Farming . . . Trapping . . . Wildlife

Farming is in full swing right now.  We have finally gotten our pivots all working and now we are running water to irrigate as much of our place as we can at once.  It has been so dry this spring that there is not much grass anywhere.  We have some pasture that is sub irrigated by some small springs and so the cows are all doing fine but everything is still dry.  We are grateful for the water to irrigate with.  Hopefully by the end of the week we will have our last bit of irrigation water on.  I have taken on the job with my son of trapping gophers.  Our irrigation district has a $1 bounty on them so we have been trapping.  Decided that it is good we are not making our living off the trapping but we are getting quite a few.  As with most other things on this place the gopher population has not been a priority.  Trapping gives lot of walking - talking - and thinking time.  So we have lots of fun hiking around together.  Today we saw a deer doe and wondered if she had a baby hid out.  Sure enough this evening we saw her in the same spot.  We waited very quietly and saw a tiny fawn come following her.  It was only as tall as her knee and all spotted.  So very cute.  My son was entranced.  We just had some baby barn owls grow up enough to get out of their nest this last week.  It was thrilling to watch them grow and sit and watch us over the sides of their nest as we went by on the road.  Now they have grown up enough to leave it.  The chucker, quail, ducks, pheasants, red tailed hawks and golden eagles are all nesting right now too and we have all these on our place.  It is fun to listen to them all talking to each other and get ready to raise their young. 

House Warming . . . Open House

We are having our first official guests this coming week.  Like extra people staying at our house.  I am pretty excited.  I finally got our bed set up off the floor and a queen bed set up in our guest room.  And I have scheduled our Open House.  I am kind of excited about that.  It should be a fun afternoon.  A thank you to friends who helped up along the way.  New friends we have made.  I have talked about doing an open house since we started this whole project and so to actually have it on the calendar sounds like fun.  It will be interesting to see who all shows up. 

Peace

Since building our house one of my favorite places is my deck.  Many people have commented that this deck is the best part of my house.  There is cover and sunshine.  A beautiful view.  Some new flower baskets.  Solid footing.  Comfortable chairs.  A radio.  Birds singing.  This deck was a major project in early December.  Lots of fun time spent building it.  Good visits will be had on it.  Books enjoyed here.  Targets shot off the back.  Peaceful is a good description of this space.  I truly am loving my house.  There is a peace that resides here.  Not just on the deck, but on this place.  I don't and haven't always felt it, but it is here.  I can choose to walk in it or not.  I can accept it or run.  But it is there.  Always there.  There is quiet and calm.  Peace.  That is a lot like life.  There is always peace waiting for us.  Sometimes we are not there.  Sometimes we are not even aware there is a place of peace.  And other times we are sitting smack dab in the middle and don't realize it.  And then sometimes we choose to run from the PEACE to something that seems it may bring peace - but it doesn't.  Sometimes someone or something happens to my peace.  The things I have so carefully lined up that will bring peace get thrown into the fan to fall where they may and I am left to wonder what happened.  Some big storm comes in and it seems there is no peace.  But there is.  I know the Prince of Peace.  The God of Second Chances.  The one who always believes in me.  Who extends grace when I royally mess up.  Who helps me up.  Gives me some clean clothes to put on and then helps me walk through whatever is currently hitting the fan in my life.  Sometimes it is pretty messy.   But a friend and I were talking about Bible characters today and it was a fun and interesting discussion.  One of my favorite is the Apostle Peter.  Probably because I can relate to him.  I think that Jesus chose Peter as one of his disciples simply to give the rest of us following HOPE.  Because Peter was constantly opening his mouth to insert his other foot.  And Jesus still loved him.  Moses had an anger management problem.  And yet, he glowed from being in the presence of God.  King David had a Grandmother who had been a prostitute.  He killed one of his good friends after stealing his wife and yet was called a man after Gods own heart.  I think that God put these people and their stories in the Bible and has preserved that book over centuries to show us hope.  To show us that his hope conquers and brings peace. 

