As planned, we headed north with a full car: Jon and I, Christopher and Leo Contois (my niece Lisa's son who lives in Phoenix with his mom and brother Max), our dog, MOH and everything else we needed for 2 weeks of work (like a compressor and other tools).
We had a variety of weather. The first few days it was cool at night and in the morning, and warm in the middle of the day. We had a day and a half of cool, refreshing, steady rain. I have always wished I could somehow bottle that wonderful after-rain smell and take it with me to California. The last few days were in the high 80's, perfect for drying lacquer and paint.
Our friends, Terry and Pam Scott with their grandson Kody, arrived at the house the day before we did and quickly got to work and never stopped until they left 10 days later. Initially we set up the kitchen and laundry; very important inorder to keep all 13 of us clean and happy and fed. One night we had as many as 17 for dinner!
Alexandra flew in from New York and stayed 4 days and our daughter Meg with her family came for a week.
Everyone pitched in with a lot of energy and we got so much accomplished: lacquering and sanding the ceiling wood 3 times, getting half of the ceiling up in the great room, painting 2 exterior coats of color coat on most of the bottom half of the house, beginning some landscaping by moving rocks and gravel, planning, preparing, and cleaning up after many meals, and washing and drying lots of laundry.
In spite of our work, we still had energy in between to go rafting, hiking, biking and golfing, so I think we managed to have a balance of work and play! Jon, Chris and I will return for 2 weeks at the end of August, when we hope to finish the ceiling in the great room and loft and make decisions on the bathroom flooring and sink cabinets.
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Bravo Jon, Dorothea and Company!
You all certainly know how to combine work and pleasure to get excellent results. Looks like you'll be finished, though, before we can make it to your next Work Party. At any rate, we hope to stop by and check things out in the summer 2009 if not before. Your river home is very inviting. Good job!
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