He's 24 Carat Gold...

The "Dead End Guys"

 

Hickory Hill Farm sits at the north end of our road. Andy and Shelly live just to the south of us, higher up our same hill. You've heard me say before what great neighbors we have, and how we spend time with them whenever our schedules allow. But, while words can't really express just how special both of them are, I must try.

Shelly grew up in our house, and Andy also grew up on a farm. He now owns the tractor he first drove as a little kid, and he learned the self-sufficient ways of the farm people we love so well. We've lived in farm country over half of our married lives, so coming back to Wisconsin brought us back to living among farmers out in the country. We had no idea just what precious gems these two people are when we purchased Shelly's childhood home.

Andy works a "four on/four off" schedule, and his days off are always busy. This week was the week that he offered to help us. It began a while ago when we talked with him and Shelly about wanting to find a barn beam to help support one of the horizontal beams in the Compass Barn that was starting to sag. When we had new flooring brought in, we also had a small concrete pad poured that would be used as a footing for such future beam. Not only do Andy and Shelly have wood from the barn that used to be on our property, but they also have old wood from Andy's dad's barn that was taken down a few years ago.

On Sunday, Andy crawled up onto his storage shelves and found a beam that was nearly the perfect length for our purposes...and then he brought it down (and took lead to install it) for us. Of course, I got the guys to pose for me when they were finished. (Two Handsomes in the same picture!)

 

Removing Wood Burner Duct Work

We also talked about having the wood furnace removed from the basement, because we have no intention of using it. So, yesterday, Andy showed up with his tools and said he'd take it out for us...which saved us a call to the HV/AC guys to hire them to do it. Together, he and Handsome went to work.

Electric connections were unhooked, and the slow, methodical process of taking apart duct work and venting took place.

He'll Find A Way...

Andy started where it mattered most to me, and when finished, he announced that our laundry chute (beginning on the second floor and ending in the basement) no longer had a piece of duct pipe running through it. No more laundry getting hung up inside the chute!! wooo hoo! 

Finally Out!

 

It required bending a long, continuous section of ducting to get it out, but he did it, and I'm tickled! The guys removed every last piece of ducting, and then disassembled the parts that needed to be removed to be able to take the furnace up and out of our basement. 

 

By 4 pm, everything was loaded up except the actual base unit, which will come out soon. Andy spent most of his day off - his precious time - helping us. Handsome and I are now working on how to adequately thank him for all he did, and continues to do, for us. 

 

Folks like him are so rare these days. He's cut from the cloth where neighbors stop everything to help each other. He is a man of many talents, and we just hope that there will come a time when we can return the favors for him. Until then, he and Shelly can expect homemade goodies from us, and know that they have ongoing and deep gratitude from the two people who now live where their family members used to live. We may not be family by blood, but we sure think of them as family we were lucky and blessed to choose.

Thanks again, Andy (and Shelly). We'll try to show you how much we appreciate you every day.