August,
2005
Ramping Up
Gary and Pauline returned from a week at Lake Tahoe to find
little apparent progress on the house.
This was in part due
to the shortage of carpenters mentioned in
last month's report,
and in part due to the continued realization that
putting together a custom home is like assembling a jig-saw
puzzle.
Sometimes the carpenters spend days figuring out how
things are to fit together and creating the pieces,
which is
rather frustrating for us.
But it is gratifying to see
the pieces fit perfectly once they are ready.
One bit of
good news is that the best and most experienced carpenter
(Paul,
who did the
Master Bedroom ceiling)
was able to put off starting his next project and spend two more weeks
on
some of our more complex problems.
Another bit of good news is that our contractor found a
crew that was between jobs to come up and help out on some
of the more mundane aspects of the job.
With this help,
it was possible to get the key elements of the roof into
place.
It was nice to see so many people at work on the house after
the slowdown last month;
however,
there were a few problems
with people getting in each other's way.
In the panorama below,
things to note are:
the roofs for the Entry and the Master Bedroom patio are up,
the first layer of roofing is on everywhere,
the roofers are busily adding the metal panels,
and painters are treating the timbers.
We have opted to give
the timbers a "natural" finish,
which is to say they will
weather to a silvery gray over time.
The carpenters are ready
to follow the painters around the house installing windows.
|
The
Sweet
Pea Festival
is perhaps the biggest event of the
year for Bozeman.
Last year,
Gary and Pauline managed to
attend one concert during the festival,
and hoped to see
more of it this year.
As it turned out,
Pauline was in
charge of the float for the
Pioneer
Museum,
and she managed to rope Arthur
(literally)
and Gary
(figuratively)
into helping.
The
festival is a rather
homey
event,
so there is little fancy about the parade;
it's primarily a chance to walk down Main Street in costume
while family,
friends and a growing number of tourists
cheer.
Arthur pulled the float,
dressed as a soldier in
the
Corps
of Discovery.
Gary helped make the banner and
created the undercarriage to support the float.
He
held his breath during the mile-long parade for fear of
seeing the wheels fall off.
We identified rock we liked on our property and
collected several tons during the winter,
driving our
little truck up steep gullies and ridges early on cold
mornings when the ground was frozen (this does minimal
damage to the ground and plants).
Shopping for rock
at local dealers,
we found "Montana Moss Rock" is
what we collected!
Thus,
we can augment the collected rock and do all of the
stone in that type.
There is little savings using the
collected rock;
the primary appeal (beyond the fact
the rock is unarguably compatible with the setting)
is being able to say something of the house
was made from materials found on site.
(Note: the wood block and wire is for a light fixture)
The future Media Room (a small theater with fireplace located
below the Great Room) is where wiring for the multimedia system
converges.
The blue cables carry wire for two phone/network connections
and two TV connections to almost every corner of every room
(even the Wine Cellar and Laundry Room).
We will eventually install a
PBX
and
router
here to serve the house.
Networking and TV will come via satellite.
There is also wiring for a central
stereo high fidelity system and conduits for possible future
expansion.
The network will integrate with the alarm system,
which will raise an alarm at the Carriage House and a security
company should something go wrong.
Got a Bit Chilly Last Night ...
August 13 was the day of the annual "Ridge Run" —
the local version of
a marathon.
Participants
run 20 miles along a rough trail on the crest of the Bridger Mountains,
gaining a total of 6,800' and losing a total of 9,500' along the way.
The run starts about 10 miles north of where we live and ends about
3 miles west.
This year,
we awoke on the 13th to below freezing temperatures at the Carriage
House,
while the runners 3,000' higher up were contending with
snow, ice and freezing rain.
The 43 year old winner clocked in at 3:14:31.48
(5 minutes over the record).
Parting Shot
One _____ of a Spark Arrestor
This is one of two spark arrestors that will be mounted on the chimneys.
We won't have a wood fireplace or anything else that generates sparks,
but the fire department requires them anyhow.
The chimney this goes on can be seen just peeking over the roof at top
center.
