Raise The Bar or Get To The Point

   Ed is still working on the basement, the official Man Cave. It must be official, because we have a sign.

  At the base of the stairs is a portrait of great . great, however many Uncle Jubal Early, who fought on the wrong side of the War Between The States. In spite of that, I'm sure he was kind to his mother.  Really,  we didn't have good portraits of those in the family that fought on the Union side. What an awful time!

 

    In any event, that's the entrance to the first part of the Man Cave, which includes the theater area.  We wanted some special hinge plates for the doors he built, so we contacted a local artisan, Dave Curl from Solstice Forge, who made beautiful arrow hinge plates for us.
   They weigh a ton, but the doors are solidly built and they just look awesome.

   Ed has been working for some time on making frames for artifacts collected over 50 years ago. He has carefully stored many beautiful blankets  and other items, hoping for just the place to display them.  Pressure hangers are used to hang the fragile blankets on the wall. Frames of arrowheads, bird points and beads are carefully hung. To see these things is to feel the weight of time.




I'm not sure how this all ties in to the modernity of a home theater, but somehow it all comes together to make a very comfortable room. We hope to have Soup And A Movie night with friends soon.

And right next door? Yee haw! Big Ed's Saloon. It's stocked, although I'm not quite sure what to do with most of it.  I'm sure I'll figure it out.










Along the far wall is a row of cabinets that was a mis-measure for the upstairs craft room. We bought them at a discount and installed them in the saloon. Display frames are mounted in the cabinet surface, and more frames above. Ed has had a life-long interest in First Nations history, inspired by family connections to the Cherokee Nation. I'm so glad he has a place to come in daily contact with different aspects of his heritage.

Welcome Home

   After surviving a severe case of Builder's Burnout, complicated by a rash of Stuff That Has To Be Done Immediately, Ed started cleaning up the last of the detail work on the house. He began by casting the cement caps on the columns. After looking at several different products used to form up the caps, he decided to just build his own. He made forms out of strips of plywood, then mixed the Portland cement in buckets and hand carried it up to the porch to pour into the forms. Bag after bag, bucket after bucket...it adds up to a lot of pounds of cement. One and a half bags for each single column and three bags for every double column. There are two double columns and two single columns front and back. You do the math.
   Once the cement was poured he cased out the posts. Because of the Northwest weather, maintaining anything made of wood is a challenge. Ed decided to use a product similar to PVC, except it is formed in sheets, similar in dimension to plywood, made by Kleer. He cut it with a regular Skil saw then glued and nailed them together.
   They were easy enough to lift into place. The problem we had was getting them lined up square and plumb. The columns are tapered and the cement caps are sloped for drainage. That creates a double whammy of misperception when eyeballing the alignment. So the conversation went like this:
Ed:   "Is it straight?"
Me:  "Um...I think so."
Ed:   "OK, I'm going to shoot the nails."
Me:  "Oh....wait...."
   Once the casing was completed, he sanded the cement caps, put trim pieces around the crown and base, mounted corner bead, and gave everything a good sealing with caulking. The columns are finally done!

 
  We decided to put skirting around the bottom of the porch, partly for eye appeal, and partly to keep critters...skunks, possums, whatever...from taking up residence.

   The Man Cave gets worked on when the weather isn't conducive to outside projects. We ordered bar edge trim for the bartop along with brass foot rails. While we were waiting for that to arrive, Ed did some more work on the bar cabinetry. There will be a small fridge under the counter. We decided not to get too crazy with beer taps and kegs. Ed has been working on a backbar which will have the obligatory mirror and a place for bottles.

 

   He also finished up the theater seating. He built a platform for the second row of seats. The seats have motorized recliners so he wired in for boxes to plug in the chairs.
 Then we lifted the chairs onto the platform, plugged them in, and aligned them for perfect viewing. Now all we need to do is agree on a movie to watch!

     We would like to have soup-and-a-movie night with friends and neighbors. It'll also be a great place to keep the grandkids entertained on those rainy days.









 
  One of the best things I have done since moving to the Northwest is blog this building experience. Sometimes you lose sight of what motivated you in the first place. Sometimes you forget just how much you have accomplished. Sometimes it's just good to review the obstacles and be reminded of your blessings.






   We managed to get through an eight-year process without major illness or injury. We didn't make one unexpected trip to the hospital. Ed is an amazing individual whose problem solving skills and patience are truly inspiring. For the first four years, he made a weekly 1700 mile commute for work.  He worked on the building project on his days off, essentially working 7 days a week, month after month. Then when he retired, he worked 6 days a week to build the house. He says he didn't really retire, he just changed jobs.


