Waiting, at a dead standstill

Well, we are supposed to get the boom-lift back tomorrow. Had to work for a living this week. Hopefully, back to the house on Saturday. I guess if it had to break, this week was the best time. We have hundreds of wildfires in the State of Washington now, and the air is thick with smoke, ash, and dirt. Air advisories are to stay inside unless absolutely necessary. It is really gloomy and still. Wishing for wind,  is a two-edged sword. You want wind to blow this gunk out, but it would just feed the wildfires.

Some progress:  The second turned post is glued together and just waiting for me to work my magic.  That will probably be Saturday afternoon.  This is moving way to slow for me.  Sometimes I have so much that needs to be done, I don’t know what to do next.  So I guess, I will just do some reflecting.

Now where was I, oh yeah, 1998.  That was the year that we built the Garage and started on the Shop.  Lynn did most of the work, but I helped.  I put on the cedar shakes.  That was when I wasn’t scared of getting on the roof.  They still need painting, maybe next year.

We did have the cement floor for the shop poured at the same time as the garage.  Work on the shop I believe began in 1998, also.  We found a plan for a 2 story garage/shop at Lumberman’s in Walla Walla.  It was off the shelf for about $12.00.  It was just what we were looking for.  It simulated a barn-style shop which fit well with our outbuildings.  Those plans were more detailed than the plans for the house.  It detailed where every board went.  Though Lynn didn’t need that much detail, I was amazed.  Of course, we had to tweak it to our liking.  I believe he made it wider and deeper.  I just hope to get it painted this year as it looks like a patch-work quilt now.  That is definitely the plan for the lift in the next 3 weeks.  Note:  There is a barn-style door in the upper-level middle of the shop.  It is framed in (and sheeted over for now), but probably will not be put in until next year.

I plan to take at least part of next week off to work on the house.  Winter is fast approaching and we have a lot to do.

Note:  None of the buildings had ready-made-trusses, Lynn hand-framed all of them.  In hind site he would probably have saved himself a lot of grief if he had ordered them.  He is just old-school, you know, “I can do it myself!”  The stubborn Scotsman.

I will try to find some pictures of the garage and shop to post.  I think we are on our way to 1999.

Annie, the house-bound novice carpenter.

The shop as it stands now. Need to paint the top floor.

 

4-1-98 Shop walls going up. First floor.

Working at my real job

Well the boom lift is at the “lift doctor.” So there wasn’t any work done on the house yesterday or today. Not sure when it will be released, but hopefully in a day or two.

Had to go to my real job, but have permission to take more time off when we get the lift back. In the meantime, Lynn worked a little on the post but will do more tomorrow. He is recovering from last week. I think I may have pushed him a little too hard.

So there isn’t much to report on today so this will be short.

Plans for the future are: Finish the East gable then the West gable, then the center over the front door. In between the times that Lynn will be doing the structural part, I will fancy things up a bit. I plan on painting the upper part of the shop and if time allows we will move to the side and eventually to the back.

We did finish up the back lower deck of the house earlier this summer. There is also a small upper deck that needs some attention. Oh my as I am writing this, even I am becoming overwhelmed. Nothing has been done inside yet.

Plans for the inside: We will have a master bath, two full baths in the upstairs and a half-bath by the back door. Three bedrooms upstairs and a large bonus room. First floor has a formal dining room, a country kitchen, family room, laundry room, master suite, living room and finally the library/office.

Hopefully, it will be ready by the time I retire.  Sooner I hope.  With Lynn already retired and hopefully I will in another 5 years, we could actually lose each other in this house, which may assist us both in surviving retirement.

Oh, I forgot, his shop is every mans dream.  I believe that he owns most of the power tools that Sears has produced.  I should have bought stock in Sears years ago knowing they had customers like him.  He has a compound miter saw that I bought for him about 5 years ago, and it is still in the box!!

If you had noticed from the photos, his shop has a second story.  Well right now that is storage, but the future plan is a model railroad room.  Lynn still has many model trains he had when he was a boy and various model railroad stuff he has acquired through the years.  (He boarders or being a ‘hoarder’).  Hmm that rhymes.

Well, I just got carried away.  I told you this would be short.  So I will post more as the week moves along.

Annie, Practicing patience

Day 7 of the vacation. Moving a little slow.

Well, today was a little short, had to take Lynn to the Dr. to get his blood thinner checked. Of course, we had to stop by my work to weigh-in, as we are both on that diet thing. Visited with my co-workers who I just love, and talked about me taking another week off. Thought it sounded like a good idea, now if the boss approves it I will get to torture Lynn for another week.

