9.3.2023

 Jim sold my old iMac on Craigslist today - it was a big enough sale that he met the guy halfway, so he had to drive about 30 minutes south.  But all went well and we got another thing out of here that someone else can use.

After he got home and ate lunch, he got everything set up and we all headed outside.  He first had to finish the one brace mortise pocket.  This is one that he started but couldn't finish because the scaffolding was in the way...

All finished and testing with the brace...

We went down to our timber stash and picked up the middle timber.  Then Jim cut a little of each end...

This is our "before" picture today - you can see all the shoulder pockets and mortise pockets ready to go...

Lifting up the beam...

And setting it into place...

Putting first brace in...

Second brace in and popping everything into place...

Then there were two beams up...

Jim had the last shoulder pocket to carve out...

Unfortunately, there were two knots in this area, so it took a lot of careful chiseling and extra time...

I sat in the bucket with Jim for a bit - amazing view from on top!

Testing shoulder pocket for fit...

Once Jim was happy with the fit, he brought up the final secondary beam and trimmed the ends...

Lifting the beam up...

The ground is not level in this area so Jim had to really maneuver the Bobcat and beam to get in the right position...

First brace in place...

And the next...

Then the very satisfying snap into place...

What a great day's work - it really looks amazing and like a structure now!

High 83.3/Low 61