Like Romeo and Juliet before their first kiss, there is a kind of tension in the space between the old farmhouse and its new foundation walls. Wooden sills hover above, and would descend if not for the iron bars and cribs that support them. The concrete walls, hardened after two weeks of curing, stand ready to receive them.

But the two must wait, like Shakespeare’s young lovers, until the time is right! The sills cannot touch the foundation walls until Crowell’s carpenters frame a fourth basement wall on the north side and Aaron Libby’s masons construct pillars to support the Red House’s heavy chimney.

Last week, workers painted the exterior of the foundation walls with black waterproofing and affixed styrofoam insulation to the parts of the walls that will be underground.

Then Drew Corp excavators backfilled the space with sand and gravel and compacted the materials, finishing the job by leveling and smoothing the work site in front of the house.

Snow on Thursday this week stalled workers but we are happy to see the progress carpenters and masons are making.

Now that the sills are at eye level, we have a closeup view of the 218 year old sills.

On a cold snowy day, cocooning sounds like a good idea. Time to make and eat cookies!