June. BIF started the year off with a bang. Work was busy, home building was busy. All was good. April stalled with my boat drama and half of May was spent traveling. Now here it is the end of June, and I feel as though BIF has completed nothing. Rationally I can tell myself that projects get completed when projects get completed. Rationally I can tell myself there is no time line as we are completing this massive project ourself. Irrationally I tell myself we are not working hard enough and time is slipping away. Work must be done harder, faster. What I cannot seem to get my mind to understand is that construction takes time.

For example, bedroom cabinets. Another massive undertaking. Boards were purchased immediately upon our return and boxes were started a week later at delivery. Ten full days before the bedroom cabinets were built.

Not liking how the door and shelves turned out in the Kid Box, the Planner decided each exposed end of the bedroom cabinet doors would be filled with epoxy and sanded before painting. Three more days gone. Cabinets would not be returned to until next month.

In the meantime, the Planner and Doubter worked on fixing the ceiling. Not apparent during installation of the ceiling, however, once the shiplap was installed the gap between the ceiling and the shiplap was not the same. Unlike the bathroom, this was not something that could be hidden with trim. The boards were not flush. They needed to be brought down and then secured into place. Sounds easy. No, it was a nightmare of epic proportions. To complete this process, each board had a pilot holed drilled where upon a puller was screwed in place. The puller used the force of a barrel to pull the board down. Once in the correct location, the board was then screwed vertically into the header to keep the ceiling from moving upwards again. Edges of boards split, cracks ran three or four inches inward of board edges.

While it worked, the puller did not work as well as the Doubter had wanted. Maybe if the boards were not at the edge edge then maybe the solution would have worked better. I must have repeated that “the gap is fine” a dozens time. Any gap left will be covered by the trim. Call the losses and move on. It is a functional home. One room and two days gone.

The second last day of the month brought another delivery. Three air conditioner units. All other worked stopped immediately. Air conditioners needed be installed in the Dwelling and in the Kid Box, pronto. Between some of the other projects, the Planner had designed and built mounting brackets for the exterior wall. It has been too hot for the Kid to sleep in his box and he has once again returned to the Dwelling. There is not enough space for four grown adults and one hot fuzzy cat in less than 600sft. Especially when the eldest has come down with the flu and is so sick he cannot travel to return home. Hot weather, hot temperaments.