10.31.2020

 

Happy Halloween!  We had some tricks going on today.  Jim was just ready to head downstairs to work when the smoke detectors starting blaring stating that there was a fire.  Then after a minute or so, they stopped.  Jim checked the house to make sure nothing was happening and everything was fine.  Then it happened again early afternoon.  Jim is going to have to start troubleshooting it but it's hard when it only lasts a minute and you have no idea which detector has an issue.

Once he was able to work, it was time to start skim coating in the stairwell.  A messy job and one made more difficult in this area where there's not much room to work and the walls are complicated.

He got all of the bottom area done and the lower part of the first landing and it looks great!

After getting all the plaster and tools cleaned up, Jim wanted to measure the fish tape he used to go through the conduit to the pole barn so he knows how much wire to buy, so we laid it out on the driveway...

Then measured it...

After that, we spent some more time getting our storage things moved.  We also emptied the steel shelves Jim made because we need to move them as well.  We're making good progress!

High 41/Low 25

10.30.2020

 It was a winter wonderland when we woke up this morning!  We got about 2" of snow - the trees just looked so gorgeous!

Out the kitchen window...

Jim continued to do final touchups in the stairwell...

Then he took off the drywall to start investigating how he wants to mount the box for the doorbell transfer and then run wires...

In the afternoon, he rewired the receptacles again and got them all buttoned up...

Working on more receptacles...  He also took off the piece of drywall above the breaker box and spent some time figuring out how he is going to get all those wires situated in the box!

Then we did some moving - we had this shelf unit in the kitchen before I got my beautiful cupboards - Jim was going to use it in the wood shop but we decided to use it in our storage area, so down the stairs it went...

Starting to pack things in...

High 36/Low 17 - 2" of snow

10.29.2020

 It was a rainy day compliments of the remnants of Hurricane Zeta.  We're supposed to get cold air from Canada tonight as well and the combination is supposed to bring our first snowfall so we'll see what happens!

But it was definitely an inside day today.  I was busy with some typing work so Jim and I were busy in our respective corners of the carriage house, meaning not too many pictures to share today!

Jim continued doing final details on plastering in the stairwell.  It's looking great.

After lunch, Jim took a load of cardboard and metal to the recycling center - we've been emptying some boxes which is a good thing!

Then he did some rearranging work in the pole barn because he wanted to bring the Bobcat in before the bad weather.  Which means - the first vehicle on the new concrete happened, eliciting a big thumbs up from Jim!

He also did some more moving in the metal shop - our stored area is looking more empty.  Of course, I'm not showing you all the boxes that have been moved out of this area - ha!  But we'll be able to get our storage plan in gear and get things moved into their more permanent place.

We knocked off a bit early and headed to Home Depot at the end of the day.  Jim has ordered a Ring doorbell - he needed to look at doorbell transformers and boxes.  Once he gets things wired in, the front wall of the stairwell can start to be finish plastered as well.  He also got more plaster since skim coating and ceiling work are both in our future!

High 44/Low 33

10.28.2020

It was back to plastering in the stairwell today but Jim is doing touchups now and working on the landing area - skim coating is getting closer!

In the afternoon, Jim concentrated on doing some electrical work.  He had to first remove the drywall from this area next to the breaker box.  He used his fish tape to go from the conduit at the bottom out to the pole barn; we're going to measure the length tomorrow so he can get started on putting the wire through.

Out in the pole barn, he mounted another box in the attic - the plan is to have two light fixtures up in the attic as well as one in the main barn, as well as one receptacle near the man door.

He ran wire down from the attic to the box by the door...

We also continued doing some work on sorting through our stored boxes.  Jim emptied and moved the old TV cabinet to the back wall and started stacking things on top...

High 47/Low 36 - light rain/drizzle

10.27.2020

Jim had to be up and out early this morning for the last follow-up test from his physical.  Didn't take long and he was able to come home and eat breakfast.  Meanwhile, I headed into town to do a few errands.

 Jim worked on plastering again in the stairwell this morning...

In the afternoon, he attended to lots of different outside duties - he got the concrete saw and cart all put away after its tune up, he did a little moving of our stored boxes in the metal shop and then he worked outside.  He started piling up gravel at the end of the new concrete for a ramp so we can drive on it soon!

He also did a lot of lower driveway maintenance.  Just normal driving as well as heavy delivery and concrete trucks driving on it tend to push the gravel down on the tire track area and it builds up on the outsides and the middle.  So he took the Bobcat down to work on that.

