Punching in a hole for a  new home this time of year in this part of the country can be a nerve wracking experience. It is basically a race against the calender with fingers tightly crossed that Old Man Winter is in a kind mood this year. Turns out he was and he wasn't.
   Some winters in Spokane are "open" all year long, meaning there is very little snow and the temperature is mild and the ground remains unfrozen and so building moves along fairly smoothly. That is the type of winter we had last year. But the two previous were winter wonderlands where we all wondered if Spring would land. The first of those two winters set a record for snowfall and then the next one came along and broke that record. Which was kind of amazing considering the old record had stood for many years.
   Anyway, this winter was predicted by the squirrels and insects and meteorologists ( listed in descending order of intelligence and accuracy) to be another doozy. So I was quite nervous as we dug the hole on November 11 which was a Thursday. I then worked for the next 16 days straight putting in the footings, foundation and then the floor joist system. It had snowed some before and then a little during those 16 days, but over all weather was not a factor. Then Old Man Winter's demeanor turned foul.

   

   It snowed so much during the week of Thanksgiving that a new record for  snowfall for the month of  November was set. It was also very cold and so we decided not to work since I was going out of town for Thanksgiving anyway.
   When Eli and I got back to it the next Monday, the crawlspace had at least 11 inches of snow in it, but it would have taken forever to dig it out so we put on the subfloor and hoped it would melt on its own. Once we got the floor on and the site all dug out, it was time to get the rest of the crew back and start framing walls.
    This is when snowfall is brutal. If it snows over night then you spend time shoveling so you can begin to work. If it snows during the day, everything gets wet and cold and slippery. When you get the walls up and start on the roof, snowfall is down right dangerous. On this job, Old Man Winter took a two-week nap and we were able to get the roof on working in mild temperatures and not one flake of snow. The timing was uncanny.

     

     We had the roof done at the end of the day Thursday. The roofers got the whole thing papered on Friday. On Saturday morning it started snowing for the first time in two weeks. My house was in the dry by just a whisker and I couldn't help but singing "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."