Sudden burst of speed...

Wow! What they say is true- it DOES move faster once the rafters go up! Many thanks to John from First Day and his friend Neil for doing the big muscle work on the rafters for the wing- no more joists! Now we've taken just a few days to sheathe most of the wing, and it looks so beautiful from the inside (outside it's a little more patch-work, but that's ok, 'cause it all gets covered up soon with TyPar and insulation!). As I write (from the coolness of the library) Hunt and Dan are creating window framework for the end of the wing, which will then get sheathed and we will then have a whole room that looks practically finished!
We have loved our visits from friends- come on along and see what we're up to! And let's all keep being grateful for the glorious weather!

Slow and steady...

It looks as though there will be a few good work days this week (after a chance of rain this afternoon) and we are making progress! We have built and placed one rafter for the wing, or "T" part of the house, and spent all day yesterday cutting the rest of the boards for the rest of the rafters. Today is assembly day, which may overlap to tomorrow, and hopefully by the end of the week we'll have those rafters and thus the entire frame will be up! After that, Hunt and I are going to take an R&R day, go to the beach or the mountains or???

We've had some great visits- both of Hunt's sisters, Deborah and Julie, were here on Saturday for lunch (who forgot the camera? I forgot the camera!). My sister Janet (and Mom and Nicki, also on a forgotten camera day) has come north for a week, and it was great to see her and for her to get a chance to see the progress. And our good friend Gary from Gainesville, Florida came for 2 nights and helped in many ways. You come, too!

Progress is being made! We have finished the flooring on the wing- no more flooring, no more bow wrench! We had a visit from our friend Barbara, who pitched in and helped a lot. It's wonderful to wake up in the morning and see a house-shape in the early morning. Soon we'll begin work on the rafters for the wing. Today, hopefully we'll get started on siding the side of the house that faces the wing. Surprise, surprise, there's rain in the forecast. But we keep calm, and carry on!

Raise the rafters!

The rainy pattern is back, but there have been enough good days to achieve what feels like a major accomplishment- on the main part of the house we have raised the rafters! John from First Day Cottage came to teach us how to do it, and yesterday we had a wonderful crew who helped lift, shift, hammer, plumb, level, and celebrate! We even have a small hemlock at the peak, rising high "to appease the wood gods" http://www.almanac.com/question/oneanswer.php?questionnumber=12795 or for whatever reason- we're glad to see it there!
Now the rain is back, but this week we plan to get to work on the wing, or "T" section of the house. The floor should be quick, because it's smaller than the main house, and also because our wonderful helper Dan will be with us. Then, more rafters to raise!

The deck is done- now for the rafters!

We had a good dry week, believe it or not, and the deck is now finished! We are now working on building the rafters for the main part of the house. Yesterday, with the help of our wonderful new "hired hand", Daniel Hamilton, we created the first one, and it came out perfectly. If the current weather pattern ever dries up, we'll cut the rest of the boards needed and begin assembling them by Thursday. Watch this space for Rafter Raising Information next week!

Beaming!

Thanks to our wonderful crew on Friday, we now have installed our "goal posts" and it's looking like a house is arising! Many thanks to Deke, Kirk, CJ, Deborah, Dylan, Andi, Elizabeth, Jess, Ryan and the other friends who stopped by to admire. We even had a visit from David Howard, the founder of First Day Cottage! Now we begin the work of laying down the floorboards upstairs- we've acquired a table saw and have spent the past day and a half figuring out our strategy. Today we had a great unexpected visit- Rich Popovic, who having just recovered from building his own First Day Cottage in Nelson, didn't have enough fun and came over to help with ours!

Progress! Hooray for the sun!

It's amazing what a few sunny days and some wonderful help can do! Thanks to friend Sioux Harris and Hunt's sister Deborah Smith, we have now finished making the second floor joists and the first floor posts and are now getting ready to join them together to make the "goal posts" that will support the walls and the second floor deck. This coming Thursday we are asking a few friends to come help raise the goalposts and lift the decking up on to the second floor! We feel hopeful again, and a little more secure in the thought that we just might be living in the main part of the house before the snow flies!