Lazy Fall

The recent light rains were needed, but wow did they slow down fall. Don't know how things will shape up now, guess I'll just watch it all happen. There is company on the mountain this weekend!!! yippeee. The wives are all in Eureka Springs for the annual gettogether in honor of my Mom, so all the men are on the mountain. Matt will get to play with Cooper and Lucy so he will be happy, and I get to hang out with my brothers. During my last 2 lazy weeks, I have at least got everything ordered and ready for the next big push. Rock is ordered, picture windows ordered, septic system on the schedule, the massive cedar log posts are soon to come out of the woods, and I have sources for cherry and walnut lumber. My next projects are; 1. install french drain 2.build front deck and shed roof 3. build and install ext. door and pecture window frames. Other items need completion, but I have to concentrate on getting the insulation done before anything else, and these projects must be done to do so. The siding is looking awesome, and Scott has done a great job. Pretty soon, the only thing left on the outside will be rockwork and wood ceiling over the decks. Well actually, there is also the front entry porch and all the cedar log posts, but I'm not worried about completing the outside. I'm working on the inside in my mind right now, and I can't wait to get started. I think I am just tired of the ext. projects, and will be inspired by the interior finish. Or maybe, I just need a hot tub soak.

More Colors

Fall coming fast

Got a little rain last night, should delay fall colors a little, but I think we are going to have one of the best falls in a long time. I will try and get pics on here everyday to show the progress. The electricians are working everyday and should finish in a couple more. The lights are hard to pick out, so many choices and styles to choose from. But, I think we have done a good job getting the right feel for the house. I must admit, I must be suffering a little burnout from too much work. I just have not had the fire burning in me, and have tended to be lazy lately. One thing we accomplished this week was to make final selections on the rock, much easier than I thought it would be. Robyn made up her mind in less than 30 min., a new record. I got lucky, becouse I love her selection in style and color. I also got lucky when I met Robyn, becouse I love her too.  Hopefully things will clear up and Scott will get back to the siding. Enjoy this great day!!!  SYOTMS

Bluffs across the Gorge

Here's some pics from this past week, colors are changing quick.

1st Signs of Color

Yeehaw, the plumber is just about done. The electrician is working hard and should be done in  a week. The ext. siding is going on, and looks great. Things are really coming together, and with good luck we should be inside within a month. I had my neighbor Tim take out some trees and do some clearing around the house, and it looks so good. He also prepared the hot tub deck area so I can get busy and buy me a tub. I need a soak, and the electrician said he could hook me up before final. I also got a call from Scott Phillips in Parthenon, my big cedar logs are starting to come out of the logging woods and will be on the yard soon. The last week has been spent procuring interior finish material. We are spending too much money, but the opportunity to build a special and uniuqe home is right there in front of us. Hopefully the budget wont get too out of control, but becouse of keeping our costs so low on other parts of the house, we are able to spend more on the interior finish items. Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful day. SYOTMS we hope

Finding Local Lumber Mills

Yesterday was a good day, I needed to find a local mill that would cut my huge cherry logs and then kiln dry and plane them. Lucky for me, I found exactly what I need 10 miles from the house. Buffulo River Hardwoods will kiln dry, plane, and straight line boards up to 24" wide and also sells hardwoods. I also found where to take my logs to be ripped into boards down in Ponca. It is really cool to use local wood, and with some work, you can have a really custom and unique home. Another cool thing is using Dad's 54 yr. old cherry and walnut wood he has been hoarding. Well the place is starting to really come together, and I wont have Scott's services very much longer. Hopefully, he will finish most of the siding before he's gone. I have hired a sheetrock sub, so the last piece of the puzzle is done, now it's time to push, push, push. The weather has been unbelievable, a wonderful fall so far and the leaves are showing signs of turning soon. These great fall days started at the 1st of september, and it has been nice and cool since then. Well, I lost the outhouse race after suffering 2 pulled muscles in my glutius minimis. But it was alot of fun, and Matt got to drive the outhouse in the race. It's been kind of lonely up here lately, it will be nice when folks start showing up at the cabin to enjoy the fall. Til then, take care and, SYOTMS   Roger

I had to make a decision on a couple of big trees that were too close to the house and had bad leans, I hate cutting big trees, but for future safety I did it. This does two things, it opens up the veiw alot and looks great. And , it takes away a little of the treehouse feel. They were also in the hot tub area so taking them out lets me build the decks there. The siding is going on quickly, and looks great. The hvac is done, the electrician is on the job, and the plumber continues to confound me. We are going on 7 weeks on the job and he is not finished. Litigation is not out of the question, but he will not stop the progress of the job. I went to the cabin yesterday and brought some of the wood that my Dad gave me back over. This wood is cherry and walnut that Dad has hauled with him for over 54 years!!!!!!!! Can you beleive it! It is beautiful stuff, I planed down a couple of pieces and wow. It will be so cool to be a part of our new home and it also puts more  salvalged material into the house. I'm going green baby! This past week some color in the forest has started appearing, we might have a better fall than everyone seems to think. It so often is the case, that the sky is not falling, there are 100 yr. floods not perfectly 100 yrs. apart, summers and falls are dry, and we might have a hard winter 2 yrs in a row. This has been the norm for most of my life in the Ozarks and Arkansas, yet now many say this is abnormal. I just dont understand, I guess some people are not happy unless everything is perfect. This next week hold alot of accomplishments, goals are;do more siding, buy rock for exterior, work on exterior door frames, build front deck and shed roof, and get the plumber to finish. I also need to line up a sheetrock sub becouse the interior work is coming up. Everyone enjoy this wonderful fall weather we are having, dont worry, it will rain again. But if it does before the trees turn, it will mute the color. Oh yea, I defend my outhouse races championship today on the square in Harrison, look out Boy Scouts, I take no prisoners. My high performance racing outhouse if