This week, a crew from Blue Ridge TimberRights returned to work on setting the timbers for the porch roofs.  It’s hard to tell much yet, but here is a photo on the backside.  They have not moved around to the front side yet.  Afternoon thunderstorms continue to blow through interrupting some of their work.

Inside, my plumber  has been sweating and toiling over drilling 21 holes to run pipe. He has been procrastinating about this run since he realized this was the only route short of burning a hole in the main support steel beam. Each hole has to be 1/8 th inch lower than the previous for a straight run downhill for the waste drainage. Using a template, Jack has drilled hole after hole.

I got on the ladder and looked through to see that these holes are perfectly aligned.

A crew from Audiotronics is starting to install the central vacuum system. Now we are talking!  This is a hide-a-hose system that will have 50-foot retractable hoses in 5 locations throughout the house and a toe dustpan for swept dirt in the kitchen!

Besides sorting through flooring estimates, trim carpenter quotes, and checking in on Mom (who has been ill this week ), I have been putting in more and more hours in my job with Va Tech position writing curriculum and presentations, consulting with Extension Agents and having meetings.  In between, I have been installing a few door knobs and picking up after messy work crews, including my sweet plumber. 

 

 

I realize it is a house under construction, but I keep picking up since we have so many stop-by visitors.  It reminds me of an old comedy sketch (but I can’t remember the name of the comedian) who said his mother moved about the house picking up other people’s messes muttering “I’m not your maid.”  When a friend came to the house, they asked who that woman was and he said, “I don’t know but it’s not the maid.” That’s how I feel when water and Gatorade bottles are scattered, nails dropped spuriously, wood shavings scattered, parts and tools are left about.  I guess that’s part of my job but I must admit that it amazes me the (unsafe) mess a crew can generate.

 

Phew!  It’s 99 degrees.

Each night, to stay cool, we plan a little field trip. Sometimes we just go to the grocery store and hang out near the freezer section.  Last night we went to see the movie with Sandra Bulloock called “The Heat,” which my sister in law thought was a funny title for us battling no Air Conditioning.  It was hilarious!

The plumber is off next week flying the Pietenpol to Brodhead, Wisconsin for a much needed rest and camping with friends. Hopefully by next week, the porches will be done and the electrician will be ready to begin!

 

PS. Thanks to Ted DeBord who found the name of the comedian (Fred Wolf).

Do you sometimes feel the rain is happening just because it is inconvenient for you? Last year when I started this blog, I noted the seemingly endless rain occurring when we were trying to dig the foundation. And this year, reports are saying that this is the wettest year on record.

Maybe it is because Jack is plumbing; and plumbing is for water preparation and maybe once he is through, it will stop raining? Or is that wishful thinking?!

I adore Jack and he’s a smart, loving, wonderful guy but he is a tad slow on the plumbing. Recall, last week, I wanted to blog (and brag) about his plumbing. But he had to redo the same bathrooms three times to suit the pre-inspection, and has just completed the 4th of the 7 bathroom drain waste systems and has yet to start the supply systems.  I am not going to fire the plumber!  Because, after that, he becomes our electrician! Any readers, who want to pull wire the last of July or first week of August, please contact us! He will be flying to Brodhead, WI On or around July 23^rd for a Stinky Smelly Boys camping week with Pietenpol pilot friends. Thanks Susan Hofmann for that SSB analogy!

While looking back at those rainy photos from last year, I saw I had included our grand daughter, Destiny, who had helped lay out the footers.  She was much younger (at 7 years old) in those photos.  This year, Destiny is 8 (of course!) and has been here for Bible School at Bethlehem UMC.

Since she has been here, we have had a great time first breaking in my sister’s new house at Smith Mountain Lake (See http://browncrawford.wordpress.com/). But we have also we have floated off Nancy’s dock where Alison helped her be comfortable on a float noodle in deep water. We went on a cool boat ride (Thanks Koontzs), and she has been to an Elephant Show at the really nice Salem Fair and enjoyed a petting zoo there.

Not only that, but since she got taller, she outgrew the bike we keep at the airport for her. So, without even asking, she got a new bike. She asked me if I gave it to her ” for a reason.”  I replied, “Nope, just because I am the Gramma and I can decide!”  Today she has a play date with our number one blog commenter, Marion and her grand daughter, Sutton.

Thank-you God for allowing us to be Grandparents, but could you let us a bit on the rain? Love, Karen

 

The idiom “the devil is in the detail” derives from the earlier phrase, “God is in the detail” expressing the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; i.e. details are important (from Wikipedia)

We are finding that the detail is in the International Residential Codebook!  We had hoped to share Jack’s plumbing details (over which he is losing sleep) today, but we will wait on the plumbing posting until he checks into a few things. Today, we will look at a few other details.

The first and BIGGEST is the stoning of the fireplace is complete!  Stonework this is the messiest, dustiest, lung clogging job ever! It’s the nature of the work, but Scott, Cecillio and Daniello all with New Design Stone Company did a beautiful job.

I can’t take a whole photo of the fireplace and chimney so here is half way up the fireplace

And here is the stonework to the peak on the ceiling.