Mothers Day

Mom's Day was a  fun, different, tearful, laughter filled, Nerf-gun war, BBQ, kittens and calves, Good friends, New friends, wonderful day.  I enjoyed it.  Very relaxing.  Peaceful.  Life still feels raw at times.  There are so many reminders of Life. The two other women at our BBQ have recently had huge losses in their lives as well and we all are at various stages of that process on the road of what just hit my life?  Discovering one of the reasons God gives us friends is to help us along those rough spots in life.  So Glad!  I love the fact that I can call my Mom.  That we can visit and chat about life, and all the interesting things she is doing and we are doing.  That life does go on.  Sometimes I am ready for it to pause for a bit.  Maybe my brain could catch up!  :)  We continue moving forward though.  Time does heal.  But that doesn't mean it fills in the chasm.  It just builds a bridge over it.  I think.  My bridge is still under construction.  But the process is interesting.  The construction is different.  Sometimes it hurts.  Sometimes it brings joy and a smile.  A laugh. A tear.  All these are parts and pieces of the bridge.  Today was a fun day.  Spent with friends.  Laughing and crying together. Thank God for the days in life set aside to remember the Special People and special lives who have touched and impacted ours.  Happy Mothers Day!

Wrapping , , ,

Spring provides such a wonderful present each year.  We have beautiful flowers, green grass, baby colts, full creeks, wildflowers, Thundershowers, baby calves, nesting birds, and the list goes on.  It is like knowing that life does go on.  After every winter comes a spring.  Wrapped in the winter cold, snow, and dark is the promise that spring will come.  After the dark night there is always the morning.  After the thunderstorm there is a rainbow.  Every storm has to run out of rain.  It seem like there has been a lot of storms - on various levels - in my life over the last season.  So much of winter.  There has been some wonderful rainbows along the way.  Friendships made. Life lived.  Surprises.  Tears. Hugs. Good talks. Long walks. Prayers. Peace.  Love. Life. These are the wrapping that go on the spring of life too.  The bright spots in the winter and in the storms are to keep the hope alive.  Because every storm has to eventually run out of rain.  Then the rainbow gets to shine.  I love rainbows because they remind me of Gods promise.  There is always a plan of redemption.  I was reading Max Lucado the other day and he wrote . . ."before the sound of the crunch from the apple in the garden had faded away Jesus was on his way to the cross".  The plan of redemption was there and put into play.  In the same way God made the seasons of life and the seasons of the years to remind us and to keep reminding me to keep going.  The rain eventually will end.  I know there have been times I could just sit in a puddle and stay.  And then the sun would break through and I could dance in the rain.  But had to keep on going.  Spring is here. While some things remain in the storms of life other sections of life are breaking out and enjoying the sun.  Now we can enjoy those rainbow wrapped days.  I am sure there will continue to be storms.  But for now I can enjoy the sunshine.

Fences

It seems that no matter how good the fences are there is always a way to get out.   Or at least my cows are finding that to be true.  When we bought this place we knew it was a fixer-upper and it is proving to be true.  So all our fences need re-built.  Currently we have a bull who is totally out in the desert looking for some cows.  Our cows climb out of the fences on a regular day for no good reason except that the grass is greener on the other side even though it looks exactly the same to me.  A couple of our cows might go down the road all the way to the market just because they crawl fences.   It has been said many times and many ways that the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.  This often seems to be true.   My cows think so and I think we do sometimes too. In our lives it seems that life would be better if . . .  Or if I only had . . . If I had made  . . . . this choice or not made this choice . . . . If I only lived . . . . . or if I didn't have . . . Or if this had not happened.  Sometimes it is easy to look back at life and wonder if it was better.  Or was it just different?  What is Normal?  Normal life is something that seems to be non existent.  Many of my friends wonder what "NORMAL" is.  I wonder what it is. I have decided it I a setting on a washer!  What is normal for one is maybe not for someone else.  I feel like there is a new normal to life.  Would it be normal on the other side of some fence?  And would I really want that normal to be mine?  I think we are all in process of figuring out what our new normal is.  Today we hit one year since my Dad passed away.  Crazy.  I look back and wish I still had him.  So many things I have wanted to talk with him about this last year.  But now that part of my life is past.  I can't just pick up the phone and chat with him.  That is the reality.  Painful but true.  I can't replace that with anything.  I can just keep going down this path.  In this fence.  The grass really would not be any better on the other side of any fence.  Even if my cows continue to think that!

A year ? . . .?? . . . really?

