Construction update #8

Here's the view of the work site on September 10. Progress has slowed due to worker availability and lack of dry working conditions. Since this picture was taken we've had more rain than not, so slightly more grading inside the garage has been completed, but that is not yet complete. To the west of the garage is a pile of styrofoam sheets ready to be placed on the graded garage floor so the heating pipes can be placed on top of those, all to be covered by cement. Some day I suppose it will stop raining long enough to get all those activities done.

Corn in the backyard, week 15

September 6

This image was actually taken on Saturday at 9 AM instead of the usual Sunday at 9 routine. The stalks still appear to need a good bit of drying, but then we haven't had our normal four weeks of 90+ degree weather this summer (for which I am thankful).

It appears that "anonymous" was the only one brave enough to venture a guess on the height of the corn back on week 12. Anonymous guessed 10'8" but the corn actually measured only 10'4". I still think their calculation was worthy of an engineer since it is difficult to discern the height from the picture without a little logic and mental manipulation. Congratulations anonymous!

Prairie Dog

I'm not sure what attracted Mr. Bingley's attention in the wheel well of the car, but it was enough to make him do his prairie dog imitation. We have witnessed this posture several times before, but have never been able to capture it with the camera, especially since he does not strike this pose as often now as he has in the past. When he was our only cat last winter it was common for him to sit outside the door to the deck "prairie doggin" while waiting for someone to show him some attention. Maybe someday we'll get a better shot of his prairie doggin, but this will have to do for the time being.

Construction update #7

The view as of September 2 is not a lot different than before except that we had a tractor in to remove extra dirt from inside the foundation, spread the sand/gravel inside the garage and in the driveway, and also do a bit of finish grading around the yard.

Thursday the 4th brought rain all day courtesy of Hurricane Gustav. Our rain gage shows about 3.5", and since it was a pretty steady rain all day it should serve us well in settling dirt in our trenches and garage.

Our contractor (father-in-law) was pulled off the job most of the week by the rain and another project for some friends of ours that was of a more urgent nature.

Corn in the backyard, week 14

August 31

This was taken at 9:08 AM so the shadows are not as long as they would have been 8 minutes earlier, but it is apparent that the sun is rising quite a bit later. The corn still has a good bit of drying to do before harvest.