tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33040831365375832872024-02-07T17:40:01.175-05:00Our House on the CreekSongfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-78285484585968046792016-12-21T14:40:00.001-05:002021-10-13T14:09:56.285-04:00Kitchen finishingMost parts of this building process took way longer than my optimistic estimate, but the kitchen (and plumbing) took WAY longer and it's still not quite done. It's been about a year and a half now, off and on. There were a few plumbing and wiring changes to the original plan, but the most time-consuming part has been the cabinets. They’re simple plywood cabinets mixed in with some metal cabinets salvaged by my friend Sven from the old hospital that we just spray-painted.<br />
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Here’s a snapshot of a 3-D drawing. I poured concrete countertops in place using specially made countertop forms from <a href="http://concretecountertopsolutions.com/" target="_blank">an online source</a>. <a href="http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2015/08/diy-white-concrete-countertops.html" target="_blank">Here’s a link to another house-building blog showing a similar process.</a> I did a much cheaper version than the link shows, using <a href="https://www.lowes.com/pd/QUIKRETE-Profinish-5000-80-lb-Gray-High-Strength-Concrete-Mix/3026897" target="_blank">regular high-strength concrete</a> and 14 ga. wire. You can get these locally at about one-tenth of the cost of mail-ordered specialty countertop mud. We had some locally available countertop mud, but this was also several times more expensive. I understand the mud we used was not as workable, sandable and otherwise forgiving as the custom stuff but I would do it the same way again if the gray color was desired. It helps to have a little experience finishing concrete and to add to it by watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNmJr7cQlkQ" target="_blank">youtube videos like this one. </a><br />
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Here is the underlayment ready to attach forms. You can see I put 2X4
falsework under the cantilevered sections and open spans to support the
concrete until it cures.<br />
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And here is the concrete as it is right now, in December 2016, nearly finished. It needs a bit more shaping and then I'm planning to seal it. If you want to do this yourself you might want to order a kit like <a href="http://www.vseal.com/products/stonelok-e3-2k-countertop-kits?variant=1247719640" target="_blank">this</a> or <a href="http://www.concretecountertopsupply.com/Item/SealerTrio" target="_blank">this</a>. Or something like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009VJDIC8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009VJDIC8&linkCode=as2&tag=littgreenote-20&linkId=7QQNAYXZ67N453MN" target="_blank">this acrylic sealer</a> with a wax on top. The simplest finish I found was just to use beeswax, but that is not very durable. <a href="http://www.concretecountertopinstitute.com/blog/2014/01/sealer-concrete-countertops/" target="_blank">This is a pretty nice article explaining the different choices for sealing indoor concrete.</a> It doesn't look like we'll have countertops for Christmas, but hey, maybe New Years!<br />
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2021 update: We really like the countertops. I made one mistake I should mention. When sanding with diamond pads, a lot of fine dust is created. Be very careful not to inhale much of it. I had the thought halfway through sanding to use water to stop the dust. It worked to keep the dust down, but the water pulled some of the fines off of the counter, leaving a gritty texture in the area where I used water. Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-13564306688400916862015-03-31T15:28:00.005-04:002022-02-08T11:58:53.465-05:00These past couple seasons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The past few months' progress have been mostly in the trim department. The first rooms to get finished were our bedrooms.<br />
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Once we were moved in to our own rooms (whoop whoop) it was time to hurry up and prepare for cold weather. Last winter caught us very unprepared for record-breaking cold temperatures. We ran out of firewood by the end of February and I could not keep up by simply going out with a sled and cutting dead trees. We had to get creative, burning scraps from our carpenter neighbor, pallets from anyone getting rid of them, or whatever else we could find.<br />
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This winter was way different, thank God and hard work! First of all we built a decent 5-cord woodshed and filled it (in addition to our old shed). Here you can see the sheds and two of our resident moles showing off their snow-ships.<br />
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The other key to coziness was a pair of propane wall heaters. This one is in the utility room.<br />
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Installing these meant connecting to the existing gas plumbing, and connecting that to a big tank out in the yard. We were in a bit of a race to get the rest of the trench dug before the ground got hard, and then we had thigh-deep snow to clear out of the way by the time the propane company came to deliver a tank in early December. The other difficult part of this process was chiseling a hole through the foundation for the downstairs heater's vent. These stoves are "direct-vent" heaters, meaning you mount them on an outside wall and the fresh combustion air and exhaust are vented straight out the back. Looking back it might have been smart to install a more-efficient central propane heating system, even though we still intend to use a <a href="https://www.mha-net.org/" target="_blank">masonry wood stove</a> as our main heat. <br />
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Even though this February was the coldest on record, the spring at the bottom of the hill kept pouring its water out day and night. The day this photo was taken the high temperature got up to -2, and that dark stuff at the bottom is moving ground water. As handy as this abundance of wild water is, we found after having it tested that it was just hard enough to ruin our water heater and just acidic enough to eat up metal parts of the plumbing. It had already been noted that it was difficult to wash hair and glassware with this water, and that dissolved iron left the toilet and bathtub impossible to keep white. So after months of research I ordered a water softener and calcite tank from <a href="https://www.ohiopurewater.com/" target="_blank">a company in Ohio</a> and hooked it up. We now have hot running soft water. Sound the trumpets.<br />
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So as the road starts to break up we're back to putting up trim. This week the mud room is coming together complete with coat rack, and trim for the little door to the fairy room.<br />
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The kids built this room in the wall as we were putting up drywall.<br />
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There's still plenty of snow up in these hills, but April promises some changes. Here's hoping these promises don't fool us like they did last year!<br />
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The story of the wood we’re using for trim might be worth telling, so if you find a story about wood interesting here it is:<br /> I grew up in a pine forest south of Marquette, and being an introvert in a house with four siblings, I spent a lot of time out in those woods and got to know where just about each tree was<br />between our house and the swamp. There was one great white pine, taller than all the red pines, that my big brothers climbed a few times and said they could see Lake Superior. Once I followed them up there but a branch broke about 12 feet up and I slid down the rough trunk scraping up my doughy belly and came away so intimidated that I never dared to climb up again. <br /> Many years later, in 2007, I talked to my mother on the phone who told me someone was cutting those trees down and building a house. At that moment it appeared my parents would lose much of their privacy and have houses and roads to look at where there once was wilderness. As it turned out the new people were very careful in selecting which trees to cut, and offered us the stack of logs from the clearing to use. So my friend Justin of Wilson Creek Woodsmithing came by and we spent a couple days milling those logs into 1-inch thick material for trim and flooring for this house. That big white pine we made into 3-inch planks which I now intend to use for chunky stair treads (just now I’m wondering if my subconscious still wants to climb that tree.) <a href="http://ourhouseonthecreek.blogspot.com/2008/08/nearly-done-getting-ready-to-begin.html">Here’s a link to a post from when we milled the boards</a><br /> After milling the wood we stacked it for years in the yard here, covered, off the ground and stickered (meaning stacked with small sticks of wood, stickers, in between the layers to allow air to flow through) so that they would dry out. Years later when we finally wanted to use the wood I discovered the tarps covering the stacks had lost some of their integrity and the wood had started to rot. We were at first disappointed and then delighted after planing off the rough exterior to reveal clear wood with some subtle blue and grey colors. I’m not sure if this is what you call spalted wood but spalted is one of those fun words that makes rotten sound good. As my neighbor Rad says, “That’s not a flaw. That’s a feature!”<br />
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<br />Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-39023718598019728962014-08-27T15:01:00.003-04:002022-02-08T12:06:40.409-05:00Fall is about to stand up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We have been working like ants getting the house finished this summer. Painting, installing flooring downstairs, and building a decent woodshed- and then filling it with wood of course.<br />
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Now it's on to trim. This week we're hanging doors and planing the boards we milled up back in 2007, as mentioned in <a href="http://ourhouseonthecreek.blogspot.com/2008/08/nearly-done-getting-ready-to-begin.html" target="_blank">one of the first posts</a> of this blog.</div>
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Everybody's eager to move into their own rooms.</div>
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Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-20458049453255822852013-09-09T21:50:00.000-04:002013-11-08T22:47:45.261-05:00A trip out westThe train trip out west was excellent. Sleeping in those seats, however roomy, was difficult but other than that it was such a great way to see the country with the family and keep moving at the same time. If somebody needs to go pee, they get up and go. If you feel like talking to somebody, walk down to the observation car. Bring a guitar and you might get the chance to trade songs as I did with some kind folks.<br />
