Halftime: House 14, Machette 7 (Day 136 of 273)

Today is Saturday, March 6th — Day 136, one-half the way through our allowed 273 days to build the Kala Point house. I suspect we're 1/3 done, so we're behind by about one month. So be it. Some things that get hired out, like the drywall and insulation will go fast (each in about a week), so we might be able to catch up a bit and still move into the house in August. If not, we'll try to stay in the rental house on a month to month basis, and pay for labor we planned to contribute (so called sweat equity). Nancy has decided on the cabinet supplier (Kitchen and Bath Shop, Port Townsend; Shelly Little--a neighbor) so they took measurements this week and she'll work up the final order for the kitchen cabinets and island. We bought a vanity, sink, and faucet for the guest bath from them, which was a demo unit and priced right. Just need to store it for 6 months, but one less decision to make in the long run.

The construction business is still slowing down up here. The Ellis guys are lined up for two houses in advance, and Gary says he'll stay busy through the summer, but then ?? who knows. Carl's laid off a few more people, and Crystal our favorite lumber-yard girl, left for a better job down in the ship yards. She had a liking for wooden boats so this will be a better place for her, all 110# dripping wet. Good luck Crystal. If Melissa or Terry leaves were in deep yogurt.