Weather cooling down, cedar wrapping up.

I didn’t fall asleep until after four this morning, woke up about six-thirty, and got out of bed around eight-thirty. I arrived at the house just before nine. It was a little chilly so I fired up the propane heater. This morning was actually as warm as it got – the temperature continued to drop throughout the day. I started by installing the ceiling in the “utility room” before moving to the second bedroom. Next came the “flex room”, but after just a few boards I went to the Goat Market for pizza. I actually ended up getting it to go, since there were more people there than expected at 3:30. I did chat with Eric for a few minutes while I waited. Back at the house I finished up the flex room ceiling and started on the small closet. One issue is that a lot of this cedar isn’t of great quality, so I’ve really had to pick through it and cut out a lot of waste. I will probably need to bring some from home in order to finish up the closets. Tomorrow I hope to do the bathroom ceilings, finish as much of the closets as the wood allows, finish the last run on each room, haul trash to the dump, and load up all of the scrap wood. It would be nice to get away fairly early in the afternoon.

Painting done, ceiling started, still raining.

It was another wet, foggy, and nasty morning. I got to the house about eight and started painting. That went pretty well and I am mostly pleased with the result. Clean up was unpleasant as usual. Next I carried all of the tongue and groove cedar into the house. That took a while but fortunately it wasn’t raining too hard at that point. I went to the cottage for a quick lunch and to drop off the flatbed trailer. Then I started to install the cedar ceilings. First up was the vaulted main room. That was slow going due to the height. Around four I went to the Goat Market for some water and a Lara bar. Upon returning I knocked out the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. It was pretty easy. Then I returned to the vaulted ceiling until nearly nine.

Spackling, papering, painting.

I didn’t get a super early start this morning, but made it to the house around 8:30. I started spackling, which was really tedious. I made it through though, the swept and cleaned, then taped up the last doors and openings. Finally about one o’clock I started painting. Some of it went on a bit thick at first, but I eventually got in the groove. Priming everything only took about an hour and a half. It is still rainy and very humid, so the paint is drying slowly, even with my propane heater running full blast. After painting I went and paid some bills around town then went to Piggly Wiggly before going to the cottage and cooking a late lunch. I went back to the house to swap propane tanks. I had wanted to apply the top coat this evening but it looks like I will have to wait until morning. Oh well. I should be able to do that pretty quickly then start installing the cedar ceilings.

Reading, preparing, hiking, driving, shiplapping.

Luke and I started off the day with a lot of reading. Liz brought out some of his older books that she had put away, and he really enjoyed seeing those again. Liz spent a lot of time packing and we did a lot of stuff to prepare for her parents coming this evening. Tomorrow she is going to Austin for a few days for work. After lunch we went on a nice hike at the nature park. Luke really enjoyed running around and picking up sticks. After his nap and a couple more books I drove up to the Mountain. I went to the job site and spent an hour and a half or so installing the last of the shiplap. Back at the cottage the propane tank is empty, so no heat, but fortunately it isn’t super cold tonight.

Still chilly, but making the most of it.

Luke didn’t wake up too early this morning, which was nice. After breakfast I went to Lowe’s (a bust), and Kroger (successful). Luke enjoyed helping me put away the groceries. We read and played a lot, and after his nap we went for a walk along the greenway. It was a bit cool, but we still had a nice time. After Luke went to bed I went to Home Depot for a couple of things.

Snow, more shiplap, less warm.

There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, and I was in no rush to get going this morning. After breakfast I did load some shiplap onto the roof rack and headed to the job site. It was still snowing a little and was extremely cold. I finished the shiplap on the vaulted wall and started on the bathrooms. Both of those went pretty slowly. I had to go to the cottage for more shiplap, which I precut and hauled inside my car. I unloaded it, tidied up the house, and returned to the cottage to do a little work. Then I hooked up the flatbed trailer and drove home. I was able to spend about 20 minutes with Luke before he went to bed.

Still wet, getting colder, pigging out, shiplap.

Luke slept well last night despite being late to bed. He was in a good mood this morning. I left the house at eight and stopped by the dump on my way up the Mountain. After stopping by the cottage to change clothes I got to work. I continued on the shiplap. The electricians came by and added the microwave plug and ran a wire from the temporary power pole to the house, so that the can lights in the living room and a few plugs now work. It was really nice to have those working. Late this afternoon I went to the Goat Market for pizza and cookies. They were delicious. I returned and continued to work on the shiplap until 8:40. I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. Tomorrow I need to finish up one vaulted wall and the bathrooms. Then I will spackle and cover everything else with brown paper. I’m not sure if I will paint. It is supposed to only reach thirty-three degrees. I brought up my propane heater, but I’m not sure how much that would raise the temperature. I will decide tomorrow what to do. It will probably be another long day either way. They are calling for one to three inches of snow tonight. That might affect things.

An even shorter, slightly less productive day.

My dad and I went to the house this morning around eight and started working. It was rainy and nasty out, but dry inside. I resumed working on the shiplap while my dad cleaned, taped and papered over the windows and doors, and ran some errands for us. The electrician came by and said that he will return tomorrow to add the microwave plug. Work went well, although a little more slowly than hoped. I had wanted to be ready to paint tomorrow, but it that will get pushed back to Friday. I spent the last portion of the day putting locks on the front door. We left the house about 2:30 and I showered at the cottage before stopping by the Goat Market for a drink then driving home. It rained the whole time. Back home I played with Luke, we had dinner, I set up our new wireless network (Spectrum – blazing fast!), then power went out. It has probably been out a couple of hours now. Luke didn’t get a bath and stayed up a bit later than usual. Now we are just sitting around hoping that power returns before everything in the refrigerator spoils! Tomorrow morning I’ll return to the Mountain to finish the shiplap and all the paint preparation.

A shorter, but still very productive day.

I got to the house a few minutes before eight and resumed the shiplap. It went pretty well. My dad returned mid-morning and spent a bit of time cleaning the house. Then he spent the rest of the day spackling nail holes. Not glamorous, but necessary and appreciated. He pretty much caught up to me. I made good progress, but maybe not as much as hoped for. It will be a real challenge to finish tomorrow. We wrapped up the work day about 5:30. One issue I discovered is that the electrician didn’t wire us for a microwave. I’ll try to get him to do that tomorrow. In the morning I’ll go by the storage unit and get my scaffolding. That will help speed things up. This evening my dad and I went to have dinner on campus at Sewanee. It was pretty good, though a little more crowded than I would prefer. Now it’s time to just relax for a little bit. I’ll call Liz before too long and do some messing around in Sketchup.

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