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One highlight of the trip out was rolling into Glacier National Park at sunset. The railway at this point departs from the highway. There was a pair of moose standing in a little lake watching the train go by. If you ever take this train, the Empire Builder, you might consider planning to stop a night or two in this fantastic park.<br />
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We are enjoying life in Bend. It has a lot in common with our hometown of Marquette, just with more people and less rain, and much smaller and fewer lakes and streams and much bigger mountains, some of them active volcanos. Tomorrow I'm playing at <a href="http://crowsfeetcommons.com/" target="_blank">Crow's Feet Commons</a>, a fancy bike shop with excellent local brews. I'm feeling right at home.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-87949040169801652672013-08-13T19:49:00.000-04:002013-09-25T19:53:39.199-04:00Will work for vacationAugust is blowing
by even faster than usual this time. Mostly because I've made myself
super busy in order to raise a little money so I can travel with my
family out to visit my sister and her husband (my longtime music making
friend Jared Smith) to welcome their new baby! We're all very excited
and it makes it easy to work like crazy during this season which is so
prime for goofing around to know that we'll soon be on a train to
Oregon. We are still finding times to get down to the lake, even if it's just for an hour or two before bed time.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/MichaelWaite/images/content/beach-of-ata-600.jpg" width="600" /><br />
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My Oregon family has found me a bunch of music dates out there, including
accompaniment for some yoga classes where Nora teaches. This is a new
thing for me that I've often thought about. Both yoga and music have
been great ways to get outside of the confines of my head and get a
fresh perspective on things. Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-84434910608096616262013-08-08T11:16:00.000-04:002013-09-25T19:24:00.404-04:00Mission StatementI sometimes wonder why I chose the life of a musician, to major in music
in college, to study song after song. But I do know that everywhere I
look I see and hear reasons and logic that tell me that people are to be
separated and compared, and put together in groups and so on, but in my
heart I know that we are all one. Music is the most powerful tool I
have known to cut through the labels and divisions our minds attach. My
greatest goal in life is to allow this healing to be revealed in myself
and everyone I encounter!<br />
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<img _fcksavedurl="http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/MichaelWaite/images/content/cloud-600.jpg" alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/MichaelWaite/images/content/cloud-600.jpg" width="600" />Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-50630668767107399942013-07-28T16:59:00.004-04:002022-02-08T12:15:17.967-05:00Recording dates<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3o1uzCMnn0e-opCpcZaRRFLha5D9YMt-Jc_XzFZw7vgSSp5i3AfaMBmLvd6XhRUwPXn9UmIFqzaqU5PKOc6sLzNhHLwcg9P5PPSesHchab8qInrCoX2n73L9lyVybmsvWpNs_kL59_s/s1600/Ryan.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3o1uzCMnn0e-opCpcZaRRFLha5D9YMt-Jc_XzFZw7vgSSp5i3AfaMBmLvd6XhRUwPXn9UmIFqzaqU5PKOc6sLzNhHLwcg9P5PPSesHchab8qInrCoX2n73L9lyVybmsvWpNs_kL59_s/s1600/Ryan.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3o1uzCMnn0e-opCpcZaRRFLha5D9YMt-Jc_XzFZw7vgSSp5i3AfaMBmLvd6XhRUwPXn9UmIFqzaqU5PKOc6sLzNhHLwcg9P5PPSesHchab8qInrCoX2n73L9lyVybmsvWpNs_kL59_s/s400/Ryan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This house had its first job as a music studio last week, thanks to a visit from recording engineer Ryan Staples and his drumstick-wielding wife Stephanie Whiton. Here are some photos. I'm so grateful to have such kind and brilliant people come over:<br />
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<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKouDTy9sgQmrR6jZ5JIIyjSzaMhq9IA67YBErszzzpKmA_N1JpU0lLsWkJ95pdehXGJ9tjtYsbvb0o-ORN5iZhyDZh7Asu6qU97J9bHfmrlwG4sGzf2sxoDhj3RjJduAaVlJnTfENW4Y/s1600/Steph.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKouDTy9sgQmrR6jZ5JIIyjSzaMhq9IA67YBErszzzpKmA_N1JpU0lLsWkJ95pdehXGJ9tjtYsbvb0o-ORN5iZhyDZh7Asu6qU97J9bHfmrlwG4sGzf2sxoDhj3RjJduAaVlJnTfENW4Y/s400/Steph.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jason Moody<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTHj-IkvITBdm6Wuqs5gUhqS51pEZdwEiqNt5TnsYOfhDJmQAUjdaLUSz9CVoJQuLMAtomEVMLajID3jyWKvMDc7SDHFsqKoT83vTyXym4mrjz6uAUr3e_X1z6dvXsSJ3JplPJoGHHBs/s1600/Moody.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTHj-IkvITBdm6Wuqs5gUhqS51pEZdwEiqNt5TnsYOfhDJmQAUjdaLUSz9CVoJQuLMAtomEVMLajID3jyWKvMDc7SDHFsqKoT83vTyXym4mrjz6uAUr3e_X1z6dvXsSJ3JplPJoGHHBs/s400/Moody.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtAy1X3pg9Cph7E5Dse9VADBWI4zPcNkd2RFzeP3UG3A30O_ToZp-syWExXD4ulFgqo-VEvPLY3gMEoG72G61rQSKbRyaO_MoUhyphenhyphen5KrEjP2Mq1JJJULH6dB5iHRkSyHw6jZ6WtsC4oP0/s1600/Aya.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtAy1X3pg9Cph7E5Dse9VADBWI4zPcNkd2RFzeP3UG3A30O_ToZp-syWExXD4ulFgqo-VEvPLY3gMEoG72G61rQSKbRyaO_MoUhyphenhyphen5KrEjP2Mq1JJJULH6dB5iHRkSyHw6jZ6WtsC4oP0/s400/Aya.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Aya Jane singing a coming-of-age duet with me<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Kerry Yost singing backing vocals <div>Sven Gonstead playing mandolin </div><div>Peter Gummerson on the keyboard <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fVFzmDdnrWnKbvJbp9KpH7t9yGW4Pitb66WrW5VABd9oW6Yi6spH3TevO8F10A7f3_KzUh-W7sOAKS6nAAD7p5-a3ZmxgtolO0p8W4LYC6I6ULSnf99F2fK5MOse4ypG0v3ylYe0gKg/s1600/Kerry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fVFzmDdnrWnKbvJbp9KpH7t9yGW4Pitb66WrW5VABd9oW6Yi6spH3TevO8F10A7f3_KzUh-W7sOAKS6nAAD7p5-a3ZmxgtolO0p8W4LYC6I6ULSnf99F2fK5MOse4ypG0v3ylYe0gKg/s400/Kerry.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVK6ryP_vTMEeZTnrZQbF5Mq9IZ94Vr6_Vs6zQh6_f7HjmGqZnAaWQR9DLwj0lAbRdJZVF2OhPu4Rbtqugo8k6j-knns6CUr165VTYOwGup2C3fW1LkQ6oOJavjRVnYOBsskt1p7tLv8/s1600/sven.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVK6ryP_vTMEeZTnrZQbF5Mq9IZ94Vr6_Vs6zQh6_f7HjmGqZnAaWQR9DLwj0lAbRdJZVF2OhPu4Rbtqugo8k6j-knns6CUr165VTYOwGup2C3fW1LkQ6oOJavjRVnYOBsskt1p7tLv8/s400/sven.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEBQAwEsjg9XrDYQhX05OB0RrDBoyNStX5cRjdAj4W7P21smRD3Bx3oN7MIt8oSwrI8VsFVJjiJPrsHK-zztvtm9I2JUo4AFB7aZ5Jhu08p6wWbtPV8enXBdodVXkq1sE1D-yBdOMiLM/s1600/P1030628_2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEBQAwEsjg9XrDYQhX05OB0RrDBoyNStX5cRjdAj4W7P21smRD3Bx3oN7MIt8oSwrI8VsFVJjiJPrsHK-zztvtm9I2JUo4AFB7aZ5Jhu08p6wWbtPV8enXBdodVXkq1sE1D-yBdOMiLM/s400/P1030628_2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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We spent one evening in Marquette to record some additional parts. Here's Peter Gummerson adding a
piano and other keyboard sounds in the chapel at St. Paul's Episcopal
church. We recorded about 10 songs and intend to add a few more soon and get
them into some kind of listenable package sometime in the snowy season.</div>Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-41348161090726591482013-01-15T13:31:00.002-05:002013-09-25T20:09:49.182-04:00Music for buildersHello again friends. It's been months since my last post I know, but the truth is there hasn't been much to write about with this house. When we started building we had the idea that after a year or so I'd go back to work full time at the business of music.<br />
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Nearly five years later we got to the level of functioning bathtub (however crude) and now that switch is starting to happen. For instance, I've started writing on the first page of my music website, <a href="http://michaelwaitemusic.com/">michaelwaitemusic.com</a>. But I'll continue to keep this site up too, by moving posts over here after a bit. The subject matter is bound to move away from house building and into things that this house allows us to do.<br />
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So to celebrate this blog-restructuring I write today about the best music for working on your house. I've found that the different building processes each have their own essence, and so work best with different kinds of music. This is based on my scientific research done in da woods by da swamp:<br />
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Digging -Traditional Irish dance music. This stuff makes it easy to enjoy a simple challenge, no matter how unhealthy. I think within this joy is the urge to show the devil who's in charge.<br />
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Framing -The temptation is to go heavy on drums and guitar, classic rock or other masculine stuff. But I find intelligent string band music (like Chris Thile or the Silk Road Ensemble) keeps me from working too hard without being too slow and thoughtful.<br />
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Plumbing -Blues. As Irish music helps us enjoy great challenges, the blues helps us enjoy apparently endless frustration. "Just Got Lucky" From Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown is a good one.<br />
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Electrical -You can get a little more brainless here, but to keep it moving some solid beats are in order: try something funky like Dr. John's "Locked Down" recording. Since you want to be moving from room to room quickly and can't be caught stopping near the boombox to catch the end of the stanza, it has to be something that you either know very well or something where the meaning of the words is not that important.<br />
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Pulling stumps with a minivan: Definitely some kind of punk music, can of beer in the cup holder. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO4nFFYPyNafYMzAVjQK77GOzXxsishNeJ0XVSItFa3BbBs0ZfC8PjUZjsi4us5s7WfvQOwh3aQkWsT1NNGnt9QPipdwLUjXnMAPXPirN9lUSZXu5kKD2nBwWwAwJAQhrU_LXRL9M3nk/s1600/logpile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO4nFFYPyNafYMzAVjQK77GOzXxsishNeJ0XVSItFa3BbBs0ZfC8PjUZjsi4us5s7WfvQOwh3aQkWsT1NNGnt9QPipdwLUjXnMAPXPirN9lUSZXu5kKD2nBwWwAwJAQhrU_LXRL9M3nk/s320/logpile.jpg" width="320" /></a>Making firewood -this job is so mindless that it lends itself to any kind of music or podcast. Lately I've been listening to the podcast called "A Crash Course in Miracles," which has turned the woodshed into a holy place. Sometimes being out in the woods with the occasional breeze in the pine needles or a passing company of chickadees is the best -until you start going nuts with the roaring monotony.<br />
