Half sheeted and not tucked in

Half of the roof is sheeted. 

Kitchen and living room areas are now under cover. Arthur’s loft above Kevin & my bedroom and my office are on the waiting list.  

Kevin and Arthur climbed aboard to enjoy the spoils.

Arthur rolled a bottle of water from his spot in the name of gravity and momentum. The X & Y factors of motion. 

They invited me up…..ah, I think I’ll just keep my view from the ground for now.      

Watching them I drifted into a heady admiration, smiled and reflected on the perseverance, sweat and time that went into cutting those boards and then the energy Kevin exerted to haul them to roof level to set them.

New logs are on the way.....

Yeah, I’m happy.

~Cheryl

What's wrong with this picture?

That beautiful limb isn't long enough to meet the beam!

Time to find a new tree!

Yep, we're going for the real rustic look!  Its also happens to be in the budget!


~Cheryl

It's Like Trees In The Sky

It’s like trees in the sky

It’s beautiful.

The moments unfold more gradually these days. I’ve been temping 8 to 5 come lately and around 6.30 in the AM Kevin tells me of his daily plans. Yesterday it was rafters.

I often think how his day is going and about what progress he has made. I was delighted with the sight that greeted me as I drove down our road and pulled into the gravel drive.

These 11 rafters that reach into our woodland skies will roof the living room and Arthur’s loft.

I imagine myself inside the dry walled in house and making decisions on where to place the furniture Kevin will build. I envision a rustic luxury of open space, of abundant cabinets and built in bookshelves. I wonder at my bare feet on hard wood floors cut from local timber. I marvel at the idea of coffee on the deck overlooking the surrounding woods and lake. And I am fascinated that Kevin has already picked out where our Christmas tree will sit.

Reality Check: All the milling of logs that Kevin and Arthur accomplished this last summer in preparation for this build has dwindled. Kevin’s board count for the framing was almost spot on, but now I find him calculating his needs for the remaining rafters, roofing and a few minor interior walls. Already he’s pulled in logs from down the road and 2 huge pines that stood less than 100 yards from the new house site. I keep telling him no more clearing on our property, but apparently thinning is a different concept.

Our house is made of trees I’ve seen, touched and watched morph into something equally as beautiful that reaches upwards just like them.

My trees in the sky.

It’s beautiful.

~Cheryl

When all else fails, add an extra Axel!

Always on the lookout for fallen logs to mill for lumber for the house Kevin found several down the road from us.  (Recently cut down by our local Asplundh crew on a mission to keep the power lines clear)

Between the back hoe, chain saw and a obviously too small homemade trailer, Kevin got as far as loading.

As we began the trek home with me as a precaution following him with my hazard lights on the left trailer tire hissed and blew.  So home we went to get an axel we’d acquired from the mobile home we scraped out earlier this month.

After lifting the trailer with the backhoe we positioned the new axel and Kevin chained it all together.

These logs are expected to go into rafters, floor joists, sub floor boards and roof sheathing.

~ Cheryl 

Aluminum Playday

Kevin (and Arthur and I, but mostly Kevin) have taken to scrapping old trailers.  Recently we took one down not far from the house.  Aluminum and steel are the main items for the Reclamation Centers (Recycling).  Copper wire is also something to keep an eye out for.

This melting expedition included aluminum from that scrapping job as well as our own private collection of candy wrappers (from Christmas) and assorted aluminum pieces saved from the trashcan in the kitchen.   The more we can return to nature, recycle or reuse the better.  

Kevin has played at melting down aluminum for a while now and the experiments have been simple, mainly seeking out suitable molding mediums.  He and I had spent hours designing lovely patterns in plaster of Paris only to find that the hot aluminum cracked them. So this time we played with both sand/dirt and concrete. 

As you can see from the collage, with our makeshift furnace and crucible we are very much novices. Our process is refined bit-by-bit, experiment-by-experiment. And it doesn’t hurt that Kevin likes playing with fire, and concrete and wood and, well the list goes on an on….

For me, I’d like to create aluminum focal points for the jewelry like sun catcher creations I build.  Ever the master fabricator, Kevin will design as well as see the project into production.

From these humble beginnings we have high aspirations. Exploring where our creativity motivations take us has become a major component in our lives.  The impulse to create is strong and we are delighted to answer the call.

~ Cheryl

Open Spaces

It’s a lovely mild winter day with a hint of rain this afternoon. The second floor is upon us, or rather Kevin is upon it, beginning work on the sub floor for Arthur’s loft, which is the ceiling of the laundry, master bath and bedroom.

We’ve all been doing our share of fantasizing about the size of our new rooms. We’ve spent the past 11 plus years in a singlewide trailer all I can think of is open space!

~Cheryl

Wall Jacks One and Two

Kevin, Arthur and their 2 new best friends Wall Jack 1 and 2 have been busy the past few weeks.  The new buddies are built from 2-inch & 1 1/2 pipe telescope style, one inside the other and boat trailer winches.  These incredible tools have played an important roll in raising the assembled skeleton walls, enabling one man to do the work of several. 

As each room came together and support beams were raised into place I marveled at how my house is coming together.  At the end of each day Kevin and I walked the floor plan deciding where the fireplace, the closets, the bookshelves and next years Christmas tree will go.

The wall in the picture above is for my future office.  I am already fantasizing myself there blogging away to my hearts content. 

It’s New Years Day 2011 and a marathon of Star Wars movies are on again. Kevin and Arthur are watching it again.  I am in my currently very tiny office blogging dreaming about my new office…….

Below are a ‘VERY’ short re-play of progress.

Above:  Moving one of the wall tie beams out the carport onto the sub-floor.  There are a total of four beams like this used on the house, all cut from the same Pine tree. (cut from 20 foot long chunks ranging from 14 to 16 inch diameter)  Chain sawed to size then cleaned up with a skill saw.  You can match up the knot holes at a glance. 

Arthur working Wall Jack 1 on his end, and Kevin on the other positioning one of the support beams,

The last exterior wall going up thanks to Wall Jacks 1 & 2.

Last exterior wall in place! (for the the main floor that is, Arthur's loft is next.........)

~Cheryl