High Country Building Prayers

BUILDING PRAYERS on HIGH COUNTRY LANE! 

Over the course of the next 5 to 6 months I will periodically post my morning prayers in the form of building progress of our new home.  The mountain vistas are incredible in either direction!   I will include my daily haiku (what my cousin Lorrie calls a Dayku!) summarizing the progress, as well as a scripture reference.  May God pour the blessings of the heavens on the crew and our endeavors.  


Tuesday, April 23  -  Truss Prayers

Rick and I are using 'pre-used' trusses for shop/barn and they had to be cleaned - sheathing removed, nails pulled, staples flattened, etc.  It was a job!  And the wooley mullein is sending up new shoots for the year in the back 'forty' (which is really the back 3 acres!)

Wednesday, April 24  -  Footer Form Prayers

David's Big Creek Construction crew blew in around noon and within hours had the framework for the footers largely done.  Rick stayed out of the way, saying he wasn't messing with a 'well-oiled' machine!   (We only have one tree on the 5 acres - the ponderosa pine at the far left.  I named it Pete.)

Thursday, April 25  Cement Footers! 

A FIRM FOUNDATION - That's what the cement in the footers will become!  Twenty yards of cement arrived and we had a little left to begin the pour for the barn.  Rick shoveled a little cement but I took pictures and dug up thistle plants! 

Monday, April 29   BARN FOUNDATION PRAYERS   

The foundation footings for the ShopBarn got poured today and Rick was able to lend a hand for awhile. 

Wednesday, May 1   STEMWALL CEMENT PRAYERS

Two more cement trucks arrived this morning to pour the stem walls of the house.  It was a blustery cold windy day!  Rick got to jump into the 'pit' after a bit to help scrap excess cement off the footings.  Couldn't do the Barn at the same time because they ran out of form boards! 

Friday, May 2     Utility Trenching Prayers

The backhoe was busy as the trench for the electric and water and telephone cable was dug connecting the side wall of the garage to the transformer and well.  Rick's back was sore!  

Saturday,  May 3    First Wall Prayers

Along with the trenching the first wall of the house went UP - the electric box for the house will be attached to it.  A priority so we can get electricity to the site! 

Tuesday, May 7     Nail Duty Prayers

I spent time last Friday clearing all the nails out of the crawl space
area.  Had to use the ladder to access the space!  

Wednesday, May 8    Floor Joists Prayers

Monday night Rick and I went back out for 'clean up' duty!  The floor joists were partially installed, but we needed to get all the big rocks out of the crawl space before the Visqueen barrier was put down.  

Friday, May 10  Heat Ducting Prayers

'Under floor' pipes and ducting were installed by the plumber and Corey Johansen, our HVAC man. From certain angles, the silver lines of ducting look like spider legs! 

Saturday, May 11   Shop Stem Wall Prayers

Cement trucks returned Wednesday to pour the Shop stem walls, plus the porch pillars and an additional footing under the tiled master shower.  Rick worked Thursday to pull all the form boards off. 

Sunday, May 12  Sub-Floor Prayers

We stopped by the property enroute home from snowshoeing and found the crew had started on the sub-floor!!  Wow!

Wednesday, May 15   Garage Floor Prep Prayers

Rick got a real work-out today as he ran the tampening machine after another load of gravel was delivered for the garage slab.  By afternoon the rebar had been laid and tied.  

Sunday, May 19   Wall Layout Prayers

South wing of house looking east - layout done on Wednesday and then it rained for two straight days!!  

Wednesday, May 22  Wall Construction Prayers

In spite of rain and wind, a small crew and Rick got the walls framed up and in place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  

Thursday, May 23  Garage Floor Concrete Prayers

Garage floor is a thing of beauty!  Crew works all morning to level, smooth, and make it perfect! 

