Rain drain.

We woke up to steady showers, which cancelled out our planned morning walk. So instead we first watched the Wimbledon final, then the World Cup Final. Luke did a little tummy time and lots of nursing. We played with him quite a bit and were finally able to take a walk just before dark. It was pretty humid out but the fresh air was nice.

Fire(flies) on the mountain, lightning (bugs) in the air.

Last night I went to the Mountain Goat Trail near Pearl’s to photograph the fireflies. I set up two cameras and felt like the ‘flies might be a little lighter than usual as I observed. The finished product would seem to support this hypothesis. The first picture was taken at 55mm and the second at 135mm.

After the greenway I went to the farm on the back side of campus to photograph star trails. It would have been nice to stay longer but I was pretty tired. Also next time I’ll set up more than one camera.

Taking a three week vacation (from the farm).

Last night after the greenway I drove over to the university farm and attempted some star trail pictures. It’ll be interesting to see how they turned out. There were a few clouds, but tons of stars, as it was close to the new moon. A number of cars drove by, so I’ll have to remove those frames from the sequence. I think the camera ran for about an hour and a half.

We hit the road around seven this morning and took the highway off the mountain, the interstate to Beech Grove, then the back roads to the farm. It wasn’t too hot when we arrived. We worked on the corner trim for a little while, then my dad caulked and I cleaned up and packed the tools we are going to need up in Nashville.

And that is the vacation…working for three weeks at his project up by the Gulch. We are going to put down laminate flooring, assemble and install cabinets, and install trim. Hopefully we can get all of that done in three weeks. It was pretty frustrating not to finish the siding on the house, but I’m not dwelling on it. It’ll be waiting for us in three weeks.

In many ways it’ll be nice to have a break from the house, even if it is with another construction project. Doing the siding in the hot summer sun was a real beat down. It’ll also be nice to have less of a drive every day. If I leave before traffic picks up in the morning it should only take me about twenty minutes. In the evenings I’ll need to either leave before three or after seven.

I’m back at the condo now and am looking forward to relaxing this afternoon and tomorrow. Hopefully we will go on a walk once it cools down this evening.

Struck out, but still won.

We got an early start this morning and built on yesterday’s progress. That meant continuing with siding on the big gable end. Things were great until we ran out of siding even earlier than expected. My dad had to run up to Nashville for a little while so I worked on preparing the trim. When he returned we worked on trim for as long as we could take the heat, which was about one o’clock, then we hooked up the trailer and headed to Georgia for more siding. We took a mostly new route that was very pretty, although an hour longer than the interstate. It was worth it. Unfortunately the store had sold out of the siding we needed. They aren’t sure when more will be arriving. That was pretty frustrating, but not really a big deal because of where we headed next…The Mountain. Our first stop was the cottage for much needed showers. Then we had dinner at Papa Ron’s. It was delicious and the service was much improved since our last visit. We topped that off with ice cream from the Mountain Goat Market. Sitting on the terrace was very nice. We were a bit stuffed for a hike, but did drive over to campus. We visited the goats from a distance and stopped at the overlooks. They stunned, as usual. It was lovely out so we set up the folding chairs at Lake Cheston. That was very tranquil and scenic, but after a while we got restless, despite the theatre provided by the local family fishing nearby. So we headed back to the cottage. After a few minutes of sitting I decided to come photograph the fireflies on the Goat Trail, where I am now. It feels like there aren’t as many bugs out as usual. We shall see. It is so nice out here with the crickets chirping away. I’m not sure what time we’ll hit the road tomorrow. It probably depends on how well we sleep. Seeing sunrise could be nice, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy to get up for it.

Siding downhill.

We got started about eight this morning and it was a very productive day. The oppressive heat and humidity were no match for our determination. Most of the time. Other times I wanted to curl up and cry. But we finished one gable wall and made big progress on the largest remaining section. That one will be a real beast to finish though, as it’s the highest part and spans the “nubbin”. Another issue is that we are about to run out of siding. I miscalculated and so we are a bit short. So tomorrow afternoon we will head back to Georgia for more. That is a little frustrating, but such is life. I still think we have a decent chance of finishing by the end of Saturday. Today we also installed some of the 1×4 trim pieces. We still have a lot of them left to go though. It was another beautiful evening out here on the farm with deer and lots of lightning bugs. After “dinner” we cut a bit of grass until it became too dark to continue. That felt pretty good despite being tiring. Now there are a lot of stars out. I think tonight is a new moon. In a couple of hours it should really be impressive.

Late start, late finish.

My dad had some things to do first thing this morning and so arrived about ten. I took advantage and slept in a little, then piddled around the house until he came. Then we really got after it. Despite the relentless sun we finished up two more walls and made good progress on another. It will be close in regards to finishing by Saturday, but I’m beginning to think it’s possible. If the next three days are as productive as today then we definitely will. This evening I went to Home Depot in Spring Hill for more nails and nail gun oil. The drive was really beautiful.

Short but productive day.

We got an early start after what for me was a fitful night of sleep. We quickly finished up one wall of siding on the garage and then worked on the opposite wall. The weather was pretty mild and we were in the shade for most of the morning. We also hauled a load of siding scraps to the county landfill. It felt good to get the site looking cleaner. After lunch we did some more but the sun was out it it was very hot. We started to move our operation into the shade, but we were really too worn out to even move the ladders. So we called it a day and will be back at it tomorrow morning. I’m actually really pleased with the progress we made today and think we have a real shot at finishing the siding by the end of the week. I drove back to the condo to spend some time with Luke, Liz, and her mother. I plan on returning to the farm later and spending the night.

New system, fantastic progress.

I slept pretty well out at the farm last night and got going a little before six. My dad arrived not much later. We decided to use the walk board and ladder Jack’s today. All I can say is that I wish we had been doing so all along! It really sped things up and we were able to get the whole back wall completed. We were also helped by more relatively mild weather. It felt really good to get so much done. Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice continuation of this progress. The ladders are all set up to finish one side of the garage. That should go pretty quickly and then we will try to knock out the gable end next to it. I bought a towel, wash cloths, and soap at Dollar General and will try to shower with the garden hose after dark. But first we are headed back to the Jumbo House for dinner.

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