The Hardest Part

Hot and slow and steady she goes, another day slides by and another three items crossed off the list. Sometimes the list grows more than the items finished, but I'm making progress every day. But on wednesday, the AC gets put in and things will change for the better. Just in time too, because the heat wave is upon us in a bad way.
Brother Scott came over on sunday with Dad  and they hooked up all the exterior plugs, now I don't have cords running everywhere which makes things easier. I wish I knew more about electricity, because the whole house is ready to be hooked up. It's also time to hook up all the commodes  and vanity sinks and mudroom sink. In fact, everything is ready to be completed, all that needs to be done is to finish. Yesterday I assembled our master bath vanities, finished the shelving in the master and Matt's closets, and then put another coat of clear poly on the exterior doors. Today I get to build the deck for the AC unit, and hopefully mark more items off the list. As soon as I get Scott and Mike over for a couple weeks, we will install the rest of the hardwood floors and then sand and finish all of the floors in the house. That will take about 7 work days, and then we will build all the interior door jambs and set all of the doors. Septic guy has not shown up yet, but we are next on his list. The bedrooms and bathrooms are all so close to complete, and within 3 weeks will be. That leaves the awesome room and kitchen as the last things to finish. The plan is to have everything done before we go on vacation the second week in August. It's gonna be close, and I'm sure there will be a major punch list for when I get back from vacation, but I plan on moving in sometime before September 24th. That is a promise, I wish we had been done before this summer so I could spend more time playing with Matt, But you just gotta stick with it cause it will all be a memory soon. And I will cherish the memory, and I will be proud that we have created something special, and not just a house. And then, I will be done with a dream that we get to enjoy everyday for a long time- God willing. But this is the hard times, the hot times, the time that takes a dedication to finishing a so far 16 month project.  Wish me luck, RJ

Dog Days Are Upon Us

While it has been dry, the temp has been great and the air has been dry also, truly this spring has had awesome weather. Problem is, we need rain, not just a little, a lot. But the dry air has meant that we have cool nights, and I have taken advantage and had a fire every night on the awesome deck. The outdoor fireplace is so awesome, I can have small fires even during burn bans, and I will really miss them during july and august which are the only months that are really too hot to hang outside at night. The next couple days will bring the hottest days so far this summer, so the dog days are upon us. Steele Creek here I come! I gotta keep after it though, I have 8 weeks before vacation to mostly complete this whole enchilada, so the pressure is on. Septic guys are finally coming in 2 weeks and then I can hook up all the final  plumbing fixtures except the kitchen, and the last big outside project is the front porch. After completing the porch, we are ready for the rest of the rock work inside and out. But for now, I must stay focused on interior woodwork because it is very time consuming and I am the only one to do it. My next projects are; 1. build entertainment cabinet, 2. build valance over cooktop, 3. trim out remaining windows and ext. doors, 4. build shelves in master bath, and 5. then complete the rest of the walnut flooring downstairs. My timeline is about 30 construction days to complete 90% of whats left, then whatever it takes to complete whats left on a punch list. Wish me luck!!, and have an awesome day. RJ

It,s All In The Details

Some of the items I,ve been working on lately

Too Much Vacation, Not Enough Work

I need uninterrupted work time, I love vacation but I have got to work more. I will post later about where we are on this slow project, and at least we got the massive posts on the front of the house.

Vacation Gets In The Way

The pedestals for the massive entry logs are poured and the capstones set on top, setting the stage for raising the massive logs and completing  a major project. After that I can build the front porch and install the remaining rock work, which would complete the exterior of the house. On the inside, I have completed the oven cabinet, cut down the master vanities for vessel sinks, built all the shelving and cabinetry in the master closet, and built the flat screen tv surround frame. Next up is finishing all the exterior doors and mortising for locks, completing the woodwork in the master bath, and completing the shelving in all closets. It's also time to set the commodes and vanities in the bathrooms, and the mudroom sink, in addition to installing all the lighting and switches and plugs. The septic man will be here within the next couple weeks and after that we will have working plumbing, so hurry up septic guy. This is the time for small items by the dozen, I wish I were better versed in plumbing and electric so I could do all of that instead of relying on others. No matter, its all coming to an end anyway and I am READY. Brother Scott took a whole pack of kids camping at Steele Creek on saturday, so Matt and I joined them. I had a gig at Low Gap also, so I swam all day before heading up the hill  to Low Gap, and then went back to the campsite and played guitar with our neighbor till late. There has been so much vacationing going on that it's been hard to get anything done, and we have a condo on Table Rock Lake all this week so the delima continues. We also got some good rain last night and the river is actually rising, which would make it hard to stay off it. But otherwise, I gotta get to work and get things done. I will keep an eye on the river gauge though, Have an awesome day everyone, The Hollowhead

Beautiful World

during the installation of the stairs

River Matt

Whitney

River Monkeys

Start em early

Just Wow

The Master Spa

On a still night  you can still hear a trickle of water coursing it's way through the gorge, not yet June, and it's dry as a bone. The worst paddling season in my memory, only 6 days were spent on the Buffalo enjoying this awesome place. You just have to take it as it comes, or doesn't come in this case, hopefully we will have rain in June because if we don't, we are in for a long draught.  The kind that even dry up the swimming holes!! God forbid!! Well, all  of the tile floors and showers are complete and look great, courtesy of  Tiles Unlimited of Harrison. I have been working on our master closet this week and the oven cabinet, just trying to use up all materials I have on site before starting anything else. My next big project is installing the massive front logs that hold up the front entry gable, Mr. Warren is letting us use his big backhoe to set them, which is a very good thing considering they probably weigh 4-500 lbs. each. I have to build the pedestals they sit on first, and then bring in Scott and Mike to help me for a day or two. I have found the interior doors we are going to use in addition to the salvaged ones I already have, and I'm    happy with them. Today was the day I had originally said we would be in this house, but many things happened to delay us, all of it good in the long run, but in the short run has left us short of cash for a little while. All I have to do is keep working and it will all get done soon. What I am sure of , is that we have a special place here, everything  is coming together so well and perfectly. It is very rewarding to see an idea come to reality, and the reality is really more than the dream had envisioned. Well, I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend, brother Dave and Tonia make their return to the Hollow saturday and it will be good to see them. Brother Scott's place is just about complete and looks great too, so our bed capacity grows more. Now we just need to clean up to keep the snakes at bay. Watch where your stepping !, but get out there. The Hollowhead