Monday, May 27    Water and Wildlife Prayers

Rick and I went out to do a little cleanup Sunday - moving wood scraps, picking up water bottles.  When I went back to dig up a couple of huge thistles, I discovered the creek is flowing and the pond is full.  Exciting!  Then we found a snake near the house!

Thursday, May 30   Porch Pattern Prayers

Crew worked hard to put up a tarp, pour cement, and then pattern and color it, INSPITE of the rain showers off and on!  

Saturday, June 1    Garage Framing Prayers

In the rain, the crew puts up the framework for the front of the garage to be ready for the trusses on Monday! 

Tuesday, June 4    Roof Truss Prayers

An exciting morning watching the crane lift the 60' long trusses into place!

Wednesday, June 5     Roof Sheathing Prayers

Crew was up on the roof immediately to sheath in the trusses to stabilize them.  

Friday, June 7    Front Porch Cement Creche Prayers

Weather abruptly turned WET on the day they poured the front porch, but Clay managed to set my tiny creche in place for me!

Monday, June 10     Clean Sweep Prayers

Sunday afternoon spent cleaning up the interior and exterior of the house. All the nailgun 'buckshot' looks like mice have been nibbling on dried corn!

Wednesday, June 12    Porch Timber Prayers

The big timber posts are set in place to create the vast front porch area!

Saturday, June 15   Decision Making Prayers!

The last two days have been spent in time with HVac, Plumber, and 4 hours plus with the electrician.  Where are the lights?  Outlets?  Sink location?  ARGH!!  

Tuesday, June 18  Barn Floor Prayers

The barn floor got poured at last!  Now the walls can go up!  Hoping our neighbors don't change their minds! 

Wednesday, June 19    Siding Prayers

Rick and Rusty have been a team this week in putting up alot of siding! 

Friday, June 21  Electric Prayers

Brandon spent a windy Thursday afternoon taking all the 'snakes' and lining them all up into the breaker box! 

Wednesday, July 3    Insulation Prayers

Monday, July 8    Sheetrock Prayers

Thursday, July 11   Bay Window Prayers

Tuesday, July 17    Rock Preparation Prayers

Saturday, July 20    Stonework Prayers

Diane and I worked all week on laying the stone facade in the front porch area.  She is a master mortar mixer!  

Tuesday, July 23    Board 'n' Batten Prayers

Skip and crew have finished the Board and Batten on the west and north sides of the house.  Just the front porch area remains....of course, it is the biggest section!!  

Sunday, July 28   Helping Hands Prayers    

What a wild Saturday morning!  Jed was here to help, but then on a whim I told Zach and Jess we would we working and they showed up, and a bit later....so did Zach and Savanah!  Good thing we had alot of caulking to do.  Bad thing we ran out of caulk!  Jed, Rick, and Zach A tackled the siding.  Zach A very proud of himself for being a 'handyman'!!  

Friday, August 2    Front Door Prayers

We actually got the doors installed about two weeks ago, but they were boarded up for awhile to protect the glass while the sheetrockers were in.  Will be painted a dark rustic red when all is done.  

August 3    Caulking Prayers   

I've spent a good amount of time over the past week caulking!  Every 'seam' between siding and trim must be caulked to keep water and bugs out! 

Sunday, August 4    Exterior Paint OOPS! Prayers

Oh boy did we blow it in the selection of our exterior colors!  Wednesday the 31st, Skip began to paint the soffits, then the garage gable.  We recoiled in horror - MINT GREEN!  After an evening of anguish, we scrapped both greens (15 gallons of paint!) and went with some samples Dave brought out that were MUCH more in the sage range we were looking for!  

Monday, August 5     Barn Wall Prayers

Last Monday we arrived on site to find the crew had begun working on the shop/barn!  Hurray!  By the end of Tuesday the walls were up, framed, sheathed, and windows cut out!  

Tuesday, August 6   Barn Truss Prayers

The trusses for the barn have been laying in the field for nearly a year, as they were some Dave had used - we will get at a good price!  Finally they stand tall atop the barn/shop!  

