Homesteader Blues
Page 3
The teenagers were there by 9:00 a.m. Phil and Mark looked like they had lost their best friends, glum as hell. Since Jade was beaming like a morning in July, I figured she had already taken a few verbal potshots at those two before they even got here.
My assumption proved correct when she told them to get their "dumb asses" out of the truck. Knowing kids, it was possible I would need to play ref here. That was a position I didn't like one bit. I did enough of that with the rug rats. It looked like it might be a real long day.
We framed in the floor and got the floor joists lined up. The joists were two by tens; that would take fiberglass insulation, R30 batts. With the slabs left over from cutting logs down to size, I planned to cover the insulation to keep the mice and shrews out. A while back I traded another guy two piglets for the use of his milling machine. He didn't want a bunch of scrap lying around, so I took back the slabs I trimmed off.
The boys muscled the big table saw outside, and I fed those scrap pieces through the saw lengthwise to make them the same width. Those slabs would go on the underside of the floor to seal it off. And it had to be a tight fit. Mice and shrews can get through almost any opening.
Making sure the sewer line came up through the floor in the proper place was a job I did. If it was wrong, it was my problem. I planned it out so that the line did not come up out of the ground until it was almost to the existing house wall. I wanted the toilet all the way inside, up against that wall. It made running the lines inside a little funky but, I got it done.
With the toilet, shower and sink all against one wall, I left the other wall free for the real prize. Tina was getting a dryer. No more sitting at the laundromat for hours waiting to dry the clothes. Nope, with a large cabinet beside it, my old lady would finish the laundry in the comfort of her home.
The chicken wire went into the cavities and added a second layer of defense against rodents. Then we installed insulation. A vapor barrier and plywood over the top. We had completed the floor.
I told the kids the day before to bring along bathing suits 'cause after the insulation was in, we were taking bread, lunchmeat, and soda down to the gravel pit. Full of water, it would be cold, and that would accomplish what I wanted. We could get the insulation washed off before the crud got too far into our pores.
A quick dip, lunch and we were back on it. We all worked up a sweat framing in the walls. We got the rafters installed before we called it quits for the day. Tomorrow would be more insulation. This time into the walls and, if possible, the ceiling. I was sure hoping we would get that far.
I could feel the pressure as the hours flew past. Damn, but I did not want Tina to find this half done. The sheer surprise on her face was something I wanted to see. She worked so hard and took real good care of the kids and me, I wanted to knock her socks off. The woman is amazing, and I wanted to do whatever I could to make her happy.
I had my share of unhappy people. Mark was mooning over Jade. Phil was mooning over the girl and shooting hard looks at Mark in between. Having both those boys with hammers in their hands could be dangerous.
Separating them was the best I could do. Even that had its pitfalls. I had to keep a good eye on my watch, neither one of them could get too much time with her. Jade didn't seem to care much about either of them. Every once in a while one or the other of them got a smile if they got something right that was the extent of it.
Nothing broke that day. We somehow kept to the schedule. Tomorrow, after sheathing the roof, we needed to insulate the inside walls. That would go quick enough.
The attic space was another matter. I had a five hundred gallon water bladder in the barn that was going into the attic. It spread the weight over the rafters, so the water container when full, wouldn't come through the ceiling and kill someone.
While the kids handled the insulation, I would be on the ladder installing cross bracing in between the two by tens. If it sounds like overkill, not so. Think about this for a minute, five gallons of water weighs in at just over forty-five pounds. Multiply that by five hundred gallons. The rafters needed all the help I could give them.
At 9:00 p.m. the phone rang. I knew who it was, Tina, checking on me. Fine with me, 'cause it let me know who the woman was thinking about.
"Hi ya, sweet cheeks."
A little gurgle of laughter was her first response. "Do you always answer the phone that way? What if it was Jenks calling? It might even be a Trooper, then what."
"Nope. The kids are in the sack by 9:00, so it has to be my girl."
"Awful sure of yourself, Jimmy. What makes you think you have a corner on the market?"
It was my turn to laugh. "I was sitting at the kitchen table last night thinking about the fantastic dessert I got on the table awhile back. Just thinking about it damn near had me weak-kneed."
Another of those giggles of hers, just a little nervous, hit my ear. "Sure you don't need help at home?" Her voice was breathy on the other end.
"Now, honey, you remember that saying about absence making the heart grow fonder? I got something growing fonder by the day here. By the time dessert rolls on home, it will be an excellent party."
Laughing her full-throated, no holds barred, belly laugh, my old lady was right there with me. No one, not a kid or a relative was between us, nothing but a few miles. We had played this game before, years ago.
"James Robert Dewey, you take good care of my man, out there all by yourself. It's no use setting out a fancy dessert plate if there's no one there to eat it."
Her little double entendre conjured up lots of ideas that had me twitchy damn quick. "That goes double for you Tina Jean. No racing home. Take your time and watch out for moose. I'd better get off this phone before I kick the whole mess to the curb and drive in there right now."
"All right, I'll let you go, but I need to keep a handle on things."
"Do you now? I have a "handle" that could use a firm hand." Tina laughed so hard it took her a minute to get it together.
"Dewey, why do I feel you’re up to something?"
"I'm up for something all right. She stands about five feet, bare-assed and has some gorgeous pouty lips, two sets, and..."
"Mister, I have to get off this phone." Tina cut me off. "You could have a great career as a phone sex practitioner. We'll finish this conversation when I get home."
We said good night. I turned off the phone and plugged it into the charger. Crawling into bed, I remembered the first time I met her. She was working in a restaurant in Anchorage.
I'd gone to town on a run for feed and some parts. Trying to get an early start and beat the tourists through the worst of the Glenn Highway up to Eureka pass, I stopped for a quick bite.
Her laugh rang through the room, and I had to turn and look. With her hair pulled back into a tight bun, she stood with her back turned my way. The black jeans contained a nice tight butt. The oversized black Tee shirt did nothing for Tina from the back.
When she turned and headed my way, all thoughts of feed, tourists and getting home flew out the door. Her face scrubbed clean, shone with sweat from the warmth of the place. Her generous mouth pulled up into a genuine smile and laughing blue eyes zeroed in on my face. It was over and done with in a heartbeat. I didn't know how I would manage a long distance relationship, but this woman was special, and I could not let her get away.
I drank enough coffee to float that old ferry boat, the Tustamena. She knew I was hanging around because of her. I even had to go out to the parking lot and let the dog out of the truck once. When I came back from playing with him outside and picking up after him with a garbage bag, she was waiting.
"You passing through?" Tina asked me as she eyed the load on the trailer.
"Not exactly. I live out in the boonies, out toward Glennallen. I've got the old family farm out there."
Taking two steps backward, she gave me a once over. "In for supplies then."
"Yep," I agreed.
"Is it possible to make a living out there? Farming?"
Somehow I knew the answer to the question would make or break me with her. I wouldn’t lie. "Some years are better than others. But, my Dad managed, we never starved. Went without some things maybe, but never the things that mattered."
"You know my name." She glanced down at her name tag. "What's yours? How often do you come to town?"
"Depends," I replied, answering the last question first. "If I have a reason to come into town, I can manage twice a month." I stuck out my hand. "James Robert Dewey, Ms. Tina."
"Tina Jean Rosskopf, up from Seldovia. This is my part-time job, I go to UAA. My shift ends at 8:00 a.m. I should go home and study, but I could spare an hour to get acquainted with you and your mutt."
Happy, happy memories flitted through my head as I got comfortable in bed. Walking into that restaurant was the best decision I ever made.