Garage Pad & Porch

Dear Family and Friends,

Our patience has been rewarded. We had a number of days of rain that prevented us from moving forward. But, good weather and progress are upon us. The garage pad and front porch were poured, and they are beautiful. The concrete guys are really good at what they do. You can see the garage pad shining in an overhead shot- it is as smooth as glass. Sawdust will fly out the door of the workshop.

We planted 24 juniper on the hill to start landscaping and erosion control. For fun, we planted a 'Flying Dragon' plant- wicked thorns and gnarlly branches and orange fruit- if you could even get to it. And a quince... and a Red Jade weeping crabapple tree. I am going to start making a dry-stack wall out of Tennessee Field Stone. This does not imply any disloyalty to Geno and the UCONN Women. As a matter of fact, it is well known that the only good things to come out of Tennessee are the Crasses and rocks.

The guys are starting to frame the screened porch. This is amazing. They use a 16' rafter saw- a circular saw with the biggest blade I have ever seen. They use a chain saw blade that is attached to a circular saw. All this for beams that are 10" X 10" X 22' long. These weigh about 800 pounds! And they lift them into the air... carefully. They will be glad when this part of the construction is over. They started the garage today, just to take a break from the beams.

The countertop I am staining is for the kitchen island. The top is highly figured bubinga. It is great.

Jess and Connor are coming to visit tomorrow... we are excited.

We are planning to come up to Connecticut June 2-9, 2008.

We hope to see some of you if you are around.

Take care.

Love,

Em and Marsha