Chapter 6 “A Very Merry Christmas”

Originally posted 12/27/2022

We came up this weekend for the purpose of getting the workshop organized and into functional order. This will be essential once the carpentry phase of construction begins. Anyone who works with tools can appreciate an organized work area, as time spent searching for something is time lost. 

The stash of reclaimed lumber, in groups of similar cut sizes, became rather useful.  A utility shelf to store my father’s older tools, most of which are in need of maintenance and repair, was the first and easiest project to throw together.

With that set of stuff organized and out of the way, I set up my miter saw and leveled up a set of cabinet drawers to match the deck height of the saw. All the other cabinets have been decked with proper fitted tops, creating ample work space and freeing up the middle of the room.

Next was installing some cleats to properly store the collection of clamps, which ended up being larger than I had anticipated. Suffice to say, if I need to clamp large or multiple projects simultaneously, I think we are covered.

Happily, we took most of Sunday off to spend time with family who came to see the progress we had made, and wish us well on this journey. Good food and fellowship always nourish the soul. 

Monday we stayed to put in one more day of work. I learned that there was another section of scaffolding at our neighbors house that had actually been on loan from my father. I had already been wondering how we were going to acquire a second section for the work ahead. So, it was a quick trip over to retrieve that and now we have a two-story stack of rolling scaffold, which is exactly what we will need when doing the ceiling work. Once again, the Lord has provided for us, above and beyond all expectation. 

My wife took on touching up paint on the steel work where all the welds are, and I tried to finish emptying the boat house so that the next trip up we could pressure wash the interior.  We got close but had to wrap up around 6pm and make the two hour trip back to our working lives. I will have to figure out exactly how and where to organize what is left, rather than just squeeze it all into the workshop, rendering that space unusable. I would have liked to finish everything we had set out to accomplish, but I am content with our progress. Even though there is seemingly a lot of work to be done, everything is falling into place faster than expected. Especially considering we have basically put in a handful of weekends to get this far, and accomplished everything with minimal help. I give full credit and praise to God for always guiding my hands toward success.

The next phase of construction will be the interior wood framing, with doors and windows cut in. Those things need to happen prior to having the building shot with spray foam insulation. From there we can proceed with electric, plumbing, more insulation, and wall covering. It is my hope that within the next few months we will be able to move into a habitable space. 

My wife and I wish you all blessings of good health and joy, and to all a very Merry Christmas!