While we were in town, we did a little shopping at the Home Depot and loaded up on the list of supplies we needed to keep going.  One new item was a wire brush.  I saw a u-tube video on how to clean out paint brushes.  It was pretty slick.  You need a wire brush and you basically comb the paint brush with the wire brush, under warm or cold water.  Man, what a time saver that is.  I have been buying cheap brushes so I don’t feel so bad about throwing them away.

Okay now for the progress.  Today Lynn went up in the lift and put some trim around the stain glass window.  First he needed to put 1/2″ plywood up and then a piece of the Hardie Board trim.  That places it out far enough that the siding butts up against it and doesn’t stick out.  I did take a photo of just what we got done today.  It went slow as I was not very proficient with the siding tool.  As a matter of fact, I switched to a chop saw because I was wasting too much trim practicing.  I guess that is something I just can’t get the hang off in this short amount of time.  I did some running up and down the stairs handing things out the window to Lynn in the lift.  Oh, and that diet thing with Lynn, what was I thinking??  He was living up to his nick name:  Ole’ Snap & Snarl.  Boy was he cranky.  So at one point I decided he didn’t need me and I went to the far side of the garage (to get away) and decided to paint a door, that he pointed out needed painting.  I managed to get it scrapped, caulked and primed.  He is a real work incentive.

When we got back from town, I went to work on the post we took out yesterday.  I removed all the screws with a power drill.  Oh, I didn’t tell you.  We did something I know Norm Abrams would not approve of.  We tried to bring the splitting posts together with screws, counter sunk of course.  Didn’t work.  Nothing worked, except taking them apart and fixing them right.  At least that is what I say now.  Ask me this time next year and I will let you know how they have fared over the winter.

Back to the post.  Well I removed the screws and then tried to pull the 4 sides apart.  Nothing is easy.  So I used my versatile putty knife to try to force apart the sticking sides.  It worked but in the process I bent my putty knife.  I loved that putty knife.  Papa said he will buy me another one tomorrow.  This is me frowning. 😦    I truly loved that little tool.

Tomorrow is grocery day, so we won’t be working in the morning.  Then by the time we get home, Lynn is too tuckered out to do anything, so that means I get to play on the lift when we get home.  Yipee.  Maybe I can get him to move it to the Shop and I will start painting on it.  I need to get the “up high” work done before we have to take the lift back.

Or I may just call it a rest day, and head into town for the Walla Walla Quilt Show.  Leaving Lynn home to recharge for Sunday.  I think that is what I am going to do.  Making and executive decision, Quilting Show it is.  Save the painting until Sunday.  Now for some photos, that finally downloaded.

Annie, Posting,  Painting, and Chop Saw Operator

Window In

Another one of the window

Sliding Garage Door – Mower entrance

Primed and ready for the final coat.

Post in pieces

My beloved putty knife.

Posting on the 3rd day of vacation

Posting. That what I spent my day doing. Working on the test-post. Pictures will come tomorrow.

The morning started with a trip to Home Depot in Walla Walla for some Bondo. Got one can but bought some extra hardener because they never give you enough. Then we went to Sun Rental to pick up the boom lift that we are renting for a month. Secret, I plan on getting Lynn more involved in working on the house. New toys excite him. Unfortunately, it was too windy to get up in it today. Maybe tomorrow.

Back to the post. The Bondo worked really well. Even better than I remembered. All the holes and cracks were filled and sanded and filled and sanded again. I did move it to the back deck. Out of the wind but with good ventilation. I began working on it at 12:30 and finished just before 6:00. I have found that we will need a gallon of primer and the hardener to go with it.  Plus a bunch of 80 & 100 grit sand paper.  I am not a perfectionist, so it is not factory fresh, but is has character.  A few divots here and there, but looks mighty fine.  Used the palm sander a lot and then hand sanded the details.

It is primed and ready for the final coats tomorrow. That’s when my right brain gets to have some fun with the paint colors.  Still not sure what will look best.  We will be removing a bad post and replacing it with this new version.  Then I will be posting photos of the before and after. So excited.

Although, this project took a lot of time to do one post, it was a challenge.  Hopefully, it will get faster as we move along.

We have had a lot of wind today and at one point I thought we were going to get some rain, but the clouds just moved North.  The goal of this blog is to keep me enthused and get something accomplished before winter sets in.  My motivation comes from my journaling.    I would much rather be curled up with a romance novel or doing girlie things like sewing or cooking.  Those are my winter projects.  Now it’s time for some Excedrin and a hot shower.

I hope you are enjoying this journey with me.  I welcome any comments or encouragement.

Annie, the “posting queen”

2nd Day of the Working Vacation

Well I just can’t seem to get the hang of this blog site. I wrote a long blog about what I did today and when I went to edit it (there wasn’t a button for that) on the page I was on so I tried moving around to find the edit button and totally lost my posting, so I gotta start over. Learning to blog, ugh.

