8.26.2022

Thankfully, there was no sign of a bear visiting our trash cans last night (of course, we haven't looked at the trail cam yet!).  We had a rain shower this morning so Jim worked in the shop.

We're just starting to plan for tile work in the kitchen - Mom and I picked up some samples at Lowe's yesterday and we were trying them out.  The small subway tile we really like is discontinued - it's just a tad smaller and more of a gray tinge than what we are going to use in the wood shop bathroom.  Of course, that's discontinued as well so we'll see what Home Depot has next.  It's going to look pretty though!

Jim continued finishing up details on the lean to - it was soffit work today.  Each piece has to be cut and then tucked between the two J-channels - a slow process.

All finished and looks wonderful!

Working on the flashing details for the last end cap...

With all the sun and rain, the grass has really been growing so Jim cut grass to end out the day before hitting the treadmill.

High 73/Low 62.2 - shower in AM

8.25.2022

 Jim had a doctor appointment this morning so he was up and out early.  Mom and I headed out as well to do some grocery errands before the weekend.  Once Jim got home, he got to eat breakfast and relax for a few minutes before starting his work day.

He worked on putting up the rest of the fascia today.

Then he worked on making and fitting a lot of custom flashing pieces to go out this end cap.  It really looks good!

Looking just about finished!

At the end of the day, Jim marked some tentative driveway extension lines.  He wants to get this area in shape so he can get gravel delivered and dumped up here.

But before he starts digging, we wanted to do a little treasure hunting!  

Mom held the treasure bucket and hammer while Jim checked out promising areas...

Unfortunately, we only found some nails.  However, those handmade nails are probably well over 100 years old so they're still cool!

Tonight's the night we have to put out trash for pick up early in the morning.  Jim put our trash under a bunch of old wood that he went up and got from our pile on the hill.  He doused it again with ammonia so we'll see!

High 85.4/Low 58.5

8.24.2022

After its cleaning yesterday, Jim put the transmission jack back together... 

We don't get hard rains very often, but the storm yesterday afternoon caused some gullies to form in the driveway and washed some gravel into the yard.  Jim brought the Bobcat out and started repairing.  Driving up and down the driveway eventually causes "curbs" build up along the edges and that prevents the water from diverting the way it should.  So Jim smoothed that gravel buildup from along the sides...

Smoothing out the gravel...

Raking the remaining gravel back onto the driveway...

With his remaining time, Jim put the last piece of siding on the back and then spent time putting in the rest of the fasteners...

High 83.3/Low 63

8.23.2022

Jim worked in the shop this morning - here's the progression of his modifications to the end trim piece for the bottom channel for all the air conditioning lines on the outside of the house.  The original design (top cut off) was too small to fit all the lines Jim was able to squeeze in.  So he kept cutting off slices until he got it to the right size...

The weather was very iffy today, with rain forecast.  Jim wanted to get his new transmission jack cleaned up, so it was a good time to do that.  He had to use the Bobcat to bring up the jack and then go back and bring up the power washer.  Then he had to make all the connections - again, this hydrant hasn't been used for connecting anything so Jim had to find parts and pieces!  Spraying some detergent on the jack to help remove some of the grease...

Spraying it off.  It did a really nice job.  

Unfortunately, as Jim was finishing up, a strong thunderstorm came through.  Jim had just gotten in the Bobcat so he was completely soaked from the knees down!  Then he got stranded inside the pole barn for about 15 minutes until it stopped pouring enough that he could dash into the auto bay.

We had planned to knock off early and head into Lowe's to look at some tile edgings.  We decided to go ahead - it continued to rain on/off on our trip.  We didn't find any great solutions but did bring home a couple of pieces to try out.

High 80.3/Low 66.4 - stormy in PM

8.22.2022

Jim did some work in the shop this morning before heading outside to work on the lean to.  Cutting the angles for the next siding pieces...

Front is just about done - looks fabulous!

Then Jim worked on the back fascia piece...

Mom and I walked down to check the mail in the afternoon.  I happened to look over to the side of the property our stacked woodpile down near the end of the driveway and saw our trash all over the place.  So apparently, we had our bear visit again Thursday night when Jim put the trash in, despite spraying the bin inside and out with ammonia.  This area is tucked into the woods so we obviously missed it when we went out to the store Saturday morning.

In the morning, we saw a gray fox - we had never seen one before.  It was bigger than the normal red fox we see.  Jim looked it up and it said while they aren't extremely rare, they are very elusive.  At the end of the day, Jim set up the trail cam near the trash cans to see what's going on.  He also did some trimming to end his day.

High 76.3/Low 67

8.21.2022

 Jim was back working on all the intricacies of the lean-to flashing...

Test fitting this side piece - it wraps around and covers the side too.  Of course, Jim had to modify it to cover the joist.

Fastening it in place...

Cutting more flashing...  (Can you spot my mom in the background?)

Putting up the bottom flashing...

Top J-channel and bottom flashing done...

Cutting the angle for the first siding piece...

Fitting it in place...

High 87.3/Low 65.4

8.20.2022

 Now that Jim is done with the heavy building of the lean to, it's time to clean up some of the tools and get things cleaned up.  He brought his saw back up in the Bobcat...

And brought it into the shop...

In the afternoon, he was busy working on the trim.  This is all very custom, time-consuming work...

Front fascia in place...

You can see all the intricate cuts and bends Jim made to make everything fit perfectly...

Same with this side - and more to come here!

Caught him just after he was bending more pieces!

Time for church!

High 92.2/Low 58.6