do this part of the project. Jim did not come from the yellow pages, like everyone else that has worked on this project he came highly recommended and we are extremely pleased with his work.


My muscles were sore watching him raise over 300 bricks, ten bricks at a time up onto the scaffolding. I think Jim might be one of those work-a-holics, and he surely has no fear of heights.

This is craftsmanship at its best.

I was thinking, if I threaten to add a cap like this one so Santa cannot get down the chimney, would it influence the kids behavior?

Probably not, they know Santa has some sort of magic key that fits every front door.

12 Steps Closer

Bob Villa said;"Building nice staircases takes patience and skill. But it's worth the effort".

I don't think he was referring to basic cellar stairs, but I am proud of these anyway. Building stairs takes an incredible amount of time and thought. Approximately 110 cuts went into this creation, and I think of that because, there was a time when all the cuts were done by hand saw.

We now have access back into the house without the need to climb a ladder. I do have a couple of parts of this staircase project, such as railings to finish. With one staircase almost complete, I now only have four more to go.

I had a good meeting with Fran from the Fire Marshall's office, and Mike the Building official. Mike came along to answer any questions I might have.
Here is what I came away with:
Once the roof is shingled, the heating, plumbing and electric can be restored to the old part of he house. We would then only need to finish the front staircase into the house, and install smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors to bring that portion of the house up to code. We can then finish the addition while sleeping in our own beds, showering in a real shower. Maybe a few minor other things, but that light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

Weather Woes

After losing two days to rain last week, the last thing we needed was to wake up to the seasons first snow, and according to the morning weather man, "A Classic Nor'easter".

If I had to come up with a bright side? After this storm passes sometime Tuesday, the rest of the week looks really good as far as the weather is concerned.

Another positive, is Willie, Ron and Myself worked on the dock,(front porch) and I am loving it.
Also the camper is toasty warm.("Knock On Wood")

Finding little jobs for the boy to do is a challenge. Give him a air chisel, safety glasses and let him go to town busting up some of the spilled concrete

First snow for Bob and Hope.

Our spectacular view from the second floor window.

Is That A Light?

There comes a point in many long endeavours that we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With all the great work being done this week, I believe I was able to catch a glimpse of that light.

Hiring Jim Engel and his team, Bob and Chris, was the boost in the arm this project needed. Not only are they extremely skilled and fast, they also are nice guys. Other contractors on the project have told me I was lucky to get them and they do some really great work.
Thanks to OL Willards for giving me their name.

We also had our new basement floor poured, and all my 4' deep sona tubes filled. The floor looks awesome, but since the floor is now at ground level, do I still call it a basement?

I had my weekly, meeting with Fran Raiola twice this week and he delivered me another check and I mailed and hand delivered $27.000 worth of checks. This always makes me feel good to get caught up with all the really great contractors and suppliers. The Town of Mansfield has done an outstanding job keeping the money flowing to the contractors. ( thanks to Jennifer and Fran )

The Rescue Mobile

Ladies and gentleman...we have a roof!

Vapor Barrier in place and ready to pour.

Concrete trucks arrived at 7am to pour the basement.

Ladies and gentleman, We have a new floor!


We still have much work to do, but I have a smile again, and I think I see a light.

Waiving The White Flag

Sometimes you get to a point when you must concede defeat. Wendy told me it is the first step to recovery.

Ok: My name is Steve and I am a wantabee roofer.

I decided to hire out the rest of the roof. I can not be held up by the roof any longer. I am not equipped to work at those high altitudes and we need to get this roof buttoned up and move on.
I also found myself uttering a slew of curse words. This is something that I don't do. I do not want the kids hearing that kind of language at home. Thankfully they were at school.

I went down to Willard's Lumber Yard in Willimantic and asked the experts for some recommendations for this part of the project.
The gentlemen I hired will start today, and he will have the roof completed this week instead of a few more frustrating weeks for me, and this will free me up for the 289 other parts of this project.

Now I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I think With Willie and Ron's help we will meet Jeanne's deadline.

I had a weight lifted off my shoulders, I am not sure how Willie feels about turning the roof over to someone else, But I swear when I told Ron, I heard him giggle with relief, and in the 35 years I have known Ron, I never heard him giggle.

Helping Hands

We had a couple of rain days this past week, and some major headaches concerning rented scaffolding, ( when I cool down I will tell that story) but Willie and I still did manage to get a considerable amount of framing done. The view from up on the roof is mesmerizing and that seems to slow me down abit.

Ron spent the day here Saturday and we picked away at some more of the roof framing. I would say we have a few hours of work to do and then we can move on to laying down the sheathing and roofing shingles.

They are going to pour the new basement floor today or tomorrow and Chris Knight From CW Knight Heating, stopped out Saturday to plan out the instillation of the oil tank.

Willie and his son Bill came out Sunday and saved the day. Bill borrowed a concrete saw from his Uncle John, and Willie and Bill cut down the openings so that the floor can be pored over the openings for a smooth transition. Willie also helped me dig a number of 4' deep holes for the front porch supports. I think we have have dug the equivalent of a 72 foot deep hole.
Without the help of family like Willie and Bill, and freinds like Ron, I think they would be burying me in one of the 4 foot holes.



Willie and myself worked during the week on the roof framing, and Saturday Ron and I Worked at framing out the Chimney. We only have a very little to do before we start with the sheathing and then the roof shingles.


Starting to take shape. We need to finish the roof this week. I am tired of working on the roof and want to move on to the next phase.
I keep thinking that this would be a great place for a "Widow's Watch", but I don't want to give Jeanne any ideas.


Somehow we manged the strength to walk around the neighborhood in the dark and cold Trick or Treating. I offered to buy he kids 25lbs of candy to stay home, but that did not go over well.