Attic Yoga

I was able to wrap up the foundation project this week! That was a big one. Just need to finish the window well covers before they start filling up with leaves. Also made good progress on the wood stove. The inspector is coming in a week, but it is nearly done. Just need to finish waterproofing the roof and a few other small things. 

Managed to get the vent ducts replaced for the bathroom fans. The old ones were chewed up by mice. Definitely not flexible enough for that job! Also put a strobe light up there on a timer to scare the mice away. Hopefully that will help. Also went to harvest some produce from the gardens and the apple trees as my parents are in Alaska. So much food! Glad Dominic came to pick some as well. Made the tomatoes into a great sauce.

Amélie and Naomi helped French Claire in the food truck last night. Abigail and I played some disc golf, talked to Rick, played farmer's roulette, and started a movie. Nice to have some one on one time. My back is really hurting today, and I have had a slight cold all week, so hopefully I can get the roof done without too much trouble. 

Abigail joined me for a round of golf.

So many tomatoes!

Trying to hide the ugly grinder pump cap.

Wrapped up! 

Coming through the attic.

Strange to see outside!

All the way up. 

Build Up

Felt like a lot of progress this week. Organized the mud room and cleaned out the garage again. Finished off a project for a client with Rick's help. Need to get my own lathe at some point! Had a full day to work on the foundation on Wednesday as the girls got to play with a friend after school. One more day like that and it should be ready for plexiglass. Also got some good time in on the wood stove. It is basically ready for a hole in the roof. I need to wait for neighbor Rick's advice on that one though. 

The girls signed up for figure skating this week. They sure are getting a busy schedule! Yesterday we had a bit of down time. Picked up a few things for their extra music lessons that are starting after school this week. Also went down to the pier with them. Last hot day of the year, I think. 

Had contact with another Dutch person in town. Older guy. Naomi will go visit him after work at some point. Naomi also got the flights booked for her trip to the NL with the girls in February. They are all very excited! I am happy not to be going, although being on my own here in February doesn't sound all that awesome either. The girls are bummed about missing out on some snow time. They can't wait for the white stuff!

Added framing to support the stove pipe.

Cut holes in the living room.

Practicing the ancient Japanese method of shou sugi ban.

Finally covered up!

Good first year in the garden.

More beach weather.

Organized.

Finished up the trophy bases.

Tear Down

It was a sick week around here. I was feeling it on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday Amélie was home from school. Now Naomi and Abigail have it. The girls also tried out some figure skating with Naomi. Strange thing to do when it is 80 degrees outside!

Managed to make some progress on the two big projects this week, but not much. Worked on some smaller ones as well - cutting boards and the lathe. On Wednesday I went to Neighbor Rick's cabin to help him tear it down. He is salvaging what he can to build a new, smaller place with. It's a great spot up there. He apologizes to the silence before beginning work. 

Picked up the last load of bricks for the final window well. They are now in place. Working on the floor joists for the wood stove. Surprised such long 2x10s were not as expensive as I expected. Menards actually had some nice ones. Reworked the TV area to make space for the stove pipe. It will be ugly for a while longer, but functional. Need to build a cabinet for that spot at some point. 

The garden is doing well apart from some white stuff that is spreading across pumpkin leaves. I guess they are out of time. Other things are just getting up and moving, so we shall see what the warm weather brings. We are loving the tomatoes. 

Retirement gifts. 

Sick day.

The teardown.

Finally!

First shiitake mushrooms. 

Surprise Visit

For Labor Day, we got a surprise visit from my aunt and uncle. They brought up some shelves for us to make room for stuff from my grandma. We had a really nice time. Dinner at Bodega was a bit disappointing, but we found a spot at Blackrocks and went for a nice hike. Perfect weather. 

I made a bit of progress on covering up some plastic around the house. Slow going, but it looks okay. The weather turned and then I got some shop time in. Cranked out a couple cutting boards and turned half a log into some blanks for the lathe. Fun to have the tools that can do that. Need to get a lathe at some point. Got the wood stove delivered. 537 pounds. Quite a challenge to get it down the stairs and up onto the stand! Really need to get the basement cleaned up an organized before trying to get the venting installed.

The girls had a great first week of school! They are so happy to be back. To celebrate the first day we met friends at the beach. Also got an interview in for a newspaper article I am writing. Yesterday we tried out a Judo class and the girls loved it! Definitely feels good to be back into the routine. 

First Judo class.

Building with solar power!

Anything looks better than plastic.

Fun in town.

Special breakfast!

Turning a tree into blanks.

Checking on the bees.

Little Things

This week was about just taking care of a lot of little things that had been piling up. Got a new wifi router set up as Spectrum started charging us for theirs. Got the stuff out of the garage and put where in belongs from my Grandma's house. Amélie absolutely loves her new cooking station! Set up more mouse traps as they have been taking the cherry pits we worked so hard to save up. Trying to put together an order of cork.

The girls went to my parents for the first few days of this week. They had a great time. Happy they could spend time together before the latest Alaska adventure. My dad left a couple days ago to drive up there. When I went down to drop them off I spent some time at the farm milling up more cedar. Unfortunately it was super hot so that was an unpleasant task! I'll have to go down when the weather is better and the girls are in school to do more. Naomi and I got to celebrate her first day of teaching with a nice dinner and a walk on the beach. Also went to our first college football game together. NMU continues to be terrible, haha.

Didn't get anything done on the foundation project. Got some trees planted though. Two more peaches and a couple apples. Amazing to see how much our peaches have grown this year! Complained enough to EGO about their portable power station that they gave me a free battery. Got the latest project for my client Jim worked out. Surprise visit this weekend, so things will get pushed back a bit more, but it will be really fun and Amélie's mind will get taken off of the stress of starting school, so that's great. Wish our guest room was in better shape!

Hanging out in the Rapid River.

Perfect night for the beach.

Two trophy bases on the way!

First tomato from the garden.

Amélie loves the marching band.

New work station!

First peach from the garden. Amazing.