Better late than never......

... here we are then, a day late just to keep you all on your toes and make sure you are paying attention!

This last week has been mostly about plywood, and putting it on the walls, not the most exciting of developments but at least now it does actually look like a house!

We first thought about leaving the windows and doors filled with the plywood and not cutting them out, but after a day of working in there Mr M decided that it be a bit like the sweat box in the Bridge over the river Kwai.... well ok, so not quite like that, but hot nonetheless!  Plus I wanted to be able to see the views out of the windows.  The idea with leaving the windows and doors boarded up, is if by the end of the summer the rain arrives before windows are installed we will end up boarding them up, cut out the middle man so to speak.

Anyway we have scrapped that idea...... obviously....

 

Apparently it isn't just a case of sticking plywood on the walls, there are a lot of nails involved (every 2.5 inches round the outside of all the panels) and then the panels have to be staggered so it is a bit like building a jigsaw, and of course cutting out the windows etc. is messy (itchy) work!

 

But now the majority of it is up, so next job is to install the beams for the upper floor that goes above half of the downstairs, beams are in place and ready to be lifted up....



We are now at the end of Memorial weekend, our first long weekend of the year! we were lucky enough to have our good friends Bob and Jen come visit from Seattle, we had SO much fun with them and their 2 dogs Pepper and Mana.

They brought us amazing English goodies from the World Market and a fresh pineapple from Hawaii (the benefits of having a friend who is a flight attendant)..

They brought yummy doggie treats which everyone appreciated...

Thank You for coming all the way to see us, we had such a great weekend.It is always fun showing our friends around...

One, Two, Three AND Four....

Yes FOUR, we have four walls, you need that right? for a house!

Final wall was first framed up.....

Then raised into place, look at this lovely big window.... well it will be three windows, but still lovely and large (all the better for seeing you through)....

Next job he straightened all his walls, this involved a piece of orange string..

And a block of wood, no expense spared on this project.....

To explain, you have a block at each end that is the basis for each end of the string, you then use a block of wood the same width to ensure that the wall is the correct distance from the string all the way along, then you know your wall is straight - seriously if the house falls down or is leaning somewhat we will know why!

Once he was sure all his walls were straight he then put on all the top plates, so each wall has a double top plate to stiffen the walls up, keep them straight and allows you to attach the roof...

Next job was to install the hold downs.  Way back when the foundations were put in, there were some large lengths of steel rod installed into the concrete, these then had a connector screwed onto the top and another length of steel rod attached that comes up through the floor and connects to the hold downs which are bolted to the sheer walls *phew and breathe*, this will stop the house from falling down during an earthquake or a hurricane, both of which this area has the highest US rating for!

That should keep us in place! Mr M has a huge trailer full of wood outside, beams, floor joists and an 8 x 8 10 foot long piece of Port Orford Cedar!! First job this week is wall sheathing, then he will be working on the upstairs!

Meanwhile in other exciting house news.... remember these?

 

Well we have confirmed sightings of residents, 2 of the boxes have Black Capped Chickadees coming and going, how exciting!

I'd like to claim this photo as my own, but that would be lying, I am not quick enough to capture them!

Garden is coming along a treat now that the sun has finally decided to show its face on a daily basis....

My new raspberry bed is starting to show signs of life, the raspberry bed behind is FULL of new growth and evidence of fruit!  I also have some tomatoes in between the beds protected from the deer by the raspberry netting!



Tomatoes in the greenhouse are finally getting their grow on, as are the cucumbers...

Garlic is looking good enough to eat, never have too much garlic - I hope!

And finally we have been easting salad for a couple of months with one bowl being eaten whilst the other one is starting on behind it....

When we are done the FU get to enjoy the spoils....

One, Two, Three... Lift!

A few years ago whilst we were still in Washington, Mr M took me on a journey to purchase some "wall jacks" that were a huge bargain and we definitely needed in order to build our house! Well TBH I was not only amazed that he hadn't lost them, but we actually did use them! What a bargain, well worth the shopping trip Mr M.



Another week another 2 days of rain... but even so it is amazing what you (Mr M) can achieve in 3 days.....

 

Start off small....

Once that was up he then put some props onto the outside to stop the next big wall from continuing to tip over....

Then he got the jacks in place....

And called in the big guns..

As you pull down on the arm the jack climbs up the piece of wood and lifts up the wall, it is actually very clever (don't tell him I said that).

And its up, struts on the inside and the outside edges stop it from falling in or out.  Look there, that's the front door "welcome"....

Rinse and repeat (minus the big guns as some of us have real work to do), and you have a back wall...

See that window in the middle, that's my kitchen window, I will be able to peruse my kingdom whilst doing dishes.... there I am slaving away up in the garden....

Window and door headers have been put in..... 

 

 



And one of the side walls...

 

The tall window at the end of the wall is the spare room window, there are 4 of these in the living room, there is going to be lots of light coming in.



That is pretty much as far as he got before the rain stopped play!  The sunshine is set to return this week so the final lower wall will be put in and then we will be working upwards.....

The only way is UP baby.....

Morning Campers............

Another week has flown by, and mostly its been chopping, sawing, nailing, screwing and sawdust. 

Oh that's a big pile.....

 

Before you start to build your wall you mark out your base plates (that's the piece of wood along the bottom of the wall to us monkeys), you mark all your door and window entrances and stud positions..

 



 

Then  follow these simple instructions...  First you survey the worksite and the workers....

Then you cut the wood to length.....

 

you then nail the studs together to form the wall components...

 

Some of the wall studs are triples as they are sheer walls and door frames, then the 'u' shaped studs are for where internal walls meet external walls, the 'L' shaped ones are the corner posts... its all very complicated but eventually when all the components are put together they form a wall...

Yes you are correct, the wall is lying down, but eventually it will be stood up, I just need to eat a bit more spinach so I am strong enough to help!

Window header.....

Mr M is fully getting into the builder mentality, most builders have a van but as his commute is so short he has plumped for a pull along trailer....

I on the other hand, use it for much more practical uses.... like hauling my paving slabs up to the top of the garden! All the "Good Life" fans out there will understand the requirement for ski goggles...

The weather has been glorious (apart from the inch of rain on Friday morning)..



Consequently my seeds have been growing like weeds... this was last week....



 

And look at the difference a week makes.....

 

I have 1 new bed to fill and had better crack on as those corgettes need to get outside into the ground...

We've had a bit of dissent within the FU.. Dippy the white duck has taken a bit of a shine to George the little red hen, and like most men he is pretty single minded in his pursuit of a shag and doesn't seem to understand that physically it won't work, but that hasn't stopped him trying, relentlessly trying, and trying and trying.... relentlessly.... so we have had to separate the boys from the girls!

Now he is spending his days mostly swimming... cool your boots Dippy, cool your boots!