Got the mudroom cabinets installed, finished the sealing of the ceiling, hired a painter to do tall walls in kitchen/awesome room, starting on interior woodwork. Got spring fever bad, gotta get to the river, need some motivation and I heard there was some down on the river. Or I could be "living in a van down by the river",

Magical Spot

I decided to write a post while sitting on the awesome deck after hours enjoying a fire, a glass of wine , and stargazing. The creek is full from recent rains, and it competes for your attention with the small waterfall that spills over the bluffs directly across from the house. This little waterfall has a voice way bigger than expected, as it is pretty difficult to spot from the deck. But if the creek is running, it is too, and it wants you to know it. Whats even more cool is that the little waterfall with the loud voice is just one of many special things about the Gorge that you begin to tune into once you spend time here. Another of these special things is the way you enjoy a front row seat to watch the Turkey Vultures soar the thermals all day,or the way the sun highlights the creek and the bluffs at certain times of the day. It's just a very special place, and its hard to believe how lucky we are to call this place home. Alot has been accomplished the past week, and I will post later on about the progress and put up some pictures. Friends are coming this weekend, so not much will get done for a few days. but we will be on the river. Later Friends. RJ

Misery

Obsessed with painting, my mind has been numbed to all stimuli, same thing over and over and over and over. Gorgeous outside, plenty of water in the river for a Boxley run, paint another stroke, listen to the creek roaring down below, same thing over and over, is there anything else I can do? This is the price, this is torture, this is where perseverance pays off, same thing over and over and over. My boat rests just where I can see it, so close you could be there in 20 minutes, I can see myself going through the rapids. MAN, when this is over I deserve 100 river days, and I intend to take them.

Latest Scores from Home Depot Load

Matt's tile

stained beam in Awesome room

Walnut wood

awesome room

Ready for rock

Matt's vanity

Matts vanity top

Home Depot Haul

Master beam stained

Master bath vanity

Low Gap Cafe

Interior Finishes Begin

Sometimes, there is just too much going on, and I can't get anything done. The past few days have been just that, birthdays, store anniversery, trucks to go through, materials to pick up, and day to day life along with building this house. But, things are still getting done; rock was delivered friday afternoon, Robyn painted the mudroom, I hired a rock mason, and I am closing in on finishing the sealing of the ceilings. (I love saying that) And, the birthday was good, the store anniversery went awesome, had a great hike on sunday, and this is gonna be a great week at the house. We went to Low Gap Cafe for dinner saturday night, and I got alot of great feedback on my first gig there a couple of weeks ago. They gave me a standing invitation to play anytime and as often as I like, and I am playing there this saturday. Yeehaw! Theres alot to accomplish this week to prepare for the rock mason, I have to get the half logs installed in the awesome room and put up all the osb board to install the rock on. I want to complete the interior rockwork 1st, so I can start installing hardwood flooring after painting the walls. Wow, were here, talking about flooring and painting and cabinets and lighting and plumbing fixtures. This is the real fun part, so check it out. It's supposed to rain this week and be nice this weekend, so the temptation to skip out for a night on the river will be great. So Maybe SYOTRTW Roger

Major Milestone

A milestone of sorts was reached yesterday when the very last board was installed on the deck railing. There is a total of 170 l.f. of railing, and it has been a massive job, occupying my time for several weeks. It is also one of the defining features of the house, and is a perfect blend of rustic and refined that pulls the whole exterior look together. Thanks go out to my carpenter Scott Jones, who gave me a tip way back last summer when I started on the rail that made the whole thing both better looking and better built.  The whole exterior is quickly being completed, so much so that finding items to do outside is getting harder. My next exterior project is to complete the french drain, which should'nt take more than a half day, but it was too wet yesterday becouse of the storm that blew through on tuesday night. Wow, this storm was lightning fast and was come and gone in less than 45 minutes. But man what an intense storm, packed with hail, very high winds, and torrential rainfall. The damage to our road was like it had rained for days, mostly becouse Mr. Warren had graded the road just prior to the storm. You know, I just don't get grading gravel roads too much, it just displaces all of the packed gravel and shoves it to the side making big piles that screw up your ditches. I'm sure it's neccesary on long gravel roads, but all it does is destroy our good road. I have tried to tell him to just leave well enough alone and only grade once a year, but he has a grader and he's 84 years old,  so what you gonna do? The fast moving cloudburst also raised the level of the creek several inches, ensuring us of many more weeks of the soothing sound of the creek running. The amount of water that stays in the creek up here always amazes people, and I know how lucky we are to have this special spot. Well it's time to make something happen today, so I'm out the door. I hope all enjoy this great weather. Later, the Hollohead

Last of the Cedar Posts Installed

Big job is now complete, completes the look don't you think. I can clean up the deck now and only the rockwork is left. Railing is within a few details of being done, and it's time to move on to the front entry posts and porch.  Guttering, front entry, and rockwork is pretty much all thats left outside. It was just a beautiful day today on one side of the house, and a little chilly on the shaded side of the house.  Just walk the 50' to the other side of the deck, and the weather changes. Sounds crazy does'nt it, but it's the way it is. It's time to get going on the inside of the house, which is too bad considering the way the weather has been. But it also means I'm getting close to the end. THE END IS NEAR!!!!!!