10.31.2023

 

Happy Halloween!  Hope you had lots more treats than tricks today!  

It was kind of a trick to have our first frost overnight since we were at 70 degrees a couple days ago!

Jim finished up my car today - here he's torquing the lug nuts on the wheels.  I used it to go to the post office and the little store in town and it was definitely a treat to have it back!

Probably not quite as much of a treat to work outside today with temperatures in the 40s, rather than those nice days we've had recently.  But Jim had worked on the computer some this morning planning out details for the next steps - the purlins for the sides.  He started marking all the locations where he will need to carve...

He started carving the saddle cuts and got 7 done before heading in.

High 52.6/Low 29.9 - first frost!

10.30.2023

Jim had computer work to do this morning, plus he had bought another receptacle with the two different USB ports on for the living room.  He of course had to turn off the power in the living room and rewire the receptacle by flashlight...

All done - just a nice convenience without having to have adapters...

After lunch, it was back to work on the car.  Check out the all new bolts...

Same here...

Jim got it running and let it run for a bit to see if there were any leaks.  Things were then too hot to totally button up, so he'll finish up tomorrow.  But it purred like a kitten!  

Of course, big jobs like these require SO many tools, so Jim spent awhile getting things put away and cleaned up.

High 48.7/Low 42.4 - drizzly

10.29.2023

Our weather changed drastically - from 70 degrees to the 40s.  Along with that temperature drop came a light rain all day.  So Jim worked on putting the car back together.  He's showing Mom the old and new water pumps... 

Everything is so compact and hard to reach - he had to take more things off to install the water pump, after dismantling half the engine to get it out!  

Check out how tight and crazy the drive belt is for the water pump and alternator...

He's hoping he only has a couple more hours to finish - he's my hero!

High 48.5/Low 40.1 - light rain

10.28.2023

It was a purlin carving assembly line today in the shop - this one in particular gave him grief because there was a big knot right where he needed to carve... 

Finished purlins...

Altogether he made 6 purlins today...

Installation time - putting up the last piece on the bottom in the back...

Carving off the tail end...

Fastening the next purlin in place...

Putting the last one in on the front!

Then putting another one in place in the back...

Fastening...

Last shoulder pocket to carve on the back...

Attaching the last purlin on this side...

Wow - both front and back sides are all done and ready for roof sheathing - it looks amazing!

Speaking of amazing, we've had such a beautiful stretch of warmer fall weather.  It's going to crash tomorrow, but we definitely enjoyed it while it lasted!  

Jim did a little grass cutting before coming in to get ready for church.  He wants to cut it one final time before winter.

High 69.2/Low 48.7 - beautiful!

10.27.2023

Jim had an eye appointment today right in the middle of the morning, so by the time he got home, it was basically lunchtime.  Which meant that he didn't get his shop time in the morning, and so started carving the next purlins after lunch...

Then it was time to do some installation - working on the back side...

Fastening another purlin in place...

Attaching one of the short purlins...

Fitting the last purlin in - he's such a perfectionist that he wants to do a bit of shaving on this one before installing but this front is basically done!

We have three oak trees growing at the edge of the woods right below the auto bay.  They won't be able to stay here for too long, but we were waiting until they were a little bigger to transplant.  They have pretty fall leaves on them right now!

With the leaves coming off the trees, we can now see the mountain views - never a bad thing...

And the other direction, an almost full moon through the pines...

High 72.9/Low 52.2 - amazing!

10.26.2023

Jim continued to carve purlins in the shop...

This is the toughest one, with five different cuts that have to match up perfectly!

Another gorgeous fall day to be working outside - Jim worked on fitting purlins on the back side...

Putting fasteners in...

He had to carve the shoulder in the hip rafter and then put up the bottom piece...

This is the piece that has 5 connections...

It fit perfectly, so Jim is fastening it in place...

It looks fabulous from this angle - really getting filled in!

High 68.1/Low 55.4

10.25.2023

Mom had an appointment this morning in Glens Falls, just a bit north of us.  As we got out of the car, there was such a pretty rainbow in the sky!  There was no rain where we were so it was even nicer! 

Jim worked in the shop this morning, carving more purlins...

He made a jig to help with cutting the complex angles...

In the afternoon, he was up on the pavilion, installing some of those purlins!  Here he's carving a pocket in the hip rafter...

Fitting the next purlin in place...

Carving the last pocket in the hip rafter on the front side...

Then he moved around to the back side and started measuring and marking placement of the pockets on the hip rafters...

Starting to carve...

Moving over to the other side to carve the pockets.  The bottom two he has to reach from the bucket of the Bobcat...

It's that time of the year - it was chilly and then we're having an Indian Summer warm up, so all the wasps, lady bugs, and stink bugs crawled out to bask in the warmth apparently, and the house looks like something out of a horror movie...

With the doors being opened and closed a lot, the ladybugs definitely find their way inside too.  Jim used the vacuum to suck them up...

High 67.3/Low 43.3