I am kind of in shock that it is April again already.  Tax Day is next week.  I know I don't feel like it has been a year since I made my big heavenly deposit when my Dad passed away.  Some days it seems he has been gone for a long time, other days I almost start dialing the phone to ask him a question or tell him something funny.  I still feel my heart is pretty raw.  The wound is still very sore.  The missing is still very close to the surface and it doesn't take much to bring it on.  I think my empathy and understanding of life and people and the struggles, choices, wrongs, and rights of life have gone up in this year though.  I have learned that stress and grief and lack of sleep can really put you through the ringer.  Sometimes being an ostrich has a very big appeal.  Either sticking your head in the sand and pretending everything is fine, or taking off in a fast run to  . . . somewhere.  But also that sticking with it and keeping going is good too.  I still find myself wondering what the next shoe will be that drops in my lap will be though.  I saw a great sign the other day though that felt so true.  It read "Due to recent cutbacks - the light at the end of the tunnel has been shut off!"  As I have felt this way many times this last year  - or wondered if the light was the next train barreling towards me -  I thought this was a great sign.  But all at the same time this last year has had good things too.  I know we built a house - lots of fun but also lots of work.  Met lots of new people.  Moved to a great community.  Are almost through 4th grade!  I still can't quite believe that!  I think that this last year has made me think more too.  Taken serious thinking to a deeper level.  A friend and I were talking about life and choices the other day and it really was interesting a point she brought up.  Like we are all wheels with spokes going out and touching the lives of others.  If something happens in our lives it affects those spokes, those relationships and all those lives.  My choices matter.  It is like the ripples of water on a calm pond.  They keep going out.  Affecting other water.  Other lives.  So what choices am I going to make? I can affect others in a way that brings them closer to healing, closer to Christ.  I can bring friendship and caring.  I can bring love.  I can bring questions and concern for others.  Those are the ripples that I want to give off.  For those I meet to know that I genuinely care about who they are.  Simply because God had crossed our paths so that I could be a blessing to them.  It goes back to my favorite verse.  Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, Plans to Prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a future and a HOPE!" God has a plan in mind.  I can't see it.  I can't see the end of the road. I have questioned the plan.  But I have clung to the HOPE!  Even when I was thinking that maybe my plans would be better, I could not let go of that Hope!  Even when it felt there was more harm coming the Hope is too strong.  The hope is sustaining.  That eternal Hope that now my Dad is enjoying!  The hope he shared with so many.  The ripples on the spokes of so many lives. 

Pencil Marks

As we were building this house, we did a lot of drawing on the walls.  Finding and marking studs, drawing straight level lines, writing measurements to cut trim, marking more studs, writing more numbers . . . you get the drift.  As a kid, I don't remember ever writing on walls, but we sure did in this house.  It still had the feel of a bit of a construction project.  One of my friends came over yesterday and we went around with small sponge brushes and erased pencil marks and scuffs and smudges with paint.  It is amazing the effect this has.  Instead of looking like a guy and his elf had gone pencil happy with a pencil, level and stud-finder it looks like a home.  There are no longer pencil marks telling us how high to hang the already in place stair railing.  No marks on the walls under existing towel hooks or cabinets.  It is so nice.  My walls look so clean.  So neat.  So nice!  It has been kind of funny and I have laughed at myself as I have been dragging my feet at hanging pictures on my beautiful walls.  I think I worked so hard to make them look so good that I truly am having a hard time figuring out where to hang them.  And I don't want to mess up my walls!  So I finally just put all my pictures in my guest room closet and will sort and decide from there where and if I want the pictures up.  I guess part of it too is that where pictures go up matters in this house more than it has in others.  This is not a rental.  It is not - I hope - a short term house.  I plan to be here for a long time.  And it matters.  The other thing is that some of my pictures are from my Dads office and house, kind of weird to hang them in mine.  Others are some my Grandma painted and now I have them to enjoy, but also weird for the same reason.  I know it sounds funny, but processing pictures is also worth a thousand words.  Some thoughts and sometimes tears.  But good ones.  It is just part of the process of  sorting through life.

Another First

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Happy Birthday to Dustin.   We hosted our first official gathering of friends at our house last night to celebrate Dustin's Birthday.  It was a fun event.  Potluck dinner with 4 families.  Lots of boys with lots of energy having lots of fun!  Ice cream cake.  Presents.  Yummy food.  Good fun visiting.  Some "old man" jokes.  A fun first hosting party!

