WE'RE GETTING CLOSER TO LOCKUP

John, The owner of Northern Log and Timber started trimming out the windows today.

I love how he stands on a pile of 2x12's and fires up his chainsaw.

Not something I would do.

I got the blue skin on the rim boards and tomorrow we start to cover everything 

with the bat and board.

This is a Sunday shot.

The smoke is terrible. We're expecting rain which should help.

The roof is complete.Tomorrow we will finish the deck. Hopefully.
I stopped to take this picture from lodge road because I saw Ruth
sitting on the scaffold staining the side of the house.
It's pretty high right there where she is and I know she doesn't love heights too much.
She has done a hell of a job so far painting/staining this place.

OLD NEWS BUT STILL HERE AND IT'S A KILLER

We are all so tired of this smoke. 

B.C. is definitely on fire.

 Today I left Lake Country and went into Kelowna.

My lungs were actually sore while walking thru Home Depot parking lot.

This is a picture off of our front deck looking at our new build his morning. 

I'm feeling sluggish and low on energy.

Cough , Cough.

A time lapse from a friend. Yuck !!!!!!

I'm thinking we should be moving if this is going to be the new normal.

What a Week

It's so smokey here in the Okanagan.

All the fun is gone.

A friend posted these two pictures today.

Earlier in the year.

Today. 

The house is coming along slowly but surely.

The electrician spent the weekend here working.

He seems to be doing a good job.

I got the blue skin on the front rim board. 

Now we are just waiting for gravel to raise the yard up to the house.

Can't wait. 

We'll build a concrete slab for a patio instead of a wooden deck.

Here is a little bad luck.

I had all the windows leaning up inside of the house and last Saturday we got tremendous winds.

Four windows blew over and two of the biggest ones broke.

$500. to replace. Damn.

One of the loft beams had to be replaced and it is a 12 x12 and 13 feet long.

I was worried about how we could lift it 10 feet up into place but luckily 

it was right in front of the window we hadn't yet installed.

We put the crane thru the window and lifted it into place.

 

It took a little maneuvering but it did work.

I can't imagine trying to do this without a crane.
It's really heavy.

Tim had to whack it into its slot with the sledge.

Carrie has built a floating bed on the deck and wanted to try it out.

Around 8:00 Carrie went for a walk and Ruth told me that she was going to sleep outside.

Carrie wasn't willing to give it up totally and climbed in with her mom for a good nights sleep.

With all the fires going on and all the smoke in the air they only lasted until about 2:00 A.M.

It's brutal here. 

We usually have a nice view of the mountains.

Tom Tar Roofing finished our roof today

These guys are great.

Fast , tidy and they put in full days.

Even other roofers that were over visiting said they did a stellar job.

None of these guys liked working on a 12-12 roof. I can't blame them .

I wouldn't do that .

Almost complete here. 

Just have to finish the ridge cap.

It's looking really nice.

My biggest problem is that it is starting to look nicer then the main house.

It's just our carriage house.

What is happening here????

THIS BUILD ISN'T HAPPENING AS FAST AS I WANT

That's because everything seems to have to be done twice.

I'm really happy with the roofers from Tomtar Roofing.

They show up everyday at 6:30 and work for 8 hours.

Their craftsman ship is also second to none.

These two employees from the log supplier are another story.

They usually  do a 3 day work week if I'm lucky and to them a full day 

consists of 4 - 5 hours. One hour if they show up drunk.

They put the Bat and Board on this dormer but their measurements were off so much that 

the bottom of the boards were inconsistent by 1 1/2 inches. 

It looked like crap so they covered it with a 4 inch trim board.

I stared at that coverup for about half an hour that night when I got home.

That's all they had done that day. Ruth told me they left after about one hour.

Chris was drunk and couldn't work the chop saw so they both left.  Jeez.

So the next morning I started phoning them at 6:30 to come back and fix it.

I finally woke Tim up at 10:00 and he showed up by 11:15.

He wasn't happy when I told him to tear all the boards off the dormer and start over.

I did the cutting and he redid the install.

I managed to reuse about half of the original boards.

Now this is more like the quality I want and expect.

I'm tired of babysitting these guys.

We're almost done with the log home side of the build.

Everything should go better once the build is back in my hands.

The roofers have about two days left before they will be finished.

It is looking good.

A FEW ADD ONS FROM MY TIME WITH RON AND BARB

Ron and I returned a truck load of 8 foot 2x8 lumber back to McMann and Yates in Kenora because it was old wood , warped and split. It even had pencil measurements written on it that indicated someone before us had these boards on their job site.

They had delivered the wood to the landing but we had to hump it across the lake on a barge , drag the boards up a hill and put them into his truck to return.

When we got to the lumber yard in Kenora the yardman told up to pile them with the other 2x8's.

I took this picture after we started to empty the truck.

It might be hard to see but these boards were straight , clear and would be nice to work with .

They had shipped Ron a bunch of crap.

I guess they figured that being on water access property we would't want to 

go to all the trouble to return this crappy wood and would just work with it.

Guess again . They are dealing with  Dutchman and a Scot.

I wish I had safety glasses.

The second morning I woke up with a swollen eye.

I think it was from cutting OSB boards . Lots of sawdust got into my eyes the day before.

I did go to the pharmacy in Kenora and she said it wasn't an infection.

It was better by wine time that day.

I think. Or I just didn't notice any more.

We did discover a delicious Canadian Gin while in Clear Water Bay.

I hope I can find it here in B.C.

It's made in the Yukon.

They have a bunny that hangs around.

We could almost pat it. Sure was cute.

A woodpecker is eating this tree at ground level.

I've never seen anything like this before.

I love these guys.

We laugh for days.

I hope they have a place to go to relax and recharge like me.

Sunsets here are beautiful.

I carved Barb a wooden spatula out of Poplar wood while there and then used it to 

make a Lemon Meringue pie.

The ride back to the landing at the end of the week is always the saddest.

BUT ,  It was another great time at Malachi.