Update

Wednesday I drilled a hole in the crawl space wall and set the main sewer drain line to the house.  We also laid in the electrical service.  It may not seem too exciting, but it was important.

After they were set we called back in the earth movers to fill in the garage and around the house to bury the footings.  They used this here, called a Bobcat, to work inside the garage.

They also ran a wheel loader to haul the dirt.  This is the same machine used to dig the basement.  Daniel and Andrew thought it pretty neat.  Of course, it was the only day the wind was blowing all week, so the house filled up with dirt.  After they finished I spent a day leveling the dirt inside the garage, then the concrete guys came back and poured it.  The kids all came out and put their hands in it.

 Then, on Saturday we had a great big crane out there which set the large garage beam.  It was very impressive, but I forgot the camera.  That day we also framed in most of the garage, and the rest of the outside second story wall.  This is actually a picture from the day before all that happened.  Dad has a more up to date picture from the end of the day.  I'll get one posted later.  You can see the large beam in the front.  We estimated it weighed about 1000 pounds.

Dad showed up yesterday.  We'll frame the rest of the week and see if we can't get the trusses and roof on before the week ends.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

The picture is here just because it's cute. But here's the recipe for the soup I made this weekend. I LOVE it, Trent just likes it (he eats around the kale).

Zuppa Toscana Soup

 Ingredients
1 pound Italian sausage
1 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 large white onion, diced
4 slices bacon chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups Water
1 cup Heavy cream
3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (I use red potatoes because I like them better.)
3 cups Kale, washed and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a medium skillet, saute the Italian sausage with the red pepper flakes. Drain excess fat, set aside.
2. In a large soup pot, saute the bacon. When the bacon is half way cooked, add the onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are tender-about 5 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the potatoes and cook until soft, about 30 minutes.
5. Add in the heavy cream and sausage and cook until the soup is heated.
6. Stir in the chopped kale. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Update

The first floor didn't quite get finished.  I pulled a muscle in my back lifting boards and things have slowed down for the last few days as a result.  For some reason the picture isn't downloading.  There is one interior wall left to do, then the wall around the garage.  I think the second floor might start as early as Monday.

Now it's working.