The Sheetrock Marriage Test

I've been a great junior carpenter, but I've met my match in sheetrock. I could handle the weight of it - no problem carrying it upstairs and lifting it. Rob of course supported most of the weight when we were doing the ceiling panels, with his head or his arms fully extended over his head. Since he had to do that, I had to try to move the sheets to where he wanted them, without him being able to see. We finished the flat ceiling panels, but when it came to the tricky angled side panels, that was too much. The house is really old so nothing is plumb anymore. Since he couldn't see both ends at once, we ended up switching places multiple times with Rob trying to align it and me holding it in place. Rob doesn't get frustrated easily, but...

Lucky for us, it was a rainy day the next day, so he had his two main crew members come over. They are in the earliest stages of their new construction project, so there's not much to do if it rains. [A little aside - I couldn't understand how they can work outside all winter in Maine, but are stopped by a light rain. Duh - can't use electric power tools outdoors in a rain storm.] So in 2 short hours they finished the whole room, and I didn't hear a single growl of frustration. It's another example of why it pays to hire people who know what they are doing.

The big outside accomplishment was creating a whole new perennial bed in the front yard. Digging up the lawn, hauling the lawn and it's hidden rocks to the back 40, adding the soil amendments, and planting. It is a great focal point out the front windows. I can't wait for some of them to bloom. We included some winter interest plants - red twigged dogwood, beach plum, and bunch grasses. These will either have winter color, or structure to hold some snow like branches or grass seed stalks for vertical interest.

We've hired a cat sitter for Oscar while we're in D.C. Keep your fingers crossed!