Josh's mom came mid week to help sand and prime doors and windows for the covered porch. Together, Melanie and I managed to sand four large double paned windows and sand/prime two doors. With all of the nooks, crannies, and corners on these doors and windows, it was no small task.
The doors, shown below, are solid wood and were picked up at a flea market for $30 each. It was tempting to refinish the wood and keep it natural, but with the severe weather these doors will see we opted to prime and paint them with a deck and arbor paint. The wood doors will replace our current chain link doors, one of which you can see in the picture.
After Melanie left, Josh and I worked on leveling a new spot on the side of the house to stack cord wood. Our pile had been stacked against the side of the house all winter, and for reasons I won't bore you with now, that was a bad idea and the pile needed to be moved. After digging a level plot for the new stacking spot, we made a run to the gravel pit and ended up hand shoveling our gravel into the back of the Tacoma because the pit operator was busy elsewhere. If you ever want a really good workout, go ahead and fill up the back of a truck with gravel using nothing but a shovel. I don't think we'll be doing that again :)
Once the gravel was spread on our plot, it looked like this:
On Saturday, Josh's dad, Peter, and Peter's friend Arnie showed up to keep the progress going. Josh and Peter worked on framing out the windows, while Arnie and I cleared a large pile of cord wood off the porch and relocated it to the new stacking spot then applied linseed oil to fourteen 2' x 6' x 12' rough cut hemlock boards. We'll use the boards to make raised beds in the kitchen garden on top of the rock retaining wall.
I'll be back later this week with a progress report. In the meantime, I want to thank Melanie, Peter, and Arnie for your amazing help this week and for keeping us motivated. You all are the best!