THE WIDOW MAKER

We were at the ranch this week to check out the framing and everything was going swimmingly. We decided to eliminate the tiny powder room window by the front door. It's distracting, off center ('cause it's above the john) and would take away from the front door. We've ordered that already and it's a beauty! We also decided not to HAVE a roof because we can't afford a retractable roof. Isn't the sky unbelievable?


Tex in his garage. The garage out there is bigger than our garage here. Go figure.

You are looking at a kitchen wall, plumbing for the island, corner pantry and in the front right is where another pantry will be under the stairs.

Now you are looking at a roaring fire and the TV on the far family room wall. The doorway goes into a hall where you get to the master bedroom, powder room and office.

This is when things went sour. Phil the Phoreman had expressed some concern about the height of the vault and not being able to see out the upper windows from the center of the upper hall railing. So, Tex decided he was going to measure the height of the peak and figure out for himself just how much space we were talking about for beams, flooring, etc. Any sane person would have called the architect and had him give you the details. Oh, no, not my Tex.

He got up on the first level of the scaffolding and my heart stopped. "TEX..YOU..ARE..NOT..GOING..UP..THERE," I hollered. He did what he always does when I open my mouth. He ignored me. Then he started inching over and I knew he was going to go up there. My stomach hit the ground. I can't get on the higher rungs of a ladder and when I see somebody at those heights I freak.

I was seriously getting sick at this point.

I missed taking a picture of his progress because I was urping my fish.

I am pleading with him to get down. PLEEEEAAASSEE COME DOWN. He seems to be adding up figures in his head and still ignoring me.

Whew!! Just a few more minutes and he'll be down.

I took my first breath in a long while thinking it's going to be OK and then he got down on that beam just below where he is squatting and stepped on that beam going over to the cross beams you see at the right. You should have heard me ranting and crying and screaming, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW??" He assured me he was holding onto something the whole time and was fine.

Does it look like he's holding onto anything here????????

I am now naming our humble abode "The Widow Maker" because he could have killed himself. A dead body sprawled on the concrete floor would greatly distract from the beautiful view.

I have every reason to call myself........

Nervous Nellie