.....AND RIZ!!

MARCH 29, 2010

Our appliances arrived on the 23Rd. This is our refrigerator, washer, and dryer.

This past week Frank's cousin Clair Mast came to help us. I was put on K.P. Duty and Clean-up detail. Some of their work was done on solid footing.

Other was higher off the ground. Watch our Lookout go up!

They even put the collar tie up on top!

They also worked on roof joists.

So, now, the house looks like this.

And when it is tarped, like this. The two lower tarps (unseen in this picture) slope down from the center of the house to the doors on either side, carrying the water out the doors. They worked quite well over the weekend.

But while the house gets taller, our supply piles get smaller!

We are again waiting for fair weather. The next things will be more internal before Operation Roof takes place.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG! LOOK WHAT'S RIZ!!

MARCH 22, 2010

We left everything dry out last Monday. Tuesday, we were back at work. Frank took part of one log (that was bowed) off, and made another to replace it. I worked on top of Row 14. I checked to be sure that all splines and nails were in place. Frank helped with difficult splines and with the nails. Then I filled all holes (splines, nails, bolts, etc.) with Sikaflex. I cut small pieces of plastic to cover them, and keep things from getting messy. I also started covering Row 14 with plastic.

I finished the plastic on Wednesday. Frank framed the middle hexagon--our bathroom. I helped by doing some sawing and helping to hoist the walls up. Notice how blue the sky has been! All the snow has melted, too.




Thursday Frank uncovered the collar ties. We hefted them onto the deck, taking a breather between each one. They were heavy! Frank prepared them to go up, while I cleaned up and recovered our piles of supplies. We used our scaffolds to move them one by one, and set them in place. Then they needed to be bolted down--four 12 inch lags plus one 8 inch lag in each collar tie. They are in the area where our Great Room will be, and will be seen in our cathedral ceiling. We called that a good day's work!

Friday Frank gave me the day off, while he put the deck on top of the bathroom. Notice the collar ties in place. Count all five. Saturday afternoon was Jenna's violin recital. She played every song in Suzuki Book I for many of her friends. Then we celebrated her Graduation to Book 2, with a feast that Tonya made.

Notice the hole for our "attic stairs" access to the cupola observation area--both before and after the deck was installed.

This week we've also reconfigured the tarps--again--to fit over the middle hexagon, and recovered everything in the basement. We bought and planted more grass seed, and Frank did some work on the lane. That seems to be a constant necessity.

WALLS BLITZ

MARCH 15, 2010

Frank and I had completed Row 8 last week. I felt very good about this because it meant that we had completed over half of the walls by ourselves. (John had helped us a little one afternoon.) Frank's brother Glenn and brother-in-law Dwight arrived late last Monday to help us with the walls.

They helped us for two rather long days. They determined they wanted to get all the logs up. The logs in the last two or three rows were longer because they did not have windows or doors to go around. Longer means heavier. Their goal was to keep Frank and I from lifting those long, heavier logs by ourselves.

We had decided before they arrived that the best use of all talents would be served by dividing the labor. My job was "prep" work. I checked for and sealed any "leaks" with the Sikaflex caulk, and laid the Butylog that seals the two rows of logs together.

Glenn and Dwight would position and attach the logs to the former row. Frank would come along behind them to seal the log joints, nail each row to the corner posts, and attach the window and door bucks. Dwight actually did the major part of the lag work--driving a 12 inch lag bolt about every two feet into the former row.

Glenn helped Frank find and prepare the logs. Row 12 needed to be cut to fit over the window and door bucks. Row 14 needed notches for the collar ties in the Great Room. Of course, we all helped as needed to keep the job going forward.

Watch our house grow! Rows 9 and 10.

And grow...Rows 11 and 12.

And grow...Rows 13 and 14!!!

Here is our house with the log walls completed! THANKS LOADS, GUYS!!