Wednesday, August 7    Caprock Prayers

It took us two full days, one for each side of the front door, but Rick and I worked together and got the top layer of stone and the caprock in place!  Whew!

Thursday, August 8   Blue Porch Ceiling Prayers

It's bright!  It's very blue!  But beautiful!  Rick had the idea to paint our porch ceilings blue, a tradition common in the South.  So we gave it a whirl.  It does make the porch ceiling blend right in with the sky when you look out the windows toward the Elkhorns from inside the house!

Thursday, August 15   Exterior Paint Prayers

We are VERY happy with our second choice of exterior colors!  Fun getting the front porch done to see how the colors would blend with the rock and timbers.

Friday, August 16   Septic System Prayers

The septic system got installed a week ago, inspected on Wednesday and passed, but we still have to lower the tank two inches.  Should be done next week! 

Thursday, August 22     INTERIOR TRIM PRAYERS

All the trimwork was done in a couple days once the interior doors arrived...the painters have been waiting!!

Friday, August 23  MASTER CLOSET PRAYERS

We gave David a rough plan for the closet and PRESTO!  It appears in time to be painted with the walls!

Saturday, September 7  Painting the Barn Prayers

Thank goodness the fork lift platform was still available for Skip to spray the gable ends of the barn for us!  I'm still not sure how I will do the trim around the window! 

Sunday, September 8  KITCHEN CABINET PRAYERS

Beautiful hickory kitchen cabinets!

Monday, September 9   BARN STAIRCASE PRAYERS

We came back from NM to find we had stairs in the Barn! 

Tuesday, September 10   GUEST BATHROOM PAINT PRAYERS

When Karen and Gary arrived, I used the opportunity to have Karen help me paint the wainscoat and trim in the guest bathroom.  Picked colors to match the border. 

Wednesday, September 11

Nolan crafted the hearth while we were in New Mexico, but David worked to mill a piece of juniper he had for the mantle.  It will be beautiful!! 

Thursday, September 12   BARN ROOF PRAYERS

Sam the roofer for the barn finished on Monday and we now have a 'dried in' shop/barn!  Now to get the electrician out so we can rough in the inside! 

Friday, September 13    TILE PRAYERS

Glen and Clay have been working hard to lay tile in the shower and the bathroom floor.  It is a big job!  

Saturday, September 14    ANTIQUING THE TRIM PRAYERS

Rick and I haven't been happy with the color of the wood trim throughout the house.  So....I experimented with an antique medium I found in my workroom and HALLELUJAH!  It makes them look more like wood.  We are happy!  Appreciated Cherrie's help getting started.

Tuesday, September 17     GARDEN FLOWER PRAYERS

I moved some of my fake garden flowers out to the house - to feel like I had actually MOVED something and to brighten the front!  

Thursday, September 19    BARN INSULATION PRAYERS

Rick and I will probably spend three days getting all the insulation up in the lower half of the barn.  Not fun stuff to cut!  Rick did most of the install while I cut to fit! 

Saturday, September 21   CLOSET COLOR CHANGE PRAYERS

The master closet was just TOO BLUE!  So we decided to lighten things up by painting the insides of the shelf units white.  It helped....alot!

Sunday, September 22   GARAGE DOOR PRAYERS 

NeHi Enterprises came out and installed ONE of the correctly colored garage doors.  We like the color!  Now to get the white left one replaced. 

Monday, September 23   Master Bath Border Prayers

Sunday afternoon I got the borders up in both bathrooms.  Master bath looks really good! 

Thursday, September 26    Backsplash Prayers

Skip Suitter started putting up the backsplash in the kitchen.  I had to pull back the protective cardboard from the counter to see the beauty of the granite countertops against the backsplash. 

Friday, September 27   Sealing the Rock Prayers

We picked up the 5 gallon bucket of cement sealer (at $250!) and I brushed on the first coat on the south side rocks.  Sure made a difference!

