Way back in July we started working on beefing up the existing fence in front of the house. I wanted an enclosed yard so the kids could play out there. The boundary fence on the north side of the house was also not in the right spot, so we moved it and reclaimed about 500 square feet of our yard.

This has really been my dad’s project, but I’ve helped as much as I can.

In order to get the kind of pickets I wanted, we had to make them. We ordered 1×6 and 1×8 8-foot premium cedar fence boards. We ended up hand picking through them, because a lot of them came in warped, cracked, etc. Also any boards with large knots down the center were put aside. First we cut the boards to get two 3.5-foot-long boards. (The extra cedar we put aside as scrap wood.) We ripped all the 8-inch wide boards in half, and 1/3 of the 6-inch wide boards in half. We ended up with an equal number of 6-inch-wide and 3-inch-wide pickets, and twice as many 4-inch-wide pickets. I wanted to alternate pickets – narrow – medium – wide – medium – narrow – medium – wide – medium – …

To get nice rounded tops on three different sized pickets, I hunted down three suitable templates. For the wide pickets, an empty paint can worked. For the mediums, a large can of tuna, and for the smallest pickets, a can of peaches was right. I traced the template onto the best end of each picket, and Dad cut most of them out.

Then we painted. And painted. And painted–that tedious and never-ending job. Cedar that is going to be painted has to be sealed. It’s something about the sap staining through the paint, or whatnot. Anyway, I didn’t want to worry about it, so we primed all the pickets with oil-based exterior primer. That stuff stinks and takes forever to dry. I finally got the last of it out of my hair this morning, and I haven’t used it in about a month. Also, it transfers to couches quite easily. We used up an entire 5-gallon bucket and had to buy more. These boards just soaked it up.

But once everything was primed, the top coat went on pretty quick. Gavin got to help with this part. He really got into it, although Grandpa made him the scapegoat for most of the grass that ended up painted to the boards. I know he looks very paint-free in that picture, but I assure you it is entirely a trick of the lens. He managed to paint his overalls to his boot at one point. Luckily, he’s about to outgrow those clothes anyway.

Part 2 tomorrow when I get around to it…

…the newest member of the Tuttle family, currently known as Baby Dango, due to join us in June of 2010.

Tony Jakacky fits the first wide windowsill for my approval.

All the trim work on the windows is done now, and after living with them for a few weeks, I know these extra wide windowsills were a good choice. The windows have become furniture in the house. I can set down my coffee and lean on the sill to see what’s going on outside,  Gavin has turned his into a racetrack for matchbox cars, and Olga can gallop her ponies around the room.

The windowsills are made from 1×8s, and we used one of my Baba’s pot lids to make the corner radius. If she knew, I’m sure she’d say something like, “See, I told you not to throw that away. Look how useful it turned out to be.”

Jim VanCamp cuts the back hedge as Gavin plays in the windowsill in Olga's room.

We’re really enjoying the new windows. They let in so much light that the whole house seems more cheerful. I’ve noticed a definite reduction in drafts, too. And having windows that lock has certainly helped me to feel more at home.

I haven’t finished painting all of the window trim yet, but I’ve put two coats of semi-gloss on the windows in the master bedroom and in Olga’s bedroom. I’ll try to get most of the painting done this week, but I may not have much time since deadline is creeping up on me again.

All the windowsills will have two coats of semi-gloss paint.

While Tony was trimming the insides of the windows, Mike was working on the outside, carefully trimming and nailing in little wedges to make the trim look like it was original to the house, without damaging any of the aluminum siding. You really can’t tell now that the windows are recent additions. They look like they’ve always been here.

Mike Neil finishes the exterior window trim.

I don’t know if it really counts as part of the renovation, but since cutting down a large tree is a major change to anyone’s yard, I figure this is fair game.

Damaged tree

This poor pine’s fate was sealed when it was planted almost directly under the power line. Over the years the power company has hacked it back, topped it, pruned it, and otherwise mangled it beyond all hope of beauty. The kindest thing to do was put the tree out of its misery.

Alan Metcalf cuts down my tree.

It was pretty cool. My dad has one of those chainsaws on a long boom, so he limbed quite a few branches from the ground before Alan Metcalf finished it off and bucked it into firewood lengths for me. I know pine isn’t the best for heating with, but we’ve got it, and Erik has expressed an interest in splitting it. And really, you just don’t argue with a man who wants to chop wood.