I don’t have firmly entrenched ideas about what is men’s work and what is women’s work.  I am more about getting things done than about who does them. I have tools.  But nothing makes gratitude well up in me more than seeing a man use a tool to accomplish something, especially something that I’m glad I’m not having to do.

Our list of things to be done at the oneacrewoods got a bit shorter this month.  We’ve known for a couple years that there was some dry rot under the siding around some second story windows – not an easy place to work and also tricky when it involves making a big hole in the wall to replace windows in a climate where it rains nearly every day and is over 90° F (and a hot metal roof).  But our friends who have done quite a lot of work on our house over the years took it on, with ropes and ladders, patience and skill.  The finish work, inside and out, should be completed today.

Like most projects, this one grew midway through the process.  Once this bedroom had new windows, it was necessary to do some dry wall and sanding around them.  And while we’re making that kind of mess, maybe we should think about painting all the walls when we’re done.  And maybe since the carpet is in bad shape we should replace the flooring. Stop it, already.

The men took it in stride and added laying in a laminate flloor – in one day.  As I watched them painstakingly cut the pieces to fit and deal with all that pounding and sawing I was soooo glad that the only tool I had to wield was the broom.