October, 2005
Pipeline!
(apologies to
The Chantays)
Things continue to move forward at a rapid pace. Indoors, subcontractors are
working through the house from east to west in a manner akin to the
method computer people know as
pipelining
(actually, the term is borrowed from the
oil industry
practice of pumping multiple products through a single pipe).
In the adaptation of this method,
the wall board hangers started at the east end
and worked west, followed by the tapers, the texturers, the painters,
the finish carpenters and the tile setters. The net result is that
the east end of the house is beginning to look finished while the west
end (and downstairs) is still pretty rough.
The rooms are so full of scaffolding, table saws and
other equipment that pictures are difficult to take and of little
value anyhow. Perhaps we will try to post a movie of some of the
interior next month.
We recently learned that the larger timbers used to construct the
Main House were 340 years old. Out of curiosity, we looked into
some of the happenings in the world
when the timbers were seedlings.
The panorama below is meant to show how the Entry slab looks and
how the masonry is coming along. However, with the sun staying
more to the south now, there is no time of day to get good
lighting on the north aspect of the house without the sun glaring
into the lens. This picture was taken in the early morning, and
avoids the glare from the east. In next month's report,
the garage roof should be covered with soil, the stucco should
be on and the stonework finished. It is difficult to describe
how this will all play together; we'll hope for better lighting
next month (perhaps a cloudy day after a snowfall) so the exterior
finish will be readily visible.
(apologies to The Chantays)
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(click on pictures to view larger version)
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Cornered! Pumpkin and Neko cooperate in catching a burrowing animal. Pumpkin is getting quite good at catching mice; she often bounces through the high grass like a deer, surprising mice at each landing. One day, she presented us with five dead mice at the front of the Carriage House.Neko and Pumpkin are also good at locating dead deer left by coyotes. This usually leads to a bath before being allowed back in the house. |
The stone stairway is nearing completion; it leads up next to the retaining wall of the south patio (where 4 doors connect to the Great Room, Dining Room and Kitchen area). The top of the wall needs a few stones to cap it, then the concrete pillars will be finished with the same stone and a metal railing will connect them. Large lichen covered boulders that match the retaining wall will be used to line the outer edge of the stone stairway. The patio itself is stamped and stained concrete that closely matches the stone used in the stairway. |
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Jon Nakamatsu came to town to perform this month; Pauline knows him, so she contacted him and we were able to take him to lunch as well as attend his performance. Pauline's son Marcus and his friend Paul were here for several days. They came to fish and to see Yellowstone Park (pictures here). The weather turned cool and cloudy the day they arrived, but there was good weather for a Yellowstone visit and for one of the fishing days.
Be sure to check out the
Main House Progress
( New! Improved! )
Parting Shot
The End of the Flowers
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