Saturday, September 28  Laminate Flooring Prayers

Nolan and Andrew laid much of the laminate flooring in the Great Room, hallways, and pantry.  

Sunday, September 29  Woodpile Prayers

We had two and a half cords of wood delivered in August and Rick has slowly been splitting it and moving the pile over to the south side of the house.

Friday, October 4    Granite Countertop Prayers

Once the backsplash finally got finished and grouted, all the cardboard was removed from the beautiful black countertops!

Saturday, October 5     Carpet Prayers

Next Step came on Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week and installed the carpeting in the bedrooms and the master closet.  Soft and cuddly feeling!  

Sunday, October 6     Kitchen Light Prayers 

Friday was a big day for getting lights and fans hung!  Cole and Pat worked together to suspend the island light from the ceiling, the undercounter lights are done, can lights over sink, and valance lights along one side up above.

MONDAY, October 7     CEILING FAN PRAYERS

Cole spent the better part of a day assembling and installing all the ceiling fans.  Naturally, on this highest one in the Great Room, he had to redo because he didn't know the extender had to be put on!  Oops! 

TUESDAY, October 8      SIDEWALK PRAYERS 

The front sidewalk was a work in progress as part of it set 'damaged' and had to be jackhammered out and redone.  But the final result is smooth and beautiful!  Filled in the gap with leftover 'DEQ Certified Septic Rocks'.  Eventually will put large planters out in the graveled space.  

WEDNESDAY, October 9     STAINING THE FURNITURE PRAYERS

Over the weekend and Monday, Rick and I brushed and wiped the walnut stain on the bedframe and dressers for our master suite.  Transformation beautiful for the orangey maple stain that had been on the bedframe for 35 years plus! 

Thursday, October 10    H-VAC PRAYERS

Corey Johansen and his team has been in for the past few days to finish up all the details of the HVAC system.  They had been waiting for the AC unit pad to be poured and had MANY little details to attend to: vents cut in base of cabinets that are over the duct, vent for microwave, install wood stove. 

Friday, October 11    VALANCE LIGHTING PRAYERS  

The valance lights are on a dimmer and have a switch at EVERY entrance to the Great Room.  It is taking us awhile to figure out which switch works what!

10.12.19   CLEANING PARTY PRAYERS        

We announced and invitation to come help CLEAN and 10 friends showed up to scrub, clean windows, dust, and prepare the house for a move in later that day.  Shirley and Dale Dodson brought Subway lunch for the whole crew.  Bless them! 

10.13.19  MOVING PRAYERS!

How can we say thanks to our young friends for their time and energy (and just pain strength of muscle!)  Zach Allen and Jess, Zach Eggers and Savanah, Mark Bogart, and the Hinkles all helped us on a long weekend to move most of the contents of the Broadway home!  

10.14.19  APPLIANCE PRAYERS

The appliances were installed just the day before the final inspection and during the cleaning party we had to unwrap them from the plastic!

10.15.19   MAILBOX PRAYERS!

On Monday, with Tom Hinkle's help, Rick got our mailbox installed out on Brown Lane.  We can now receive mail at our new address!  

10.16.19  WOODSTOVE PRAYERS

We can't wait to fire up the new wood stove and with the temperatures predicted for next week, I think it will get it's inauguration!

10.17.19   HOUSE BLESSING PRAYERS

During the Cleaning Party, Jim Kauth led us in a Blessing of the House - a nice touch with our friends gathered 'round.

The house is basically complete and we are moved in.  Settled? Heavens, no!  But there will be random additional prayers coming in as things get done, pictures hung, and the house becomes our HOME!

10.18.19   BARN PAINTING PRAYERS

In order to make some semblance of organization in the garage chaos, we had to finish painting the barn so we could move some STUFF in!  We used the rejected lower house paint color and in the barn it worked just right! 

To be added....
Herbert Comes Home Prayers
Thank You Prayers
Clothes Rack Prayers
WoodRack Prayers