Tonight Matthew I am going to be......

.... a Super Hero!

So we are 10 inches higher than we were last week! a whole 10 inches, slowly, slowly catchee monkey - or buildee housey!

First job this week was to install the beams for the upper floor.  Well actually before that he built a temporary A-Frame for the beams to sit on, then he got them all lined up and ready to be lifted with the wall jacks. (Good old wall jacks)

From this.....

To this..... (note temporary A-Frame)..

 

With some of this....



So we have two beams for the upper floor, both of which are supported on a center post - 8x8 10 foot Port Orford Cedar post....



 

Let me tell you about Port Orford cedar, it is native to  Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).  It was first discovered (by Euro-Americans) near Port Orford in Oregon and introduced into cultivation in 1854, by collectors working for Charles Lawson FRSE^[4] of the Lawson & Son nursery in Edinburgh, Scotland, after whom it was named as Lawson Cypress by the describing botanist Andrew Murray. The USDA officially calls it by the name Port Orford cedar,^[5] as do most people in its native area, but some botanists prefer to use the name Lawson cypress (or in very rare instances Port Orford cypress) instead. The name "Lawson's cypress" is widely used in horticulture.

 

The wood is light yet has great strength and rot resistance, and is particularly highly valued in east Asia, with large amounts being exported to Japan where it is in high demand for making coffins, and for shrines and temples.^[7] Its lumber is also known for its highly fragrant ginger aroma. Due to the straightness of its grain, it is also one of the preferred woods for the manufacture of arrow shafts. It is also considered an acceptable, though not ideal, wood for construction of aircraft.^[8]

However, it is considered more than acceptable for use in stringed instruments. Its fine grain, good strength and tonal quality are highly regarded for soundboards in guitar making.

AND it is also an excellent choice for our internal posts, what better wood to use than a local wood from a mill less than 15 miles from our house!  And it smells delicious.

So once the beams were installed Mr M then moved up 10 inches, he added the rim joists for the upper floor...

 

Then he attached the floor joists on the internal beam..

 

And then taadaaaaaaaaaaaa he hung the floor joists. A fairly laborious job (apparently)..

But look, its a ceiling, the guest bathroom, laundry room, and part of the kitchen will be under this...

So this week he will be putting the joists on the other side for the rest of the upper floor, then next stop is the floor itself! Then we will be able to get up there and at that point the big mystery will solved - we will discover if we have a sea view?

Right, garden update - yippee, my favorite thing to talk about! I like keeping a record of it on our blog so I can compare year on year! so far this year is about a month behind last year which isn't surprising after our cold, wet Spring.  Although it is sunny and dry it is still pretty cold at night!

This time last year I had already pulled turnips and picked my first zucchini (courgette), this year I have only harvested lettuce mix and radishes, whilst I have zucchini's on my plants they have a little way to go yet.

But everything is coming along, there is lots of green, garlic is looking splendid and seems to have survived the wet winter/spring, should be harvesting my early garlic in about a month....

Peas...

 

 

Beans, starting their way up the poles....

Potatoes are all up to the top of their bins...

We do have some colour, my Sweet Williams are flowering as are my nasturtium baskets...

 



Looking good, can't wait for harvest time...

And finally an update on our bird houses, we still have our two families of Black Capped Chickadees, but we also have a family of Violet Green Swallows moved in to the house that is up under the eaves of the carport.... and yes, I did take this photo :)

And here is another one of my masterpieces... we have had quiet a few hummingbirds visiting our feeder..... if you look closely you can see him/her/it...