In 1955 Ken and Joann Boyer started their new house.  The plan was that they would do most of the work themselves.  Joann made a blueprint of her plan on the back of a Baker 4^th of July Rodeo poster.  This “blueprint” was followed from start to finish, and only required a few minor changes as construction proceeded.  When school let out for the summer, Joann set her teaching job aside and started the house.

Two carpenters were hired to help.  They weren’t contractors.  They were paid by the hour, and Joann worked side-by-side with them throughout the project.  Ken helped when he was able, but had to keep the cows milked, bring in the crops, and keep the farm running.  Joann thus became the self-appointed architect, general contractor, roustabout, and workman.  She prided herself in the knowledge that she could do anything the men could do.

She and the men built forms for the concrete basement walls out of shiplap.  After the concrete set up, the forms were torn apart and the shiplap boards were laid out diagonally and nailed down to become the sub-floor.  Plywood was nailed on top of the shiplap.

Joann and one of the carpenters nailed the flooring into place.  They worked together.  Joann noted that she was just as fast as the man.  In her mind a secret race was taking place.  She matched him nail-for-nail, and board-for-board.  All went well and progressed rapidly until Joann missed a nail and whacked her thumb.  It hurt dreadfully; but a race was a race, and she wasn’t about to let a common man beat her.  Joann gritted her teeth and kept on pounding.

The next day Joann felt a little sheepish about the undeclared race that she’d waged with the carpenter.  Her thumb hurt, so she showed him the thumb, and told him what she’d been doing when she hit it with the hammer.  Hearing her forthright confession, the carpenter reddened and made one of his own.  He’d noticed the lady’s speed, and felt challenged.  Under no circumstances could he let a woman beat him, so he pounded and worked as efficiently as she.  He’d done very well, had managed to keep up, had matched her nail-for-nail, and showed her his own blackened thumbnail to prove it.