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Hanging drywall -This is the probably the reason that classic rock
stations exist. Anything loud will work though. As with other grunt work, don't think about what you're doing too much. Just keep moving. <br />
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Drywall
mud -Pavarotti at Carnegie Hall. Anything distinctly Italian would do I think for
this. There is something about the Italian vibe that can insist on
excellence and beauty without getting hung up on perfection, whatever
that is.<br />
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Seriously put on whatever makes you feel whole and shining in your work. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B28v838Lkie8xoGWHBA8O6aCvJ8bYrrwWt1ZM_NgQaVvS8lDvStQn7OZk0bIznRD1Aw3NF4_4YQiFgaKMrHv2qLF7H8iN0YygMwyrEdZZbHI7cuGFeW0x-VR6qvrXALtBdh7HhZ5v_g/s1600/snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B28v838Lkie8xoGWHBA8O6aCvJ8bYrrwWt1ZM_NgQaVvS8lDvStQn7OZk0bIznRD1Aw3NF4_4YQiFgaKMrHv2qLF7H8iN0YygMwyrEdZZbHI7cuGFeW0x-VR6qvrXALtBdh7HhZ5v_g/s640/snow.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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There is still a ton of drywall finishing to do, but soon we'll be on to flooring, trim, and building a deck. If anyone has suggestions for music for those processes I'd be so grateful.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-46132488472613866802012-08-27T22:34:00.000-04:002012-08-27T22:34:55.848-04:00Deck plans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnUbBE8FaTFuxk9jV0H716sa-er-xGS8RDueH7gWcp_5IxS4GnJuvHzoOi8T38soQWn6zK7HsnJhyphenhyphen9YFG2HvTeV0IRiwfBKOFk1x61jtH6EPXrfQx_JShsnIx13TOJbBgMuodVyTMBRI/s1600/Round+Deck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnUbBE8FaTFuxk9jV0H716sa-er-xGS8RDueH7gWcp_5IxS4GnJuvHzoOi8T38soQWn6zK7HsnJhyphenhyphen9YFG2HvTeV0IRiwfBKOFk1x61jtH6EPXrfQx_JShsnIx13TOJbBgMuodVyTMBRI/s400/Round+Deck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeP7SPbi2iHQ2SniuFVDNLpM7u0twWHDebZFIWffG6IHByBLmSNzhrx_imRzY4HrndD56F9JvdLxLDd9mpMhThc-bB7A5xi5_o_lT1ymNdKw28DFGdg_V6gRfF_hOOXFu4OmAjEf8Jek/s1600/Round+Section.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeP7SPbi2iHQ2SniuFVDNLpM7u0twWHDebZFIWffG6IHByBLmSNzhrx_imRzY4HrndD56F9JvdLxLDd9mpMhThc-bB7A5xi5_o_lT1ymNdKw28DFGdg_V6gRfF_hOOXFu4OmAjEf8Jek/s400/Round+Section.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Here are a couple of the sketches of the proposed deck that I drew up this summer. I was hoping that we could put this together this year, but that old time and money thing said "hey, maybe next year." Beyond fun outdoor living space, it adds a ramp entrance to the upstairs.<br /><br />Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-67197306972479744982012-08-22T13:46:00.000-04:002012-08-22T13:49:18.126-04:00The end of drywall hanging<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDVhE7fh9cnvz7sBgiS0jiPQr9qEG-KeOgi7ui6c8gG2chXmfVCveoCfZ5hqV2rWCEPlhIpuZMPzNO5vJg7A1IIuIibLSxqiCvK2r7dKPG9Zh2zibVBCflwpaQjO9TAqJ7_Fg7wTGA5w/s1600/IMG_0431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDVhE7fh9cnvz7sBgiS0jiPQr9qEG-KeOgi7ui6c8gG2chXmfVCveoCfZ5hqV2rWCEPlhIpuZMPzNO5vJg7A1IIuIibLSxqiCvK2r7dKPG9Zh2zibVBCflwpaQjO9TAqJ7_Fg7wTGA5w/s400/IMG_0431.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's been a hot summer, hot enough to do your slow-cooking in the wheelbarrow, and enjoy a warm Lake Superior. </div>
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I spent some time writing some songs and clearing out the downstairs. This included building a funny temporary shed to get things out of the way.</div>
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This August though, I've been able to get back to hanging drywall. And as of Monday it's all up in place.<br />
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This is a milestone not just because it checks a big task off of the list, but also because it means the wiring and plumbing rough-in is put away and I won't have to look at it or really think about it very much anymore. See ya later (hopefully not).<br />
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So the next phase is crossing a sea of white mud with a taping knife for a paddle. I'm gonna need a lot of apples to keep me going, so get up in those trees, kids.<br />
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<br />Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-26515576068548668962012-06-06T15:38:00.001-04:002012-06-07T13:21:29.536-04:00The internet goes everywhere again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiC6QyNyhd73BsaKRGD4t-UNBVx5o7xEIN8eGnnDpsIrsJQ-zlmmmhdvCXuyPL9VdIo6RD9qBPZqOhKYumgVagc1k_wuiC4hxZJ1WwSKDAvbJeZ9pVSquzgWc7BbcBbsedXY5v_4ZAc4/s1600/1ashedhole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiC6QyNyhd73BsaKRGD4t-UNBVx5o7xEIN8eGnnDpsIrsJQ-zlmmmhdvCXuyPL9VdIo6RD9qBPZqOhKYumgVagc1k_wuiC4hxZJ1WwSKDAvbJeZ9pVSquzgWc7BbcBbsedXY5v_4ZAc4/s400/1ashedhole.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="300" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Usually it's a lot of trouble to get wood into the woodshed. This guy just dropped out of the sky. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I spent a lot of time cleaning up the yard this spring. There were building scraps and then a list of other outside tasks like seeding grass and planting a few cherry trees like this one, which stands on the spot where we buried Anniemoosh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53xPZSTBBR457GqdWh9IHtli-cXtgXRKHEdExf0OWcXL91w27NtW0rljTvGSAW0uDn7SOjyDfsxRZAwEvwafz3tddO2Ggqb4HlpoB_tQC0bFrSLOmc_ezp4GkPFP-_d8LUq3KSXJRpqw/s1600/1aannietree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53xPZSTBBR457GqdWh9IHtli-cXtgXRKHEdExf0OWcXL91w27NtW0rljTvGSAW0uDn7SOjyDfsxRZAwEvwafz3tddO2Ggqb4HlpoB_tQC0bFrSLOmc_ezp4GkPFP-_d8LUq3KSXJRpqw/s400/1aannietree.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="308" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhTuoIGAnHNUxtDEIA11wf98rcQglkl1f1SvFC4UqfO2RMJ-sqQmzavd83Rp80CWDsKt3bup285-LWxzm6YU80EVKQBUHlJnpFisjadONjMezTDuyogUwgcPDeQ3RzdBX0TgtYQ9U0l0/s1600/1asalamander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhTuoIGAnHNUxtDEIA11wf98rcQglkl1f1SvFC4UqfO2RMJ-sqQmzavd83Rp80CWDsKt3bup285-LWxzm6YU80EVKQBUHlJnpFisjadONjMezTDuyogUwgcPDeQ3RzdBX0TgtYQ9U0l0/s640/1asalamander.jpg" border="0" height="480" width="640" /></a></div> This little guy was crawling around in a sand hole I was about to fill in. What a guy!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTrBSj3NOVTHQflhD3NudrzhUy1dNR7_gyrcfbgLxGAyE3soMwmMmVem0AKSgsHz1J_lZ-QEZJnMSb0Y1TXaUPBRb15Be4yf7kVohlSkV3QRaEGQlAsgZuRlYYxPUjQbN_S6H-g6ImYk/s1600/1adrywall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTrBSj3NOVTHQflhD3NudrzhUy1dNR7_gyrcfbgLxGAyE3soMwmMmVem0AKSgsHz1J_lZ-QEZJnMSb0Y1TXaUPBRb15Be4yf7kVohlSkV3QRaEGQlAsgZuRlYYxPUjQbN_S6H-g6ImYk/s400/1adrywall.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="400" /></a><br /> Here's a shot of the boys' room ready for paint. It is very temporarily a music room and will soon hold all the rest of the stuff downstairs to make way for the drywall work there.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dKnxQ1pBdyXTnWCyWRBi9DN9IZJphgXEB4r54HpNBldmJfADwN0ZD47YqPWRbqo1eqILxps_Bz-nEwIP07V5u1oN-Xn_1I_iB4WvuDu5Q6jJWtfgxoUfMY_ztDEBlYQO3Sz4mnpaKL8/s1600/1adragonfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dKnxQ1pBdyXTnWCyWRBi9DN9IZJphgXEB4r54HpNBldmJfADwN0ZD47YqPWRbqo1eqILxps_Bz-nEwIP07V5u1oN-Xn_1I_iB4WvuDu5Q6jJWtfgxoUfMY_ztDEBlYQO3Sz4mnpaKL8/s400/1adragonfly.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="300" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrsRDZoxXOh_kPMjmEWsdne2GWvXOvvILREryuXl6qFGIo3Od3LPp41k3R7G8fBjRsbDffAKzPwJKTKqzKGnpenttHLSMeA5nPfLGWZ9PjlXC4pc-kkrkKt0spGRUACLZlZDXAoEyo1Q/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrsRDZoxXOh_kPMjmEWsdne2GWvXOvvILREryuXl6qFGIo3Od3LPp41k3R7G8fBjRsbDffAKzPwJKTKqzKGnpenttHLSMeA5nPfLGWZ9PjlXC4pc-kkrkKt0spGRUACLZlZDXAoEyo1Q/s400/1a.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="300" /></a><br /><br /> Then we have been taking some weekends off, at least partly, making a little time for canoe trips, bike rides, and a dress-up barn dance. Erica took this sweet photo and also posted it on her blog, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1307428895"><i>where wild blackberries grow.</i></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtXNw6VoemZX6LUviq2VoAaCHhgSFIYHoS0Ef0p2VhgAw22X81n_1YVmqklgq94shw2Q68oQ0QrCkeH0ZCmCZ_0fL4tHqlV0k20Cd3g3XFWEsJnTkMKEBtJ1xKQkJlCFXwnSijua9Ie0/s1600/1aantennae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtXNw6VoemZX6LUviq2VoAaCHhgSFIYHoS0Ef0p2VhgAw22X81n_1YVmqklgq94shw2Q68oQ0QrCkeH0ZCmCZ_0fL4tHqlV0k20Cd3g3XFWEsJnTkMKEBtJ1xKQkJlCFXwnSijua9Ie0/s400/1aantennae.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="400" /></a></div> I never fully imagined a satellite dish mounted on our house, but there it is. It connects us to the internet now, even way out here, by bouncing a signal off a satellite 22,000 miles away. I know this has been common technology for decades, but I'm still really impressed. <br /> The computer's increase in demand for electricity has got me thinking about a more sustainable solution than our little generator.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPizzOcvceyjAIvH9mlmwlsKKfutLjbOk5DGj9jdRT5WvHbzwpQrVbOchhXedLQZJeq24B4-pMXNj_2WqZjoqFsuj1tSDg176LdS2SWMaYHWw2rlrnWpBRZCFhJel02AMRd9T68nMHKzg/s1600/1abridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPizzOcvceyjAIvH9mlmwlsKKfutLjbOk5DGj9jdRT5WvHbzwpQrVbOchhXedLQZJeq24B4-pMXNj_2WqZjoqFsuj1tSDg176LdS2SWMaYHWw2rlrnWpBRZCFhJel02AMRd9T68nMHKzg/s400/1abridge.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="300" /></a></div> This bridge had a beautiful green arch over it last summer built by my brother-in-law for the procession of his and my sister's wedding. There are rocks under it which hold back some water and I've had this idea to use this tiny reservoir to make electricity using a small hydro generator<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO57CGxQFp8&feature=relmfu" target="_blank"> <span style="color:#3d85c6;">like the one on this video.</span></a> I haven't found any other examples of people doing it quite this way, but I think it will work well.<br /><br /> The beauty of this setup is that since the moving parts are all underwater the ice shouldn't be a problem. I think it would be wise to put some 1/2 inch screen on the intake side though to prevent the little trouts from getting knocked around. I really welcome anybody's suggestions on this, or any other part of this shelter adventure for that matter.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-35101670670734370512012-04-26T16:52:00.000-04:002015-04-01T12:50:40.169-04:00April foolsHere are some photos showing what's new.
