You work inside. I think the snow’s going away. It’s sure sloppy/nasty outdoors and there’s water everywhere. We even saw geese today so they’re hoping for water to land in soon. The rivers are starting to flow free in spots so at least they do have some water. The beaver ponds are still frozen solid with a little water on top.

Will’s working at setting big stones into mortar behind the wood stove. Judging by the cussing out there, it’s not going so hot. I have confidence in him though but I AM smart enough to stay out of the way unless called. The dog and cat are upstairs holding their ears shut. It’s hard to hold the big stones in place until the mortar dries.

Will-setting-stones

We just got another kitchen cabinet with some “windfall” money that showed up unexpectedly. So that gives us a complete “L” of base cabinets. It looks so good I’m all excited; the finished job will look great! — Jackie

10 COMMENTS

  1. Brian,

    Will’s got the hang of it now and there’s scarcely a cuss word from the living room. And I’m even brave enough to go in there and help from time to time. Yep, he hasn’t bitten my head off yet. Good tip about the leather. On a few larger rocks, he’s used a piece of wire running from one screw head below to the one above the rock, then propped it in place with a board to stabilize it until set. The wall’s going up. For awhile I thought I’d name it “Will’s Wailing Wall”….. LOL

  2. Hi Jackie and Will, living in Ct we don’t get the snow you do, but our winter was also a long one, and a record breaker with those blizzards.
    Being a builder ,we run into this issue with the stones sometimes not wanting to stay put. Here was our solution. We used some pieces of leather and some deck screws with washers to wrap them against the wall. When they dried into place, we moved onto the next ones just screwing through the piece of leather as the rocks changed size. Hope this helps out, I too know all those cusin words unfortunatly, Hang in there Will!

  3. Just had to chuckle at your descriptions Jackie! Sounds like our house… when I hear the yelling or cussing from the barn or the workshop, I know the project isn’t going so well for Mitch and I don’t go there! We always laugh about it later.

  4. Farmgirlwannabe,

    No. That water is coming from alot of areas, us included as snow begins melting. We’re way up on a ridge above our creek so we’re never in flood danger. I pray for those who are. That’s got to be scary. We got over 18″ of wet, blowing snow yesterday and last night. Yuck! Just what we needed. I was tilling last year at this time.

  5. Franci,

    Good idea about the nails. Things have quieted down here as Will’s getting the hang of sticking those big rocks up. It’s slow but it’s going to look amazing when he’s done.

  6. Hearing my husband cussing, is how I know he is getting some work done. Although I like to be in charge (HaHa), I have also learned to stay clear of him when he is working and cussing. Our marriage is so much better.

  7. Have been seeing on the weather channel that the states along the Mississippi River may experience flooding – will this impact you?

    We are in for a cold spell this weekend too – and snow flurries

  8. We got another 7-8in snow yesterday/last night. Sure makes it hard on the robins! It sure is pretty, but I am glad that it is warmer, so in a day or 2 it will be gone. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last snow of the season!

  9. Sympathies to Will. Taking something from mother nature that is irregular in shape and building something that becomes an orderly result requires the patience of Job. It’s not like he can cut the rock to size or anything like that.

  10. Hang in there Will! Its going to look really great. Good job!!
    When I had my fireplace re-done years ago I had the guy drill holes in the wet mortar and insert large nails for each family member. ( Pets included) Sure made it easier to hang up heavy stockings at Christmas.

Comments are closed.