Dwight and Glenn left Thursday morning. Frank worked on revising the tarps. He strung a rope across the middle of the house, and attached the two tarps to it. Then he made it taper down to the doors--one on each side. He also cut plastic and stapled it to the outside of the window bucks. I began to clean the floor of sawdust, wood chips, and a couple small tools we had missed the night before. When I was not helping Frank, I cleaned where the logs had been stored, gathered and bagged all manner of trash, and sorted logs and wood scraps and put them away. This is how the tarps looked from the inside.

And from the outside. Will they shed the rain?

Friday Frank cleaned and put away all the tools. They are now ready for our next project--the inside walls. Especially the smaller hexagon in the center, which will be our bathroom, needs to be framed in before the roof goes on. Glenn and Dwight enjoyed the work so much, they want to return for Operation Roof. Son Franklyn is coming next month for that project.

Meanwhile, it has been another wet and dreary weekend. We are on hold again--this time with a rain delay. The snow is almost all melted. Maybe tomorrow ????

THERE'S A STRANGE LIGHT IN THE SKY!

MARCH 8, 2010

Gray, dreary days finally disappeared. The sun returned. At first it was still too cold to do anything. Then one day we dug out the logs and took another row over to the deck.















The following day, we started up with the walls. We again used the Gypsy Wagon to store our tools. Our routine was to open the Wagon and bring the tools onto the deck. Then we would work on the walls. If we finished a row, we would find the logs for the next row and bring them onto the deck before we pulled the tarps over for the night.






















We took the house from Row 4 to Row 8 by Monday evening. In other words, from this.....

















to this.























We now had the window and door bucks in place. Here are the views out our bedroom and Great Room windows


























This little fellow came visiting Sunday Morning. He wanted the grass now appearing right outside our window. He would not leave--not when Daisy, or even Frank went out to chase them away. He was starving. We think he had the Wasting Disease.






Now we are awaiting the arrival of Frank's brother Glenn and brother-in-law Dwight.

MORE DOWN TIME

FEBRUARY 15 TO MARCH 1, 2009

Bad weather has continued. We were able to add Row 4 over the first weekend. Then we again had to adjust the tarps for bad weather.

Daisy has acquired a new friend. Can you make out what it it? It's a S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L. We can't say it very loudly, because she knows the word!

Since the forecast showed no breaks, we traveled to Kidron to visit Vangie's mother and siblings there. Mom had been ill and was slowly improving. We went to Lehman's Hardware to obtain gas lamps for John and Tonya, and lamp oil and wicks==unobtainable here because of the power outages. Wednesday was a travel day east. We stopped for a visit and an overnight with Frank's cousin Marilyn and her husband Lewis in central PA. A large storm was forecast for that day in eastern PA, so we left there fairly early in the morning, and headed for Lititz, where Frank's folks live.

Frank and sister Edna attended a meeting to discuss Mom's care. They were told that she is "declining steadily." Frank and Edna asked that she be kept comfortable. She can no longer stand, even with her walker. We spent time with Dad Thursday afternoon, then went home with Pearl for a visit, supper, and overnight. Glenn L. was home. We shared our pictures of work on the house, but couldn't find our "Snowmegddan" pictures. Glenn L. left on a motor coach assignment the next day. Pearl had a snow day off from school. Below are some of the drifts we found. We visited Dad, met a couple friends at a restaurant for lunch, and went to Weaver's store. We had quite a list of things we needed--boots, work shoes, and gloves for one or both of us. We went back to Dad's. Dad didn't want us to "bother" taking him out for a meal, so we visited Kentucky Fried. We tried to get several family members to eat with us. Some were under the weather; some had other plans, and Glenn K. was still scraping snow! Pearl and Edna were able to join us at Dad's for the chicken supper. We all enjoyed the time together.

After a short "Good bye" to Dad Saturday morning, we started back. The roads offered no trouble, but some places had a lot of the white stuff. Notice on the one picture that the snow is over half way up the door on the front of the building. We felt small going through paths not much wider than the car to get to the gas pumps. Whole parking lots were filled with snow.

Now we are again waiting for warmer and dryer weather so we can work again. Perhaps Friday and Saturday?????