There were a few tasks to complete before closing in the
downstairs with drywall. <br />
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This shows a place where air is let in to the house to make up for air needed in the wood stove and propane appliances. The cold air gets sent down the white PVC pipe into a food storage area under part of the floor for free refrigeration. It'll be interesting to see how that works.<br />
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Another convenience is the antenna which you may be able to see on the roof to the right of the chimney. It looks enough like a flag that it ought to be decorated. It allows us to get a cellphone signal, but only when the generator is on. Sometime soon we'll set up a more permanent electrical system, probably a mix of solar and hydro power.<br />
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So on to the drywall! It is a great relief to put drywall up, not just because it makes the walls look like walls, but also because it puts to bed all the goings on within the wall. I may get a notion to add a switched outlet or something else like that a few months from now, but that'll be just too bad for me.<br />
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Why not begin with the most difficult part, the curved wall?</div>
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Getting drywall to bend is goofy work. Sometimes it goes a lot easier than other times. I'm learning to bend it very slowly. These screw clamps worked well. You can give them a twist every time you walk by and by the end of the day maybe you'll have gotten somewhere.<br />
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These openings will look like inset shelves from the main room, but they'll have a hinge on the back so you can peek out from the bedroom. <br />
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We've been taking occasional hikes up to the lookouts nearby to measure the progress of Springtime. The warm March threw off some of the birds, and hornswoggled the maple syrup people. But other than that things are pretty much on schedule. Spring is always full of tricks anyway.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-77480735810907307792012-03-03T14:57:00.001-05:002022-02-08T12:28:37.566-05:00A friend asked me today if I was getting burned out from working on this house for so long. I answered that the energy came in waves and I was just coming out of a trough. This past fall's wave crested just before Christmas when we moved in. And then there was Christmas with its own seasonal pinnacle, and the emergent details of moving in. Once we were able to use the toilet I was about ready to take a break (which of course I didn't.) But this past week I was granted a vacation by the flu bug. <br /><br />I'm only being slightly sarcastic, as this particular flu wasn't especially painful, and only forced me to lie around and fast for a couple days, during which time I missed a few phone calls (which seemed very important) because of our distance from any cellphone towers, and during which time it snowed continuously, allowing me to feel my weakness on many levels. <br /><br />Even in this sorry state, my family coming around to entertain and otherwise care for me as well as having my own bed to lie in and look out at the snowy woods and an occasional song to sing made this an experience I found to be pleasant overall.<br /><br />Sometimes I think the flu, and some other illnesses, are just some things we create for times when we forget to take a break. Somebody stop me from working, even eating, so I can just breathe for a while and appreciate the ability to do that.<br /><br />Anyway today I feel like myself again, and going outside I remember why I love the winter. The snow is heavy on the trees but not stretching the boundaries of their what they're engineered to hold. It hushes all the nearby sounds so effectively that today snowshoeing with our chatting Seamus we scared up a rabbit who was just ten feet away. <br /><br />It doesn't however hush the low drone of the mining drills. I hear them whenever things are quiet. I started hearing them several years ago when they started drilling core samples. Erica couldn't hear them then and I wondered sometimes if my hearing (or my mind) was going. But then I talked to some other neighbors who also heard it and we guessed like night dogs what it might be. The theory that gave me rest was that it was iron ore boat engines. It sounded to me like big diesels that were just running steady and I guess that's what those drills are. I guess I wish they were boat engines. Not that I rank those hard-working people out running a drill all night in 0º weather any lower than myself. But knowing the richness of the minerals in this area makes me nervous sometimes as those minerals inevitably become more valuable. Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-44243885620193075772012-02-20T08:31:00.000-05:002012-02-20T08:31:20.159-05:00<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAiJDxGtKoYFoAVAG899AMQO59thWLqqcPdeilXv5guO5ACoFqMRYw7uqlWrgIw2QgPXjRcdMK5SRwrYXJyA0Z762_Uoe4GUQHU5_rpQkdI_BD-5NN6JYJp8-CB9GK5pdsyWq76AEqok/s1600/frosty+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAiJDxGtKoYFoAVAG899AMQO59thWLqqcPdeilXv5guO5ACoFqMRYw7uqlWrgIw2QgPXjRcdMK5SRwrYXJyA0Z762_Uoe4GUQHU5_rpQkdI_BD-5NN6JYJp8-CB9GK5pdsyWq76AEqok/s400/frosty+trees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's a shot of yesterday's frosty sunrise. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3KFFINoPdhSPkpBOnFH8YpdsflJEHhjW5UjGO27YTAfXHcVqT28uZtjwYwQDk1E4NYsSlKIfh0dTZBaYknaY6WP5Q-h_ywVgFwAkrTQodUxapblW-N3q3S5PeDQ3qHD05bAHEeI38sE/s1600/toilet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3KFFINoPdhSPkpBOnFH8YpdsflJEHhjW5UjGO27YTAfXHcVqT28uZtjwYwQDk1E4NYsSlKIfh0dTZBaYknaY6WP5Q-h_ywVgFwAkrTQodUxapblW-N3q3S5PeDQ3qHD05bAHEeI38sE/s400/toilet.jpg" width="400" /></a> Our toilet is now fully functional, which means we've had to say goodbye to a fine woodrack.</div>
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Aya Jane deserves most of the credit for this snowfort, although she and Mossy worked as a team into the night on a couple of sticky-snow days.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-87499025443552882832012-01-19T15:16:00.007-05:002012-02-01T20:51:46.984-05:00Cozy in the middle of winterIt's been about a month since we moved into to this house and it seems our collective brains are beginning to settle. Mine, anyway, has been a little wilder than usual this past few months. Striving for the goal of moving in by the holidays with all that had to be done (firewood, a spring box, the ceiling in the dance room, another chimney for an upstairs stove, sealing up a couple doors, etc.) meant living pretty lean as far as time management goes. Writing in this log was among the places to trim fat.<br /><br />Now to be clear: having moved in by no means means the house is done! You may be able to see in the pictures that the drywall has no mud or paint on it. And the downstairs drywall is still mostly sitting stacked and waiting to be hung up among moving boxes waiting to be smiled upon.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhJMBFlUleBE1sGwRKgCrkXbn0Mjmq2mpOr7sEusFC3wEld7L8UUjwUpkD52z2U7H87C5v_nQnZfnq1-gwJxIhTNL18NyY9WOW-gD5qCeEsooNbwK8HnhZW4lGOWh08Fm1Sl1XxiQaz0/s1600/bad.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhJMBFlUleBE1sGwRKgCrkXbn0Mjmq2mpOr7sEusFC3wEld7L8UUjwUpkD52z2U7H87C5v_nQnZfnq1-gwJxIhTNL18NyY9WOW-gD5qCeEsooNbwK8HnhZW4lGOWh08Fm1Sl1XxiQaz0/s400/bad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704347498469386354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Erica and I are sleeping up in the attic, the kids are sleeping in the dance room where we also eat and spend most of our indoor time. One of the bathrooms has been turned into a temporary kitchen, and the other has a toilet (yesssss) and some more boxes.<br /><br /><br />So far we've been getting all of our water from the creek, and filtering our drinking water through a countertop filter. It's a romantic notion to haul your water up from a wild stream, but the romance is tested as you walk up the hill. I've been taking strength thinking of people in dryer, poorer parts of the world. There is a video series at our library called Families of the World, which shows a day in the life of a child in all different kinds of places, and one of the things that strikes me about these videos is how many people haul water as a major part of every day, sometimes for miles. What happens when they get sick? Retire?...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicW9UBDSdmCVKA-T0t6lwxKm1Du6uCJ5I58wnocnZdE1NOiDztQQIw62jy1kaK-7g26A3Wq7OUNukONNrHr8MOc1Sd80nWhFDJKQ-UDGOO6b6mSWXkXM8FrJua5qrDJ1Fxd9OLQ3IQUXM/s1600/1springbox.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicW9UBDSdmCVKA-T0t6lwxKm1Du6uCJ5I58wnocnZdE1NOiDztQQIw62jy1kaK-7g26A3Wq7OUNukONNrHr8MOc1Sd80nWhFDJKQ-UDGOO6b6mSWXkXM8FrJua5qrDJ1Fxd9OLQ3IQUXM/s400/1springbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704347199029344610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The pink insulation in the foreground here surrounds our water source, a spring box. By this I mean it taps into the water flowing just a few feet beneath the surface. There's a line buried that runs up to the house, along side it lies an electrical line. Because the water is so close to the surface, we'll still run it through a filter to keep out bacteria and whatever weird stuff might be running off of our house and vehicles. But what an exciting thought to be able to wash hands and dishes in flowing water! And once we connect gas to the house, we'll be able to choose cold or hot! So far the only water outlet going is the kitchen sink.<br /><br />The house has been keeping pretty warm, but it gets a little hard to heat when it gets down around 0º. It'll probably be a lot easier when we set up more permanent, efficient wood burners.<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoucydQaWB_jGKDng28PUCjjzaCoH1Fv8PXgzKBjcHrI1blloMh0M-0jI753GoHySCkiTjFea6hmW-Ylx2GqrYjPaiN3oz_ey1OKXXdWlUFdfxWTBgaAEQx3B6RqmWuyDlnEChUmYSU5E/s1600/1dagboy.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoucydQaWB_jGKDng28PUCjjzaCoH1Fv8PXgzKBjcHrI1blloMh0M-0jI753GoHySCkiTjFea6hmW-Ylx2GqrYjPaiN3oz_ey1OKXXdWlUFdfxWTBgaAEQx3B6RqmWuyDlnEChUmYSU5E/s400/1dagboy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704347906541802962" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><p>Idgy has been coming to visit a few times a day now. I think you can see why.