Chapter 5 The Beginning or The End

There is something to be said for building a house in the way of entertainment, especially when one is on location.  First the ground must be prepared properly, the plumbing, electricity, forms and re bar must be laid and the fill dirt compacted before the foundation can be poured.  My husband had quite a bit of knowledge regarding these things due to his past profession so it only figured that we would be having plenty of pissing contests between him and the contractors.  And we did.  He wanted the house on a certain angle with the back of the house facing south...the contractor disagreed.  Why?  Because he was trying to cut corners.  Since the house was on a ledge he new it would take more fill dirt and ultimately cost more.  After much dickering they came to a compromise which to this day irritates me when the sun is going down.  Then the contractor could not see the need for compacting the soil as much as my husband thought it needed.  An argument ensued and the slab contractor was replaced.  My husband was not to be deterred.  At night after the workers left he would climb up on the roller, start the engines and compact till midnight.  We knew he was finished when the windows of the cabin would rattle no longer and we could sleep at last.  Apparently these people had not lived where we lived previously.  We had gumbo soil that shifted and slabs cracked.  Even though we were now building on limestone soil we were not taking any chances,,,this foundation was going to be a solid one.

There is nothing so magnificent as a convoy of cement trucks driving onto your property. It signals the beginning of a creation.  The day had finally arrived and the monster cement discharge hose was at work dumping it's load of gooey gray gunk.  It truly looked like a dinosaur in the distance.  Once it was poured the cement had to be leveled and smoothed with big rake like things and brushes.  For the next several days it was our task to keep the cement wet with water, an enjoyable task with the hose.  Once the foundation was ready the framers arrived to begin their ballet.  It was a beautiful sight to watch them work together.  They would sing and call to each other and up into the air would go another beam.  One guy on the ground would flip it in such a way that the guy up top would catch it in a smooth easy motion.  These guys were so good at what they did, it was like watching a high wire act.  Before noon one would begin cooking their meal under the oaks.  They always invited us to eat with them.  At the end of each day we would give them fruit and a cold beer before they hit the road. On their last day of framing I cooked them a meal and we had a party.   As happy as I was to have the framing finished, I missed them when they left.  When you work closely day after day with someone you really get to know one another.  They had become like family.

I have heard that the building of a house can either make or break a marriage.  Apparently some marriages have ended in divorce before the house was ever occupied.  I can certainly understand that.  Someone has got to give...and it looked like it was going to be me.  Thank God I had almost 60 acres to walk on and talk to the cedars and deer.  Actually we agreed on most everything except the arches in the house.  I wanted more and the framers installed them only to remove them upon my husband's request.  Personalities really come into play in building a house.  My husband wanted balance and I didn't.  Poor framers, as they were removing two of my arches I cried in front of them.  Their tools were suspended in mid air not knowing what to do as they looked down on me from their perches above....arch or no arch?  Finally I got control of myself and told them to do what my husband wanted.  I took a long walk that day!

The stone masons were artists in their own right the way they chipped, fitted and arranged the stone exterior walls.  I'm talking about heavy stone that had to be shaped just the way they wanted it.  They could look at an empty space and know just how to chip the next stone to fit perfectly in it's place.  They worked from 8 till noon, ate lunch, took a siesta and were back to work till 6 or later in the evening.  They built scaffolding for the higher places and would  lift the heavy stones to each other like a conveyor belt.  It was another awesome sight to watch, another ballet!  The head stone mason was a character.  He didn't speak much but when he did, he meant what he said or at least sounded as if he did.  We had many arches on the back and front of the house and that really irritated him.  I told him it looked like he was building a hacienda and he replied that it looked more like a cantina.  He was particularly irritated when he had to demolish and recontruct one large arch to the carport that was cracked and didn't appear to be structurally sound.  We could hear him mumbling to himself, "arches, arches, arches"! A properly constructed arch much have the right angle in order for it to have the right amount of compression to keep it sound.  I imagine this house will be standing for many years to come.  These fellows really took pride in their work.   He watched me prepare the last meal for the framers so when I served him a meal on his final day he was very proud.

It took about 12 months to build our house but we lived happily in the cabin.  The next Thanksgiving the house was not quite finished(the gas range had not been delivered yet) but I still managed to cook Thanksgiving dinner on the grill and we ate it in our new house.  We began moving our household items out of storage and into the house about that time and were in the house for Christmas.  My son and I moved in much sooner and slept on air mattresses in front of the fireplace. My husband stayed in the cabin until his bed was set up in the bedroom. The house was complete, we were living in it and still married!