Rugged hands and a farmers tan: Week 9

Well, we turned up the heat this week...or Mother Nature did anyway. We had a couple of scorchers on Thursday and Friday. The beginning of the week started out ok, but by the time we got to the end of the week, we were taking frequent breaks and standing in the shade whenever possible.

The drywall was finishing up this week, and since we couldn't get inside, we were outside working in the sun, humidity, and heat. Thankfully, we are far enough along on the outside of the house that we were able to get started on some painting and get the window wells dug and installed. And I was able to get in on the action but boy, was it hot! Mid- to upper-90s, a lot of humidity, and no clouds made for some very toasty construction work. I tried to stay strategic by having the volunteers move with the shade, but there were times when we just couldn't escape it. Especially on the south and west side after the noon hour. Woo-doggy!

Getting in on the painting...

Can you see the farmer's tan?

Thursday we had to get the scaffolding up to paint the back of the house again. If you didn't have gloves on, you'd burn your hands on the aluminum. After we got the framing set and the first plank put on, I went up to finish assembling the planking as it was handed up. It was hard to get the volunteers out from under the shade tree so when I finished getting the scaffolding set...sweat dripping and soaking through my gloves...I moved everyone to the front and east side of the house to tackle some other tasks that would be in the shade. That didn't seem to help, the heat really drained the volunteers and we were all moving at a snails pace.

The Friday group cranked out some painting on the house. We got a lot further than I thought we would but the volunteers were willing and able to work in the sun or the shade. With frequent hydration breaks, the group was always looking for something to do, so painting we did. Tan with white trim and eventually we'll add the accent color...but you'll have to wait until I get pictures to see what that color will be.