July,
2005
Vacation Time
This year's 4th of July celebration was
warmer than last year.
Parents of Arthur's friend across the canyon invited us to their
fireworks show.
We don't know how much they spent,
but the show
lasted over an hour.
When we went home shortly after 11PM,
the
temperature was still a balmy 53°.
Weather has been quite good since our last report,
but progress has been slow for a number of reasons.
A number of carpenters have left the job:
one to tour with a hip-hop band,
one to move up
north,
one to another job he has commitments for,
and one taking time off to get married.
Another was
injured during weekend activities.
Add to this the
fact that locals like to take lots of time off in
the summer.
Construction is still booming in Bozeman,
so finding replacements is difficult.
Another delaying factor was the need to finish the concrete piers
for the Entry and Master Bedroom patio roofs.
The original Entry piers settled badly,
so we had to
start over with a "belt and suspenders" solution.
These roofs
connect into the main roof,
so the main roof can't be
finished until they are in place.
Without a roof,
we can't put in windows and without windows,
we can't
start the electric work,
etc.
The piers and backfilling
are done now,
so work can be started on finishing the
roof.
In the picture below,
the excavations for piers at the north
(front)
and east
(left)
have been filled in.
At the north,
two blobs of concrete are just visible either side of the
Entry door;
these piers sit on
footings 16' down
(the same level as the house foundation).
They will support the stone and timber columns that hold up
the Entry roof.
At the east,
a large boulder is visible in front of the
van;
this and another boulder sit on piers and will
support timbers that hold up the Master Bedroom patio roof.
Thanks to PhotoShop,
some construction materials have been
removed and the garage roof covered.
For comparison,
check out an
original version.
Carpenter Paul works on the arched timber beam
that will frame the Master Bedroom patio on the
east end of the house.
The weather has been quite
hot lately,
reaching 95°F and predicted to go
higher.
Pumpkin says it's too hot for dogs here
and looks for some shade.
We're off to Lake Tahoe for a week,
and hope to
see this patio roof and the Entry roof nearing
completion when we return.
Parting Shot
Pumpkin inspects some timber joinery;
Neko has other things on her mind
