A Simple Supper for Smashed Fingers

My day started on a bright note yesterday - when I got to the jobsite I found a special surprise from Aunt Judy - she had left a few flowers clipped from her garden in a little vase on the saw table where I was working the day before.

It's ALWAYS nice to know that someone is thinking of you and takes the time to show it!!  Thank you, Judy!!!  You made my day a better one!

So, our youngest daughter, Rachel, has been here for Spring Break and she has been coming to help work at the construction project that last couple of days.  It has been a real treat having another female to work with as she has been a great helper with a positive attitude - knowing she's getting paid for her efforts helps with that, too!  :)

We've been working hard all week to prepare for the setting of the trusses which happens today.  The crane arrives at 9:00 AM so I've got just a short time to spit out a post - I've missed blogging this week and couldn't go another day without you!

Rachel and I have been working on putting some vinyl siding components on the end rafters.  My husband prefers to go the extra mile and make things easier on himself by assembling things on the ground before they are lifted into place.  This is a valuable lesson he's learned from previous projects.  For example, he pre-framed the walls of the house so all we had to do was set the panels in place and secure them.  This pre-framing was being done while the masons were laying the foundation blocks, so Bill was keeping busy even while he waited for the foundation to be built.

When you put trusses on a house, the end truss, also called a Barge Rafter, has to be constructed to secure the roofline and to create the "eaves".  Normally, this is done once all the trusses are lifted onto the house.  Again, Bill chooses to build these on the ground, where you can easily get to them!  Makes a lot of sense since we don't have a lot of scaffold equipment.

Another thing he likes to install at ground level is the soffit.  This is what Rachel and I have been working on all week.  First, the OSB gets wrapped - this is required by code in our county and is supposed to be a sort of vapor barrier.  Then we staple up J-channel around the top border of the barge rafter

and then we're able to install the soffit pieces in those channels and nail them to the outer rafter beam.

The outer edge of the rafter is then covered with metal that bends over and covers the end of the soffit we just installed.  We've been working with very short and small nails all week so our fingers are literally smashed!!  Our backs are tired from bending over to reach the far ends of the rafters, too!

So, every night it's a blessing to come home to a hot bath and settle into a good meal.  I'm really tired after a day of physical labor so I make sure I've got something supper easy to fix for dinner.  On Tuesday I made one of our favorite dishes, although Rachel was a bit mad at me when she found out I was making it, because SHE doesn't think it's good at all!  She dislikes cooked tomatoes, and bell peppers and anything spicy.  Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Here, let me show you how easy it is...

First you chop up some onion and bell pepper and saute them in a skillet with some olive oil

Then you add sliced smoked sausage

And a can of chopped tomatoes - I like to use the "flavored" tomatoes - with garlic, onion, etc....

I like to add some of this seasoning to give it a bit of a "kick"

Let that simmer a bit

Then you add about 1-1/2 - 2 cups of dry wide egg noodles and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup water.

Cover and turn the heat down to allow the noodles to soak up the tomato juices.
20 - 25 minutes later you've got a great dish to serve - top with parmesan cheese.

We also had broccoli and cheese bread to accompany it....not to mention the last of the Butter Pecan cake!!

Yum!

Well, it's off to the jobsite for me....pray for our safety today ~ we don't want anyone hurt since we'll be working in some precarious places today!  :)