   Front or back, each porch beckons friends and family to enjoy our home, and really is there much else that is important? Our hope has always been to share our home with those we care about.
     Recently someone asked me "Is this a Craftsman style home?"
     In my heart I thought, "Oh yes, it is. Not only in style, but in actuality. A craftsman built it...a true craftsman who cared about each step. He thought about every nail, every joint, every tiny detail."


   And so I find that each time we come up that driveway, and each time we open the door, the very house itself whispers "Welcome home, welcome home."

Renewal And Redemption: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

   Yes, I know. You thought I'd given up on keeping up, what with no entry since October. Frankly, Ed was just burnt out on construction, and who could blame him? After working like a man possessed for six years, he finally took a breath. He built the barn to keep the tools. He built the apartment to live in during the house construction and then he built the house. And all without a trip to the emergency room. No I managed that one, and in a garden, no less. But that's at the end of the story.

    And of course, he's back at it. The Man Cave has been patiently waiting for his return. First things first...we need a sign. We found a font he liked, he traced it on the board, routed it out and painted it. Then he ran it through the planer one more time, stained and varnished the rest. Since he's going to put a bathroom in the basement, we though a manly sign was in order for that too.

   This afternoon he installed the Man Cave sign in the stairwell down to the basement...just so you know exactly where you're going. No girlie stuff down here!

   He also put the baseboards in the theater room and unpacked the rest of the chairs. There are four chairs in the front row and three in the back. The next step will be to build a raised platform for the second row so that whomever is sitting there can actually SEE past the first row. He put together the mining cart table and set it on an old wool blanket. Fear not! The blanket isn't an antique.

    Yes, that is a popcorn machine in the background. What is a theater without popcorn? Ok, maybe it's a clean theater, but it just wouldn't be right. That is a contribution from my son-in-law and daughter to the project. Soon we hope to have Soup-And-A-Movie night with friends and neighbors.

   And then there is the saloon. You will recall I scoured the internet for a wagon wheel light fixture. That little item merited some snickering. But now...it fits right in. Ed is working to build an old fashioned cowboy bar. He's using more of that old spruce tree that fell the first year we were here. We're still working on a plan for the back bar.

   I've been working on some stained glass and on my vegetable garden. In April the garden very nearly did me in. Ed and I were outside putting the PVC hoops in place so I could start planting seeds. We started spreading the plastic over the hoops. Note to self: Do not stand on something tall and lean over. I caught my foot, went over the top and smacked my head into the 2x12 that forms the raised bed. This is not a good thing when you live an hour from everywhere. I'll refrain from posting trauma pictures, but the bruises turned some amazing colors of green and purple. The stitches weren't so bad though. Ed said the first thing I planted in the new garden was my face.

   The garden has redeemed herself though. I planted seeds May 1st, and there is stuff growing everywhere. The tomato seeds I direct seeded did better than the ones started in pots. Around here, tomatoes are iffy, so I'm pretty happy. In order, beets, garlic, carrots, sugar peas, green beans, radishes, onions, lettuce, swiss chard, broccoli,  kale, cabbage, spinach, spaghetti squash and tomatoes. The potatoes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and zucchini are in the fenced garden by the chicken coop. This morning I thinned things out a bit. Sugar snap peas, radishes, spinach and two big bunches of kale are now in the fridge, and plenty more still in the ground.

We Are The 98%

By August, most of the major construction was done. The house is down to that 98% complete phase. Our time has been consumed by the annual summer frenzy. Friends and family have traveled up for a visit.  Berry vines needed spraying, firewood prepared for the winter and the million maintenance chores that had been put off during construction really needed attention.
   One of the things holding up the building permit was the lack of rail on the basement stairs. It didn't take Ed long to do, it was just getting to that item on the list that was difficult.   The trim work will have to wait until winter.

   Before Ed moved the winter wood into the storage area of the basement, he wanted to build a storage area to contain the bulk of the wood mess. And while we're at it, let's put in some shelving for the overflow from the kitchen pantry. I like the sound of that! Next year I hope to be canning garden produce, and this will be the perfect place for it.

But the basement is, after all, a Man Cave, and what Man Cave would be complete without some tools? Yes, Ed found a corner for a small workbench (in contrast with the big workbench in the barn).

   Really, the only things left to do are to finish the trim work on the exterior columns and finish the trim in the basement. Those will be winter projects.
 

   Oh yes....one more thing.... that pesky permit. Chuck-The-Building-Inspector came out and did the final walk-through. The building department here has been a very pleasant surprise, and a joy to work with. Chuck patiently answered every question during the building process. He was thorough but never heavy-handed and we thank him for all his assistance.

  So now it's official. We can breathe a sigh of relief and relax a bit. Summer is winding down and we'll tuck in for the winter. Not that Ed will stop building, it just won't be under a timeline.

