Question Dorothy asked: Ok, when you say ‘shop’, I think ‘store’. I’m assuming you are probably not building a store, so I’m wondering what you mean by a shop?

Answer: Here in our part of the world, we refer to a “shop” as the building inwhich the guys can pull a piece of heavy equipment inside for repair work. You’ve likely seen some of the equipment in recent blog entries. This shop will be long enough and tall enough to fit our largest piece of equipment (oh and a 1/2 court basketball area – lol – priorities, you know).

Over the weekend Tim, my dad, and the boys worked on the pad for the shop. I don’t really get how this is going to work so I decided to ask some questions. I really don’t try to be a pest nor do I intentionally try to make things more difficult or complicated, but I do have an inquiring mind which means I ask a LOT of questions.

ME: What are you doing?
TIM: Cutting a 45 degree slope

ME: How do you know that’s exactly 45 degrees?
TIM: I just do

ME: But, doesn’t it need to be exact?
TIM: Nope.

ME: thinking to myself but didn’t dare ask.. then WHY do you have the laser level out with it’s constant (annoying) beeping that can be heard 1/2 way to the house if you listen carefully.

ME: But, what if you get all the way around and the pad is no longer exactly square?
TIM: It won’t matter because….. some long explanation I didn’t understand.

ME: thinking to myself… hmmmm… but Josh and Grandpa are going around behind you with the rod making sure everything is level…. and they’re spray painting a dot on each spot where they take a shot….. I never was very good at geometry so I assume that the 45 degree angle doesn’t have anything to do with the bottom of the trench being level. Aren’t you glad I’m not the one building the roads around here? (LOL).

ME: Well, we just thought we’d (Em and I) come out to help so what would you like us to do?
TIM: Go back in the house! (LOL)!

ME: Thinking to myself.. ok.. that was one too many questions (LOL)!

Below is a not very pretty picture of the back part of our yard looking toward the back of our house. I wanted to post this shot though because as soon as the shop is built, Tim will be putting this old white shed up against the front side (no I don’t mean the actual front, I mean the front side because the front as in the front front will be on the other side not facing the house) of the shop and it will become the office/entryway. It will be sided to match the house. The shop will be the color of the shutters on our house. Hopefully, siding this shed to match the house and attaching it to the shop that is the color of the shutters will serve to tie the shop to the house so the whole thing doesn’t look like a great big afterthought…. which it IS (LOL)… some 18 years after moving here and we’ve been talking about building a shop for a good 10, probably. We’re just a little slow moving.Here’s a truck load of building materials that arrived today while the kids and I were at co-op. The boys were bummed that they weren’t here to help unload everything. Darn school… always getting in the way of important “real” things not just real important things. “Real” as in meaningful things. Oh never mind. I hope someone knows what I mean. If not, I’ll have to pull out some Charlotte Mason quotes to explain what I mean (LOL). It’s late. I should probably just give up here and go to bed (LOL). This is what happens when I’m tired and haven’t had enough sleep.