So I will try to remember what I wrote. Here goes!! Out the door at 8:00 this morning and the weather was beautiful 70s and 80s with a wind about 20-25 miles an hour. Breezy but comfortable. Spent the morning putting primer on some of the porch ceiling joists.  I had primed and painted them once, before they were installed, but they hung up there for a couple of years before we finished putting the roof on. Needless to say, they weathered and now had to be scrapped and re-painted. This time I used better primer and they will be sheltered so I shouldn’t have to do them again for a long time. Maybe not in my lifetime. Tomorrow I will put on some of the finished coats if we get back from the rental center in time. The ladder climbing went better this week.  Last weekend I was jinxed.  I was coming down the ladder and whoops, missed that bottom rung.  Luckily, the wall caught me and no damage done.  Then I moved the ladder and positioned it to do another porch joist, but wasn’t paying attention to the cross joist, and ouch ran right into it with my head.  I was literately seeing stars.  I had a friend tell me just the other day that “a 60 year-old-woman has not business on a ladder.”  Humm maybe she had something there.  Sad part, my husband watched it all, and just grinned and shook his head.

Finished that little task around 11:30 and stopped for lunch and a break.

Now, time to work on the test-post.  Took the clamps off and proceeded to scrap, sand and turn and do it again.  I also took some photos of the post, but will post them when I get it finished.  The before and after.  I did find a helpful tool that I am sure Norm Abrams would not approve of on a wood post.  A whole new appreciation for a “rasp.”  That little baby helped me take down some of the parts that didn’t line up.  Just tooling along with that and then thought I would try some of the Bondo in the cracks.  Just to get a feel for how it would do.

I used Bondo  about 6 or 7 years ago when I refinished the 70 year old posts on the front porch of the house we are living in now.  It was really slick and easy.  So I thought “no problem, I got this.”  Wrong!!  My frugal Scotsman husband, said “Oh, we got two cans in the shop, so don’t buy any.”  Sounds like a plan.  Got the 2 cans and a tube of hardener.  First can, dried out.  That went in the trash.  Second can, iffy.  Putty like gray substance, didn’t remember it being that color or that consistency.  Oh, well, now to the hardener.  Remembered that being the consistency of tooth paste.  This wasn’t like that, it was  liquidy like water.  That didn’t look right to me either, but thought maybe I didn’t remember right.  Put a golf-ball sized  (that’s what the can said) glob on a mixing surface, then added some hardener.  The can said about an inch and a quarter (1 1/4″).  How do you measure an inch and a quarter of water?  Something wasn’t right here.  Being the eternal optimist, I proceeded.  I just added what I thought would be enough.  Mixed it together and proceeded to work fast filling in some holes so it wouldn’t get hard on me.  Hum, two hours later, it still hadn’t set up.  Now, I had to scrape it all off and try to clean-up that area.  What a waste of time and effort.  Tomorrow I will be buying some Bondo before we go and pick up the boom lift at Sun Rental in Walla Walla.  So excited, can’t wait.  Now, I need to just concur my fear of heights.  Maybe it won’t be so bad in the lift.

Finished for the day about 3:30.  Cleaned-up and headed home for a shower and a blog update.

You know men seem to be born knowing about these things, but us ladies fly by the seat of our pants.  I would appreciate any sage advice on the Bondo thing.  What do I need to do different?  All encouragement appreciated.

Annie, the novice blogger and post fixer.

 

Full speed ahead

Well yesterday (Friday) I went to Sun Rental in Walla Walla and reserved a boom lift.  We will pick it up on Monday morning.  Then the real work begins.  Lynn is excited, I just hope his body keeps up with his mind.  Sometimes the pain coupled with the heat does him in.  He will be 73 this year.  This is the first time I have seen him excited about working on the house.  I think he has just been overwhelmed.  This is a project that we started when he was younger and in good health.  He has a pretty big ego, and doesn’t like me having to do all the work.

Today we worked on the ‘test post’ we are repairing.  All 4 sides are together and tomorrow we will take the clamps off and begin the cosmetic work.  The core will be much stronger, but the wood has warped and bowed so that is where the Bondo (filler) will come in.  I have the sandpaper and palm sander and primer and all the other stuff I think I will need ready.  I have used Bondo before and it works much better than wood putty if you are not staining the end product.  It holds up well in cars doesn’t it?

Tonight our task is to spray the bees that are living in two of the posts that are still holding the porch up.  Then tomorrow we can get ready to take out another post.  Mainly, I need to paint close to the posts and I don’t want to get stung.  The bees were a mite angry earlier when I was out there.  The weather 94+ degrees ran me indoors.  The heat doesn’t usually bother me, but without a breeze it is full sun exposure on the front of the house where we are working.

