build a crooked house

No way. 

We will not build a crooked house.  I'm a firm believer in measuring twice and cutting once but Himself is fanatic when it comes to square and plumb and level. 

And exact.

Himself builds well. 

Some might say he overbuilds but he says "this will never come down in my life time!"

And it won't.  It won't fall down and it won't be pulled down.

I think it would take a bulldozer.

And that's the way it is.

We have undone a couple of things.  We did them well the first time.  We just did not do them perfect or exact.  Then we undid them and did them right.  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!   

And that's the way it should be.

Himself has an eye like a lazer level.

I'm pretty good at seeing straight, plumb and level but I'm rookie next to him. 

There he is standing in the bedroom. 

And there he is checking his work at the end of the day.  He's in the living room looking towards the back door.  I'm getting ready to climb the stairs. 

This is the loft.  He's started wiring.  We hope to get a plumber in soon so we can get the bathroom plumbed and usable.  We are debating about hiring an electrician.  Himself thinks he might be able to do the wiring.  I'm betting he can.  Meanwhile . . .

We are having fun.  

We are learning a bunch.

Looking forward to days and weeks at the cabin in Mo. 

Someday.

Signs of Spring

We found signs of our (late) Spring, this weekend.  Guess we should have expected a late Spring since Easter is so late.  Year after year, I find that Spring comes along about the same time as Easter --  you would think I would learn to be patient and wait for Easter. 

It was sloppy, rainy and damp in No Mo this weekend.  The Missouri clay is slick and oozing water.  We have boards on the ground to walk on outside, cardboard on the porches and rugs at the doors and we still track mud into both cabins.  Jeans, sweatshirts, socks and all . . . muddy!

But between the rains and in spite of the cool days and cooler nights, we found signs of spring. 

Mayapples.

These grow in the timber.  We had a big patch at III so these remind me of good times in the timber.  I planted just a tiny clump a bunch of years ago.  Look at them now!   I love the way the little delicate white violets bloom under the protective cover of the Mayapples umbrellas . . . and the yellow (wall flower) dandilions are being brave and inching in closer to the beautiful damsels, the Mayapples! 

There is a little dwarf apple tree sits up the hill by the "big shed".  It is in lovely bloom right now.  We should research when and how to spray it here in a week or two so that we would have a lovely crop of apples on it, late summer.  But we never get it sprayed and then we end up with 3 or 5 apples . . . we have got to learn to be more responsible farmers! 

These creatures are in our garden box on the bank.  I planted them last visit down and they are starting to take off; to grow.  These are onions plants . . . and it won't be long until we will be able to pull these and use them to enhance our scrambled eggs or our lettuce salad.  Can't wait!

We have 3 or 4 lilacs bushes at Too.  A couple of them took a beating last spring or fall as about half of the bush is dead.  There are lilac blooms developing on three of the shrubs tho and the next couple of weeks should be really pretty at the cabin. 

I really like this photo of the new little Buckeye Tree . . . with the short yellow dandilion staring up at it, admiringly.  I really would love to have a nice Buckeye at Too where children (and Nana) could pick up Buckeyes for good luck.  Wish me luck that this one grows! 

This is a Redbud and it was the week of the Redbud in Mo.  These trees are gorgeous!  The magnolia trees were waning and the flowering crabs just coming on but the Redbuds were at the heighth of their glory. 

The Bradford Pears took second place this weekend -- just behind the Redbuds.  The "pears" have such a distinctive shape and are so WHITE in relationship to anything else around.  They just plain catch your eye. 

This little gal was inspecting out of the Big Cabin's second floor windows.  She was looking for signs that the ground was drying up and the grass coming up under the swinging tree. 

She didn't find it. 

Hopefully that will happen soon.  In May.

Audri and her Mama bopped down for supper Saturday evening.  PaPa and Nana enjoyed their company. 

LEARNING HOW TO MAKE A STAIRWAY/STRINGERS

This was tough, a true challenge to our patience, wits, thoughts, anger management, skills or lack of, but we did it. We read, watched movies, laid things out, and when that didn't look right, we read some more, watched more movies, and laid things out again. Over and over. Finally, we decided, we just had to do it and see what happens. The worst would be we would have to buy more boards. So with the framing square and the "stair guides" attached, herself laid out the pattern. What if this isn't right? What if the angle is off? What if the distance between steps isn't right? What if it doesn't come out right at the top? What if the steps aren't level? What if they aren't plum? And on and on. Heck with all that. The pattern was laid out on the 2X10 by herself,and then what?  She deserted me!!! Say What??? She left!!! "I did my part" she said as she prettied herself up and headed to town. There I was with 2 huge boards with a pattern that I was to cut with the old circular saw. No one to help lift the boards, hold the boards while I was cutting, no moral support, just deafining silence.
Oh, well, here we go. I started cutting the first board and all went well. Laid the cut board on top of the uncut board and used the first board for a pattern for the second. BUT, I didn't allow for the huge bow and it threw all my cuts off for the second board. Not even close, but I used the framing square and remeasured the angles, recut the second board, and it came out perfect. And I did it without "herself". 
So, we now have now built a stairway, and this will be great knowledge, as we have to build steps for the porch. It wasn't easy, it took alot of time and patience, a few tense conversations, but as usual, common sense prevailed again.
We also started building the wall for the bathroom. At least we know where its going to be. The next trip we will purchase studs for the rest of the walls and hopefully get some built.
 Still the BOI

