We spent another (luckily very nice) fall day down at Bill’s, helping sheet his garage addition. One of Bill’s friends, Andy Gunderson, volunteered to help and came for the day, too. So Bill, David, Will, Andy, and I set to work and got nearly all the roof sheeted on Saturday. The framing of the valleys where the new addition met the old garage took quite a bit of extra time and work, which slowed things down quite a bit. But we got past that, just as darkness fell. The rest will be easy for Bill to finish a little at a time.

Like us, he’s going to tarp the roof for winter, just as we did our house the first year, instead of going into debt for the sheet metal roofing. And the sides will also be covered with house wrap to protect the OSB. In the spring, Bill plans on using sheet metal on both the new addition and the old garage that was his — and later his and Kelly Jo’s — home for several years while they built their gorgeous log home. The new addition will also be sided on the front to match the cedar siding on the old garage and board and batten siding, cut from trees in the woods.

Bill showed Will the half-log siding that he cut from logs, which he used to enclose the gable end of the interior of his house. It looks so nice that Bill wishes he’d have done that on the outside instead of using (expensive!) milled logs from the lumberyard. It does look much nicer. Will’s now planning to cut log siding for our south-facing greenhouse/porch front, as well as the storage building. It’s great to exchange ideas with others!

I’ve been working at tucking the garden away for winter, removing all the tomato cages, stakes, row markers, and hoses. When I get finished, we’ll plow the garden to turn under the thick straw mulch, then hopefully get the manure from the indoor cow pen and goat pen hauled down to spread on it to rot over winter.

This past spring, Will scraped the horse yard, outside the horse barn, and piled the manure up in “mountains.” It composted all summer and fall, and now it’s good rich, black dirt. He’s hauling it up in dump truck loads to our very rough backyard. When it’s spread out, it’ll not only cover the tons of large rocks, but will also fill in the steep grade of the hill here and there, to make a much nicer, more fertile yard. Last week it looked like a weedy gravel pit hill. Now it’s got distinct possibilities! If winter will just hold off a few more weeks! — Jackie

2 COMMENTS

  1. Joyce,

    Sometimes I wonder, too, when we’ll get to relax! But that’s what northern Minnesota’s winter is for. Then we can read a little, sit by the fire and eat goodies we worked to produce all summer! Wow, what a find! We missed out on an old settler’s log cabin that was at a neighbors. We drove by, seeing a crew pulling the siding off it and thinking they were going to rebuild it. Not so. On the way back from town, it was torn down, sawn into 4′ lengths and burning!! Will and I still moan when we drive past the ashes!!!

    Jackie

  2. you guys have so much going on. how do you ever find time to just relax a little? my husband and i are going to tear down an old house for an elderly lady.she said she wanted to burn it,but it has old toungue and groove boards and half logs. she said we could have all the lumber. we are going to build a storage room for all my canning and kitchen so i will have erverything together while i am canning.

Comments are closed.