Leaves Gone

 Front shed roof and deck are the last major features to be completed on the exterior of house. It will take  another 7 days to complete siding and trim, then I will begin the rockwork.  It is the beginning of winter and all the leaves are gone, the views are awesome and the creek is raging, giving the Gorge a totally differant feel.  Come check it out. SYOTMS  RJ

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The Roar Returns

We got 3" of rain yesterday, and the creek is roaring. It is so awesome and always transforms the gorge into a differant place. Last night I enjoyed a fire in the outdoor fireplace and just listened to the creek.  The weather unfortunately costs time, but it's worth it to hear the Gorge at full throtle. I have decided that we need to finish the exterior siding before we blow the foam insulation, I don't want to take a chance on any leaks getting the foam wet. It also has become apparent that gutters are very important to keeping a house like ours in good shape, so I may press ahead on them.  Fall is just about over, and hopefully the weather will stay bearable and unseasonably warm and wet. The better to enjoy the river for some camping, which I am chomping at the bit to enjoy. The electrician is almost done, and the plumber will finish tommoroe, not long after that the hvac will be hooked up and we will have heat.  One thing that is really cool is the bird watching off the decks, we actually witnessed a Chicken Hawk attack and kill a  Pidgeon the other day. There is a large group of Piliated Wood Peckers in the gorge, and you can see their distinct coloring from a long ways off.  They also have a very differant flight pattern and make long and loud dives into the Gorge, which makes for great theater. I am done with the ext. doors and all the picture window frames, so I will start another project today. I'll take some photos and show all the progress today. SYOTMS, Roger

Big Picture Windows

Man, fall just keeps on rollin. Just a great run of weather and colors of the leaves has made this one enjoyable fall. Wish my productivity had been better, but I'm starting to wrap several items up and it will be time for insulation soon.  One thing I have accomplished is to gather the machinery and tools needed to do the fine woodworking. I have a thickness planer for roughsawn lumber, a joiner for making smooth and straight edges, and a 12" compound sliding miter saw. With these 3 tools I can mill just about anything I want, I just wish I had a better tablesaw. I have finished milling all the jambs for the ext. doors, and have begun to assemble them. This is alot of work, but to me, it's not a custom house without special jambs for all of the doors. The big item of the day was that the big plate glass windows were installed. They look awesome of course and it closes 2 huge holes in the house. The last vinyl window came in for the master bedroom, so when I complete the ext. doors, the house will be completely shut in.  I will get the ext. doors done this week, and then just a few small items before insulation. It's time to get that done, I don't want to fall behind in my schedule too much.  To do the sheatrock I will have to have the heat on, so I am digging the electric and water mains into the house later this week. I gotta push hard on this becouse I don't want the sheatrock delayed. The peak of the fall is past, but there is still pockets of color out there. Everyday, there is a new part of our veiw of the gorge that opens up exposing more cliffs. I wish I could do some hiking, but I gotta stick with it.

Incredible Day in a Painting

Yesterday was like working in a masterpiece painting, one of the top days for foilage in my life. Very hard to concentrate becouse of the stunning beauty all around me. Everything peaked at same time, oaks-glorious, maples-stunning, ash-awesome, hickorys-glowing, and all the rest of the bushes and vines just blazing away. I feel very lucky to be able to stand on our back deck and witness these special days. Get out and enjoy this.

Peak of Fall?

Wow, It's been awhile since I have seen the forest ablaze like today. Man, I wish I could do some hiking becouse the leaves are soon to fall, and the weather is fixin to change. It is so hard to concentrate on what I'm doing becouse it is sooo beautiful. These are the days I really wish I were done, becouse as much fun building this place has been, living here is gonna be 10 times better.  The cliffs in the gorge are slowly beginning to peak out behind the trees, and I'm starting to see what our winter views will be like. Another wow is what it's like, it appears that we will be able to see around 6 or 7 hundred feet of the creek, and we will surounded by cliffs. We have had a couple of visitors this past weekend and their reaction has really made me proud of my work. Were talking about folks oohing and ahing at every detail revealed. The typical reaction is; "it will be like living at a resort",  which is exactly how I planned it. However, I'm not sure that I realized just how special this place is gonna be. Our family friend Dennis Lee came by with his girlfreind Candy, and were just blown away by the whole place, but especially the decks and outdoor fireplace. Those seem to be everone's favorite features. It's been real hard lately staying motivated, I have not felt good, and I seem to have the blues for whatever reason. However, hard work is always the best remedy for the blues, so the best thing is to force myself to be productive. I made the trip to the mill today to select the logs for the posts, I was a little disapointed, but they still are massive and will work just fine. Just wish there was less damage , but it's hard to get em out of the forest unblemished.  My project now is the ext. door frames, and the picture window frames. I can't get the insulation blown in without them. The schedule has taken a big hit the past couple of weeks with one thing after another going wrong, so I gotta get back on track. One really good thing is that a 12" sliding compound miter saw made by Rigid came into the store on a load we bought of Home Depot returns. This is an awesome 600.00 machine that I desperately needed and would have bought, and I also got a air compressor off the same load.  Everyone should get out and enjoy these beautiful days. Hope to SYOTMS ,  Roger

Fall in the Gorge

Great weekend of weather up here, just wish I felt better to enjoy it. The fall is just really moving slow, but it has been beautiful. I keep expecting to wake up one day and it be at peak, but man has it been wonderful to have such a long fall. Matt and I went to Boxley Valley yesterday and the tourists were crawling all over the place. We went to the Ponca bridge to test Matt's pirate ship that we made, and there was a fawn that appeared to be tame. Was not afraid of people at all, and I snapped a couple of pictures of Matt actually petting him. The progress of the house has slowed considerably, mainly becouse I have not felt well for over a week. But I'm feeling a little better and it's time to really put it in gear. I won't have Scott working with me this week, and the electrician has been gone for over 2 weeks, so if somethings gonna get done it will be me.  Just got a call from the mill, the big cedar logs are on the yard!!!!!! I'm gonna go check em out becouse this is exciting and will make a huge differance in how the house looks.  My projects now are Ext. door frames and plate glass frames and finishing the railing. Time to get moving and I highly recommend that everyone get out and enjoy this beautiful fall. SYOTMS