He also was extending the upper driveway a bit.  He's making dirt in this process that we'll need to put on the sides of the new concrete.  He also started moving the small gravel pile up to this area.  He came across tons of big rocks though - he'll have to bring the excavator up to unearth them.

High 46/Low 37

10.26.2020

A morning without coffee is definitely not the way to start Jim's day.  Our coffeemaker has been acting a bit wonky lately (yes, dear, that's a technical term) but this morning it decided to completely die.  We were able to get about a half cup of really strong coffee first which was good.  As luck would have it, I had just unearthed our Keurig when we were going through our box pile yesterday - I had put it in the donate pile.  A quick run to the store for some coffee pods and we were back on track with the ability to make coffee!  I also spent time on the phone with Cuisinart - the machine was thankfully still under warranty so they are sending us a new one.  But as with all appliances right now, they have none in stock and are awaiting deliveries to the warehouse so it may be awhile.  

Coffee in hand, Jim was able to get to work, continuing to plaster the stairwell...

Our Corian delivery was scheduled for today between 10:00 and 2:00 - they were supposed to call first.  After lunch, Jim hesitated to start any big projects while we were waiting, so we decided to continue work on our pile of stuff.  We moved the dining room table over to the back wall...

It was about 2:45 when we heard a horn honk - we went outside and the delivery guy had backed up the hill.  Jim was supposed to take delivery at the street with the Bobcat.  I told Jim it was good he had the Bobcat bucket in front of the new concrete because he might have backed right into it.

Jim had the Bobcat close by so he was able to use the forks to get the pallet off the truck...

That's a really long pallet!  He brought it up to the stairwell door so we could unload.

Check out the beautiful sink!

We were just checking out colors...it's going to be perfect!

Then we carried in the two sheets of Corian and Jim stacked them against the wall until he's ready to work on it this winter...

Jim finished up working on the concrete saw and then took apart the cart for storage.

High 47/Low 38

10.25.2020

Just a look at how beautiful the edges of the new concrete look before Jim puts some gravel next to it...

He broke up the pile of concrete gravel again - he'll use this eventually to build up our ramp when we drive on it.

Tomorrow our sheet of Corian and the kitchen sink are supposed to be delivered - exciting!  So Jim had to get the forks on the Bobcat so he's ready to take the delivery.  Which means he had to drive down the hill in the Bobcat which is always a scary thing to watch...

Hooking up the forks...

Then driving off - he parked the Bobcat near the turnaround so it will be ready to go.  You never know when these deliveries will happen - they are supposed to call but that doesn't always happen.

Oh my.  Our next task is to move all of this STUFF.  We are going to organize and stack it against the back wall.  Jim needs this area cleared so that he can drywall this area.  But it's going to be quite the job.  In the picture below, Jim had already moved the steel shelves I store my fire school supplies on, so I filled that up again quickly.  The rest of this will be a process - we unearthed the dining room table today and went through some boxes, setting aside things that will be donated and deciding on long term or short term storage for the things we brought out.  It's going to get uglier before it gets better.

Jim also spent time storing all of his concrete tools up in the attic of the pole barn.  After we were sick of moving things from one place to another, Jim did some preventive maintenance on the concrete saw.  It sure did a great job this summer.

High 47/Low 34

10.24.2020

This has been such a beautiful fall.  While I hate to see the leaves fall off the trees, one advantage is being able to see the sunset over the mountain ridge.

Jim keeps trying to find the perfect door sweep for the steel doors - this one looked very promising but it's too high and won't work when we get tile on the floor.

Then it was back to plastering - he's making great progress on finishing up the bottom area of the stairwell.

We're about to start a huge project - moving all of our stored boxes, dining room table, steel shelves, and my fire school supplies over to the back wall of this bay.  Jim needs to be able to access the area where everything is now to hang drywall.  First step was to move the drywall.  Since my car can't park in this bay now anyway because of the concrete, it's going to be a great staging area.

There wasn't much plaster on the floor in this area since we didn't do the ceiling but I cleaned any droppings off the floor.

Another of Jim's before-winter to do items was to caulk this area between the brick and the garage/man door trim pieces.  The problem is that the big box stores only sell caulk in a few colors and the gray is very light.  Because I have the best husband in the world, he special ordered two tubes of the caulk he likes in a darker gray.  Of course, you have this little color chart and are trying to decide between six shades of gray that all look the same, but I think the color is perfect!

So then he started taping the area...

Caulking this area isn't easy because the brick is such an uneven surface...

This side is all done and he's taking the tape off...

Looks perfect!  He got both the garage doors and the man door area done.  

High 59/Low 29 - gorgeous!