</p><p><br /></p><p>The goal for 2012 is to finish the downstairs enough to move into it and also build the porches. We plan to have a deck-building party sometime late this summer, maybe Labor Day.</p>So far we don't have a very good phone connection, but please text anytime, or use a texting website like <a href="http://txtdrop.com./">txtdrop.com.</a> Otherwise stop on by!Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-44868238070140833862012-01-04T19:54:00.000-05:002012-01-04T19:54:07.599-05:00We moved in<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetEzreXWFj8z4Shlda8rt7MfxeOmK1J0E8xnHAhyXFI5RbXlzZN0I7ZQCp-rLIqAujTY1Ub3fQyjjeXTqBcjqpoZQsVR0NS8Hlnlm5jW-Ob5uVu4GT42woxBEfyC46Y1fcodXolkzp9g/s1600/Ayasbed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693939948852334626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetEzreXWFj8z4Shlda8rt7MfxeOmK1J0E8xnHAhyXFI5RbXlzZN0I7ZQCp-rLIqAujTY1Ub3fQyjjeXTqBcjqpoZQsVR0NS8Hlnlm5jW-Ob5uVu4GT42woxBEfyC46Y1fcodXolkzp9g/s400/Ayasbed.jpg" style="float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" width="300" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcbqDqTg1RR24ES3GorQMR2Qp7Nz55fewjWlFtm6SVdWIJLR9yNsfTB7IKr5eLhpm_8MSRYtF2qRGrIfBvIIfO2RqfiXtTtWUSbAepeQzmKx5w_CShB3QWs7tMScpV05xrle4985j1EQ/s1600/treeee.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693939775101088818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcbqDqTg1RR24ES3GorQMR2Qp7Nz55fewjWlFtm6SVdWIJLR9yNsfTB7IKr5eLhpm_8MSRYtF2qRGrIfBvIIfO2RqfiXtTtWUSbAepeQzmKx5w_CShB3QWs7tMScpV05xrle4985j1EQ/s400/treeee.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 300px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv64XdK7V55q7x86EqIqS1rRdWBLAwi47PwGykI1cTz3wgd3j5K0TDo1PEX56kXwltk1Pz151N-3nz2l7Z-qFmHh-wo_pmP8hNzPMYnk1HaDj1lw22U98WPx49kCLO8DJ2MR5op8k3SW4/s1600/IMG_5337.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693935782784059362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv64XdK7V55q7x86EqIqS1rRdWBLAwi47PwGykI1cTz3wgd3j5K0TDo1PEX56kXwltk1Pz151N-3nz2l7Z-qFmHh-wo_pmP8hNzPMYnk1HaDj1lw22U98WPx49kCLO8DJ2MR5op8k3SW4/s320/IMG_5337.JPG" style="float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" width="240" /></a><br />
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It's been a busy period since diving back into building this fall, and I apologize for not making time to write, but here are some photos that tell something about what's going on.<br />
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Happy new year!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqizO-PVhvwXXuPrWmV968aiIX_3ZHzeqRRyhVVyHn10uDRNB2H8ABO9lJwKvp0r4fwhuXlxZ864oa-l7tUyKPTahudcbqK9CrCi9DTHP72mjjgwgBDmPt4BwCkvnotauppI5LFe3ZNU/s1600/IMG_5744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693937729423690914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqizO-PVhvwXXuPrWmV968aiIX_3ZHzeqRRyhVVyHn10uDRNB2H8ABO9lJwKvp0r4fwhuXlxZ864oa-l7tUyKPTahudcbqK9CrCi9DTHP72mjjgwgBDmPt4BwCkvnotauppI5LFe3ZNU/s320/IMG_5744.JPG" style="height: 300px; margin-top: 0pt; width: 400px;" width="320" /></a></div>Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-20049718973478668462011-10-17T20:57:00.005-04:002015-04-01T13:01:37.744-04:00Woodpile daysWell it's National Forest Products week, as you're probably aware. In case you didn't know, there's still time to put your inflatable Paul Bunyan out in the yard. The holiday comes at a good time for me as I'm done hanging drywall for a while, and on to gathering firewood. <a href="http://www.alastairheseltine.com/installations.htm" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmofVlcZyW7wp9n0qpsbQ-i3vWqVQBViIJwJVhSUGE23go-maw1cQuaLa1B06witX71qOkPkCokLJ6yeoRrB6smW5F2jhoQ5ZdiInBqyqBFHEL8K9SYmn9NAv_PhoaT-wVttoYq8MqZ8/s400/a1a.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664632743327308626" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 266px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.alastairheseltine.com/installations.htm" target="_blank">I had nothing to do with this photo other than nabbing it off of a sculptor's website because it inspires me. -link- </a> I don't think I'll be making sculptures this year other than the usual rectangular shapes (which I always find attractive).<br />
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Yep the upstairs drywall is all hung up now and cleaned up. The joints aren't taped yet but we're going to put that off until the downstairs is finished so we can move in very soon (~1 month?). There will only be a very basic kitchen and other plumbing as it progresses.<br />
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This is the fourth year in a row now that we set out in Spring with the goal of moving into this place before Winter's snow. Everyone's getting excited as it seems really close this time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjQeviKt7zAA1rTi9WKq8WzfZpqLO382GQRem6LCAF1tK9JfSJiZJsx3XY20I3A_GN4KBshLrYrO0gR2XsWQ7fG6jtn-LFd9oyrtJo-p1ZJFFzx3GJRfgYRVkvTdmA8QvplIrZtZixv4/s1600/howlingwolf.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjQeviKt7zAA1rTi9WKq8WzfZpqLO382GQRem6LCAF1tK9JfSJiZJsx3XY20I3A_GN4KBshLrYrO0gR2XsWQ7fG6jtn-LFd9oyrtJo-p1ZJFFzx3GJRfgYRVkvTdmA8QvplIrZtZixv4/s400/howlingwolf.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664638237996552706" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 302px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Erica and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by staying the night out at the house without our children. And by taking a hike up 'Shattuck's hill.'Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-27765073937800621452011-10-12T11:58:00.004-04:002015-04-01T13:09:37.349-04:00Neighborhood place for sale.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-11KbYXLAIpdtVT1x24KcwX6JcstNmi3aMXT2lvAMbtIGnnSzWQCu6jsxhwbFNnkJNevk-eVqrI4aIbHfyGCaCqWaJSbJ4rCq1zwijqaopKRkQt8J33jXodRAQrtSpOVBVyAEhHRcvvg/s1600/RickandGails.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-11KbYXLAIpdtVT1x24KcwX6JcstNmi3aMXT2lvAMbtIGnnSzWQCu6jsxhwbFNnkJNevk-eVqrI4aIbHfyGCaCqWaJSbJ4rCq1zwijqaopKRkQt8J33jXodRAQrtSpOVBVyAEhHRcvvg/s400/RickandGails.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662635958689215986" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 299px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<u>Update</u>: This cabin was recently acquired by some new friends as a family getaway. They're giving it a lot of love. It now has a second floor and roof and a finished bathroom. We're so grateful you're here!<br />
<br />Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-21575797370385797912011-10-07T21:38:00.014-04:002021-10-13T14:59:39.617-04:00How to bend drywallA strong wind this weekend is stripping the trees and giving us the sky back. The colors, smells, and other sensations of this season have been fantastic as usual. The biggest news in the neighborhood lately is the birth of a baby girl to the couple next door. She was born healthy through a long labor and during a hurricane-strength wind storm. As for me, I've been hanging drywall.<br />
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We have a plan to get us moved in before the heavy snow which is to roughly finish the upstairs and move into there, and then work on the downstairs through the winter. The other significant part of the plan is that I've committed to working 40 hours on the place every week. This means only a half day on Tuesday and Wednesday and a full day every other day except Sunday. It's not different from what I've been doing except that now I'm counting the hours. It makes a huge difference, as it's very easy to stretch breakfast and checking email into the afternoon. Now if I do that I have to stay at work until after the kids are in bed.<br />
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Breaking news: The attic room now has a staircase.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglkL2FynHskPt64o2qVrJS-ASX39TCqauC-2mQFFD7iKAZG_JiVmvsWYlHyLESpCLPtybdlsTUNEH9rFUEEjAABW5AVEM1IEt1_h_ikKwQiTTouxxPXXrHGyS9pcYUW1RzEFE_u40A1k/s1600/1stair.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660935843534520210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglkL2FynHskPt64o2qVrJS-ASX39TCqauC-2mQFFD7iKAZG_JiVmvsWYlHyLESpCLPtybdlsTUNEH9rFUEEjAABW5AVEM1IEt1_h_ikKwQiTTouxxPXXrHGyS9pcYUW1RzEFE_u40A1k/s320/1stair.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Now to the drywall bending</u>. </span> After experimenting with long scraps over the course of the last couple months using the various tips I learned from people I talked to or read about online, I've come to an understanding of how this is not difficult at all.<br />
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The materials you are dealing with are gypsum mud and paper. The two materials have different strengths and work to support each, similar to the way concrete and steel work together. Gypsum becomes flexible when moistened, but paper becomes very weak when wet. Gypsum's special safety power is that it loves to hold water, so it has the ability to put out fires, and, relevant to the bending process, it sucks water out of whatever it can.<br />
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So:<br />
1. Cut the width of your piece as it's much easier to cut a straight piece.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAe-9MoqKIFg5GQW7uqq5pblt2irHBb6xaHJqsGbmyU2rGor1R8o1J6SSWkIQQhr2LixdRawoMhvQEMN8eHCkHuVCLUZiEBHynwBa67i_uSHz5vmlAg7afr_WwdcOsdKF00niliRtBfmk/s1600/2drywall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660935715441263538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAe-9MoqKIFg5GQW7uqq5pblt2irHBb6xaHJqsGbmyU2rGor1R8o1J6SSWkIQQhr2LixdRawoMhvQEMN8eHCkHuVCLUZiEBHynwBa67i_uSHz5vmlAg7afr_WwdcOsdKF00niliRtBfmk/s200/2drywall.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
2. Lean the piece against a wall at about 45º and come back later! I bet you can find other things to do. <br />
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3. In hot, humid weather this may be enough to get the bend you want. If it doesn't bend much over the course of an hour or two, you can loosen up the gypsum by wiping the <u>top side only</u> with a wet (but not dripping wet) sponge or dampening it with a spray bottle. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOcPgj9ZQd0HngGb5x0YU9Rk4DNTEmDi94Wr5u599-C53ytxHrDLdIjHFN-hMNROTgC9gjxGww3qTz2a4gsMFGWsQaq025yf2K4tNftYEj8Xzo32Kf_pjRX8KggKtLwJxTQwOsP8sMhs/s1600/3drywall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660935584026617650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOcPgj9ZQd0HngGb5x0YU9Rk4DNTEmDi94Wr5u599-C53ytxHrDLdIjHFN-hMNROTgC9gjxGww3qTz2a4gsMFGWsQaq025yf2K4tNftYEj8Xzo32Kf_pjRX8KggKtLwJxTQwOsP8sMhs/s200/3drywall.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>Add a little water and wait an hour to see if you need more.<br />
