Building Blocks

Monday was an off day for me as Cristi and I went to Emory University in Atlanta for my 6th month appointment for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research study I participate in.  It was a good day to get away and have a break from all of the house stuff.

I woke up Tuesday with a sore throat and not feeling well at all.  I stayed home sick while Ron was able to get 3 courses of block down. 

Wednesday was a bit better as I was feeling good enough to get back out on the house site.  AT&T hooked up the DSL line and I tested the WIFI router we got off eBay.  Now, we can check email on our breaks and I will be able to order materials from Lowe's and Home Depot and have the orders waiting for me when I go to pick them up.  Ron continued to lay block by himself as I was still not feeling great.  I did a few errands including running to Home Depot to grab some poly to cover all the concrete blocks as rain was in the forecast again. :(   I did see a turkey in the subdivision on my way out.

Also, we moved the port-a-potty down by the electric pole so I would have a spot out of the rain to install the wireless modem for our internet.  Yes, I installed a WIFI modem in the port-a-potty! :)  Otherwise, I would of had to build a house for the modem as it needed a shelter from all of this rain and I would have to unplug it every day.  Genius!!!

Thursday was a beautiful day - 42 degrees and the deer were out and about.  I got a burn permit from the U.S Forest Service and spent 6 hours nursing one of our huge tree piles until there was nothing left but ashes.  Ron started laying the blocks for the garage today and I feel bad that I haven't been able to help much with anything.

fire, fire!

Cristi came out to help on Friday since it was her Friday off from work.  She and I cut more of the nasty vines and briars in front of the house and burned 2 large piles of brush for about 7 hours. We were planning to work until dark but the rain started in about 5 pm.  Ron laid more block today and rebar was cut into the 4th course of block along the entire perimeter to strengthen the wall.  



a before pic - this is how it looks with vines and brush everywhere



the after pic - much clearer!

The weekend brought rain on and off and I'm really not sure how much work got done as I was laid up both days in pain and unable to walk.  Cristi and I spent 4 hours in the ER Saturday for a nasty gout attack in my toe and knee that set in late Friday night.  (Gout is common in people with PKD.)  I'm able to limp around today and hoping this next week will be better and bring pain free days so I can help out more on the house.  We expect to be laying block for another 15 days so the next few blogs may not be that exciting.