We are wrapping up week four of our big project and have reached the inevitable plateau that comes after initial excitement of breaking ground meets the sweaty reality a lot of work still left to do. The heavy equipment is gone and the days of huge changes are (hopefully) behind us leaving lots of hard work and effort in our future.
My brother Hans is staying here with us during the week building the front porch with a little help from Ryan in his last weeks of summer vacation.  We asked the excavating company to remove and haul away the old porch while they were here four weeks ago leaving a scary 10 foot drop for anyone brave enough to open our door and look down. Inside the house we have furniture, blue tape and a skull and crossbones sign across the threshold to prevent our guests from taking their last step…
We’ve planted about half of the potted nursery stock waiting in the backyard and even though it is mid August only one looks like it isn’t going to live through the move from pot to ground. This is a tricky time to plant here in the PNW but I thought with a lot of water and the promise of a few cooler days ahead we should be ok. So far, so good.
Now comes the part of the job I have been dreading. I really don’t like spiders and the ugly, dark brown exterior of our house is full of them… The past two days have found me outside clearing cobwebs and getting ready to pressure wash off the remaining dirt, needles and mildew before painting. It is hot, dusty work and because I’ll do almost anything to avoid spiders jumping in my hair I’m covered head to toe in long sleeves, pants, gloves and big hat.
A new watering system is ready to install and If we keep on schedule the rest of the week should include priming the new porch walls, installing window trim and, cross your fingers, paint.
The best word to describe this past week is Effort and as luck would have it this is also the photography challenge for the latest Daily Prompt: Secret of Success. What I really want to be doing tonight is relaxing on the back porch with a cool beverage enjoying the end of summer but there are more spider webs to blow away and a lot of pine needles to brush before the day is done.
If you are new to Northwest Frame of Mind and want to follow this project from the beginning please take a look at my earlier posts in the series:
The First Days Of Our Landscaping Project
Northwest Frame of Mind 
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