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Be sure not to get the paper on the lower side of the sheet wet, because this will cause the sheet to break. Also be sure both sides of the paper have dried before handling the stuff. It dries pretty quickly as the gypsum soaks up the water. You may also want to wait until the mud dries inside before handling the piece so it's not too floppy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqmDnILp3f4AoRg0sUfXBb6kQJPAhWW-6cTNqjCc8oVgpCOunRPz7Hh_6_92GOLeQ8IHdxtS86jdKMdcORF19LkWFktphcxaXiKZUfpIaZzWE2fgPRT-eIWBiTyu9YA-djNJ6vSfwlts/s1600/3drywall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660935457694481186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqmDnILp3f4AoRg0sUfXBb6kQJPAhWW-6cTNqjCc8oVgpCOunRPz7Hh_6_92GOLeQ8IHdxtS86jdKMdcORF19LkWFktphcxaXiKZUfpIaZzWE2fgPRT-eIWBiTyu9YA-djNJ6vSfwlts/s200/3drywall.jpg" style="float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" width="320" /></a>You can then handle the bent piece just like a regular sheet. It's unlikely that it will be exactly the same shape as your framing, but if it's close you should be able to screw it into place, <a href="http://ourhouseonthecreek.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-fools.html" target="_blank">or else slowly use clamps as in this post.</a><br />
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Some people will tell you to slice the paper sheathing many times but I had no luck with this. The sheet would just break where it was cut. <br />
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We have a few curved drywall surfaces in this house, and although there have been moments of impatient regret in the process of their construction, when it's all done I love the curves. For finishing of curved drywall allow for a lot more time than flat surfaces, from 2X to 10X as much time, no exaggeration.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCv6f7t5nlZuChcuAw7BUa1NRqVYhA8msSB1N8_JaSXIhnxsZy1tBiMGmzyx_hnDreInXM5DI2IMhOIUf0F_0uqlAJLTeUP0d5VXFzLkbOHl2r6Bx8CnEr5g3p1j6hHavgdiFjImpFZs/s1600/5stair.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660935026802290290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCv6f7t5nlZuChcuAw7BUa1NRqVYhA8msSB1N8_JaSXIhnxsZy1tBiMGmzyx_hnDreInXM5DI2IMhOIUf0F_0uqlAJLTeUP0d5VXFzLkbOHl2r6Bx8CnEr5g3p1j6hHavgdiFjImpFZs/s16000/5stair.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> And then there’s baseboard and other trim that may cause you some frustration. But if you really like curved walls, you can do it. The sill for this opening in a 2x4 curved wall was cut from a 2 1/4" x 14" slab in order to get the curve, for example, and this baseboard is three 1/4" boards laminated together.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5ag7DTMZiWDM9IxcAqHbuhy4NezvzgUX3baJMArxCYoIIAaj3EU9VFJvgSlGkQT1dfFWVXepiWJQk12iTxpGL7zIcsiTiGzuZ9XAbAWq839OSuswH9Ak-jVq9TV4nOI6bVXhd1l0xXw/s2048/IMG_0783.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5ag7DTMZiWDM9IxcAqHbuhy4NezvzgUX3baJMArxCYoIIAaj3EU9VFJvgSlGkQT1dfFWVXepiWJQk12iTxpGL7zIcsiTiGzuZ9XAbAWq839OSuswH9Ak-jVq9TV4nOI6bVXhd1l0xXw/w480-h640/IMG_0783.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DbYgoTWM3uQBZRiZiFY_MnOOkMqJh4AZXO54mWuAN7M7WaYGD7NKeIWgd4DzXe-VHjqki8cGHeyWd2GO2n8IdnFtHuHsUnAtRW5oNBMokKmT2h_T4axPK14-a-qNBqIFxBjVG82zWNo/s1600/6familytv.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660934860942106130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DbYgoTWM3uQBZRiZiFY_MnOOkMqJh4AZXO54mWuAN7M7WaYGD7NKeIWgd4DzXe-VHjqki8cGHeyWd2GO2n8IdnFtHuHsUnAtRW5oNBMokKmT2h_T4axPK14-a-qNBqIFxBjVG82zWNo/s320/6familytv.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a></div>Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-83262988256965713042011-08-19T07:55:00.023-04:002015-04-01T14:22:38.341-04:00Wedding party process wrapupIt's been almost two weeks already since Auntie Nora's wedding and we're just now getting back on the house building side of things. It was a fantastic time with family and friends from all across the
country and beyond, kids chasing each other in their party clothes,
superhuman dancing to Irish accordion tunes, a margarita bar across a
fresh bridge, the list goes on and it was all to celebrate the joining
of these two people so dear to my heart. <br />
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If you have any interest in weddings and/or beautiful pictures I strongly suggest checking them out at the blog of the official photographer, Kat Schleicher: <a href="http://www.ellagraphstudios.com/#/nora-jared1/" target="_blank">ellagraphstudios.com</a><br />
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<a href="http://ruffledblog.com/secluded-forest-wedding/" target="_blank">Here's another link to a bridal blog that features some of these photos with commentary from Nora and Kat.</a><br />
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But the wedding itself was only one part of the celebration. Nora and Jared came to stay with us for a whole month before the big day, and we worked, ate and played together on the house and grounds as other family members came in numbers congruent with the crescendo of energy leading up to the wonderful happening.<br />
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It's remarkable that almost the whole clearing and landscaping for the wedding happened in two two-week sessions. The first being in May, which was mostly Erica and the kids cutting trees and clearing brush, and the second being the last two weeks before the wedding.<br />
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Here's May:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmn9Qadw7s2ENoRGrnjsg1ixvi-gR9htIXrrYHKwDBQGF_aCjzGmYpcpQ862ZvBJdldRfIJGKUYz95N0dJ8OqlBABp69aVepslQ00sWtDwHxMnHvzUeT4ITMORKC3tPKSMgsYBqbD-vY/s1600/9burnit.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmn9Qadw7s2ENoRGrnjsg1ixvi-gR9htIXrrYHKwDBQGF_aCjzGmYpcpQ862ZvBJdldRfIJGKUYz95N0dJ8OqlBABp69aVepslQ00sWtDwHxMnHvzUeT4ITMORKC3tPKSMgsYBqbD-vY/s400/9burnit.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642590924299529090" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09huHVUphbsvcZegkIff4ptdPCucYtnMCIH2fn5TVvnUTshgOm1TKekr-5k3Bis1SGeF7Eti05xT5L9U_jkAH1Qw2oHeIGJpw0VVc_OnCfAKB853bIVjfKlS81DbwP30QHmCGPV7PV94/s1600/9postholers.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09huHVUphbsvcZegkIff4ptdPCucYtnMCIH2fn5TVvnUTshgOm1TKekr-5k3Bis1SGeF7Eti05xT5L9U_jkAH1Qw2oHeIGJpw0VVc_OnCfAKB853bIVjfKlS81DbwP30QHmCGPV7PV94/s400/9postholers.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642590526539712770" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>And the same spot on August first. In this photo we're putting a new handle on the post hole digger. The only way I knew it was the same place was by the trees that Erica is sitting on in the previous photo.<br />
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One of the first excavation jobs was to make a little road down to the site to haul things up and down. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUR-S1eQD0NCbLcrIQAlHFiOVsk2aHtisZNhxwN01LS2DQh7zrpRX8OQRHupUVploUqSZ2xCY3EyfnnOCRNtw-FTkvy2gi0NHeWbuWiezkCXdeDHDcF3AuvYXljRCUIzbjpfRULVj44g/s1600/9roadbefore.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUR-S1eQD0NCbLcrIQAlHFiOVsk2aHtisZNhxwN01LS2DQh7zrpRX8OQRHupUVploUqSZ2xCY3EyfnnOCRNtw-FTkvy2gi0NHeWbuWiezkCXdeDHDcF3AuvYXljRCUIzbjpfRULVj44g/s400/9roadbefore.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642589236734274898" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" /></a> This photo looks up the hill in May.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV4QjJUdJ-Kw7upnjlAEEkIfZAfoRRNcPGt0thZmVxZSzsnR9LBQ1C8fUOghtRigce1FotCWpve5mmzfz6jenvW8wemn6MKLPa3ZV5zPE_WqT2dLcWLEJWlksYUcreiRTVdCXHbCbXTY/s1600/9road.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV4QjJUdJ-Kw7upnjlAEEkIfZAfoRRNcPGt0thZmVxZSzsnR9LBQ1C8fUOghtRigce1FotCWpve5mmzfz6jenvW8wemn6MKLPa3ZV5zPE_WqT2dLcWLEJWlksYUcreiRTVdCXHbCbXTY/s400/9road.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642588473999763746" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>And this one looks down in August.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxQOGpypqoAZ9LP2tN9jKBvFmjHcisx9by3S51FZlbMJ7z5M8fG0y6Aj7Z9-methhEVkSSVEN1VTnuz9ieZG8Vy8uNWcKUSsNF0_xts8EbFGnZbdWfVHqiwhz4MV2jBs-syfCqkw6NKQ/s1600/9excavation.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxQOGpypqoAZ9LP2tN9jKBvFmjHcisx9by3S51FZlbMJ7z5M8fG0y6Aj7Z9-methhEVkSSVEN1VTnuz9ieZG8Vy8uNWcKUSsNF0_xts8EbFGnZbdWfVHqiwhz4MV2jBs-syfCqkw6NKQ/s400/9excavation.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642588197779106770" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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To get the stumps out and smooth out the site we had help from a rented mini-excavator and our neighbors on their tractor. This is the last week of July.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9TILiYIlrQKG50dfiprioLyQSx3z1trg9MY7sfZCTfydVXOsT_2UjQzf59G9iDiLj5gedmAhFZbking0Gk7KsUzyj5k2uxCPtoGqr0kXKLCbrBx4YBo8lv-aL39YqBTbuyB21V4uyQA/s1600/9frame.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9TILiYIlrQKG50dfiprioLyQSx3z1trg9MY7sfZCTfydVXOsT_2UjQzf59G9iDiLj5gedmAhFZbking0Gk7KsUzyj5k2uxCPtoGqr0kXKLCbrBx4YBo8lv-aL39YqBTbuyB21V4uyQA/s400/9frame.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642587912939424418" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>Assembling the stage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSDHkzRGBTZMlveHnIMgQkRDrzs2nSt2gQTRVhqTvl3GF0-G0u4-7bqx75ehV0SrN6sKiUZc5kGjlRikocTAWJcVdMlvm_RhpnBEI7p3eWBDmwsC0OpHatANOzW3BwooDa1oh_yTve7w/s1600/9sod.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSDHkzRGBTZMlveHnIMgQkRDrzs2nSt2gQTRVhqTvl3GF0-G0u4-7bqx75ehV0SrN6sKiUZc5kGjlRikocTAWJcVdMlvm_RhpnBEI7p3eWBDmwsC0OpHatANOzW3BwooDa1oh_yTve7w/s400/9sod.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642587453710027266" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Then came sod.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcH7m1Da4CK1dnRbBPJxOtY3ZJ1G6fdQH4AM63TecSiaFCm4D5BIeCivSO8jPaJG04ABScdTPuVVfzeitBkvdLjCYl2Hcb_k45damE9he559_eFOr_8-LFpJ4GEy7vt_nQCzxAJg0C33k/s1600/9sodsister.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcH7m1Da4CK1dnRbBPJxOtY3ZJ1G6fdQH4AM63TecSiaFCm4D5BIeCivSO8jPaJG04ABScdTPuVVfzeitBkvdLjCYl2Hcb_k45damE9he559_eFOr_8-LFpJ4GEy7vt_nQCzxAJg0C33k/s400/9sodsister.