It's nice to have a day to organize your life -- work on the necessities and chores that pile up during the week. With Trevor and I working so much, a lot of things have fallen to the back of our minds: laundry, baking, dog baths, and packing, to name a few. We made some noble efforts to catch up this weekend.
Trevor started out today by making six jars of cherry jam. Boy, is it tasty! We've been buying in-season fruits in large quantities so we can save them for the winter. I've got a bag of blueberries in the fridge with 'pie' written all over it. When blueberries come into season in VT, I think I'll freeze a bunch so I can have blueberry muffins this winter. Raspberries and blackberries aren't far off!
I managed to do some yard work with the nice weather, and Trev and I transplanted a bunch of green things over at the cabin (oregano, coneflowers, chives, roses, mint, columbines, and others). We'd like to start the cottage garden, but the siding has to go up first. No use putting things in if they're going to get trampled.
Speaking of the cabin... Allison's organizing another work party for next Sunday, July 19th. Be there, or be square! We finally finished the roof. There would have been more celebration, but we were all dead tired. Allison and I ate a bag of cherries up on the ridge before coming down. I'm still trying to recover from the sunburn -- the metal roofing makes it feel like an oven up there. But, now we're on to more interesting projects. We've got interior walls, exterior sheathing, electric wiring, well digging, ceiling installation, and the list goes on. At least it's only July.
I'm off to work on pan-seared steak with onions and wine. At 9:00pm. I guess I've been losing track of time...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Like a Kat on a hot tin roof.
The rain never stops falling here. Three weeks of wet work let me know that I must be on track. How else would nature tell me to slow down? Each drop says, "Take a break... rest now... time to sleep... today is your day off...." No stopping for us, though. We've pushed our way through this unfortunate weather and have progressed very far on the one thing that will keep us dry: the roof.
The tricky thing about a roof is that to install it, it can't be raining very much. Now, I say 'very much' because tar paper isn't hard to lay, even if it's drizzling outside. Even metal roofing can be installed in the rain. Adhesive ice and water shield, however, doesn't adhere very well to wet wood. So, we have to wait for a dry day to install it. And, well, we haven't had many dry days for a while now.
We have finished 1/2 of the roof. The east side is completely done (chimney and all)! So far, no leaks! The west roof is proving more difficult because we decided to add a dormer to the loft space. The view was much too good to give up. And, I'm moving my study over to the west side so I can take full advantage of that dormer (and its window-seat potential)! I think we can have that side finished up in two days, if we get some sun.
In the meantime, we've been working on other projects that can be done in the rain, or under the dry part of the roof. Ashley and Edwin quickly finished up the firestopping in the walls, and Will has been working steadily on the dormer. Today, we lifted two collar ties into place, which look very fine. I'm trying to use native wood as much as possible; it's more ecologically sound, it costs less, and it looks beautiful. I can't wait to see it in the finished cabin.
In the next few weeks, I plan to sheath the house, start the woodshed and the porch, install some windows, and put up the interior walls. Once the roof is watertight and dried out, I can put up the toungue & groove pine ceiling, and then we're going to blow cellulose insulation into the gaps. I'm hoping it will keep the house toasty enough!
Of course, I can't sign off without at least a few photos to glimpse at, so please enjoy:
Carpenter extrodinaire, Rob
Ashley and Edwin at work on a floor joist
The much anticipated dormer
Will, at the helm of the 'danger dormer'
East side, complete
Peace out, all.
The tricky thing about a roof is that to install it, it can't be raining very much. Now, I say 'very much' because tar paper isn't hard to lay, even if it's drizzling outside. Even metal roofing can be installed in the rain. Adhesive ice and water shield, however, doesn't adhere very well to wet wood. So, we have to wait for a dry day to install it. And, well, we haven't had many dry days for a while now.
We have finished 1/2 of the roof. The east side is completely done (chimney and all)! So far, no leaks! The west roof is proving more difficult because we decided to add a dormer to the loft space. The view was much too good to give up. And, I'm moving my study over to the west side so I can take full advantage of that dormer (and its window-seat potential)! I think we can have that side finished up in two days, if we get some sun.
In the meantime, we've been working on other projects that can be done in the rain, or under the dry part of the roof. Ashley and Edwin quickly finished up the firestopping in the walls, and Will has been working steadily on the dormer. Today, we lifted two collar ties into place, which look very fine. I'm trying to use native wood as much as possible; it's more ecologically sound, it costs less, and it looks beautiful. I can't wait to see it in the finished cabin.
In the next few weeks, I plan to sheath the house, start the woodshed and the porch, install some windows, and put up the interior walls. Once the roof is watertight and dried out, I can put up the toungue & groove pine ceiling, and then we're going to blow cellulose insulation into the gaps. I'm hoping it will keep the house toasty enough!
Of course, I can't sign off without at least a few photos to glimpse at, so please enjoy:
Carpenter extrodinaire, Rob
Ashley and Edwin at work on a floor joist
The much anticipated dormer
Will, at the helm of the 'danger dormer'
East side, completePeace out, all.
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