I Like Beer

Nothing like a cold one after some heavy outdoor labor.
Cold requires lager like Yuengling or Saranac Lager.
Sitting in the evening something heavier can be enjoyed. Like Saranac Black and Tan or Black Forest, but these should be room temperature to bring out their full flavor.

(Although I admit a little 12-year old, single-malt Glenlivet over ice makes for a nice nightcap.)

Log Home Update: Part 37

As mentioned mid-week, I hauled a load of stuff from the garage north to the Adirondacks on Thursday. The temperatures had already moderated in the northland when I got there around 4 PM. Back in PA and NJ a front moved through with some strong winds and very heavy rains. I unloaded the pickup and went to sleep with the windows open.

Friday morning, awakening to the sound of gentle rain at 3:30 AM, I drove back to PA to check in with Don and to see what had been accomplished. I found that, despite the hot weather, Adam and Jim had finished siding the north gable and had started siding the panelized garage walls.

North end, with all its windows, has been sided.


Garage walls being sided. The false corners make it difficult to tell that it is not really a log wall.


Adam and Jim have worked up to “ladder height” all around the garage.


Don had framed out the attic door and started drilling and chiseling holes in the log walls to place the electrical boxes in the first floor walls. It takes a little over an hour to do just one of these.


Notice the little blue boxes in the wall?

Me? I started making the mounting plates for exterior light fixtures. I worked only a couple of hours before heading back to NJ.

With two round trips between NJ and PA early in the week (one going through Deposit, NY) and the three-way trip from NJ to Adirondacks to PA to NJ on Thursday and Friday, I’ve logged over 1650 miles and transported two loads of material to storage in PA and the Adirondacks. In between I did a little bit (not much) work in PA and cleaned out a substantial portion of the NJ garage.

What ya gonna do when the hurricane/flood/earthquake comes for you?

Law Dog has given himself over to the process of Meditations on evacuations due to natural (or unnatural) disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquake, etc. If you live anywhere things can go wrong, it behooves you to read and heed his words. Dog’s advice may, at first glance, seem to be overkill, but if you really, really think about what happened last year with Katrina and Rita it makes a lot of sense to protect your family and friends sans government help. They’ll (the gov’mint boys) be busy with the idiots who didn’t think ahead.


'Tis far better to ponder now what you're going to do when/if the sh*t hits the fan than to find yourself up the creek without a paddle when all heck breaks loose. (Just to mix a few metaphores/cliches.)

Kitty Blogging

As I mentioned a week or so ago, I brought two little kittens home. They have been sucking down food like little Hoovers. When they walk away from the saucers they look like each swallowed a tennis ball.

They'll run around like little dervishes for an hour or more. Then, suddenly, collapse and fall asleep for two hours. Do kittens all suffer from narcolepsy?


Chester
AKA: Mayhem


Shadow
AKA: Mischief

Aren't they cute?

A House is sold! (?)

Our NJ residence has been sold! We are under contract to a young couple moving out of an apartment and into their first house. The contract is out of attorney review. They have had their mortgage provider's appraiser inspect the house and a home inspector go through looking at the systems and whatnot. (Not to mention his Dad and older brother and her sister.)

We are looking to a closing near the end of August. And everyone is excited and anxious.

After several months on the market with little action it seems like everything happened overnight. Now the moving out becomes serious business. So much to do and so little time to do it! My work in PA may take a back seat for a few weeks until all of the packing and moving is accomplished.

Log Home Update: Part 36Siding and Electricity and it's HOT!

I've punked out this week after just two days but Don, Adam and Jim have continued working in the heat of north-central PA.

Monday morning I departed NJ to drive to Deposit, NY to pick up some deck materials from Beaver Mountain. I then continued on to The Aerie, arriving shortly after 10 AM. (Total travel time from NJ: approximately 5 hours to cover the 260 miles plus make the pick-up.)

I found Adam and Jim working on the north gable siding and Don upstairs framing out the final wall of the master bath and placing electrical outlet boxes. I unloaded the decking material and began cutting and laying the pieces for the entry deck. When I finished that 4' x 10' deck it was near to 4 in the afternoon.

I then hopped in my truck and headed back to NJ arriving home around 8 PM. (Trip time: 4 hours to go the 230 miles.) Once home, I loaded the truck with boxes of books and some furniture.

Early Tuesday (around 4 AM), I headed back to PA to put the boxes and stuff into the storage unit. (230 miles) Then it was up the hill to The Aerie to put in a few hours of work with Don, Adam and Jim.

Don was framing a door into the attic over the garage and wiring the electric boxes on the second floor. Adam and Jim were on the second half of the gable siding. The heat climbed above 90 degrees for the second day. I moved some tongue and groove boards from the storage trailer into the basement. This was six inch wide material left over from the soffits and there was quite a bit of it. We needed to move it so we could get to the insulation and tongue and groove ceiling material which we will be needing soon. I cleaned up the cutting stations in the garage. Jessica had dropped off her revised plans for the kitchen cabinets and I approved her ideas. By 2 PM sweat had drenched my shirt and I decided to head back to NJ. Four hours and 230 miles later I was back in the air conditioned NJ home.

With temperatures predicted to near the 100 degree mark on Wednesday and Thursday, I opted to remain in NJ. Although I will probably load up the truck with materials to be taken up to the Adirondack cabin on Thursday. I may even head back to PA Friday after unloading the truck.