From this... After the BIG Storm
To this... Downing them.
To this - (20 logs) Moving them.
To this... Milling them
To this ...Stacked! (this is not all of it)
Some may see something familiar on the cover (this image) .... We are very proud and can't wait to get our copy!
(click on image to order)
On to the next part of my "tree project"... enter Clyde and Star. They are two very large Belgian Draft horses that move logs for a living. They arrived today to move all the logs into place so they can be milled into usable lumber.
Clyde weighs in around a ton, and Star is an little smaller. here are some images to enjoy .... More to follow later on. I also added a gallery HERE.
Today we proceeded to finish up what mother nature started back in December. I had the rest of the two remaining trees brought down. 70+ years old
AS some of you may know, I was really troubled on the correct thing to do. These are cedar trees, not good for firewood, but good red cedar demands a pretty good penny these days. I searched out for some logging assistance and all the answers equated that I might break even. NO GOOD. I am not into being on the end of a loosing deal while someone else gets rich.
Then I heard of a suggestion of a portable onsite sawmill, or a "WoodMizer". So after many calls and pretty much everyone telling me "Heavy Machinery", I found Wes. He is a "Horse Logger", which means he uses (literally and pardon the pun) horse power to move the logs.
Today he cut down the trees and on Wednesday he is bringing the horses out and will start milling the wood up (I'll update then). For the money I am/will be spending, I should have a pile of cedar 4"x4" posts for a fraction of the cost that a lumber yard would charge me.
YAY!
Here are some images ...
We lived through it!!! Sunday we had an open house for local magazine. Our house was select the House of the Month for March, so besides being featured in the magazine, there was an open house.
So Sunday morning around 11:30am we had an official waiting line of people! When it was done, approximately 275 people walked through our house, admiring the colors and choices we made. Some didn't understand the choices we made (and you know what, I didn't kick you out! AND I don't care 'cuz WE'RE LIVING HERE and we LIKE IT!).
There was much preparation, our architect was generous and hired a "green" cleaning crew to come in and give the house a good once over. In addition to my futzing that lasted 3 days!
All in all it was a great success, kind of weird to watch, but glad I did! Sorry I was taken in by the event and did not get any images, but images the house full of people for 3 hours straight.
If anyone that walked through is reading this - Thanks for coming!
Today was a day of picture taking - Our wonderful house will be featured in the coming months as "The Home of the Month" (I'll give you more info on this later). This requires photographers, editors, stylists (yes our house had a stylist today). The photographer is Marco Prozzo, and the stylist is Michelle.
The floors are done - The electrical is done! Just finishing up details and we should be moving in NEXT WEEKEND! (umm.. yeah the three of us)
Today I startled momma deer and her baby - but after a little "still and calmness", the resumed their morning feeding - I snuck up to my car and and got my camera -
I'm thinking they both need a name - I'm not really sure what would be appropriate. Is the baby a boy or a girl ... hmmmm
More below the fold ....
When H became Mrs. H and she sold her house ... we put roughly half of our stuff in storage and I got rid of a bunch of stuff. Today marks the beginning of the end ... sort of
Well things are moving along nicely out at the construction site. My last update had the info on the bridge.
Much has happened since - We have the hardwood floors in, 95% of the tile is in, the counters are in, the sinks are in, some of the fisrt land shaping has started, the well house was removed and the well tended to.
Soon - very soon we will be moving in!
You can see the current images HERE
I have never own a bridge before - we opted for the non-draw bridge style as we really didn't want any moving parts ....
See the rest of the images HERE!
These are how much???????
sigh
Updated the dream house image gallaries - you can find the new images starting HERE
... New Images!
Went to the house today, All the interior walls have been framed in, all the backfilling has been completed. The load bearing walls in the basement are framed and sheathed. .... ummm.... real close to having stairs connecting the two levels. I hear trusses are due to arrive next week.
See the current images HERE
So my wonderful and lovely wife comes out to the build site today while I was there. I was hammering, lifting, nail-gunning, drilling, I'm building! Mrs. H is snapping away with her camera and all she got were these ...
I see no hammering, I see no nail-gunning *sigh* BUT I do see drilling.
You can see these bigger here at our other site
Well all the images for the house project have started to add up, like over 500 to date (thats 250+ thumbnails and 250+ full size images). SO as you can imagine at the rate I was going the main page was getting quite huge. So this afternoon I did some readjusting and came up with a solution. You can still find the images here, http://www.crappymusic.com/dreamhouse but now you must select a month to look at. For those of you that bandwidth challenged, this will be easier on your dail-up modems.
The wood was delivered today!!! 90% of the entire projects supply is now there on site. So this is 2 truck loads of wood, there are 2' x 4's, gluelams, floor joists, you name it!
YUP! Thats me playing King of the Wood Pile. I am very impressed by how much material is sitting there.
Of course as some of you know, we are using FSC certified lumber (Forest Stewardship Council).
The quick definition, the wood comes from younger forest that are NOT clearcut just for the trees, a number of trees are havested and the rest are left to do thier "tree thing". Read more HERE
New images HERE
What do you get with a couple of tons or so of rebar, 60+ cubic yards of concrete (hey man, that's a lot of concrete you got there) and a big pile of wood forms setup? Our foundation walls ... that's what!
The concrete trucks came today ... one by one (well 7 of them, one at a time)
Pick it up HERE
Next step? Very soon the framing starts!
Stats Update - 3 tonnes of rebar, 26 yards of concrete for the footings, 63 yards for the foundation (10 trucks worth), more concrete to come for the basement floor
OK OK OK ... I updated the pictures!
Pickup where I left off HERE. Word is that more concrete is coming in next Friday, those of you that require dates .. that would be the 22nd
In other news ... MAX is in good spirits and eating. Can't really ask for much more than that.
Well, we have now had our first official job site "incident". I was told that this truck was trying to back in, in such a way in order to drop his load of wood (for the concrete forms), he did not see that there was quite a drop off where he eventually got stuck. Last I heard was that his company was sending out another truck to pull him out ....
Here is what I saw .....
Today I learned how to move dirt ... but not just any dirt ... MY dirt, and I moved alot of it
With some quick instruction from Danny,
I was off and moving dirt in a big machine. Let me tell you it was HARD!, but thankfully I am pretty good at video games so this was not as bad as ... say ... brain surgery.
To see more of my experiences, go HERE
ALSO Mrs. H has mentioned that I do not have any links to her ... err ... our other site ... so here they are ... CLICK HERE
After about a year or so of designing with a great Architect and finding a great builder AND spending money on mysterious things .... STUFF STARTED TO HAPPEN on our property today.
We are parting with the double wide that was the prestigious center piece of our property for so many years. We threw rocks through the windows as our part of the demolition. Have I ever mentioned how like to participate in some things??
Our project is finally underway!!
More images HERE