The nice weather and hard work continue.
It was a little chilly this morning, but not too bad. I wanted to start the day with pouring concrete, but my hose was frozen. So instead I built the last porch railing, which I put on hinges, so I could move in in order to put firewood on the porch with the front end loader. After that I was able to pour concrete, although I had to go get ten more bags at Home Depot. Once that was finished I made the access panel for under the deck. At some point this afternoon the previous owners of the house came by. They were brothers from Canada, musicians, and were pretty nice. They don’t live too far away. I finished up the day by building covers for the access holes on the house and apartment. My dad spent the afternoon painting outside. That looks pretty good. We had dinner at Red 7 pizza. The weather should be nice again tomorrow, and I think we will get a lot done.
Foggy to sunny to chilly.
I was in the process of writing a long post when I accidentally deleted it. I don’t like this new version of WordPress. Short recap: we pretty much finished up the trim inside, I finished the deck railing, stairs included, formed for HVAC unit pads and poured one, and took all of the plumbing and electrical fixtures to their proper locations. My dad painted and caulked outside. After dark I went to Lowe’s for more concrete.
Not really relaxing, not really working.
It was kind of a mediocre day. It was super foggy up on the mountain this morning, and a little drizzly. So I didn’t go photograph or cut firewood. I just kind of lounged around the cottage and took a nap. Pretty boring. I hit the road a little before two, because I didn’t want to drive home in the dark again. I drove through Cowan and Shelbyville, a rather scenic route. Back at the farm I organized some, before going to Lowe’s and Home Depot for supplies. Now I’m in bed, and grateful for the fact that it isn’t too cold.
A little sun, a little fun.
I got a pretty early start this morning, just as the rain was tailing off. The first order of business was to finish the railing on the front porch. Or all of it but one end anyways. There were a couple of hiccups, but it ended up looking okay. Next I trimmed out the skirting on the porch and back deck. Then I cut and temporarily placed the rail caps for the deck and also installed the last of the goat panels. Well, except for the ones on the stairs. I had to go to Home Depot for a couple more deck boards and so I also bought three toilets and a water heater. Back at the house I installed the last of the deck boards and then took all of the tools inside. I hit the road just before two. I went a semi back way, dropping off three bags of trash at the dump before driving through Chapel Hill and Bell Buckle on my way to the interstate. Up on the mountain I stopped at the cottage to turn on the water heater, then headed over to campus. The goats were out, so I took a few pictures. I dropped by Hallelujah Pottery and spoke with Debbie for a while before going to Piggly Wiggly for supplies. Back at the cottage I showered and relaxed a bit. After eating I drove through town then came back to the cottage.
Back inside.
I wanted to finish up on the porch and deck today, but it started raining, so no luck. I started off by going to Dollar General to get glass cleaning supplies in order to clean the pad that the wood burning stove will sit on. The salesman had told me that the installers were coming this morning, but he called later to say that it would be next week. So I focused on the apartment kitchen while my dad did trim throughout the house. I cut down the last of my free cedar to make shelves and installed cabinets. I also cut the countertop to hold the sink from the old house. We spent the early afternoon cleaning up. Tomorrow I will try to haul a load of trash to the dump. This evening I picked up paint, a toilet, and a few other things at Lowe’s. Sunday I will get the remaining toilets and water heater at Home Depot.
Warmer weather, more mud.
The temperature is nice, but unfortunately the lack of freezing means that instead of being solid, the ground is a muddy mess. I got another early start this morning and was again working outside. I finished the porch steps, started the railings, and did most of the skirting. In the back I did skirting as well. I also prepared a little for some concrete work I need to do. I worked until about 7:30 using my headlamp. Then I went to Lowe’s to get some stuff we will need tomorrow.
Stairs and rails.
Got an early start and worked outside all day. I put up the posts and some of the goat panels on the deck. I also started on the porch steps. My dad worked hard on the cabinets and vanities.
Frosty morning, sunny day.
It was cold this morning, but not miserable like I was expecting. Outside it was beautiful – heavy frost everywhere and golden sunlight. I left pretty early to get goat panels for the deck at the Chapel Hill Co-op. Then I stopped by Cedar Direct to chat and pick up some boards. I dropped those off at the house then went into town for some pressure treated lumber. That took a while because there were so many different sized boards and it was after eleven before I was able to get to work. I put up all of the railing posts and one goat panel. Then I worked on the stairs. I had to cut all of the stringers, which took a while. I made good progress though, working well into the darkness with the help of my headlamp. It also really warmed up and I was in my shirtsleeves for much of the afternoon. Tomorrow I hope to finish everything on the deck and make good progress on the porch too. My dad assembled vanities today, and they look great. He will continue with them tomorrow. We had dinner at Panera in Spring Hill and it was tasty. Now we are in bed because we are both pretty wiped out and it is very cold. I ran out of time to take pictures of anything but the frost this morning. Tomorrow I’ll get plenty though.
The shelves need some elves.
We got a bit of work done today. My dad put up a lot more trim and grouted the bathroom floors. I built the kitchen shelves, hauled trash to the dump, and installed countertops. That involved cutting a hole for the sink. Lowe’s delivered the appliances and Big Box brought the cabinets. We will assemble and install the latter tomorrow. After dinner I bought some things at Lowe’s. It is supposed to be nineteen degrees tonight.
Colder and wetter.
Didn’t do much at all today. Got the ambiance working. Napped and read. Ate. Tried twice to see the goats and failed. Drove back to the farm after dark. Read some more.
