The Monkey

The last two winters, we had a lot of ice build up on the roof. During Tom's ongoing quest to determine why it was so bad, he came up with some solutions....one being the possibility that the furnace vent pipe vents hot air under the soffit, cools, creates condensate & freezes, makes sense right? So in order to eliminate the problem they'll need to move the vent to the roof.

In this pic you can see the vent (that small white dot)
just to the left of the windows behind the icicles.

This is a pic of the ice & the placement of the vent-
you can actually see the steam coming out of the vent in this pic.

In this one you get a real good idea of how thick the ice was.

So, who do you think got the job of going up on the roof to reposition the vent???? Yep-you guessed it-Mandy and just to top it off, there was a constant drizzle all day! She scrambled up & down that roof & that ladder like she was born doing it!

Hope this does the trick! We'll keep you posted............

Just another beautiful sunset.........

Stucco-2nd coat

They burned out the motor on the first cement mixer (they are working hard!)-now we have this bright yellow one! It's a dusty, dirty job & they need to get just the right mixture.....or it won't adhere to the first coat (as they found out once already).

You can see the grooved lines from the first application.
The wet cement has something to "grab" hold of.

The cement needs to be misted a few times for the first 24 hrs.

Amazing how different the color is already as it's starting to dry.

Wind storm

On the 15th of Sept we had a major windstorm which caused a "brown-out" that lasted about 12 hours, then we completely lost power for another 12. At first we thought it was great to just have partial power, unbeknownst to us, this actually did more damage than good. When the power eventually came back on, a least 9 circuit breakers were tripped, the surge protectors on the microwave, dishwasher & stove were all fried. They did what they were supposed to, protected the appliances-especially since the new appliances now all have electronic control panels-basically "the brains" of the appliances. The Hot Tub however was not so lucky... Tom & Mandy took apart the hot tub to see if they could replace the blown fuse. The circuit panel had 4 removable fuses which were easy to replace, but of course, (you knew this was coming) they were all fine, the blown fuse was the one that was hardwired in. We're going to have to take the circuit board out & have it repaired.

And you wonder why it takes so long to finish this house????
It might have something to do with someone who keeps changing her priorities, but really, I need our hot tub!

The Attic

The attic seems to be almost as out of control as Tom's garage. That may have something to do with the fact that Tom is now storing stuff in the attic 'cause he knows he won't find it in his garage.....

Since he started revamping his garage (which is still just in beginning stages) he has started to take over some of the shelves in the attic. I just don't think I can deal with another area that becomes storage for misc. tools that he cannot find when he needs them (because he can't remember what he put where)! He & Mandy already spend an inordinate amount of time looking for things they either "just saw a minute ago" or "just had a minute ago"! At that point then they will start asking me where the things are....like I use the things?!? So in my ongoing endeavor to continue to keep a tight reign on the chaos that could all too easily ensue, I have requested a storage closet to be constructed in the attic, then I can organize & keep an area for him until the garage is done.
So he & Mandy started framing in for the storage area. Now we just need it done before I have to start hauling all the Christmas stuff out........

Can't you just hear Eva giggling??? Like Auntie Martha is really going to fit all that into her new play closet....

Zane & Mirabelle

Welcome to our newest great niece Mirabelle! That is one proud big brother sitting there waiting to see his new sister with his big balloon bouquet! The fascination while Zane (who's 31/2 already!) watches her-just priceless. Good thing we're building a big house, the family keeps growing!

left click on the pic to enlarge

Let the Stucco Begin!

The pressure was on....a finish texture choice needed to be made along with a color choice decision. Tom already had an idea in his head of what he wanted it to look like-just getting my vision & his on the same page was the only hold-up. I'm a very visual person, I need to see it. On more than one occasion when we thought we were in sync, we found out-much to our frustration-we were not, when I said "but I thought it would look like.......". You get the idea, this is a big project & the front of our home-we need to be on the same page with this one! So I get visuals, we choose a color which Mandy & Tom promise me will dry lighter than what I see & will have beautiful shade variations. OK-let's do it. The front of the house is covered in plastic & taped off where we don't want the colored concrete to land. The first application is spread over the lathe with a trowel & smoothed as it's put on. Then the surface is scraped with Tom's makeshift scraping tool, which creates a rough base as it dries for the 2nd coat to adhere to.

Pie Bakers

Eva is such a big helper making Uncle Tom a peach pie.......everything is "my do it, my do it!" We sure are glad Tom put in such a big island for us to work at 'cause Eva sure needs a lot of working room!