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642587237783109394" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 322px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu51id_c2ndUK1Pu56dNuy__bNv5jDea1vnyosx15lK50gsWLacfHiNilOAsyBkNYHERim77lHK03oCr7pU-P_M9Sb5rY1jgUFT8gm8TebUgxvzzr9MfTve-CECI7QmN1WuuY6vIpLbM/s1600/9sign.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu51id_c2ndUK1Pu56dNuy__bNv5jDea1vnyosx15lK50gsWLacfHiNilOAsyBkNYHERim77lHK03oCr7pU-P_M9Sb5rY1jgUFT8gm8TebUgxvzzr9MfTve-CECI7QmN1WuuY6vIpLbM/s400/9sign.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642586890977202546" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Painting signs<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzcaLlxwXWBQP9klpn4unIX6IZAoXK024p9UEti1z_OEl5ikrdbTXBRbM7e6ODTJnQMmHjbiN0uX9_FnVl0o_oS7Okke8WllXslfTyHxCXB5-3fSx3WeNf6_6tsw52vTf_V2Qb3ItquY/s1600/9stucktruck.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzcaLlxwXWBQP9klpn4unIX6IZAoXK024p9UEti1z_OEl5ikrdbTXBRbM7e6ODTJnQMmHjbiN0uX9_FnVl0o_oS7Okke8WllXslfTyHxCXB5-3fSx3WeNf6_6tsw52vTf_V2Qb3ItquY/s400/9stucktruck.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642586455356429330" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>The lumber which became a dance floor is to become part of a garage in the future. The delivery of this lumber didn't go so well. The truck got stuck in some of the freshly broken sand and it took a few hours and eventually a tow truck to get it out. The poor driver left in the dark, as our kids had just fallen asleep.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvG1B7beav9uvf5Bktu5O8QiSRZ2I5qqbtBqjM6T5hUf6BkV5bCutTmYCNWQZfSGOqvtCm6hpSHLL66LUQRqgZKTVbeo9XU3Tz3dDnabkks_2OKlY8wFfevqldBEgRzYHInT88fVxKss/s1600/9wheelbarrowboys.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvG1B7beav9uvf5Bktu5O8QiSRZ2I5qqbtBqjM6T5hUf6BkV5bCutTmYCNWQZfSGOqvtCm6hpSHLL66LUQRqgZKTVbeo9XU3Tz3dDnabkks_2OKlY8wFfevqldBEgRzYHInT88fVxKss/s400/9wheelbarrowboys.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642584322067698226" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>A lot of people worked with shovel and wheelbarrow to turn the rugged hillside into pleasant pathways.<br />
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Keep in mind it was exceptionally hot and humid these last two weeks. This photo shows the late morning humidity dripping off of a single-pane window. Now that the house is insulated it stays comfortably cool on <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9r3pvVBoGhB-YyTWuBvWkwxYP2QfqCKrIrCGsQyWxasPlsClHeJNqwvtXUP4yx1sEv5Y67IKtX0hjaQBhD0SGkuEhnj1XLKWcW3YXEhKhY8NUe-x2oypuRfAZdqMFQDXZOU667iy938/s1600/9wetwindow.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9r3pvVBoGhB-YyTWuBvWkwxYP2QfqCKrIrCGsQyWxasPlsClHeJNqwvtXUP4yx1sEv5Y67IKtX0hjaQBhD0SGkuEhnj1XLKWcW3YXEhKhY8NUe-x2oypuRfAZdqMFQDXZOU667iy938/s400/9wetwindow.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642583635771118898" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>the ground level all day.<br />
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If all this looks like a ton of work, it was, but I dearly love it. I'm tempted to apologize for demystifying the wedding experience for any of the guests, but I'm not going to. Part of the reason I keep this blog is to show what a pain in the ass country living is. There is a story told again and again of a young family moving out into the woods with a notion that it will be a simpler better life only to find that it's not very easy or comfortable. It pushes them to the limit and sometimes beyond. Erica and I were lucky to have a few years in different types of woods houses and most of a year in a tent together before we bought this plot of land. We had a pretty well developed idea of our own limits and each other's as well, but that's not to say they haven't developed further!<br />
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For all it's pain, however, the rewards are excellent. Getting to know yourself and your family better is a real wealth. And this time of year, when the berries are ripe, the bugs are gone, and the water is warm is hard to beat. Last night when I stopped working on the insulation at about 9:30, I had a beer on a stump down by the creek, listening to the water and the rustling of the night creatures. Bats, birds, flying squirrels. A coyote sang in the distance. Sometimes I have conversations with the neighbors where we say things like "We get to LIVE here," in hushed tones as if someone might hear. And sometimes I gloat on the internet.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdvtTPdKPsxGckEphlELieUudq_QKbJhIy_w8geryMkT-ROEIXwydkEF2gyYoVO-BQpa84gwdzqkJHZbXVdjIMFGK8wyMgPQki2l68qGbQFZkyguFXtNbf-rEW70SNLWG1pWNi8YS4tM/s1600/9tv.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdvtTPdKPsxGckEphlELieUudq_QKbJhIy_w8geryMkT-ROEIXwydkEF2gyYoVO-BQpa84gwdzqkJHZbXVdjIMFGK8wyMgPQki2l68qGbQFZkyguFXtNbf-rEW70SNLWG1pWNi8YS4tM/s320/9tv.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642608815398255122" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-71047539580979440662011-07-20T18:44:00.007-04:002015-03-18T11:50:23.980-04:00Mudboarding<div>
Our 'mudboarding' party was a busy one. There was way more food and beer than necessary, but we're doing a fine job of using it up before it goes bad. And who can stop the karate chop? Look out.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGL4BSV9L2HhjePS2vXOI-i5ifsDtEPdxzNL7VTGi8OxL46QeJNJdxGcKwbgnAlUpU8C_UULXAU0ooegP5_bkC3IszMh3bdNn38dIMa8NEE32c7ZWiLMYXqrk5nd9LCmeNbXEXm0l9VM/s1600/scrapsputtouse.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGL4BSV9L2HhjePS2vXOI-i5ifsDtEPdxzNL7VTGi8OxL46QeJNJdxGcKwbgnAlUpU8C_UULXAU0ooegP5_bkC3IszMh3bdNn38dIMa8NEE32c7ZWiLMYXqrk5nd9LCmeNbXEXm0l9VM/s400/scrapsputtouse.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632018495229312050" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a></div>
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I was pretty scatter-brained over the weekend. It had been a long week of putting up insulation and making other preparations. I usually underestimate the time it takes to get things done, but with insulation I was exceptionally optimistic. Anyway thanks to everyone for coming and helping turn this place into a fine place to live.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLdV8PkYhkv1LUhyphenhyphenIB18yboFpyF2XG0nPLjZXa7XDTe6OjLSsycvTiTmj6QvXbZ_ZT66nR55RP31UN1RbL57F5zvrdm6BN6VHnJFwQlFPFvZqs74LIUxepeO_dRKxXWB1p3oDJIzA8-E/s1600/drywallloadin.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLdV8PkYhkv1LUhyphenhyphenIB18yboFpyF2XG0nPLjZXa7XDTe6OjLSsycvTiTmj6QvXbZ_ZT66nR55RP31UN1RbL57F5zvrdm6BN6VHnJFwQlFPFvZqs74LIUxepeO_dRKxXWB1p3oDJIzA8-E/s400/drywallloadin.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632017462865065522" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" /></a>Hauling in nearly 200 sheets of drywall was a feat in itself.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg577QPYb7DAK13sQ4hZzi5SKee34AvceOm6t8XQK5vs_9SQ2U9x4sY86o_Bsv5HJHvxix4YmVNcHnPudJEZs-HbdUn2kmkFLUc_lrJh83RICYlz8T1vfMD4p7ZLQ4wCzVS99RfcXnS3Ec/s1600/bedroom.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg577QPYb7DAK13sQ4hZzi5SKee34AvceOm6t8XQK5vs_9SQ2U9x4sY86o_Bsv5HJHvxix4YmVNcHnPudJEZs-HbdUn2kmkFLUc_lrJh83RICYlz8T1vfMD4p7ZLQ4wCzVS99RfcXnS3Ec/s400/bedroom.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632016995682579074" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
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So far we have sheetrock hung in a bedroom and a half, as well as in the mud room. Sheetrock is one of those brand names, like band-aid, that sometimes does a nicer job of describing the thing than the generic term.<br />
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This week is focused on outside work, though. We're preparing a place for my sister's wedding reception and since we're renting a mini-excavator to take out stumps for that there are a bunch of other things to do while it's here. I worked with it today. It's not cheap but worth a lot more than what you pay if you think of how hard it is to dig out a stump by hand or dig a ditch.</div>
Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-77126558278070592332011-07-10T00:48:00.008-04:002015-04-01T14:25:53.184-04:00Insulation periodIt's been a busy week leading up to this drywall party.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnSLCRI8EFmY5egMgHUKdEW3xgX07BB7YNJB_uRTPz7DIwx2bSvwH00MYdljs95gOmpe5FiBjuUZdfUSdvEOmxCiK09r1xWOZDBi1OzTJerQGM4ajpMoIUN8QLM8XCxZ8WTeh-aCtmFk/s1600/DadnRJ.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnSLCRI8EFmY5egMgHUKdEW3xgX07BB7YNJB_uRTPz7DIwx2bSvwH00MYdljs95gOmpe5FiBjuUZdfUSdvEOmxCiK09r1xWOZDBi1OzTJerQGM4ajpMoIUN8QLM8XCxZ8WTeh-aCtmFk/s400/DadnRJ.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627582062088386450" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a> We've had a lot of help, which keeps things light. The other day, when there were half a dozen people putting up insulation, Seamus asked his mother, "So, is this a insulation party?"<br />
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There is still a lot of insulation to put up, but the downstairs is pretty much ready for drywall. And upstairs a lot of the fussy parts are done, so I think we may get that done today.<br />
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I finally got the materials estimated on Wednesday and ordered them Thursday morning. We're expecting a truck Saturday morning around 9:00 I think, and it needs to be hand-loaded as I couldn't get a forklift truck at such late notice. So if you're coming Saturday and can make it there early-ish it would be appreciated.<br />
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Thanks Jim for the drywall hoist. I've never had the pleasure of using one of these, but so far I really like it.<br />
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The weather is supposed to be warm this weekend. I made a little path down to a bathing pool in the creek just upstream from our place. It might not actually be on our property, but it's real close.<br />
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Summer evening tacos with the bride and groom after much fiberglass and a swim, and before a hike up Oakytop to see the Big Bay fireworks. The fireworks were pretty far away and had some stiff competition from the moon over misty green mountains.<br />
