We just got two more projects done before the heat hit

After hearing reports of intense heat and humidity coming our way, we quickly finished two projects. The first was flat-siding all of the support beams for the hayloft floor of the new barn-in-progress. It went quickly and was fun with our new Hud-Son bandsaw mill. There were twelve of them, and now they’re laying down next to the barn in readiness for cooler weather when they can be cut, notched, and fit into place.

The second project was digging down along our foundation and installing rigid foam board insulation and treated plywood to protect it, under an aluminum drip edge. Hopefully, next spring, we’ll be building a porch all along our north side of the house. As there will be no way to insulate our foundation, once that’s put up, we wanted to get it done this year before another winter came. It will keep our house warmer in the winter and our cellar cooler in the summer.

Before digging it out, I had to move all of my perennial plants: hostas, clematis, and bleeding hearts. I did that early this spring and they took right off and are doing well. Will was able to dig a lot of the dirt out with the tractor bucket. But he and our helper, Eric, still had to do a lot of nasty shovel work in very rocky ground. They got it done in two days, though, quickly installing the drip edge, then the insulation and finally the plywood. Just yesterday, Will hauled back the black dirt he’d carefully dug out and saved, topping off the sand he’d hauled from our barn site. I’m going to plant some annuals along the wall, just for this year, as soon as I get the piles raked down flat and the roots pulled out.

Now it’s hot and we’re working only in the morning and evening outside. This afternoon, I’m making pickled peppers from our first pepper crop from the hoop house. They LOVE the hoop house and are producing very well. We are tickled pink! — Jackie