Red, Red Barn ....

Red, red barn
Go to my head 
Make me forget that I 
Still need her so 

Red, red barn
It's up to you 
All I can do, I've done 
But memories won't go 
No, memories won't go 

I'd have sworn 
That with time 
Thoughts of you 
Would leave my head 
I was wrong 
And I find 
Just one thing 
Makes me forget 

Red, red barn

Stay close to me 

Don't let me be alone 

It's tearing apart

My blue, blue heart

Our version of a Barn Raising ....

We somehow managed to get the team to the house for a 'Barn Staining Party. Well, actually not much of a party as we never even got lunch for everyone. Anyway ... we fueled Mia, Grace and Patrick with moral supports and got a good bit of the first coat done.

Mia tried not to show it ... but I think she really enjoyed the work. Brie of course, didn't even pick up a brush the entire day!

Grace and Mia stop to pose, but Patrick just keeps working!

Of course, Kim wanted her own 'side' to stain and just hung out in the back of the barn. We had several visitors during the day, and each time, I had to go get 'little miss focused' and bring her around front to meet people. Strange, as she's really the social one!

Kim took the opportunity to do a little laundry.  Instead of squatting by a stream, she just used our cooler.

OMG .... we're moving .... AGAIN!

Mia's thinking ... didn't we just move last summer?  Here we are with the first load coming up to store in the barn. My new master plan to move in small stages hit a glitch when I realized that it cost about $10 more per day for a huge truck vs. a small one like this. I'm really looking forward, as I think Mia is, to settling in for years vs. months!

More septic progress

Lee has made a lot of progress on the Septic System. These pictures show the special Septic Sand is now in place. I'm not sure what is next, but we can see the top of the sand and since the top soil will be six inches above that, I can really see this blending in with the grade like I mentioned last week.

Lee has started the septic

Lee has now turned his attention to the septic system.  Here are a couple of pictures showing his progress.  The top of the stake indicate six inches above the level we need the 'special' septic sand, so in other words the top of the sticks is where the ground will be.

Lee already understood, because I brought it up every time I saw him, that I was paranoid about us having a big 'septic mound'.   So, this time, he took me down to show me the grade and I'm now pretty comfortable that, with a reasonable amount of fill, he'll be able to overcome the mound and blend it in the rest of the property.  After a season or two, I don't think we'll notice that the field was ever there.

Getting close on the framing

You can now see that the roof sheathing on the North and South side is done.  The windows have arrived and are in the barn.  We're hoping that the framing is done and the windows are in by the end of the month.  This may not include the front porch.

Kim's walking through the great room and Brie is headed out the front door. You can see most of the Douglas Firs have been put in, so the framers can finish up the center section of the house now.

The picture to the right is from the North side of the house in the back looking up towards where the back patio will be.  Lee has built a retaining wall so we can have the slope in the back stop and create a flat area near the walk out part of the basement.

Barn just about complete

Jason from Superior Doors put the garage doors on last week and Art put on the other door and finished the siding on the front.  All that's left now is to finish the roof and then, hopefully next Saturday, we start to get a coat of barn red stain on it.

Notice the long Douglas Fir laying in front of the barn.  That goes into the frame of the great room next week.

Big progress on the Barn

With the slab in, Art made great progress on the Barn.  I called Jason from Superior Door and he will hopefully be putting in the garage doors at the end of this week.

Here are the windows on the side that faces the house.  Art also put in the windows on the other side as well as the back ones that you can see in a picture below.

The roof is about half on.  Here you can see the color and we may put this roof on the main house instead of asphalt.  We need to see the difference in cost.  Four of the barn roof panels were damaged in shipping, but I think we'll have them put on anyway.  Wes didn't seem to think we would really notice and we can get back a small credit.

Here is a view of the upstairs.  Art has the floor covered with plastic to protect it, but it's pretty much done.  You can see to the right (where Brie is looking) that the front is not done yet, but I think once the roof is on, that's next.  Art has already made the front door.  Wes and I talked about the lighting in this space, and we're going with three lights plus a couple near the stairs.  this is very bare bones, but lots of light for our aging eyes.  We plan on using the space for storage, but I was hoping Kim could set up for a Yoga room.

The stairs are in as well and we can see Brie waiting for me.  Actually, I asked her to lay down so I could take a picture of the stairs with her in it.  To the right of the stairs you can see a cement wall.  We have that all around the back and some of the sides of the barn as we had to cut it into the hill.  Not a great look.  Wes and I decided to fir the cement calls and then use the extra pine we have from Country Carpenters side the inside so we'll be covering most of the cement.

Subtle progress on the house

Below is a similar photo as one from last week.  The difference is the overhangs are now framed.  In the front, there will be three.  In this picture, we can see the one over the door on the right side of the house that leads to the laundry room and the one on the far left side that is over one of the guest rooms.  There will also be one on the main entrance.

This week, they are expecting the Douglas Fur beams to be delivered, so we'll see more activity in the middle of the house.

Starting to look like a house

Kim and I when up to visit the house and meet with Wes and Lee on our way to a party near Albany NY.  We had not been to the site for two weeks and a lot had changed.

Here is a picture of the house from the woods on the right side.  The barn would be just to the left of the picture.  With all the blasting, digging and other commotion, it's hard to see what the house will look like when we put nature back together.  This picture gives a little indication.

The picture on the left  is what you would see coming up over the hill on the driveway.  Most of the left side of this picture leading up to the house will go back to nature and the area in front of the house will have some native plant landscaping.   The right side will be a courtyard and driveway leading to the barn on the right.

On the right is a view from down near where they are starting to put the septic system in.  This has been cleared some, but will go back to nature ... hopefully in the year after we move in.  It always seems to Kim and I that too many trees are removed, but then we talk to neighbor who, after a year or so are starting to remove more as too many were left hanging over their house.

Here is Kim about to step out onto the back 'Terrace'.  I really hope I can get it together and get something just a bit more formal built next spring.  We expect the Terrace to be flagstone, but not too big with the 'back to nature' theme happening here as well.  To Kim's left you can see where our 'Screened in Porch' will be.  After the first few trips to see the land, we decided this was necessary to avoid the Jurassic Park like bugs we encountered.

And of course, no trip is complete without a Barn picture.  It's starting to look pretty complete.  The siding is finished with the exception of the front.  The slab is poured so Art can come back and finish putting in the stairs and windows.  The roof is also coming this week, so we could be done in less than two weeks.  After that, we're having garage doors put on that are built with the same material as the barn, but work like regular garage doors.  Then of course, it's time to stain.  We've decided to go 'all red' in that even the trim will be barn red ... and no, that not me being lazy, just the look we want.