Spring is Busting Loose

This pooch jumped in my truck when I visited a prospective client.

Talk about a change in the weather, the first two weeks I was home snow and blow but these past two have been heaven, high temperatures in the 80's nearly 90 a couple of days. Needless to say I jumped all over it and brought back 100 percent of the employees and am trying to hire at least two more. Seems the men and Theresa are glad to be off their couches although the hard work brought some sore muscle complaints. A few of the guys have already completed two full weeks of work.

We are nearly complete with our first job of the season. The job requires a diverse skill set as painting, reconstruction of the garage door and playhouse, landscaping, driveway building and even the lost art of window glazing to replace several broken single pane windows. The home made garage door was beyond simple repair to keep its operation as the original design was intended so we modified it by sawing it in half and attaching hinges so that it now swings out instead of lifting overhead.

Not to many hitches in this job except after we filled in the old steep driveway to recapture the view I thought we could use a glacial stone retaining wall on the road side, plus we had a good selection of rocks to use. The hitch is the location of the wall in relation to the county right of way set back and not being within 5 feet of the sewer lines, we had an inspection this morning and await the ruling of the county.

This is the cover plate for the old stone fireplace we are going find

a home for it in the landscaping keeping a piece of history.

The wooden staircase provides quick access to the new cottage from the lakeside log cabin which is the main residence. The cottage will be put to good use for kids and grandchildren as well as the boyscout troupe with which the homeowners are heavily involved. I am sure plenty of good times will be had on this lovely piece of earth.

The plant material, mulch and most of the stone work is complete. The new driveway and car park gets the traffic away from the main door and sets a sweet tone for the entrance. Small Canadian Hemlocks have been installed to soften the woods, add year round beauty and eventually provide greater privacy. When the lawn turns green this cottage will bath in the light of its charm.