Y’all remember how in February, Jason took a week off work so we could try to finish up all the in-progress projects on our house? And then we didn’t get nearly as much finished as we wanted, because of new projects that cropped up re: Snowpocalypse? Well, it’s been about two months, and we’ve been trying to work on things slowly, in evenings and weekends, during that time. But the problem is that much of the work that was left is far beyond my personal capabilities. I know nothing about building porch rails and attaching soffits! So I’ve been kinda helpless while Jason has been kinda overwhelmed, and he decided to take another “vacation” week to try to get stuff done before it gets too hot. (Too late, honestly – the week he took is our first week of every day 85+ degrees, many days in the 90s, and no sign of improvement in the weeks following…)

The plans:

• Finish building, sanding, painting, etc anything left on the porch, siding, soffits, etc
• Clean up all the construction supplies in both yards
• If and only if those things can be finished, a bunch of little hanging items: attaching a faceplate where we’re missing one, rewiring an outlet in the garage, reorganizing the garage, attaching a fence post that has fallen down, and a bunch of paperwork and other stuff unrelated to construction that has gotten months behind

There were a few potential complications: The first weekend of this nine-day break would be spent in family reunions, which cut us down to only seven days. Jason was getting his second vaccine dose on Tuesday, and that might leave him sick for a few days. There were also a few other obligations – doctor appointments, a meal-train lunch to prepare for a friend who just had her baby, a son struggling with pre-cal and physics, etc. Plus, the forecast kept changing, and there was rain rain rain rain rain…

Here’s how things went:

Siding/soffits: Soffits went up, got painted, and the edges where they meet the sides of the house were sealed off. Porch lights went back up and were wired to the switch inside the house. Finished (most of) the rest of the paint touchups and removed excess paint from the window frames. A few pieces of finishing trim put up and caulked. Still needs to be done: painting the finishing trim; painting the external side of the french doors; a few minor paint touchups. This is about 90% done, or 99% minus the doors. It’s supposed to be dry today, so we might actually finish everything but the doors before “vacation” ends.

(construction supplies & porch furniture in the yard makes this look more unfinished than it actually is)

Porch: I didn’t realize that Jason planned to build some bench seating onto one end of the porch, but he did this as well this week. We finished painting the outside walls and railings, caulked the nail-heads on the deck floor, and began to paint the bench area and deck floor (rain derailed these plans). Additionally, Jason attached and painted some tall posts to parts of the railings, ran wiring from the outlet to the railing, and strung up weatherproof lights for a wonderful ambiance outside! All the electricals were encased in various weatherproofing containers to make sure it’s all safe for rain. He also built hanging posts for bird-feeders, plants, etc. (Again, rain derailed any opportunity for paint!) Still needs to be done: The rest of the paint (hangers, floor, bench, stairs) and poly-ing the floor and stairs. About 80% done. Note: We won’t be painting the insides of the porch walls as those will be covered when we turn this into a three-season porch.

(Looks a mess, but getting close to done. When the string-lights are on, it’s so beautiful out here!)

Construction cleanup: Removed a bunch of misc construction debris out to the garbage but much of the wood is having to stay in place with the ongoing work that couldn’t be finished re: rain. Only about 30% done.

Miscellaneous: New outlet wired and faceplate put on behind the coffee area (it has just been an empty hole with a light switch for months). Garage storage shelving areas built. Digital photo frame set up. A bunch of the hanging paperwork (though not all). A new outlet wired into a different part of the garage so we could move our freezer (which previously blocked the light switch and electrical panel!). Fence post reattached. Attached a hose-reel to the external wall of the deck and ran plumbing from there to the spigot on the back of the house. Garage cleaned out and organized. Still to go: the rest of the garage organization, some more paperwork, a few more phone calls. About 80% done.

Extra: My plan for the week was to clean up the front yard/plants, and plant the aloe in the backyard. Rain derailed this entirely. Hopefully next week, while the ground is still soft from rain, I can at least do the planting. There was so much rain this week that we had giant puddles across big portions of the yards, especially the front yard, and a bunch of plant debris (old leaves, pollen rods, etc) is now sitting in these wet, clumped waves that I have to figure out how to clean up. Oy.

We still have the rest of today for “vacation.” But I have a hike this morning, and Jason has D&D with Ambrose and Tyler until 2pm, so it’s only a partial day. Ironic that it’s the first day the sun has come out since Monday. Heh. But maybe we’ll get a few more things done before Jason officially goes back to work tomorrow.