It's admittedly weird walking down the street when total strangers call out, "Hey, how's that office coming along?" But such is life in the fish bowl of the Internet.

 

The asnwers is "just fine" -- knock on wood. Things are going swimmingly. With great snares of  electrical wires in place and that itchy insulation done during the monsoon rains, we've moved outdoors again. The clapboards are going up all around and long discussion of paint color has begun. The landscape consultant (we could only afford two hours) offered a plan that involves turning our whole postage stamp yard inside-out.

 

Writers spend 90% of their working lives sitting in one spot. It's an occupational hazard. So that one spot needs to be just right. We've got some storage space above the drop ceiling area, but to get even more the office "stage" will rise two feet above the floor. Next comes a little knee-wall and a short stairway to make the work area private and just two steps above the fray. That area will have a teeny "cathedral" ceiling and a cute octagonal window.

 

We've cut the hole in the wall for the air conditioner with enough BTUs to turn the place into a meatlocker this summer. Heat is a single propane unit, one of those ceramic jobs with a fake fire to soothe the soul. We ran out of funds for the floor, so it will have to stay plywood this year as we dream of hardwood or tile in the future. Since we used to pile every sort of tool in the former garage, Maryellen wants a small (6 x 8 foot) garden sheed where the old-fashioned shed door once hung.

 

My next  job, the carpenter says, is to dig a trench around the office and fill it with crushed stone and some sort of drainage pipe. It sounds like a lot of work and I don't have a clue how it's done. We'll add pix as we progress with plans to be up and running within a month -- knock on wood.  -- JDR