Total Blindside

I have always known that smells and scents are powerful memory triggers, but this was brought home to me this last Friday.  My son is in 4-H and we were doing a community event.  As a group we were to meet at the local Assisted living facility and we were going to decorate a St. Patrick's Day cake.  Sounds fun!  Innocent! No big deal!  My son had been there before and knew where we were going which was good.  We walked in the front door to the reception desk and I was fine.  She pointed us off in the right direction and we headed that way.  As soon as we turned the corner, the smells of a care facility hit me.  They were not bad smells as it is a very well run facility, but just smells that exist in a place where people need care.  I had a hard time breathing, but from an emotional response to the hit of the odors.  I kept following my son and practiced my breathing as we went forward to the creativity activity room.  I had so not been prepared for the reality and memories the moments and the emotions that came with walking into an assisted living center that I almost couldn't cope.  I was shocked by my own reaction.  My good friend - a nurse - was not.  And we talked about it.  Once we were out of the hallway and in the activity room, I was fine.  We  had a fun time decorating cakes and visiting with the residents.  I did however  go out a different door!  

Chapters

Yesterday felt like a conclusion of a chapter.  And the opening of a new one.  Dustin began farming our land for the first time.  Getting things ready to plant and preparing the soil of our farm to be seeded to alfalfa soon.  That is an exciting and a little scary of a new chapter.  Venturing out and doing something on our own.  We have been so blessed by so many good neighbors who are willing to help, give advice and instruction.

putting up loft floor joist hangers

O how I love ladders.  And power tools. 

The conclusion - not really totally - but the feeling of - was on the house.  Due to a schedule change at work, I got my two elves yesterday and we worked hard all day to finish the BIG items on the never ending list of house projects.  This week we put our front and back steps on the deck, so we can get to our front door!  I even put out the Welcome mat.  Then we framed, sheeted, sided and trimmed the carport out so that it is now enclosed on 3 sides.  Lastly we put a loft in one of the 8 foot wide truss bays to make a storage spot in the garage.   My cousin - a landscaper - came over and we talked about the yard, fences, and ideas.  We strung our phone system cord up through the attic - finally! So now I don't have the Coaxial cable decoration thru my dining room!  Our house really looks like a home, and a completed project.  We are hosting our first official function this Saturday evening and having a few friends over for Dustin's Birthday - which is Sunday.  It was kind of a bittersweet day though.  This house project has consumed a lot of time and energy, but it has also been a lot of fun.  We have enjoyed the process and it was a little odd to realize that my list now consisted of mostly stuff that I am capable of doing on my own. 

Cute

So . . . this picture takes me back a few years.  I was not quite two.  At my Great Grandparents home for a funeral.  I don't remember the details.  I do remember catching turtles and it has been a family joke as to how big those turtles were.  I remember carrying them up the VERY long drive way from the small stream on the ranch and just how my fingers could barely touch and thumbs barely loop over the edges of the shell.  But my hands were small.  Now when I show how big the turtles were in my memory, they have grown along with my hands.  But still, my earliest memories is these turtles and carrying them up the driveway to the house.  My Mom sent this picture and thinking I was so cute sitting there with my big brother and my big turtles I thought it was too cute to pass up.

Leviticus

 

This year I have been reading through the chronological Bible. It has been interesting. Right now I am in Leviticus which while not my favorite book has had some really interesting things to say that have struck me at this point in my life. As I come up to and hit anniversary days and time frames for life over the last year it has been interesting to me to see how I respond to them. I know I am going thru the normal steps and bumps and falls that accompany grief but it is still not fun. I think as we moved and are now settling in at the same time as these anniversaries are hitting it is like a double whammy. Of life. I have had some of the most random thoughts thru my head. Some good. Some crazy. Some totally against every thing I stand for. But God is always right by me. no matter what I do. No matter what choice I make. Some choices may hurt me. Some may hurt Him. Some will bless both. But in Leviticus this morning I was reading about redemption. It was interesting how no matter what or why the person had to sell or give up their land it could always be redeemed. It just really struck me that God can always redeem us. He wants us to have all the riches of his kingdom. Sometimes I do something foolish and forget that for a while but He is always there waiting to help me redeem ME. He has extended so much GRACE.  He wants me to want HIM.  But he also knows that we are His creation.  He knows that we are dust and are totally going to fail Him sometimes.  But he loves us anyway. 