It's All Bull&hit Or That Bites

     Ed put up the trim up around the man cave doors, and it looks great. It's solid and heavy, just like the doors. We are still looking for rustic iron hinge straps and door hardware that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Now he's working on the newel post and the rest of the rail and trim for the stairs.  It's the last thing before we can get the house finaled. You know...before we're supposed to move in.

    Another one of those last details was the outside stair rails. We were one rail short (don't ask) on the back steps and had to wait a week to finish this project. Ed doesn't wait well. When the delivery truck arrived, Ed was anxious to get it in. This requires drilling holes in the cement to anchor the bottom of the rail. That requires a masonry bit....one that works. Ed had a Vermont American bit that he'd bought previously. It lasted two holes and burnt to a crisp. You'd think with a name like Vermont American that the darned thing would be made in...well...Vermont..or at least America. Not. It, like so many things that are poor quality, was made in China. So, Ed had to wait (again) until we went into town to buy a Bosch bit, made in Germany.

 

 Once he had equipment that worked, the rail went up quickly. People may still fall down the stairs, but at least they'll have something to grab on to on the way down.

   Because the weather here is less than friendly to vegetable gardens, tomatoes in particular, we had discussed building a greenhouse. The little garden between the house and the chicken coop is a good size, but it gets too much shade for anything but the berries. The only flat location for a good sized greenhouse is down in the pasture. It would be a major project, and while Ed doesn't shy away from a large project, it did present several problems.  The whole thing would need to be fenced against the elk. That's a big fence. It's some distance from the house. I would need to take the Gator down any time I expected to haul produce back up to the house. We'd have to find a water source for those few times a year I'd need to water the plants. And most importantly, when I finally hit 85, am I still going to want to drive down there to pick some lettuce?  What to do?
     As I sat on the back porch with a cool beverage, it hit me. The answer was right under my nose...literally.
Directly below the back deck, right up next to the cement retaining wall was a long flat strip of ground being used for nothing but a place to mow.  Perfect!
   After I explained my idea to Ed, we started looking around for materials. What do we need, and what do we already have? In the construction left-over pile, we had some 2x12 boards used for scaffolding, a huge pile of forming stakes and some PVC pipe. We need about 9 cubic yards of decent topsoil.

 
 We called Sam Longtain again.
   "You're in luck." he says "I'm levelling a site on an old farm, and I have a load in the truck right now."
   He brought out a load of the most beautiful, weed free, unlumpy, clayless soil this side of a garden center I've ever seen. It's all I can do to stop myself from jumping up and down and clapping my hands.

  So Ed started forming up the raised beds, using material we already had. I'd like to say I dug out all the grass and weeds in that raised bed area, but it would be a lie. I'll probably pay for that later.
    Ed used the tractor to load dirt into the Gator, then drove it to the back of the house. The dump bed on that Gator has paid for itself over and over, and saved us hours of backbreaking labor. The last bit on the end was closer to the slope, and we couldn't position the Gator to dump the dirt. Instead, we brought the dirt around in the Gator, transferred it to a wheelbarrow, and rolled into position.

Once the dirt was in the raised bed, Ed mounted a pressure treated 2x4 along the top of the block wall (masonry bit again) then put lag bolts every 4 feet, leaving them sticking out about an 1 1/4" . Using some left over 3/4" schedule 40 PVC, he made hoops that curved around and fit over more forming stakes driven in on the outside of the box.
   At the far end I'll fasten 6 mil clear plastic for a greenhouse area in the spring for tomatoes and other more delicate vegetables. The rest will be covered with bird netting to deter deer, rabbits, birds and hopefully raccoons. The netting is very tangly and I'm hoping it will do the trick.
    It's convenient to the house, close to a water source, and as I get older, more easily accessible. The whole thing is 60'x4'.  If I can't grow what I need in 240 square feet, I need to study up on gardening.
     Although the dirt is beautiful, we decided it could a boost. I called the local landscape supply place for steer manure.
     There was a pause..."Um...no...we have dairy compost, though."
     Really? Is it different if it comes from girl cows rather than boy cows?  I should have known. This is dairy country, not beef cattle country. We took the truck and picked up 2 cubic yards of black gold.
     It must be the genetic farm girl in me. I just don't mind the smell. We brought two yards of  "dairy compost" back by wheelbarrow and dug it into the topsoil.  During the winter when the two honeysuckle plants are dormant, I'll relocate them.
     I could hardly contain myself. I fished out my seed packets to see what I could put in the ground NOW. I planted cabbage, kale, garlic, onion seeds, and  sugar peas. The whole time I was planting I could hear the darned chipmunks chirping, watching, chirping, moving closer, watching, waiting, watching.  Oh no! I'm on to you. I've had you sneak in and dig up my seeds before! I staked down bird netting nice and tight over the surface of the soil. Once the sugar peas sprout, I'll move the netting higher.

