House done, Man Die

A friend of ours once told us there was an ancient Chinese proverb that states "House done, Man die." 

If this is truly a proverb then my husband is going to live forever.  One of John's favorite past times is dreaming of all the ways he can make what exist be better than it currently is.  Fortunately for our budget and my sanity, most of his dreams end with a lot of talk.

Unfortunately one dream is manifesting and it has resulted in a very large hole in my living room since November.  See in August we bought a wood stove.  We did not want to be cold again this winter while also paying $200 gas bills.  So, in AUGUST I found a stove, we bought it, we moved it here, and well it still sits here as a glorified candle holder. 

One area where John excells as a remodeler is destruction.  It did not take him long to remove the old crappy dangerous fire place insert.  It did not take him much longer to take off all the rock work around the old chimney.  Destruction is his specialty. 

Now two months later we have a pile of dura rock in the barn, a very very square, strait and plumb chimney area, and a very lame plastic bag over the chimney pipe the breaths in a crappy Dark Vader sort of way. 

At this rate I am sure it will be finished by July when it is 100 degrees and 100% humidity.  The good news is my husband will live forever with project schedules like this one.  That is if I will let him live through it.