London Shows

Back home in England now with my bride where I belong. Julie and I went into London for the weekend and took in two shows. Friday night we saw 'Oliver". This show opened in 1960 and is now playing at the Theater Royal Drury Lane, in West London. Most everyone remembers the Dickens's story about a young orphan growing up in London. It is now one of the most popular British musicals and is sold out most of the time. Saturday afternoon we saw "Dirty Dancing". Talk about a girlie show, this was it. Us guys were outnumbered 50 to 1. The women came in by the bus-loads, I couldn't believe it. I think I was born for these kind of odds (No waiting for the men's toilets). These plays are major ongoing productions and take hundreds of actors and hundreds of backups for the shows that play every day. It's fun to be back.

Cabin # 3

Here is our cabin in 1994 the day we bought it followed by a 2004 picture and a current shot all taken from about the same spot. It's the same place.

Big Change

This shows the start of this remodel in 2007 and what it is today. Pictures were taken from the same spot. We bought this old shack in 1994 and since then rebuilt everything. Some of the decks were done twice. Now I have to find a new project or just rip some of this out for a makeover if I get board, and I will. It's fun to finally finish, as Julie and I look forward to living here full time.

Paving

Finally the asphalt goes down. We've been eating dust for 15 years since 1994. Now we have a complete paved driveway which we share with our two other neighbors. The girls can now keep the cars washed with the extra time they gain as no more dirt will be tracked in the house. What a great day!

Final Grade

This is yet another part of construction that is highly under-rated. The final grade before asphalt needs to be done right or you end up with a mess in the end that you will always see. These men who work for Mitchell paving are experts in getting that grade right and make us builders look good. If the correct grade isn't done right you get standing water in low spots. Here you see the blade and roller operators do their magic. Good work guys.

Bye Bye

I can't believe it, my mates have just left today after 2 great weeks of shopping, site seeing, drinking and eating (mostly shopping) We had a brilliant time! Ann and Gail arrived on the 23rd of May and just went home today (6th of June) We toured, London, Guildford and south England, then took a 3 day tour to Paris where we spent more time shopping, eating and touring. My credit cards are starting to quiver every time I reach for them (Oh no, not another pair of shoes!) I have so many great pictures. I will try to do a few more posts (some of them the girls are pretty nerdy!) Taking pictures in telephone booths, you would have thought they had never seen them before! Missing you guys already. Will see you in August! Phil, don't worry, I think there is just enough room on the credit card to get us to Rome when you get back! Love you and miss you!

Concrete

Today we poured 5 yards of concrete. I had several different areas formed up for the mud getting ready for paving the entire driveway. Here you see George and Doyle working the mud, and me on my knees. When you pour concrete you never have enough help and today was no exception. The sun was out and the mud set up fast, so we killed ourselves getting the job done. Just another normal day in my world. I believe this is the toughest work in construction next to framing.

Brooke

Daughter Brooke arrived Saturday for a visit so I got a break from the work. Since I haven't seen her since last November, we enjoyed some catching up. Brooke did some fishing off of the neighbors dock and hauled one in. With the normal lake breeze blowing we took advantage of a little sailing with the neighbors George and Lora, thanks to skipper Bill.