Weekly Update: 3.9.24

Ask rain from the Lord
    in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
    and he will give them showers of rain,
    to everyone the vegetation in the field.

Zechariah 10:1, ESV

On an early morning this week, I slipped outside to be wrapped in cool damp air laced with the fragrance of life. The smell is green and earthy, and I have caught wisps of it all week. It travels on the soft breeze following a storm. It rises from the ground when you dig your fingers deep into the dirt. It settles quietly with the sunset, when the first crickets begin to sing.

The springlike weather is so enticing, we sisters spent an hour each morning working on our garden site. We had made good progress last year, though not in time to plant anything. For now, we are just pulling up turf and removing rocks. Our brother Jeremiah has been helping with this task over the last couple weeks, which makes our work much easier.

Back at the bunkhouse, we started the week with some work on the roof. Our brothers Levi and Jeremiah finished installing the purlins on Saturday morning. In the afternoon, they installed the drip edge along the lower part of the roof. This went beneath the purlins, leaving space for moisture to escape. After the drip edge, the guys installed screen that will keep larger bugs and birds out. Windy and then rainy weather has kept us off the roof since then, but it felt good to get started.

On Monday, Dad, Levi, and I worked on layout for roughing-in our plumbing. We dry fitted some of our fixtures, which was fun. It felt almost strange to see the bathtub where it will one day be. When the men were at work, my mom and I researched bathroom sinks and do-it-yourself vanities. We hoped to start installing our drain system on Friday, but days of rain left the ground under our house quite mushy. We decided to let everything dry out and work on planning for our water lines.

When they guys were working, Grace and I started insulating between the rafters. Most of the insulation has to wait until after the electric and water is installed, but we don't plan on putting either up between the rafters. We are using leftover insulation from the roof along with scrap plywood to complete this task.

Since it was rainy, I spent most of Thursday planning sleeping lofts for a couple of the tiny bedrooms. We sisters are sharing an eight-foot-by-twelve-foot bedroom, and the sleeping loft will give us an additional eight-foot-by-eight-foot space. The bunkhouse is only temporary living quarters until we build our own places, but we would like to be comfortable during our stay there. The loft space will go a long way towards our sanity, especially since we typically have three or four dogs underfoot at any given time.

Along with the rain, the spring weather also birthed our first severe storms of the year. Early Thursday morning, we were pelted with large hale that damaged the roof of our bath house, which was made of corrugated plastic that sunlit our shower. We weren't expecting much of anything else until our storm radio alerted us that a severe storm warning had been issued on Thursday night. We debated whether it was worth going down to our storm shelter, but decided to go ahead. We were glad, as the storm hit just as the last of us climbed down the stairs into the shelter. As the wind whistled through the ventilation system and the hail bounced off of the door, we were glad we weren't sitting it out in our tent. I have loved living in a wall tent, and I've never been one to be afraid of storms. But sitting in the tent while the wind batters the roof and shakes the sides in no joke. I was once again so thankful we made the storm shelter a priority.

Between bouts of productivity, the rain offered us a few moments to slow down this week. We enjoyed playing quite a number of board games. We started a 100-game challenge for the winter back before Christmas. Due to all the sickness we had, we got quite behind on the challenge. We have been trying to catch up this month. Not everyone has played every game, but we are on track to finish on Sunday, when Daylight Savings time begins. Aside from games, I'm continuing to enjoy beadwork. Grace has discovered the joy of the granny-square, and she has been making them whenever we watch anything on the projector.

It was a good, well-rounded week. We made visible progress on the bunkhouse and outside. The garden site is growing each day. Our mom, with the help of her grandkids, has been cleaning up the grounds in general. Next week, we hope to start some seeds inside, as our supplies are on the way. If the weather cooperates, we will be installing drains and finishing our roof. We spring-forward tomorrow, and I can't wait for the longer evenings. The life of springtime has been literally raining down on us, and I am so thankful to be soaking it up.