My Mom has been sending out notes to all of us kids over the last few months and it is always interesting to read them.  To see a bit of our corporate grief.  To see where we are at in life and know that we are not alone and that we are all OK.  To know that we are all different.  To know that we will all have good days and bad days.  Make good choices and bad choices.  But always be willing to extend a hand of love and of help and of grace and mercy to all who are around us. 

Settling in . . . Part 2

It continues to be an adventure as we settle into our new house.  We love it!  Still have not realy found anything that we really wish we had done differently.  It really has been so wonderful.  I love all the windows. I love watching the sun come creeping down all the ridges around us as it coms over the butte by our house.  When there is a full moon it is almost bright in the house.  I have been slowly unpacking and sorting.  I put all the boxes into our guest room and so from there the contents either gets put in its home or goes away.  So nice!  It has been a major undertaking but has been refreshing too.  Only holding onto stuff that I actually want.
I have not got to too much decorating yet.  I have put up pictues in the cowboy bathroom which is right off the mud room.  That is really the only decorations finished rooom.  But that is OK!  I put together our school room which has been so nice!    Of course I used my new drills and not the slow process of a screwdriver to put all that furniture together.  It is so nice having a smaller school space that totally meets all of our needs. 
This weekend my friend and contractor came out and the two of us wrapped up the items on our "final inspection" checklist.  This was fun.  We have had a fun time working together on this project and getting to know each other.  And each others families.  Its been fun.  It is interesting to see who comes along in our lives at different points.  Sometimes wonder how these paths have crossed with so many people and what the big picture of the tapestry of life really looks like.  Am I doing what I can to encourage and help?  Am I being encouraged and helped?  It seems this last year has thrown a lot of curve balls at my life.  Some I have caught and some have knocked me on my rear and some have just hit me square in the face.  But it is interesting to continue walking in the light so that even when we fall down or are knocked down by life knowing we can alway get up and keep going.
We passed final inspection today.  We now can get our occupancy permit so we can actually occupy our house!  Since we have been for the last month . . . I guess that is a good thing. 

Settling in

My Word wall

living Room

Bar area from living room

School Room w/ reading chair

Cowboy Bathroom

Camo Bathroom

Still Construction-ing. And Unpacking

So . . . I was kind of chuckling to myself this morning.  In moving in before our house was totally done, we are living with a few things we normally wouldnt have.  But it is fun and fine just funny.  We still have various contractors wandering in and out.  Inspectors as well.  We have a pile of drills, nails, screws, light bulbs, and various other tool type items on one part of my kitchen counter.  I still am using my levels and stud finder as I put up towel hooks, and various other finishing touch type things.  It has been fine and funny. 
I have a huge stack of boxes now out of the container which are in my guest room that I am slowly going thru.  My purging has been pretty brutal so far and will continue to be.  I have no intention of storing stuff I dont need.  It is kind of a nice feeling to be sorting.  The things you find when unpacking is always interesting though and you wonder "why??"  Yesterday, I opened a box up which I must have gotten from my Mom in May.  Logical that I had  it but weird.  It was a box of my Dad's trip memorobila from visiting Mongolia.  I so wanted to call him up and chat about the stuff in there.  These stab wounds of greif are interesting to process. 

MOVING!!!