 

I have been doing some detail work selecting bathroom tile, getting tile quotes for installation, and getting quotes for trim carpentry.  Trim carpentry means putting the trim around all of the windows and doors and installing the wrought iron in the stairs.  I have one quote indicating that it will take 30 days and cost $520 per day. Do the math!  I am hoping for more quotes on that!! Any advice, please share!

It has been a busy couple of days of  friends and family details; which are the best details of all!  I had to go to Raleigh last week and see my kids for just one day. On the way back, I stopped in to check out the merchandise at Hillside Consignment shop on Highway 86.

I picked up two perfect items!  This wooden sign will look cute in the home theatre room, don’t you think?

 

 

And this trunk caught my eye right off.  The outside has already been refurbished and the inside needs a bit of work. I felt that the shop gave me a great deal on these!

 

Rain-Rain!
Over the weekend, we planned to fly to Northern VA and to attend a marriage celebration of a dear friend, Alex. Just before leaving, we had two couples from Cary and North Raleigh stop by to see the house and visit.  It was delightful to see Lex and Glenn as well as Denise and John.  We wanted to be in the air by 11:30 so we gave them the keys to the golf cart and they even took a little boat ride together after we took off.

The weather was fine on the trip there and throughout the celebration.  What a beautiful Christmas tree farm he had in Berryville, VA.

 

We enjoyed staying with more good friends (Debbi and Brian) but then when it was time to come back, the clouds were not high enough to get over the mountains. We departed from The Winchester, VA airport and took a short (scud-run) 17-minute flight to the Culpepper, VA airport in hopes that the weather would clear.  Jack’s friend, Gene, had just completed his Pietenpol (like Jack’s home built airplane) and was eager to do some engine testing and show off his work of art!  What he didn’t count on was us spending the night!  But he and his wife (Karen) and son, Will, were great hosts and we appreciated their allowing us to stay!  His plane is gorgeous!  I can’t share complete photos of it here.  That’s his job to do once it is airborne!  He and Jack will be flying together in 3 weeks to Wisconsin provided he can fly off 40 hours between now and then as an FAA requirement for a new home built craft.

Monday, we still could not fly home so we had to tie down the little (albeit powerful!) RV-4 and rent an Enterprise car to come back.  We had (past tense) subcontractors here starting on the porches and finishing fascia and soffit. They were all busy yesterday when we arrived home but, alas, the rain has chased the workers away.  Drat!  More delays!

Everyone is experiencing the rain it seems so we can’t fuss about a drought or browning grass.  Delight in the rain, walk in the rain, let the children play in the rain!

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. ~Ashley Smith

 

Yesterday, all I wanted was a beautiful new green roof.  And I got it!

What I didn’t count on were a few more headaches. First, Cindy from Smith Mountain Building Supply told me that the windows and front door needed more work to be fully installed or else their warranty may be voided.  Those windows are trying to cause me a problem!  Then the roofers had to knock a foot of rock off the chimney since the stonemasons hadn’t flashed the chimney. And the stonemason wanted to charge us more to get back up there to re-stone it.  I would have thought someone who works on chimneys would know it requires flashing!

When I am upset, I tend to clean.  Does anyone else do that?  After cleaning up some messes in the upstairs construction area I decided to go to pick-up the joist hangars at Capps since Jack needed them to work on the upper deck.  He and Steve are shown here working while I was trying to take photos of the partially completed roofing. There are not actually decking boards down yet (which is good since the roofers were throwing off stone) so they are working off plywood.

After my therapeutic cleaning, I took a shower and planned to go to get the joist hangars.  Stephanie (our next door neighbor who is married to Steve, Jack’s trusty helper) stopped by to try to lift my spirits. That’s when we saw Steve with a towel wrapped around his wrist.  I didn’t see it, but apparently the ladder slid one way and he slid down the post with his arms wrapped around, to not fall off the deck.  You can see from the photo the drop!  A visit to emergency care and 10 stitches later, he WON’T be helping out today!

But we got a roof and can you believe what hard workers to get that done in a day!! Thank-you Daryl Byrd and Reliant Roofing!

Another bright spot was that a bright yellow house flag arrived in the mail from Gardenhouse flags. It was designed by Sue Timmins.  Sue is a Facebook friend who I met through the movie Wish You Well.  She is an artist and we will be proud to fly this gorgeous flag  once we have a full deck to fly it from !  I blogged about when Jack and I were extras in the movie.  It’s not out yet but hopefully this fall it will be!  Sue’s daughter is the producer!

So except for the miffs and stitches, we are thankful to be truly dried in and have a sunny (flag) spot in our day.  Steve, we hope you heal quickly!!

We have been waiting for a long time to get a roof, but just now a van with 7 workers drove in and hopefully they will begin to tar paper and shingle!  No rain yesterday was a good sign and it is not raining now!  If we can just get the tar paper up we can stay dry inside!  I will post photos once they begin shingling!

Other than that, I have been painting exterior doors and installing door locks. I found a color really close to the front door stain which will be on all exterior doors. See the door to the left of the front door.

Jack has been framing in for all bathrooms, doorways, and gas fireplaces. Cindy (Smith Mtn Bld Supply) is coming today to measure for interior doors. Glenwood Propane completed running the gas lines and did a good job cleaning up after themselves (I might add)!

More later!