Handyman Gillen

We love our old house. We love that its high ceilings and shady setting make it so cool in the hot GA summers and that we have made it our own. We don't love that same coolness in the winter! Especially me! Due to the crazy 85% rise in the cost of gas that is projected for this winter, we decided to buy a wood stove. A friend came today to show us how to build a hearth and he is going to help install the stove, once we find one. Yesterday, Gillen decked himself out in his goggles and face protection and cleaned out all of the old chimney swifts' nests from the chimney. He liked telling Papa when to start and stop the shop vac. Notice (above)his hand motioning to his "helper"!
Here he is cutting the stone with a chisel and hammer.

And then he and Allen layed the stone with concrete.

We tried to turn the concrete red with GA red clay dirt but it didn't work. Then we tried every kind of red paint I had but to no avail. So we are waiting on the mortar filling-in step until I can get the right material to color the concrete. That will be mine and Gillen's job.
Gillen and Jesse finished the day with games of Traverse and Checkers with Papa and I, and then chess with each other. Here is Jesse moving into Gillen's ranks.
It ended up being a long, very close game. See the hearth and fireplace behind them? Well, it's the very dark area of the picture that you can't actually see. We can't wait for the wood stove to be there, keeping us warm through the winter!