House as of today

I spent the first part of Turkey Day (By the way, Happy Gobbling Day) working on the house. I had not yet put the spacers in, and unfortunately that took more time than I had anticipated. Grandpa told me a way to do them temporarily with a board nailing every 16 after I came back. O well. Still, I did start the decking. I did not get much on, but nonetheless started.

So in reverse of where I am today-

This is the full basement with the carrying timber in place. It was a bitch putting it up alone, but felt kind of like a game of chess figuring how to brace a plank in place. I re-notched the wall instead of notching the wood in the timber. It was 1/32 off from the sill, which I thought was darn good.


Jack came over and we had a hell of a day putting up the rim joists and the first joists. The green hemlock is troubling to move alone, and having two hands makes the project move so much faster. Cheers Jack! Will try to get kiln dried for the second floor joists and rafters. It was pretty neat to work on the house today. Normally when I work it goes something like, "F--- it. It is a pig shed. It doesn't need to be square." But with the house, we're measuring out perfectly. Our last rim joist section was a saw blade too wide, but still took it back to make the correction. It was neat to be measuring out 12+ feet, and making correct cuts down perfectly with a little math and patience. *Note to reader: Not a carpenter so I find myself taking more time than I'd like.
Jack and I after we finished the next day. Our box was 1/4 inch out of square, and we adjusted it to being perfectly square. By the way Jack, I did find my sledge hammer after wards. (I had a splitting maul but he brought a hammer. ) We finished by tacking into the sill, and the joists together and into the timber. Jack's way of running the sides of the rim joists was better than mine. Now, on that note and since Jack cannot rebutt here: Mine would just take longer, but nonetheless the result would have been the same. =P Looking damn good though.

This is Fenevare- The picture does not do her justice. She has been growing very well, and looking unbelievably healthy. The 4 calves have been eating almost 1 1/2 bales a day, but growing wonderfully. She was born in July. I want to keep here. Trying to keep money in the pocket so that I will not have to do something stupid like sell her for cash. Pinzgauer xJersey.


Note: I am not a cat person. Swear... Sasha and Zac on mini lunch break. I let him eat whatever I am eating. Today was a slice of bread and water.
I cut out the spacers, and tacked them in. Wish I held onto that nail gun. I have a wrist/forearm problem as it is, and now it is just throbbing. The last part of the day I went lefty. Only three courses in for the deck today. Mistake: I bought 1x6's. They are going to go up slowly. The benefit: Planed, edged and dried for 40cents a board foot. And no chemicals from some nasty plywood.



It has felt like I have been doing half days since I do not have to milk, work house and then go to work. Next week will be tough to get back into that pattern again. Unfortunately the rain will stop me from working on the house tomorrow. Saturday should be a good blow out day though. I think I will treat myself on Black Friday to a used bookstore. Anyone want to go on a trip? Seriously, just e-mail, call.

Hasn't it been such a wonderful fall? The other day for lunch kitty and I layedin the warm grass. You should have been there. A line of our bodies in the sun- with the kat tiptoeing across our backs.