9.30.2020

Today Jim got started painting the auto bay in the apparently trendy Gravity color.  Again, there is so much trim in this area...

Plus - doing the top ceiling line on sloped ceilings is not the easiest!

Making great progress...

Working around the upper wall area...

The top wall area is completely painted and garage door bracket back on the wall! 

High 63/Low 48

9.29.2020

 Today is National Coffee Day - Jim definitely celebrates that every day!  (When is National Diet Coke Day?)

Jim continued priming the auto bay high walls this morning...

Then started on the walls...

Priming is all done!

After cleaning up from that job, Jim turned his attention to a job he wanted to get done before winter - replacing the acid neutralizer beads in the system.  Jim designed the system to isolate this area so it makes taking things apart much easier...

We took this plumbing run outside to empty out the used beads...

Then a little cleanup...

A final rinse...

And some new beads added...

Before putting it all back together...

Jim wanted to put a little bit of paint over the area where the bracket for the garage door rail goes - that way, he can put the bracket back up tomorrow and just paint close to it.  It is always a shock to see color go on when there has been nothing but stark white walls.  We are using Gravity - the same color we used in the Control Room.  A funny story - when I went to Lowe's and got the 3 gallons of paint mixed in this color, I was waiting for the paint to finish being shaken in the machine.  A mother and daughter came up and ordered paint and left to wander the store.  The clerk came over to me and said - they just ordered a gallon of Gravity too!  I told him that I was obviously starting a trend but when you stand in the paint department and look at the huge number of paint samples from two different manufacturers - what are the chances that the people behind me would pick the same color?

Another clean up of paint supplies, and then Jim was back to plastering - moving on into the next bay working on the extra plaster that is needed on the J-channel and pilaster areas...

Working on the next pilaster...

The Indians/Yankees playoff games start today - I wore my Indians shirt today to root them on!  Go Tribe!

High 69/Low 53

9.28.2020

I headed into Saratoga this morning to pick up paint for the auto bay because Jim is making great progress on finishing that area!  Today he started doing all the trim work with the primer...

There was a lot of trim work to do - here he's doing the corner...

Continuing all the brush trim work - plus he had to do all the baseboards in this bay.

Working with the roller will definitely go faster - of course, until he reached the garage door track bracket.  He had to take that off and painted underneath - that's where he called it quits for the day (well, that's when he stopped, cleaned up all the paint supplies, and then got on the treadmill!).

We got some much needed light rain today but as the sun started to set over the mountains, our trees were really glowing...

High 72/Low 60 - light rain!

 

9.27.2020

 Jim worked on putting together the concrete saw cart and guide this morning...

Saw attached inside...

Doing measurements on where we wanted cuts - some were easy because they were continuations of other cuts but with the curve, it wasn't just a simple measurement since the two sides were different.  But Jim had things all worked out so we got the cuts chalked.

Then it was time to start!  Jim wanted to start with the cut farthest away in case there was an issue.  He also decided to do it dry - it kicks up more dust that way but it is easier to see your chalk marks plus he didn't want to be fussing with the hose behind him when this was all new.

But Jim was thrilled with the way he was able to make these cuts - it seemed to be less stress on the blade as well.  Starting the third cut...

More decisions on placement of the center cut but we got it all chalked...

It makes my heart happy to see Jim standing up and cutting the concrete as opposed to leaning over holding this heavy saw!

Last stretch...

It definitely made a lot of dust that needed swept!

Jim was able to make these cuts arrow straight - and this is a week after the concrete was poured!  Typically, it's best to cut it the day after it's poured.  We're so thrilled that it worked so well.

Getting the power sprayer out to clean up...

Everything looks so fabulous!

Jim spent time cleaning up inside the pole barn, putting the saw/cart in, and then he brought up the Bobcat on the new concrete for the first time to tuck it away into the pole barn...

Jim reorganized his plaster supplies in the garage area so I was able to drive on the concrete and put my car in the garage as well.

After all that, we decided to take the Mini for a little spin up into Lake Luzerne just to look at the beautiful fall colors.  We live in a gorgeous area - especially in the fall!

High 74/Low 62

9.26.2020

Jim did a bit of touch-up plastering work this morning and then got the floor cleaned up and prep started to caulk between the floor and the baseboards...

Caulking done in this area and removing the tape...

Caulking is all done!

We also decided on a paint color - we're going with Gravity, the same color as in the control room.  Just another shade of gray!

Jim made another call to the company where he purchased the cart for the concrete saw because he never heard about the guide or the missing hardware.  The guy told him that the book and the guide where there but not the hardware - good thing Jim called because the guide is what is preventing us from using it.  He changed his plans and decided to go pick it up.  First, he had to ramp up the crushed concrete to make the driveway usable...

A little handwork...

Then the Mini gets to drive on the new concrete! 

Once home, Jim did some investigation of the guide...

There was just a little bit of time left before Jim had to come in and get ready for church, so he did another quick load of rocks on the rock wall.

High 74/Low 59

9.25.2020

In the mornings, the sun works its way up the hill on the property and lights up this tree that is changing colors.  So pretty!

Jim had another full day of working in the auto bay on the walls.  Now that the skim coating is all done, time to sand - the worst job!  Of course, in the auto bay it's even worse because half of the area is over head so it's a lot of strain on Jim's arms and shoulders.  He had to use a block sander to do all the edges and corners...

Then his bigger sander for flat areas...

Once it was all sanded, Jim had to brush all the areas down to get the loose plaster dust off...

He ended up with a huge pile of fine dust all over the floor as well so he first swept it and then used the leaf blower to get the floors cleaned.

After that, he did some grass cutting at the end of the day - I'm sure it felt good to sit for a minute!

Jim also made some business calls - he wants to get the rest of the Corian ordered for the other side of the kitchen as well as a sink, so that it's all here when he's ready to work on that this winter.  They don't offer a lot of sink color options but it's hard to decide between Glacier White and White Frost from a computer screen - they both look white!  So the rep is sending us some samples.

High 76/Low 49 - beautiful!