Put another coat of floor enamel on the porch floor. Then reinstalled two of the original solid tapered posts.

Gay and I made William a sifting table for his archeaology dig. He spent all day sifting through the dirt around the old foundation looking for treasures. -- Bill

We put the remaining posts in place on the porch and I started the trim work. Gay got me an early Father's Day present with these two great rockers! We really love this porch already. So nice to open the door and be able to step out on "something." And also great to see the old posts back in place. -- Bill

Nothing but rain! In between showers I started building a step for the porch. But finally got tired of bailing out my footing holes and called it a day.

Gay is busy reupholstering a sectional sofa for Enon Hall. Ambitious job! -- Bill

Pulled away the drop cloths and finished up the step to the porch.

Since the weather was relatively cool, I then donned my respirator and headed to the roof of the porch to strip away more asbestos shingles from the second floor of the 19th century addition.

This is probably the first shingle removal I have done in almost a year now. As with previous areas I've removed, the clapboards below were in excellent condition.

On Sunday I primed the new wood on the porch then decided to work on the grade of the yard around the porch...even out some hills and attempt to get the water to flow away from the porch. William and I hadn't been digging long when we made a cool discovery.

Buried about 2 inches under the dirt was a brick stoop. And amazingly it lined up perfectly with the placement and width of the step that I built for the porch! (This led to a long conversation with William about karma.) It's funny, I had weighed several options with the step, both narrower and wider. Finally I decided to just make it the same width as the doorway. Looks like I made the right choice! This must have been the exact position of some early 20th century steps. Although the brick lined up perfectly, it stopped about 18 inches short of the step. Didn't take long to rustle up two dozen more old bricks (they're everywhere!) and extend the stoop.

We couldn't be happier with this new discovery! The section of the house is starting to come together. My goal is to have the whole house ready to paint by this fall. We'll see!

Have to share... Gay and I were walking across the backyard with William and he was kicking at some weeds. "Damn dillweeds!" he said. Gay and I looked at each other and I asked him, "What did you say?" Innocently, he repeated again, "Damn dill weed." He must have seen the surprise in our faces because he quickly added, "That's just country talk." Gay and I couldn't help but crack up. Our 7 year-old is fitting right in with life in the "country." -- Bill