We also finished putting in the bed on the side of the garage, which is were the blood comes in. Whilst cutting the edging to fit my knife slipped and slashed my knee (warning: graphic photos), which required four stitches.

The Rochester Urgent Care was fantastic and had me sewed up in no time. Here is a snippet of my favorite exchange:

Doctor: “Was the knife dirty”

Me: “Well, it was a utility knife I keep in the garage and I was kneeling in dirt cutting plastic, so I’m going to say ‘yes’ to that.”

Never again will I worry about parts of my fence falling down. In the end, there were at least four sections held up by rope, twine and pure momentum.

For comparison, I give you before and after, looking from the house to the back of our lot. And the reverse view: before; after.

If you look closely in the second set you will also see some of the patio work I did this Spring. For a better idea, here is the old cistern that was outside our backdoor. We had concrete work done last summer and I have now finished the landscaping.

And for good measure, I helped my neighbor add a matching section of fence at the front of our houses.

Project Totals:

• 35 posts (and holes)
• 33 fence panels
• 2 gates
• 45 80lbs bags of concrete

A big thanks goes to Sarah, she helped with a couple of large sections, kept the house running, Olivia entertained, etc.; my Dad; Jack; my father-in-law; and my neighbor. They all pitched in to tear down the old fence, dig some holes and install the new fencing.

OK, we didn’t get hit directly — as there is no evidence of a strike on or near our home — however Tuesday night there was the flash and thunder at the same time. Essentially a strike right on top of us.

The results? Well, it tripped one of the breakers in the house; burned out the LED nightlight in Olivia’s room; took out the garage door opener; and took out our internet connection.

Luckily this is mostly trivial. I need to continue the computer diagnosis. (The cable modem is fine, as is evidenced by this posting. I’ve got my work laptop tethered to the modem at the moment.) So, either the wireless router is dead or the network card in the desktop PC. We shall have to see. It’s not that big of a deal as the computer still works.

And yes, all of the pieces are plugged into surge protectors. With one exception: the coax cable going into the modem. (Hmm, maybe it is. The entertainment system in the basement is complete protected, including the cable. I can’t remember is the split coming up to the computer is before or after that surge protector.)

As for the garage, well that’s a funny story.

We haven’t been out there in a couple of days. So today I decided to go out and do a little work, including installing a keyed cable release to disconnect the garage door opener in case of power outages. See, we don’t have a service door. Or any windows. And the door wouldn’t open.

I am irony’s bitch.

So, how do you open a garage door that is held closed by an opener when there is no power? You go in through the wall of course. Yup, peeled back some of my new siding, punched through part of the wall and presto!, we’re in.

The good news, the garage door opener wasn’t fried, just the GFCI popped. One reset button later and all is well. Well, except for the siding.

Actually that is OK too. I was careful in prying and removing nails so that nothing was damaged. It all went back together quite nicely.

And yes, the keyed opener has been installed. Take that irony.

We started to look into replacements, but while stores sell the size we need none of them actually have them in stock. I really don’t want to by a new oven sight-unseen.

We chose a 42″ x 54″ Shaker table with 4 Venice chairs in solid cherry with a “Washington” stain. We are extremely pleased that the stain matches our existing cabinet almost dead perfect.

What we love about ordering from the Amish is not only the quality and price of the products, but the customization. We ordered the simple rectangular top with a small round over on the top edge (we could have specified any number of edge treatments). Additionally, we liked the sharp corners, but didn’t actually want them sharp. We asked if they could be “softened” and that is exactly what the builder did. Of course, we could have specified any radius or other corner treatment.

We also ordered two 12″ leaves, which are self-storing. We could have ordered up to 12 leaves. Yes, 12, as in making the table over 12 feet long.

Each step is roughly 38″ wide with a 9″ tread. The Flor tiles are 19.7″ square. The resulting math meant that one tile could be cut to cover one step. Each tile had three cuts: one to trim to the correct width (removing 3 3/8″) to center the seam, and two cuts to get the 8 1/2″ tread depth. This results in two pieces that are 8 1/2″ X 16 5/8″. Put them together and you have a 8 1/2″ X 33 1/4″ stair tread.

I’m not entirely excited by all of the cutting I’ll need to do for the stair treads, although it will look great when finished. And the dining room is just going to be fun. I think Olivia is going to help.

That said, here’s what it looked like when they started:

And when they finished:

I’ve posted a complete set of photos from around the house.