The Stairway

The framing square, one of the most useful of tools to a carpenter. If only we knew how to use the dang thing. We have attached "stair guides: to this one so we can draw out our stair steps.

Pondering the situation, getting ready to attempt to cut the stair "stringers"

The "brains" behind this operation, is laying out the steps. After reading and watching movies on the internet, she figured it out, cause I sure couldn't. Ain't she a beauty?? 

Wow, they are starting to look like a stairway. Professionally cut, I might add.

There they are, in all its natural beauty. They are kind of steep, but space is at a premium, even in the bigger cabin.

I think this is looking down from the loft. One thing, if someone falls and the door is open, they will tumble right out to the ground.

The Loft

Here we are, moving towards the finish of the loft floor. We have just enough lumber to finish it. We will leave the last few boards un-attached as we have to leave room to be able to get the drywall into the loft.

                                                                                                                             

Here, we are cutting a floor joist so we can install the stairway.

This old circular saw was purchased for me by my Dad when we were roofing 1503 Rebecca St in Sioux City. That would have been in the early 70's. Nanc will no doubt come up with the exact date. Anyway, ITS OLD!!!

In this picture the joist is cut.

In this picture, we have leaned a 2X10 to see what the stairs may look like.

This is a picture of the floor almost finished, and the stair opening framed, and braced.

Another picture of what the stairs will look like.

Second Job

April 1, Friday: We are back at Too. We will try to finish the loft floor tomorrow. It will be up early and to the lumber yard to get the 2X6's we need. Since our last visit two weeks ago, we have discussed, researched, negotiated, compromised and arm wrestled the stairway. Himself finally dreamed the solution. No, not really, he saw it on HGTV. On DIY TV or maybe it was Ask this Old House. At our age we don't remember every detail . . . but he saw it on TV and by golly, this evening we stood in the new cabin and craned our necks staring up at the loft and placed a ladder here and there and maybe we have the solution! We do not yet, of course, know how to accomplish that stairway to the loft but just knowing where is half the battle!

April 2, Saturday: up we got and off to town with the trailer bouncing after. We soon had the 2X6 8s and the 2X6 12s loaded and secured and hauled back to Too. We spent the rest of the day climbing up the ladder, measuring, cutting, laying and nailing 2X6 boards. Then we climbed down the ladder to retrieve fallen objects, climbed up. Climbed down the ladder to get one more thing we needed. Climbed up. Climbed down the ladder for one more board. Climbed up. We bent and stooped and stretched and in Himself's case, piroutted and pranced in his high wire act. We worked hard for a couple of mature citizens and it was fun and healthy and rewarding. Okay, not to sugar coat, we might have have a couple of tense, non-compromising moments too . . . . but we have learned not to leave, not to give up, not to blow it off. We toe the mark, square off, talk it through and reach a mutually acceptable conclusion. Usually . . .

By late afternoon, there was one lady in the house that was having a little trouble straightening up after bending over, handling the air nailer. There was one lady a little slower at the toting and fetching. One lady who's experienced legs were making those trips up and down the ladder a little more slowly. Okay, my tail was dragging!

So we called it quits for the day and Herself got the broom and the shop vac and begged Himself to go grill that ribeye and bake those tators. Herself had worked up an appetite!

April 3, Sunday: up pretty early because we had crashed pretty early. Climbed up that ladder one more time with a goal to finish that loft room floor. We just had about 2' left and we could see the end in sight. We did have some problems to solve, some decisions to make and some mistakes to cover up (you mean you hadn't guessed?) but after a couple of hours we gotter done and went to eat. That eating, that's our reward for all the hard work -- well, and to restore our energy! Eggs and bacon and hashbrowns smothered in onions and green peppers. Now that's breakfast!

Our belly's full, we are brought up short! We are staring it straight in the face. The big . . . BAD . . . STAIRWAY! Are we going to be able to draw out those stairs and cut those stringers? Are we going to be able to find the run and rise and the number of treads and the number of risers? And when we are done, are the treads going to be level and the rise plum and will the last step come out just right and meet the top of the finished second floor?

Oh.  Well.  Hhmmm.  Please stay tuned.

This story is still to be written. You don't know the answer to those questions because Himself and I don't know either! There's another whole chapter to this tale!