Tomorrow’s plan is to get out there early and wash, caulk, prime and paint some more on the wrap-around porch.  Then when the weather gets too hot, I will move inside and work on the post.  Could work on the back deck as it is shaded in the afternoons, but I want to complete one task before moving to another.  Hopping from one project to another makes me crazy.  I plan to take some ‘before pictures’ and ‘after pictures’ this week.  Oh, did I mention that I would be off work all this week on a working vacation.  Got to get the front of the house completed this year before winter sets in.  Not much for working in the cold.  I am truly solar-powered.

Monday, the plan is to get the lift home and let the boss monkey around in it.  Anything mechanical he loves.  I think that is why he is excited about working on the house again.  Whatever works!!

Oh, a minor detail, we both started dieting this week, and I’m taking the week off, and we are working on the house “together.”  I imagine the fur will be flying by Friday.  We don’t always play well together.  Especially, without chocolate and junk food.  Short tempers all around.  Should be interesting.

Stay tuned, I intend to blog daily with our trials and tribulations.

Annie the master painted and minor blogger 🙂

Labor Day Weekend & Reflections of 1998

Well I had a 3 day weekend for Labor Day, and took a much needed trip to Sumpter OR for a town-wide yard sale.  Sumpter has this on the 3 summer holidays, Memorial Day, 4th of July & Labor Day.  The high price of fuel has kept us home for the last couple of years and the hubby was getting stir crazy.  We had a good time but we were both exhausted when we got home.  So not as much got done as I had hoped.

Glued up two sides of the post we were working on and will be working on the other two sides this weekend.  Didn’t go as fast as I had hoped.  Using a lot of c clamps, glue and muscle.  Hope we can finish gluing our trial post and get an idea for how this is going to work.  Can’t wait to paint it.  Using Bondo to fill in the cracks, I have found it works better than wood filler.

Now about the lift.  Had my eye on using a scissor lift, but I won’t be able to reach the area over the porch.  I am going to the rental center tomorrow and see what other options we will have.  It will beat a ladder, but just barely.  I really don’t like heights.  My dear hubby, just isn’t in the best of health and can’t stand for long without his legs really hurting, so I will just have to work around him.  He can do the sawing of the angles for under the eaves and maybe use the nail gun to finish it.  We will see how he does.  If all else fails, I will try to do it myself.  Have used all sorts of power tools years ago, but I classify that under “not my job”.

The nail gun reminds me of an incident in about 1998 where Lynn (my hubby) was working on framing the house with his nail gun.  He still owned the hardware store and had his help running the store while he tried to make some headway on the house.  I don’t exactly remember where we were in the process, but he was in power-tool mode.  He was doing this alone as I was at my real job 20 miles away.  Then I get a call from Zoe saying she was driving him into town to the emergency room (20 miles away) that he had run a nail through the back of his hand.  I think it was a 16 penny nail.  Really don’t know one nail from the other.  Anyway, I met them at the hospital emergency room.  He was one embarrassed grizzle of a man.  Luckily, he didn’t hit any bones, but it wasn’t pretty.  The local clinic tried to remove it but didn’t have any luck.  The ER Doctor knew what he was doing, he really deadened the hand then called the maintenance shop for some vise-grips.  With a little muscle and leverage, he was as good as new.  Embarrassment aside.  No feeling in that hand for almost 5 days.

Okay, now for a house reflection.  I believe I left off at 1998.  I found a few photos of the foundation and the pony walls that we had to put up to bridge the span of the floor joists.  In some of the photos, I have my 6 year old grandson playing around in the big cement stem walls.  The photos will give you a little perspective on how deep we dug the foundation.  While I am afraid of heights, Lynn is claustrophobic, so we have deep crawl spaces.  We couldn’t have a basement because we are in a flood zone, which we found out in 1996.  Made believers out of us.

Well we didn’t get much done in 1998 with the house, but we built a stand alone 2 door garage and had the floor poured for the shop.  I have a problem keeping Lynn on task.  The garage was built so we could park the car in there.  It never saw a night in the garage.  Now, the shop had to be built because we needed a place to store the wood we would need for the house.  Call me gullible, but he was, after all, the boss of this project and I was patient back then.  I believe we began the shop in 1999.  Now for the pictures.  One of them is taken from the pasture behind the house and kinda shows the 3 buildings in varying stages of construction.

I am getting antsy to see some progress.  Stay tuned.  I am doing this blog to keep me motivated.  Now if I can figure out how to add the photos.

Annie The Reluctant Carpenter.