vision into reality- October 3rd

Well, time has passed and now we are ready to make the rear windows appear. From concept to reality, what a project!!!

The first picture shows all three windows cut out and getting ready to be framed. Yes it looks quite junky, lot of stuff to be done getting in the way.

We started storing wood up in the loft area since we are buying as we can budget wise.

The whole process took a day to install and next day we were able to finish the caulk and insulation around the windows. Temps were in the 50's but dropped into the 40's while the windows were still not in the frames so whole time was pretty chilly. We bought a kerosene heater and that helped keep the place warm. Woodstove will have to wait till funds can be made available.

This was other window popped into the new frame we built. It replaced the rotted in place window that was removed and boarded up back in July/August. On this wall you can visualize two new windows, one for kitchen sink area and other for living room. The old black window will be pulled out and boarded up. All the freezable stuff was pulled from the cabin and RV anti-freeze poured into the toilet, temps for Sunday night are 29 degrees. We still have 4 windows to install downstairs and 2 windows upstairs.

And sitting in front of the new window "wall" is a treat, hard to get up and do stuff, easy to let time drift by.

Sunday September 19th

Well since we needed to prove the electric was off, we were able to work on a few items.

The bracket for the chimney was installed and the 2nd floor window got replaced. Now I need a day off to recover from all the driving and silliness.

Checklist for the OCD in all of us...

1. Turn off power
2. Turn off water
3. Anti-freeze in drains
4. Turn off power
5. Check and lock all windows
6. Close up foodstuffs/ coffee
7. Turn off power
8. Wash out coffee pot
9. Put outdoor toys inside
10. TURN OFF POWER
11. Lock the door/ deadbolt

Sheesh, all weekend I thought I left the electric heaters on. Little voice said to go check them to avoid "Murphy" coming and burning down the place.

Cripes. Everything was off. Insane.

And some days it rains...

That's a line from the movie "Bull Durham". Weather kinda messed up our plans to work on outside stuff. We camped out and had a nice evening, cept for the skunk that roamed outside in the back of the yard. Phew.

We installed the rest of the cement board and added two more sheets to the loft which need to be glued and screwed down. Rain made things cold and sleepy so we did not get to work on much outside. Got wet just going from house to truck to bring in tools.

Really wanted to get the woodstove going this year, plans don't look good to do that.

meh.

Labor Day short weekend

Labor Day was a short weekend but had a good time camping out , first good cool day for quite some time. Installed the cement board where the woodstove will be installed in the living room.
Also worked on loft area, installed the remaining 2x6's for the front of the loft then put in the cross bracing and loaded up two sheets of OSB flooring.
This is the upper window known as the "raccoon window". It will be replaced on the next work weekend.

Aug 20th- 3 day weekend project

Long weekend, semi-vacation this year. We hauled up a BBQ grill and 2 new windows plus the window salvaged from Emily's house. Went to Home Depot and loaded up on wood and supplies. Started work on chimney for woodstove and then had to decide on what windows to pull out. Saturday blew up and was spent mainly watching clouds and trees, too stressed to work. After church I decided the front window was a doable project with limited time and limited energy. The back 2 windows are the same size windows but it requires a good thinking head to build the frame and install all 3 windows at the same time.
The suction cup holders worked great, was able to pop the window completely out with no troubles. Need to bring glass cutter and cut them into two pieces. Picture here shows old glass windows pulled out. Not much was holding them in. Sunday saw ledt two windows out then Monday got the last one out.
New front windows put in. Hank providing colorful accent to front yard.
Note- need corkscrew at cabin....... I was resourceful and figured out how to pull the cork...... :-) And a very nice wine, smooth flavor not too dry like typical Reislings.

August 14th Bye bye old loft!

We removed the front of the old loft today. Called in heavy artillery and had Josh come up and camp out the night before.
New floor joists going in. Optical illusion the joist on the left side is actually in the corner of the house by the doorway, that is how much the front is pulled out on the north side. The old window was pulled out, it was already rotted out, and we will need to make a frame and lower the replacement window hole to fit the new room height.
Old remaining loft is holding the center walls together till we get the new loft built. Note how we lowered the new loft to allow more height for the loft.
Kids wiped out due to the humidity, 80% this weekend, yuck.
Nice early morning rain though, that was relaxing. Acorns are starting to fall so the drum of acorns is not too far away which means fall is soon to arrive.