ROOMS AND BOARDS

AUGUST 30, 2010

Frank continued on with the dry wall. He worked clockwise around the center hexagon, stopping to make the walls for the different rooms as he came to them. He finished the bathroom.

Then he made the kitchen wall.

He went on to the pantry/laundry room. He reinstalled the laundry sink. He also put up the

cover for the corner.

Next was our bedroom. This involved the closets as well.

By Tuesday last week, I went back to sanding and applying the finish to the tongue and groove boards for the great room ceiling. I didn't work hard or long, but did do a little each day. All of the T& G now have one coat of finish on them, and I am starting on giving them a second coat. The main difference : I am now wearing a mask.

Here is Frank using his dry wall lift. One more day and he will be finished with the dry wall.

CARRYING ON--SOLO

AUGUST 23, 2010

Frank has carried on solo again this week. I have wandered around, pulled a few weeds, helped with some meals, laundry, and cleaning, but nothing much. No energy.

Frank put gutters over the deck end of the house, and the car port end. Notice the second stack of dry wall under the car port.

Frank finished dry wall in the mechanical room. He decided to redo the chimney chase on both floors. Now they both have metal studs with cement board in front. That will enable us to put our wood stoves much closer to the wall. This picture was taken before the cement board was put on.





















He brought the dry wall around the stairwell, up the steps......
























and around the top of the steps, including the outside wall of the study.




















He has also done a couple outside walls of the bathroom. Notice the cement board in front of the chimney chase.

Frank had a break from his "solo" work when Clair and Pat Mast stopped by on Friday on their way home from visiting their daughter. Clair helped Frank with a couple sheets of dry wall, and Pat did some cleaning up. Then we all went out for supper. Many thanks, Clair and Pat!

Today Frank and I went a little beyond Uniontown to pick up John's trailer. He left it there and brought his "new" mower home on a borrowed trailer on Saturday. Then we drove across the panhandle of WV, and Frank picked up another (#4) Cub Cadet. It is now the newest he has, but needs lots of TLC before it can be used. Do you think he is afraid of running out of things to do?

BACK IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING

AUGUST 16, 2010

Frank kept up his pace. He was able to dry wall the entire garage, thereby making it fire proof for one hour.

He used joint compound around his work table, primed that area, and put up peg board for his tools. The inspector actually wants to see the "raw" dry wall, but Frank wanted to organize his tools. Therefore, there will be no more "finished" product until after that inspection.



He has also started working in and around the mechanical room.






















Meanwhile, this is what I've been doing--either here at home, or in the hospital.




I started running a fever about a week ago. It soon was high, but I had no other symptoms. John was home on vacation last week, and he finally sent me into the hospital for some x-rays and blood work. I had pneumonia. I went to my doctor and she admitted me to the hospital. I was one sick chick. My temperature ran around 103*. They could get it down, but it would just go back up that high within several hours. (This is not fun for an adult.) I was also very dehydrated. They blasted me with IV fluids for a couple days before that problem was resolved. They had to change my meds before I left the high fevers behind. After parts of six days, I am home again, tired and weak, but feeling much better. Discharge orders? No construction work for seven to ten days!

Poor Frank! He just keeps plugging away. He hurt his right knee--the bad one--and now is at least wearing a brace.





Since not much has happened this week, I thought I'd add some other pictures.

Morning mist coming up from the valley

Night on Poplar Ridge

Martin Kid Wash

DRY WALL, HVAC, SOFFITS

AUGUST 11, 2010

Jason finally finished the HVAC. (This was one of the last things to happen, but it is easier to put it here at this point.)





















Every couple of days I must water my plants. I have seven window boxes on the deck and also seven individual pots. I have had two roses bloom again. One of them is from the farm, and I think the other was the one from Frank's boyhood house. It was really hot and humid last
Wednesday. He came in to work on his finances. We had a severe thunderstorm, and the power went out, and it stayed off until Thursday about suppertime. A big tree came down right beside the field, so I spent Thursday raking up and hauling off debris. I had known it had carpenter ants in it, and we had just gotten some "antsecticide" to take care of that problem. I think it worked on another tree. But we found two more trees with ants in them!






















We had originally been told that the power would not come on until Friday midnight. We were planning on taking Saturday off to celebrate our 45Th wedding anniversary. Even though the power came on Thursday we decided to go anyway on Friday. We drove to Ohiopyle State Park and stopped to watch some kyakers.





















And then went on to Falling Water.

















We stopped by Kentuck Knob. We wanted to just walk around the outside, but couldn't, unless we paid for a tour. Then we tried to get to Laural Caverns. Magellan, our GPS, took us to a little, mountainous, rutty, rocky, dirt road three miles long. When we got to the other end, there was a gate blocking our exit. So, we had to turn around and go back the way we had come. This is the best part of that road, that we later decided was a ski mobile trail! It reminded us of Idaho days!





Magellan finally took us to the middle of an upscale housing development! We gave up, tried to have Megellan take is to the restaurant we wanted to go to. Magellan goofed again! We asked someone by the road, and finally arrived. All in all, it was a good day and full of unexpected twists that make life interesting.

Saturday, Frank finished working on the soffits. We had the tractor back, so he cleaned up more of the storm damage. He fertilized the lawn, and then moved some stuff from the garage to the shed. I sanded and finished tongue and groove.






Monday our drywall arrived. He started right in with it in the garage.

MORE PIPES

AUGUST 2, 2010


Frank began working on waste water plumbing. He put in the needed vents, and also hooked up the gas lines for the range and the dryer. The inspector was here this morning and gave Frank the okay to begin doing dry wall.




























He made an entrance into the attic.......















and put a laundry sink in the laundry room.







We decided to make cabinets on both sides of the shower. Frank filled in the deepest part of the area back there, to make it easier to reach the back of the shelves. Jason has been here for several hours on a couple days. He has the main heating and cooling ducts in, and today began working on coming up through the floor into the main part of the house. Notice the one circular duct by the chimney chase.




























Frank put hydrants on both ends of the house.






























Today he started working on putting the soffits on the main part of the house.










Meanwhile, I have finished sanding, even the tongues and groove themselves, and have stained the boards. Next I will need to do a light sanding, and then put on the finishing coats. Our problem is not being able to acquire any more of the finish we have been using. It was water base polyurethane. We can't figure out why it is being phased out in PA, because the state is trying to move away from oil-based products.

Last Thursday was Rain Day. Supposedly it has rained on July 29Th in Greene County 110 times since they began keeping records in 1874. Make that 111, because we had a drizzle early in the day this year. The local people have quite a celebration with lots of food, games, a beauty pageant, and all sorts of things to buy. Frank and I went in (during the drizzle) for a buckwheat pancake breakfast.