Daddy, where do shingles come from?

The boys and I went out to the shingle mill in Trenary yesterday. I asked them as we were loading up what kind of saw they used and they eagerly gave us a tour. They slide 16" or 24" logs on a carriage over a rust-brown circular blade which is about 40" across. The shingles fall onto a conveyor which takes them up to another cutting device which cuts them to width. The waste is baled and sold for archery targets or other uses.

We bought the cheaper shingles, both for the price and the character knots. I don't like the uneven bottoms, though, so today I spent an hour trying different methods of cutting them square. The chainsaw wins again. When the shingles are snug in their bales you can go right down the edge of them. Chainsaws, albeit noisy, are the closest you can get to a real light saber, as far as I know.

Our to-do list before next week's party is still something of a Goliath, but we're just going to keep whipping stones up there and know that this event is not going to be what we think it is. It's going to be just what it is.

Shingling Soon -- Party Details

Summer is now standing by the door, scratching her head, and there's only two weeks before our shingling. Since last posting I've managed to get the attic room framed and a few more windows and doors trimmed.

This party is getting exciting. We conceived this house with the community in mind, since we won't need to use a dance room all the time —and since it's often hard to have a gathering in the woods around here when sleet or bugs are in the air. This will be the biggest gathering yet, and though there's still so much to do it's great to see this building becoming useful.

So the party will be starting Saturday morning, September 4th and continue until Sunday night. We'll be nailing up shingles in teams during the day and playing music in the evening. The bands Lovechild and Pitchy Kanto have pledged their presence as have a handful of other musicians, and all attendees are expected to bring an instrument, sing, dance, or at least bob their heads in whatever way comes naturally.

Camping is encouraged. There are lots of places to put a tent and lots of floor space inside once things quiet down. We're planning to serve Mexican food on Saturday and Italian on Sunday. There'll be things to eat and drink during the day, too. If you want to bring something to share then you should do that.

A hammer and a nail apron will be useful if you have them. You may wish to use earmuffs sometimes. We have a few pairs and earplugs, too. If you have experience with this sort of work, you might find yourself being a leader for a while.

There will be wooden signs once you get off the pavement, so it shouldn't be too tricky.

Here's the Googlish map, if that helps:


View Larger Map

Hope to see you there. If you can RSVP by facebook or the comment place here that would be helpful to estimate food and beer requirements.