from outhouse to your house

So, we're almost done with the outhouse project. We just need a roof and some other minor details...It was interesting working with Sam on this project...you can learn a lot about the man you married by building such an intimate structure. I learned that Sam is meticulous and takes a lot of pride in his work. A noble attribute indeed. I also learned that he has no boundaries when it comes to outhouse banter or posing for blog photos in the outhouse...I'll spare you all the gory details...enough said.
ANYWAY, I had a fun day with friend Margaret picking out flowers for the wedding party. I bought five HUGE, and I mean HUGE, 'porch pots' full, and I mean full, of big, beautiful flowers. One of them is as tall as I am. Did I mention they were huge? I also bought four, 55-gallon drums for water. I know it doesn't sound exciting, but when you have no indoor plumbing, hauling water in five-gallon buckets every few days gets old fast. I'm going to pick out songs with the bluegrass band we hired tomorrow night, so if anyone's who's coming has any requests, let me know. The dogs are great, Sam's great, I'm great. I have to announce that Kelly Crowe is the winner of the name-that-kennel contest. It looks like Soggy Bottom Kennels might just stick. Kelly, you've won a no-expense-paid trip to beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska, where you'll be treated to cleaning up the dog yard for six nights and eight days. While in Squarebanks, you'll be treated to the finest kibble, I mean food, around. And you'll get a scenic tour of all the garbage dumps where you'll do as the locals do and jump in to big bins of trash. (Sadly, Fairbanksans are proud of their dumpster diving prowess and I hear fights have even broken out over high profile items) I'm all for the three Rs but jumping into trash bins is where I draw the line. I will, however, clean up dog crap with gusto each morning and chop and mix raw meat each day to keep my brood happy. Funny how that works. The Nomad is still leaking and the ceiling is about to cave in any second. Sam has suggested a 'pole-barn' over the trailer which is essentially tarps strung up all over the place. That's another thing that Fairbanks-folk pride themselves on: living with, on or under ugly blue tarps. If you've noticed the theme in many of the photos on this blog, there is usually a blue tarp involved. In fact, I had ordered a nice white canopy for the wedding party, but, alas, Sam put the kibosh on that, stating that we had plenty of tarps around in case it rains. I guess I'll spruce up the place with the fortune I spent on flowers...
Cim and Olaf, or Sven and Oli as Marg calls them, finished framing in windows and doors on the second story today. The roof tin will come tomorrow. I went and picked out a wood stove today and that will also go in this week. Although family will be arriving next week, I won't hesitate to put them to work...there's just too much to do before the snow flies in just a couple months. So, yes mum, you will be working and yes, you can paint the outhouse. Peace and love from tarp central...