12 January 2014

After MUCH discussion, selected Goose Creek Builders to be our general contractor for the house construction.

4 January 2014

Chree and I returned to Virginia in mostly light traffic.  Temperature finally got above zero when we left Vermont, got above freezing when we were in New Jersey, and was a balmy 40 degrees when we got home.

3 January 2014

Snowed 6 inches overnight and the temperature dropped to minus 8.  Kinda brisk!  Chree and I went into Middlebury to interview John Tenny, owner of Mill Bridge Construction.  Then we went over to look at a house in town that his company was just finishing renovating after a catastrophic fire.  From there we shivered our way down to Fern Lake for the obligatory tour, then went back to Lynne & Perry’s for lunch and heat.  Jed Malcolm, owner of Salamander Construction, arrived promptly at 1 o’clock for his interview.  For some reason Chree elected to remain at Lynne & Perry’s when Jed and I went down to Fern Lake for his tour. Upon return to Pomainville Drive, Perry and I had a great time sliding, made all the sweeter by Lynne driving to the bottom ahead of us each time to block any cars from coming up while we were totally out of control on the way down… and then giving us a lift back to the top for the next run.  We were well chilled (and one of us was covered in snow from crashing) after only six trips.  In the evening Chree and I took Lynne and Perry out for a delicious dinner at Café Provence in Brandon.  On the way back to their place the truck thermometer registered minus 16.

2 January 2014

Chree and I interviewed Sean LaFlam, owner of Goose Creek Builders, at his house in Salisbury, then took him over to Fern Lake for a tour of the Taj Mahal and building site.  That done, we drove up to Middlebury to interview Jarad Moats, President of Structural Energy Corporation (another builder), then went back to Fern Lake with him for a tour.  After lunch at Lynne & Perry’s, we drove down the hill to their next-door neighbor’s house, where we interviewed Bob Hillman of Hillman Construction.  Went over to Fern Lake with Bob for yet another tour.  Returned to Lynne & Perry’s late afternoon to thaw out (the temperature hovered around 0°F all day), then went back to Fern Lake with them to have a wonderful dinner at Marty & Merry’s.  By this time the Tacoma was pretty much on auto-pilot.  Good thing, too, as the snow was starting to really come down.

1 January 2014

After a festive New Year’s Eve at the retirement apartments in Guilford, CT where Fran & Frank now live, Chree and I drove up to Lynne & Perry’s via a brief visit with Alverta in Shelburne.  Started snowing as we entered Vermont… an omen of some sort.