At times, people have asked what I have done during 'retirement,' and I generally reply: "mostly just 'projects.'" One such 'project' was building a house on Maryland's Eastern Shore (of the Chesapeake Bay). We purchased a building lot of 3.75 acres in Dorchester county on a 100 acre peninsula on which only 11 parcels would ever be developed (four existing; one in progress, & ours would be two).
Our lot had previously been farmland, but had grown up to what in Oregon would be called 'brush.' (Rabbit hunters had kept 'shooting lanes' brush hogged.) I had a local farmer brush hog a site for the house, yard, and future garden. [Girls: a brush-hog is a brush-cutter that operates off the drive train of a tractor.]
I went there one weekend and did what is called a 'layout,' i.e. staked out the boundaries of what would become the foundation. This was in about September of 1985. I then hired a guy with a backhoe to dig the foundation who got lost on the way to the property, finally arrived, and finished the work about dusk.
The young contractor working on the other house in the neighborhood 'allowed as how' he could put mine under roof' in five weeks, and the cost would be $1400 per week for himself & one helper.
I ordered cement for the foundation (footings), which was delivered in a truck driven by a Swede (as I later became aware). During the process of pouring the cement into the footings, the truck broke a transaxle (in other words, became disabled). The driver called the company, and they told him to 'dump the load on the ground.' Being Swede, with the builder's & my agreement, we decided to deliver the cement via wheelbarrow (about 8 cubic yards - most of a truckful). It was 'more than a notion,' as they say back here, and all three of us participated. I also gained a better appreciation for the term: 'Swedish Steam.' (Ivan Doig, in his book 'The Sea Runners,' pointed out that at a Scandinavian free-for-all, Danes could be seen singing & dancing; Norwegians trying to start a fight; Finns passing a bottle; & the Swedes waiting to be introduced.)
The builder & his helper had the 1925 (heated); 3000 sq.ft. (under roof) house halfway shingled by the end of the 5th week. Since he had other things to go on to, & I had developed other contacts by then, he departed & I had another crew to finish the roofing on site the next morning. I was so happy with them, that I asked them to also install the red cedar lap siding, & they did.
With the house at this stage, I had it wired for electricity, and rough-in plumbing installed. I then installed insulation in both the interior & exterior walls (I had found a pocket knife in the high school parking lot which kept a good edge, and used it to trim all of the insulation which needed trimming).
A neighbor who was also a builder loaned me his 'one-man' drywall machine, and I hung 160 sheets of 12' drywall. I found I was not meant to be a drywall finisher, but hooked up with one who one day came walking down the driveway. Once his tools were on site, I pretty much knew I had him for the duration of the job. Barbara & I purchased a 'power roller' which pumped the paint and painted all interior walls & ceilings.
I found a fellow who had built his own band-saw mill, and was remilling salvaged timbers into things like flooring. I purchased enough of the long-leaf, southern yellow (heart) pine, to cover the floors except the kitchen & bathrooms.
Barbara & I were living in (literally) a chicken house (which had been converted into apartments), and about this time - the spring of 1986, she started spending more time at the construction site. The immediate neighbors' daughter's boyfriend had found a litter of stray dogs on the outskirts of Cambridge, and she picked out the one that was most 'square,' a little female & named it Casey. Casey stayed in their utility room except when Barbara would let her out for 'pee breaks' mornings & afternoons. (The parents & daughter were all at school - parents - teachers; daughter - student.) As the weather got warmer, and Casey was big enough to stay outside, she used to follow their adult dog, Zeke, over to our house 'where the action was.' I started keeping dog treats handy.
Casey stayed a neighbors dog until he (the neighbor) died and the daughter went to college, when on one January 1st, mother & daughter came over and 'adopted' her to us.
Our private lane into the neighborhood was .8 mi from the county road (where the mail boxes were) to our house. Casey & I most weekdays & Saturdays, would walk up & back twice. In the five years we were there, until we sold in 1991, Casey & I walked the equivalent distance of to the Pacific Ocean & back to Idaho.
Barbara & I moved into the house 'when water came out of the faucets, & the toilets would flush' (even though the kitchen counter tops were plywood, etc.).
When we sold the house in 1991, for financial purposes, we had (not counting sweat equity), $80,000 in the house, which would amount to $41.55 per 1925 heated sq ft; or $26.66 per 3,000 sq ft (under roof).
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