I am so very tired right now, but it’s time to write again. I’ve been quiet here for six weeks and now I have a lot to say.

Since the major events of St. Patrick’s weekend, progress has been significantly slower on Avery Street. I’ve been swamped at work and met someone special in February, so I’ve been pretty limited with how much time I spent at the house. We put in a big effort every Saturday, but otherwise I’m usually restricted to coordinating work and purchases. Brian’s been awesome about scheduling & meeting our myriad experts (heating specialists, chimney sweeps, electrician, and plasterer) these last few weeks. It’s been our contractor Andy who’s probably putting in the most time, but he just left for a three week trip home to England. Luckily, just as he left the rest of us sprung back into action!

On Friday, my dad and Jeff, my former scoutmaster, drove the nine hours from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to help at the house this weekend. They’ll be in town until Tuesday, and brought a van full of tools and supplies. Jeff owns his own construction company, so we have much-needed skilled labor to guide us while Andy is away.

I initially wanted to work on the fascia and sophets this weekend, but a quick survey on Friday determined that we were probably getting in over our heads for a 3-day project, especially since we hadn’t secured or erected scaffolding yet. Instead, we tackled an equally big project closer to the ground: the rotting back porch, and the rotting rails and posts on the front porch. The back porch just got old, but it looks like the front porch’s issues stem from using the wrong materials during the original construction. Much of the rails were built with non-pressure-treated white pine, which breaks down much quicker outdoors.

Out came the crowbars. By the end of Saturday, we’d already rebuilt the back porch and had all the damaged wood removed from the front porch. The house is full of lumber for a long Sunday of finishing the rebuild.

It’s great having Jeff and my dad in town for the weekend. We’ve been to the Woodbridge Pub (of course) and Honest John’s so far and each got high marks from both of them. However, today was certainly the longest day I’ve ever spent at the house (10:30am to 8pm) and my eyelids are drooping as I type so I’ll say goodnight and continue the tale of our adventures later this weekend.