Vacation?

For most of the last week my wife and I have been working on a log cabin on our ranch. It has been a lot of work. At times we have been using the same tools that our ancestors would have used. One of which is a draw knife. This is a piece of metal sharpened on one side with handles on both ends. The purpose of this implement is to skin the bark off logs that are going to be used in building. It is a long and arduous task using a lot of arm and back muscles. Some of which I forget that I even had. Since the cabin has a wood burning stove as the main source of heat getting the firewood stacked is another chore that needs to be done before winter sets in. If it doesn't get done while I am home then my wife would have to do it while I am on the road. While these chores have gained me points with my wife they have also shown me just a taste of what it must have been like to have lived in my grandparent's  time. My maternal grandfather moved from Kansas to the plains of eastern Colorado to start his own farm. He built a sod house on the property and it was in this structure that my mother, uncle, and one of my aunts were born. Lumber was expensive and very hard to come by, so settlers used squares of sod to build with. The image is of my grandparents in front of the Soddy. Since the two children are identified as my Aunts Mary and Margaret I am guessing that it must have been taken around 1915 or so. The date on the edge is the date that it was copied. This is the type of structure I used as a refuge in the short story "Storm" in Rambling.