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Nora and Jared have been staying out here for most of the week, bringing a wave of fun and energy to the project.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-59178097935127008022011-07-06T09:53:00.005-04:002011-07-06T14:02:45.857-04:00Graduation of a buildingYesterday the building inspector and the plumbing/mechanical inspector gave their approval of our house's bones and guts, respectively. Yesssss.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtP5zoKJ5hNDqdksaMiWqQ8_kn-28emqa2i82EZTnLbzdRM3bbAuI7Z97r1Qeedw7i9vH7PPUWWwZtTT6QN3NhNXm_TdJxNX-JOOwi4qRGI569cv9qZTiIBc1L5KEr8JYfNmOIk8NhwE/s1600/attic.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtP5zoKJ5hNDqdksaMiWqQ8_kn-28emqa2i82EZTnLbzdRM3bbAuI7Z97r1Qeedw7i9vH7PPUWWwZtTT6QN3NhNXm_TdJxNX-JOOwi4qRGI569cv9qZTiIBc1L5KEr8JYfNmOIk8NhwE/s400/attic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626263372913951858" border="0" /></a><br />This means the next thing to do is insulate the place. We're using fiberglass because it's cheap and durable. Perhaps its greatest downfall is its tendency to leave glass needles in your flesh, lungs, and eyeballs. So you have to wear a lot of clothing, glasses and a respirator to keep it happy. Let's all wish for a July cold snap, eh?<br /><br />The drywall party next weekend is still on. If drywall is not your thing, there is an elliptical stage to build down by the creek, an arched ceiling that needs wood, possibly a well project to put together, and tent spots that need to be leveled, among other outdoor things. Speaking of tents, camping is encouraged, as the Big Bay road gets longer at night. And bring an instrument if you have one to play, acoustic or electric. So far quite a few musicians have shown interest, so it'll be fun to see what comes together.<br /><br />More details about the party will come as we get them worked out.<br /><br />On Sunday the 17th you may consider leaving the site to walk a while at the Eagle Rock site. There is a ceremonial walk then and there, not a protest, with the goal of acknowledging that this is a sacred site. If you haven't been there, you have my word that this is a powerful place. The building inspector who stopped by yesterday had just been up at the mine site there and remarked that level of safety and cleanliness up there was far beyond anything he'd seen in his 18 years as a building inspector. I heard another account like this at one of the informational meetings. I wonder if that powerful presence there, highlighted by the people who have been calling attention to It there, is affecting the builders and engineers, nourishing their respect for the earth and the lives of the people who work there.<br /><br />Anyway the walking ceremony starts around 10:00 and continues until sunset, with the goal of walking around the site (4 miles) three times. This is a solemn walk from one drum site to the next. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=214141381956853">This link may or may not work to a facebook page about the event. </a><br />More information is available at <a href="http://standfortheland.com/">standfortheland.com.</a><br /><br />We're going to need help this weekend, too, order to get insulation installed. It's both fussy and uncomfortable, but also very satisfying.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf1FYd0qoiQ9V0GSGXu7APz6HX9tn3NIOAAN2jGHbjI6PtvDiJtrFxUL80KlnshU0eYecoUJA1G8kkSs-LOX6kUswiXqVyLsniyhsWPoAtya1Sz6JF3WdjQQZIaqArKGhNFHEutqxjT8/s1600/tvh.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf1FYd0qoiQ9V0GSGXu7APz6HX9tn3NIOAAN2jGHbjI6PtvDiJtrFxUL80KlnshU0eYecoUJA1G8kkSs-LOX6kUswiXqVyLsniyhsWPoAtya1Sz6JF3WdjQQZIaqArKGhNFHEutqxjT8/s400/tvh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626262714635392290" border="0" /></a>Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-55463244043794906622011-06-24T21:37:00.003-04:002015-03-18T11:49:02.288-04:00Who's afraid of the inspector?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tuOZ9AMt5WiPSmJImBKCG5S4VkUBivDPqlTErm77Niw5Lg9_GLVm6UYSdyxGNrSoqTGG2zIckgXlr8gNYZ02Oot-_QC-El_DGl4gqFeyST93kizJmWByGSHScH7HiDmhI-_iFPl4QQs/s1600/1summersday.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tuOZ9AMt5WiPSmJImBKCG5S4VkUBivDPqlTErm77Niw5Lg9_GLVm6UYSdyxGNrSoqTGG2zIckgXlr8gNYZ02Oot-_QC-El_DGl4gqFeyST93kizJmWByGSHScH7HiDmhI-_iFPl4QQs/s400/1summersday.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621967020106793826" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>Today we had the framing, plumbing, chimney stuff and electrical rough-in inspected. There were a few notes, but nothing serious! There are a couple plumbing fittings that are the wrong kind for their use, a question about whether you can have more than one woodstove on one chimney flue, and then this funny thing about 'combustion air.' When you build a modern house you're supposed to make it airtight. Then, since you're sending air out the chimney, you have to poke holes in your airtight box -to let air in. <br />
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It is slightly more intelligent than that, in that you can control where the cold air goes and put a damper on the hole that only opens when the house needs air, but it is still a little silly. Anyway it's an easy job, poking a hole or two (we actually already built one in, but it is only for the masonry stove.)<br />
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So a very short list before we can move on to insulation and wall boards. Yay!Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3304083136537583287.post-32658783399074236732011-06-16T21:57:00.005-04:002011-06-16T23:41:05.402-04:00Seeing lucky stars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBvtd4KBVdphNrJ5c2MMVP7M-2p6oTwdX37tVQ8Kvtps0JIDY2mo3MoFCn7SUBgmloIRrOe3ogTOnBZMFPGCD5aQy9iUICrjcLfnQH1KrSTF8rLkSfgbW99BIAlDSxfcm7KmcgBP6hI4/s1600/7pine.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBvtd4KBVdphNrJ5c2MMVP7M-2p6oTwdX37tVQ8Kvtps0JIDY2mo3MoFCn7SUBgmloIRrOe3ogTOnBZMFPGCD5aQy9iUICrjcLfnQH1KrSTF8rLkSfgbW99BIAlDSxfcm7KmcgBP6hI4/s400/7pine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619019377447725522" border="0" /></a>The big news today is that Aya Jane is okay! She catapulted out of a hammock this morning and hit the ground head first. About an hour later she started feeling out of it and I told her to take a walk to clear her head. This was terrible advice but a walk in the woods is my standard medicine for her and usually is a perfect cure for listlessness or general loss of focus. I hadn't really heard about the hammock crash or if I did I didn't record it in my memory thinking it was no more than the usual tumble.<br /><br />Thankfully she found her way back but still felt off. So she took a nap. When she got up an hour later she wasn't able to answer simple questions. She was mumbling, blankly staring, and unusually drowsy so we rushed down the 550 to the hospital where her condition worsened to the point where the ER Doctor said repeatedly, "squeeze my hand if you understand me." And she responded by raising her other hand.<br /><br />She had a CT scan to be sure she wasn't bleeding badly and she wasn't. Whew, but she was still in and out of consciousness and not able to respond to simple questions. What is your name, where are you, etc. She would occasionally answer in complete jibberish.<br /><br />I had been praying for a while, envisioning angel hands of golden light to clear the way of healing, but as she dozed there in the noisy hospital afternoon and we were left alone I held her hand and prayed a hail Mary silently. When I got the end of the prayer her mouth whispered the first comprehensible word in an hour or more, without opening her eyes, "amen."<br /><br />The doctor ordered an MRI, which took a few hours to complete with all the waiting around in square rooms. During this time I watched our dear girl come back almost completely. By dinnertime we were home and she ate a small meal and read a few chapters to Moses at bedtime.<br /><br />I've come to understand that this is sort of a normal thing that happens to people who get a blow to the head. I guess a crash of that magnitude is rarely life-threatening. I probably wouldn't have been so worried if I had just called upon the wisdom I gained from watching the Dukes of Hazzard all those years.<br /><br />But it really does put things in perspective to see your loved ones so helpless. And what do you make of the Hail Mary story? I don't even think she knows that prayer all the way through, and besides I wasn't praying out loud.<br />I tell you the next world is not far away. It interlaces every living thing at all times. Dead things too I bet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlpPx6jtynwh8KsFBvYevAsqbxKTcIWmU1OPreroDn46vznBK71c5yZ8hBV_3ZAYmqge4FeE-Frd1p9GDYbBj0ioCpxprYZx7ejGox7vgxXvO0gnRXjztCExU8K4l1HxOKTBz7Cm3G2g/s1600/plumbumb.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlpPx6jtynwh8KsFBvYevAsqbxKTcIWmU1OPreroDn46vznBK71c5yZ8hBV_3ZAYmqge4FeE-Frd1p9GDYbBj0ioCpxprYZx7ejGox7vgxXvO0gnRXjztCExU8K4l1HxOKTBz7Cm3G2g/s320/plumbumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619027718921968226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We've picking away at the to-do list that precedes the rough-in inspection. This is when you have the framing, plumbing, and electrical stuff inspected before it gets buried under insulation and the wall boards. We have yet to run wires to a box by the generator, and a couple minor framing tasks. I'm pretty excited for the next phase.<br /><br />Speaking of which, if anyone's interested we're planning a work party for the weekend of July 16th. The main objective will be to hang drywall. There will also be outside work, including making tent spots for camping and other party preparations. We'll be camping out the weekend and I don't know what kind of music and dancing we'll put together, but so far a lot of musicians have shown interest in this party, so it may be a progressive jam time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYmS8Kl72pCajh41ZjhoOb2fY37BI8VNjCNTsk3USm1_68RA8F9U1rhw4l2uzv9A2UP4xa-fkhM7tgum71oRntxgFKI4E9Gp1mH8HAfSnwSR_UPrCw42EWH2V8wpmc97muoFoqw2zfe8/s1600/Rockout.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYmS8Kl72pCajh41ZjhoOb2fY37BI8VNjCNTsk3USm1_68RA8F9U1rhw4l2uzv9A2UP4xa-fkhM7tgum71oRntxgFKI4E9Gp1mH8HAfSnwSR_UPrCw42EWH2V8wpmc97muoFoqw2zfe8/s400/Rockout.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619002380893917522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Mossy made himself a guitar, amp and mic on a stand out of the scrap pile. Seamus is playing the bottle-with-a-stick-in-it. The future of rock n roll is in good hands.Songfinderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02019525867693226822noreply@blogger.com2