PICTURES GALORE

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true, get ready for a very large novel. I promised pictures of our recent work and there was so much, I couldn't leave anything out.

Here is part of the load of lumber we had delivered on Wednesday. Too bad I didn't get a picture of everything. It was quite overwhelming. We also had a large stack of 2X6 lumber.

We recruited the kids and their friends to help with the work. Here is Hannah swinging a mean hammer. Her and her best friend, Jedine, worked on the bases for the foundation. Naomi and her friend, Victoria, also worked on these. Josh helped to cut the wood.

Jedine and Hannah model a completed base. Note the fashion model stance! LOL.

Brian also chipped in to help in the construction.

A stack of bases and boards ready to be nailed together.

Once the bases were completed, it was time to work on the beams. Josh helped to carry the wood outside so we could cut it and divide it into appropriate piles.

Brian stands at the end on one of the 44 foot beams we constructed. This picture was taken before we straightened the boards out and joined them together. The process involved a lot of work - drilling and labelling each board, so that we could take them apart to transfer them to the property. Take note of the weather in this picture. We worked until about 9:30 pm because of the weather. We had to work between bouts of rain and, believe it or not, snow! It was absolutely miserable weather. Also, with Brian just getting over pneumonia, we didn't want to let him get too wet and cold, but he still had to do some work.

After the beams were constructed, we tackled the cribs. For these, we had to cut 6X6 beams into 3 foot lengths. Each beam took 4 cuts. It was a lot of work, as you may imagine. Naomi, as well as Hannah & Josh, were very handy with the saw.

Construction of the cribs has begun. Note the finished products piled 2 high behind Brian.
Again, it is a team effort. Hannah is drilling the holes for the spikes to go in. Each of the 25 cribs needs 8 - 10" spikes.

Josh and Brian work on pounding in one of the many spikes.

Even Naomi took a turn at pounding in spikes. I guess she isn't all city girl!

All in all it has been a great learning experience. Tiring, but fun. It's neat to see the kids getting in on the work. And we are almost done. Only 5 more cribs to make, and 2 - 12 foot beams. Will the fun ever end???