This is a monumental morning post.  I am sitting in the living room at my new house!  Granted there is currently only one chair in here, but hey, I am here.  Yesterday we finished packing up the shipping container that has been in our yard at our other house and moved it over here.  We didn't get much unloaded out of it last night, but enough to camp in our new house.  Somehow the sheets for our bed were thrown farther up in the container and so we slept in sleeping bags on our mattresses.  Got my sons bed put together and made up - I had his sheets.  We had inspections called in for finals this week and the inspectors hadn't shown up by the end of the week and we decided we were moving anyway.  So we did.  We have some help coming today and so should be able to get the container unloaded and furniture put in the correct locations.  It should be a busy day.  I am planning to unpack into the guest room and sort from there.  I am kind of in the purging mode and so plan to take anything I don't need or want to the dump / thrift store / garage sale / etc.  It is so nice to be moving into our very own house. 
We hadn't really realized how much we have felt like we were camping and in temporary mode for the last few years.  Really about since we moved back.  We did a ton of fixing up on the house and ranch, but it was not really ours alone and so while we took ownership of it, we knew it wasn't ours and that we would be moving.  Our temporary stay there lasted so much longer than we thought it would and so kept us in the "camping" stage.  As we were unloading some stuff yesterday it just felt so different.  Like this is OUR house, OUR home.  We love to host people and here we have the ability to do that and God has blessed us with a beautiful home and location to do it in.  We are thrilled!  It has been a lot of fun, and a lot of work getting to this stage but we are finally here.  I am sure it will continue to be an adventure as we pioneer our place, but we are definitely excited to be here.  Living off the grid should be interesting especially in the snow.  Yesterday it was cloudy and the solar panels were snow covered and so we had to turn the generator on right off the bat.  But our house is warm.  We have insulation!  What a novel idea.  And this wood stove puts out a lot of heat.  We really wanted to get moved in before the weekend as the highs for the next several days are only in the 20's. 
I will try to post some pictures once we have some furniture in the living room - where the chop saw was not too long ago.  :)  Our cell phones don't work all that well here - though we do get messages kind of.  But the Internet is up and running. 

Countertops

My two elves showed up again today.  What a fun treat.  We all worked hard all day and got all the laminate on the tops of all the kitchen cupboards and island.  It looks so good!  We were quite impressed with ourselves.  The glue was pretty stinky and so we were all a bit off, but we all had fun and enjoyed working together.  These two guys have been a huge blessing and joy to have around and working on this project.  The time spent has been fun.  Cris and I have done a lot of the finish work ourselves.  Well truly, he has done the work and I have been his little elf, and go-fer,  but we have enjoyed the time working with them both.  It is fun to work with someone who knows so well what they are doing.  Watching Crispin build is like watching an artist paint, skilled and creative. 

Merry Christmas

This is my first Christmas without my Dad.  It has been such a long and interesting and challenging year.  It is odd to think that just last year at this time we were beginning the roller coaster we have been on and we all have survived.  It is interesting to continue through this process of grief and figuring out what our new "normal" for life is.  And the things that continue to ambush us as we go through life.  Like at our new house the other day as I was cleaning the floors and just about was crying to know how much I was missing my Dad and the things I missed talking to him about.  How much  he would love my new house and how excited he would be to be a part of it.  He would love to have taken my son and gone traipsing up through the rocks hunting fossils and gold or cool rocks and cougars.  But we have plans for a Merry Christmas although he isn't here.  I wonder how they celebrate Christmas in Heaven?

Gaining Ground

Laying Carpet

 We have been busy, busy this last few weeks but have made huge progress.  It is funny to think that 3 weeks ago, I had no sheet rock.  Just insulation.  Now I have sheet rock and paint.  We finished trimming the windows and doors last week and they look beautiful!  Used Alder wood for all the casings as I found it on a really good deal as door casings.  We had to rip them down to size but they are so pretty.  I didn't realize what a good deal I had gotten on them at 50 cents a food until we went to get some wider pieces for our window sills.  These were $50 for a 10 foot stick in Alder.  WOW!  We went with Cedar as it is much cheaper.  It looks just fine at about 1/4 the cost.

The carpet guy came on Tuesday and successfully put carpet down in all appropriate places.  It looks perfect.  Totally matches my paint and trim is a good fit.  Then we set all our kitchen cabinets and started on the bathroom and laundry and other cabinet locations as well.  We have been putting in long days, but it has been fun as well.  Especially to be able to know we are almost done.  Appliances arrived this week as well and we got them all set in place.  The big excitement for the week thou was turning on the lights!  The solar guys finally finished and we had power.  The batteries were not all charged up so it only worked for a while but it was so nice to turn on the lights. 

Staging area for trim

 Crispin was able to come back a couple days this week as well and we got a lot done.  We put
cabinets up and we started on the resilient flooring downstairs.  It looked so good with our carpet and trim and everything is tying together so well!  The floor is a bit darker than I had pictured but it really does look like old barn wood.  The darkness of it really is making the knots in my Alder trim stand out and it is beautiful.  We used the chop saw and rip saw for cutting it instead of the Utility knife recommended in the directions and it worked well.  Again I was getting my workout running up and down the stairs.  But it was fun.  Then Cris and Nick came one day that they knew I wasn't going to be there and quite surprised me by getting the whole upstairs flooring completely finished.  They had to have been flying!