Is this our new Barn?

Clipper and Rocky were checking out the house today. I had to take down the electric fence that was surrounding the house for the dirt work. Huey ate lunch in Therese's studio, and he had to put some boards over the door because Rocky looked like he wanted to step in and walk around. I later nailed a board up over the door. The first time I saw them up at the house, I saw two asses, as they both had their heads in the windows looking around. Cute pic, but I didn't have my camera. My hunch is that they'll help fertilize the place too.

Dirtwork

Huey came today and started pushind dirt up around the concrete walls. It's going to take a while. We're going to get the dirt we need for the back of the house from enlarging the pond. We can't actually enlarge it this year, cause it has to be drained and dry for a couple of months so the dozer won't get stuck. So this year we'll dig some dirt from the bank, and do the actual enlarging next year. I want to have a pond where I can catch some fish.

Weekend Update

Gary and Larry helped level the deck and tighten down everything on the "garden level." And we got Gary into the window well to waterproof it. Now all we need to do there is add rock and gravel. We also spread tarps on the deck to try to keep it drier until the raising, which I think will happen in about a month.

House Site Update

All of the floor decking is on thanks to a lot of help from Larry and Gary. We're having to go back and shim under some of the floor trusses to level the floor up. Some parts are not quite 1/2" lower than others. Not sure exactly what accounts for it, and you really don't notice it when walking on the deck, but we wanted it as close to flat and level as possible, so we're shimming it. We should finish that this weekend, then the next work weekend we'll put in the posts and post bases that will sit on the basement floor and run up to the decking to support the timberframe. I'd estimate that we've got 6 more days of work at the house before it's ready for the timber frame. Probably means we have 10 as I always underestimate time. Hmmm. Anyway, the frame is almost done, and we're hoping to raise it mid-September. I hope.

So just how small is Huntsville?

So I was in the Huntsville City Offices today having something notarized. I explained that I was moving to Witter and was going to start a law practice. The notary said "so are you the one who wants to start a fitness center?" She'd heard of a lawyer moving to the area who wanted to start one. Um, nope that wasn't me, but nice to meet you.

Driving down the road I thought way back, and I think I might have told someone down here at least a year ago that Therese teaches water aerobics, and that it would sure be nice if there was a pool in town. I think this might have morphed into "the new lawyer wants to build a fitness center." Wow.

Whatcha readin?

I've had some lows in my summer reading. I hate to admit it, but I read a book called "Death Rides a Chesnut Mare." It as a buck at the used book store. It's about a girl pretending to be a boy who rides around killing the folks who killed her father. Can't beleive I read it. But now I'm on one of my higher points. For my birthday Therese bought me "A Short History of England" at an antique store in Yellville. I can't put it down. Why isn't this unAmerican history required reading in school? Maybe they did and I didn't, or maybe I just don't remember. Hmmmm.

"But where are all your women?"

For some reason I can just hear my friend and former colleague Ed saying "But where are all your women?" I went to the laundromat in Huntsville today for the first time. The last time I ran out of "clean" (Therese says they will never be clean again) clothes, I just went to WalMart and bought more. Not this time. I thought there would be women there doing laundry for their families. I know girls, this is a negative stereotype, but it's what I thought so give me a break. Anyway, didn't see a single woman. Bunch of old men, like me, and a few young hispanic men, doing the wash. I think the only guy in there when I left was only there for the television. I might have found an new best friend 'cause we don't have television down here in the barn.

"Say Hello to My Little Friend"

A coon has been sneaking into the barn at night to steal my bread. One night he stole my last muffin. Sam and Jack finally cornered him one morning for me to see. He sat up there on the ridge beam until, I guess, the dogs lost interest later that day.

It's too white ...

We're pickling, I think they call it, the ceiling tongue and groove. When we started I thought it was too white. Therese said "I love it." But it's too white... She was right, it dried lighter... Did you know that oil based paint is baned in some states, and Home Depot doesn't even sell it? Who woulda thunk it? We found it at Sherwin Williams. Anyway, we pickled about 600 square feet today, which is about 1/3of what needs to be done. Another long weekend coming up.

She Violated Every Rule in the Book

Many timber frames have wood tongue and groove ceilings. We're no exception, but we've added a little twist. David, our sawyer who owns the sawmill were we got the timbers for our timber frame, has circle sawn lumber. Most timbers and lumber is sawn on a band saw these days. The circle sawn lumber has a subtle arc pattern. It's going to take two loads from the sawmill to get all of it back here to the farm. I brought the first load last Friday. It needed to be sanded to take off a few rough spots, so we rented a floor sander, to sand the ceiling. We worked half a day and it started raining cats and dogs. Twas a good time for a nap. When we resumed work, Therese didn't put on here steel toed sneakers, and she was just slightly impaired. But no toes were injured in the sanding. Guess it could have been worse. She could have been smokin' on of her winstons.