The market season is in full swing now! Last week we did our first Tillamook market, though at this point, it’s more of an advertisement than a money making venture. Though, things are going well- at the Manzanita Market on the day after Independence day, we grossed more than at any point last summer until well into September. That’s a pleasant, objective landmark that makes Emily feel better. It shows that we are producing more (and earlier) than last year, despite her feelings that we just aren’t making enough. That’s a common problem with both of us lately, feeling like we’re just not doing enough. Here we see Emily, spreading the gospel of fresh farm vegetables to some innocent bystanders. OK, they’re not than innocent, she knows them from work and we sell to them all the time. But they sure do eat tasty produce!
The housework has slowed to a crawl. Work has been really busy lately, with several architecture projects coming to a close, as well as the summer kayak tour season starting up. Here we see all the boats ready for a Boy Scout tour I gave on the morning of the 4th. What fun, to get out on the water and take a little break from thinking about construction (mine and others) and farms.
Luckily, things are about to heat back up on the house. My buddy Ryan has returned from his vacation, has the summer mostly free (he’s a schoolteacher), and is a good sport about helping me out. We’re going to plan the summer work this afternoon, and hopefully in the next few weeks we can also drag other friends and family into the larger work parties. This will be a nice change, as it seems like most of the work I’ve been doing for the last two weeks has been me, alone, and painstakingly slow. I spent DAYS installing the cedar shingles on the window seat bumpout. It’s mostly trim around windows, soffits, etc. so many of the pieces had to be hand-fitted. The corners are woven and hand-trimmed with a block plane, which is a craftsmanship detail that is expensive if you pay someone else to do it. But if I do it, it just makes the project take longer. Not something I need at this point, but man, it looks great!
