Cultural Adventures

This weekend is a busy one! Yesterday Naomi and the girls went with French Claire to visit the Amish. They have some kind of market going on Tuesdays and Saturdays so they brought back some baked goods. Tasty. Naomi even got to speak some German with them. Today they will head in the other direction, up to L'anse, for a powwow. 

I managed to get the framing situation up and running. Took a while. Needed a new miter saw, so I splurged on the expensive one, but it is great. The new framing nailer works really well too. Should be able to get the first wall panel sheathed this morning. Then it's time for more burning! Realized that I don't have enough wood, so I will need to head down with a trailer again. Also managed to finish up a small job for a client - made a window frame without and screws, nails, or glue!

Grammie started with physical therapy here in Marquette, so she will come up and stay with us once per week for a while. Nice to have that addition to our routine! Hopefully the weather will cooperate so that we can watch a soccer game. It was canceled this week. Amélie did more baking, and Abigail has been reading away. 

A good fit.

Way more fun that treated lumber!

For the air conditioner.

No glue or fasteners!

Ready for walls.

Base Plate

It took a while and lots of weather dodging to get the base plate nearly wrapped up. Hopefully I can put the finishing touches on this morning. Unfortunately, my miter saw died, so I had to pull the beast out of the basement. It is so heavy. Need to get a new portable one as soon as possible! The warped nature of some of the cedar made it tricky to square things up, but I think it is close enough. Should be pretty solid. 

This coming week I can start framing. I will also need to spend some time finalizing the plans now that the door and windows are in the garage. We were able to get the guest room in good shape. Even got books on the bookshelves. Now I just need to make the doors, but can't do that without the miter saw. 

Last Sunday we got to visit a farm. Helped put the plastic over the new hoop house. Happy not to go with that design where it needs to be replaced every four years. It sure did heat up quickly under there, though! The girls got to ride a horse which was pretty exciting for them. We also got to hike up 'the world's largest gemstone' with Miss CJ. Nice view from up there! Also got to go out for our annual meal to celebrate the girl's good performance this year at school. 

This week Amélie baked some fantastic treats and she brought some of them to a sleepover with French Claire. Then Grammie and Abigail picked her up on the way to VBS. The girls are having fun in Escanaba, and we will head down to get them after lunch. Hopefully we can meet up with Scotty too!

Lunch to celebrate good grades!

A hike up Jasper Knob.

Overlooking Ishpeming.

How can it grow there?!

Fun at the farm.

She didn't even seem nervous.

Ready for the base plate.

A small job for a client.

Ready for doors!

Cinnamon Rolls

Amélie has been asking to bake some cinnamon rolls with me for a while now, so this week we finally did. She followed the recipe from her cookbook and I didn't do much to help! They turned out really well. She sure does have a lot of potential in the kitchen. Abigail tried baking some cookies with her the next day, but it is a challenge. Amélie likes to be the boss and Abigail has learned to push back. 

I managed to finish up the concrete for the greenhouse. It went smoothly enough. Nice to have a little break from that project while it hardens. Spending more time on the guest room as the clock is ticking! We shall see how far I get on the cabinet. Ceiling and window are wrapped up. The bookshelves are very time consuming but at least I was able to get them glued up. 

Naomi finished up with her orientation! That's great as now it feels more like summer for her. She has the time to focus on preparing for the class she will be teaching this fall and just getting some rest. Got plenty of tennis and disc golf in this week, finally biked to Jilbert's for an ice cream cone (the baby size we ordered was still bigger than a normal cone in Europe) and the girls had fun at soccer. 

Done with concrete!

I have never seen such colors together in a piece of pine.

Anyone hungry?!

The Fourth Flop

We went down a bit later to see the fireworks this year after having another great cookout with the neighbors. Tough to find a parking space! Managed to find one of the last spots left to sit next to the water. So many people. The boat parade was going strong, and the laser show began as the sky darkened. It ended with a countdown - and then - nothing. We waited for about twenty minutes and then gave up. Somehow seemed fitting given the current state of affairs. Naomi took the girls down the next night to see the show as it ended up being postponed for a day, but one late night was enough for me. 

I have a sore back from all the shoveling this week. Yesterday was so hot and sweaty at 9am that I took the girls for a swim in the big lake just after 10. That cold water felt great! Luckily the temps have come down after a lot of rain and should stay there for a while now. Couldn't get the water heater working, so had a plumber come out to fix it and got a quote for a tankless version - 5350! We were shocked. The one we had installed in the NL was only around 2300, and it also served as our furnace. Hard to understand these American ways of doing things. 

Didn't get as far as I had hoped with the foundation, but it is almost ready for concrete. Water earth battery lines are in along with the tanks and the air earth battery and geothermal lines are all set to go. Too hot to work in the afternoons, so I made some progress on the guest room. Finished up the ceiling and most of the window. Moving onto the closet soon. 

Got a Milwaukee nail gun to work with my Makita batteries.

A straight and level starting point.

The boat parade.

Fun to watch the bugs fly in and out of the laser beams.

All systems in.