To prevent Altzheimer's

I have read that to prevent Alzheimer's there's a few things to practice and a life style to adopt.  One is never stop learning.  They used to say "do cross word puzzles" but now they say "learn" to do cross word puzzles (or something you have never done before -- like write left handed if you are right handed or climb mountains if you haven't or learn the Chinese language if you learned Spanish has a baby.  Learn something new and practice anything to engage your brain!).  I just hope learning new soft ware programs at work is one of the requisites of preventing Alzheimer's because we are having to do that every little bit!  Ha! 

(As an aside, my trusty Webster's New World Dictionary, copyrighted in 1981, does not contain the word Alzheimer's although according to the internet it was discovered 105 years ago in 1906.)
 
This past weekend, I practiced a few things and learned new things, that will hopefully help me Prevent Alzheimers.  I'm not sure what it will do to prevent broken bones . . . hhmmm? 

One activity I practiced was crawling around on a skinny 2 X 6 14 feet above a solid surface.  Some day when we are waiting for paint to dry, I'll tell you just how it feels to lay on a 2X6" board high above a solid surface, clinging with one hand and taking a photo with the other -- while my better half, Himself, prances and preens and balances as tho he's a high wire artist. 

Another new skill I'm practicing is using this brand new and long coveted automatic nailer --  while standing on a ladder 12 feet above a solid surface.

Gee, I think I have a theme going here.  Solid Surfaces.  Hanging on for dear life.  High above!  WTHeck am I thinking?  But after all is said and done, I sure had a good time.  I'm going back for more!

I'M JUST FLOORED!!

The long winter "cabin fever" syndrom is over. Herself and I loaded up and headed for the hills of Missouri. Our goal was to stock up the cabin with supplies and goodies, and start some work on the new cabin.  I started by removing the propane heater from the shed and installing it in the new cabin to take the edge off any cold temperatures.

After herself returned from her shopping "drudgeries" we discussed the stairs, then went to work on bracing the floor/ceiling rafters. All was well, we knew they were supposed to be 24" on center, so we measured and remeasured and came up with 22 1/2" for the proper length for the bracing. We measured after each brace we put in just to make sure, and sure enough each rafter measured exactly 24" on center. BUT, as we started looking it appeared the rafters were starting to bow. We measured again, and again, all were exactly 24" on center. What the hell was going on. I finally went over to the side walls and measured, and sure enough, the sides had not been installed exactly 24" on center, causing our 24" on center in the middle of the rafters to be off. We decided we had to get some of the bows out so we hammered out 3 or 4 braces and just cut them to size. Just goes to show, no matter how perfect your measurements and plans are, they aren't worth a hoot if the other work is not done perfectly.

Nance:  Himself and his nailer bracing the joists. Don't let him fool you as he knows what he is doing . . . I have an occasional flash back to when Gramps built houses but basically, I'm clueless!


Then, we went up the "stairs", ladder, and started on the floors. Of course we precut our flooring boards to exactly 12 and8 feet hoping to just be able to lay them down and nail them. But of course that didn't work out either. A couple of the wall studs stuck out further that the others, so we had to allow for that so we could lay a straight line to following laying down the first course. Thanks to a tip from Tommy on HGTV, we figured out how to lay down a chalk line allowing for the studs that were sticking out. Then because the Amish didn't place the rafters exactly 24" on center, we  had to recut the flooring boards to fit wherever the rafters came out. We ended up laying about 7 or 8 rows of 2X6 which will be the rustic upstairs flooring.

Nance:  There has been lots of "stairway" discussion but so far, this is our stairs. 

After we get the floor done, we will work on the stairs. I reminded herself that when finishing the floor that we will need to leave a way for us to get down. Kind of like painting yourself into a corner.

Nance:  there was a whole lot of open space; well, still is -- but not for long!  I spent more time crawling around clinging to things while Himself swung from board to board like a monkey.  I was ashamed of myself!



I can tell this will be a slow process as it appears neither of us knows what the heck we are doing. But we didn't have any major spats, and it was actually fun. Herself is kinda sore, but I came out of it in pretty good shape. We will both be lean and trim after this summer.

still BOI

Nance: this is going to be a nice big loft.