The Man-Cave Has Doors

   The second winter we were here a huge windstorm brought a 100 year old spruce down directly across the driveway. With the help of neighbors and a logging crew who were working on the other side of the road, we got the driveway cleared. We found a local guy with a portable saw mill, and stacked the wood in the newly built barn.
   Ed wanted to use the lumber to build all the interior doors, baseboards and door jambs. Luckily he came to his senses before that happened.  He did, however, decide to make the doors for the man cave. There are  seven. Two from the theater room to the shop, three for closets, and two from the saloon to the gym. The lumber he is using is rough-sawn spruce 2x12s.

   I bought two sets of planer blades.
   Ed proceeded to make a Mt. Everest sized pile of wood shavings. After the lumber had been run through the planer numerous times, he sanded it. He beveled each edge of each board. Then he used a biscuit joiner to lock three boards together, glued and clamped them and started the next one. When the glue was dry, he sanded some more, applied stain, then set up to spray the finish. He set them up in the shop portion of the basement, just like he did the interior doors.

   More spraying....more sanding. He hung all the  doors, which weigh a ton. For the first time, the basement looks less cavernous..no wait...that's what he wanted...a man cave. At least now I can't call it a dungeon.  The doors are up. They still need trim, headers and hardware. We're thinking wrought iron hinge straps, clavos, and door knobs.

   The grandkids were here until last week. They are city kids, used to urban pursuits. Facebook, computer games, iPhones. It wasn't raining and they needed to go outside and DO something. At 14, they are a little past the play age, but I sent them out to explore. They had a bottle of water, a box of graham crackers and complete freedom. They didn't know what to do.
   I taped directions on the door.
   They did take a nice long walk down the road to check out the neighbor's horses. Yes, I did let them back in the house.

    Jackson, at 8 weeks, was just too little to send outside to play, so we kept him in and played "dress-up" Poor kid didn't have a chance, although he didn't seem to mind the attention. I have a hunch we won't have any problems getting this little guy out to get into mischief when he's old enough.

Oh Beautiful For Spacious Skies

  We had friends and family coming up for Independence Day, and the push was on to finish as many things on the To-Do list as possible.
   First on that list was the cement. This was one of those things that it's worth paying someone else to do. It's hard, grueling work in the best of conditions. The weather was perfect...overcast, no rain, not too cold. Jim Bjorge and crew worked like crazy. Still, it was a two day pour, and took about 19 cubic yards of cement, front and back.

   Oh glorious surface! Oh beautiful stone! I am finally able to walk from front to back without covering my shoes in wet sand or sticky mud. The amount of crud being tracked into the house by pets and people has diminished threefold.
   But wait...there's more. We still needed rock to meet the level of the cement. We called Sam Longtain about bringing out some gravel.

  I thought that it would be dumped in a big mountain and then Ed would have to use the tractor to smooth it out and spread it around. Silly me! Sam  dumped it and rolled forward, so it spread it out in a ribbon of gravel. Ed finished the rest up with his tractor.

   Elicia and I were working to get the house ship-shape for company. All of the windows had to be washed inside and out. That's a lot of Windex and paper towels. We mopped the floors, made sure all the bathrooms were clean and tidy. Then I went to the store and stocked up on enough food for an army. It was a challenge, but I managed to get everything stowed in the fridge, or in a cabinet someplace.

    As soon as the cement was set up, Ed knocked the forms off and set up to build the back porch stairs.
    First he cut the stringers...all 34 of them. Each one had to be scored correctly, then cut. By the time he was done, he was pretty tired. Staying half-bent over while holding that heavy skilsaw all day, well that's just plain hard, repetitive work.

   Then he put the stringers in place and nailed them in. The nice thing about having the large expanse of stairs in the back is that there is no porch rail to obscure the view.

   Ed ordered Trex for the stair treads so that they would match the deck and require less maintenance. It came to the lumber yard in several shipments and required several trips to town to pick it up, but he was finally able to start installing it. We still didn't have the material for the risers, but what we had would have to do for now.

   The cement was in, the gravel was spread. The back steps were functioning. The bathrooms were clean and the fridge was full. We were ready for the holiday weekend.
    There are still things to finish. We need to complete the columns, front and back. The Man-Cave in the basement still needs to be done. But it is a comfortable, welcoming home.

   We had perfect weather for Independence Day. Friends, family and neighbors gathered for a barbecue. Fireworks lit the night sky. We are so very blessed to live in this country, to be free to pursue our dreams.