It's Catch Up Time!

So what the heck have we been doing since the last post? Working, that's what. Let me catch you up to date.


July 18th Weekend

What did we do that weekend? Hmmm...good question. I can't remember. I do think that was the weekend when Tim & Patti had transmission problems on the drive over. The Chevy dealer couldn't look at the truck until Monday so it meant leaving the truck at the dealer and having Tim and Patti (and Sara the dog) riding home with us.

I think we installed flashing on the windows and doors that we missed when doing the siding. We also started priming the fascia boards and filling in a couple of bad spots with wood filler.


July 25th Weekend

Tim and Patti had to ride back with us to the cabin. Four adults and two dogs again. Luckily we all like each other. :-)

We picked up Tim's truck Saturday morning from the dealer. It was a sensor for the transmission that was causing the problem. Quick and easy fix.

While Patti & I were in town picking up the truck and supplies to close out the soffits on the small cabin, we had a visitor wander in. I'd post a picture but Blogger must be experiencing technical difficulties. It was a bear! He (or she) just strolled across the property. Luckily the bear was far enough from the house that Jelly didn't see or smell it. Who knows what would have happened.

We bought a new table saw and that sweet little piece of machinery helped with the soffit boards. We we cutting 4x8 sheets of material and the saw made quick work of it. While we were working on the soffits, we first thought we had a bat up under the eaves. Upon closer inspection, it was a GIANT black bug. I've never seen a bug this big and I have no idea what it is, other than BIG! I'd post a picture of that, too, but...trust me for now. It was big.


August 8th Weekend

Ryan came over for the weekend to help out. He's home on leave for 30 days and he offered to come over.

Around 3 a.m. Saturday morning, Mother Nature put on a show for us. Thunder and lightning big time! It was flashing and banging non-stop for several minutes with a good size down pour to boot. Thunder and lightning normally don't bother me, but the risk of fire was a bit unnerving. Lightning strikes are a main cause of wildfires. When we first arrived at the cabin, you could see and smell smoke from the Columbia River fire that had started a few days earlier. I've since heard arson is suspected in that one.

The rain continued off and on through the morning hours so we got a late start on working on the houses. You could hear the occassional thunder boom and we weren't about to climb up on metal ladders to work. Better safe than sorry.

Once work got under way, Ryan and I put the house wrap on the small cabin while Karl worked on caulking the big house. Then it was time for the men to go catch dinner. On the way to the lake, Karl saw smoke from three more fires - apparently caused by lightning. Karl stopped and talked to a couple of firefighters that were parked on the main road down the hill. One of the fires wasn't too far from the house, but the wind must have been blowing away from us.

While the guys were off fishing, I could see the smoke from the Columbia River fire way off in the distance. A few hours later, I noticed smoke closer to the house, but still not too close to us. I'd post pictures, but you know how it is. Blogger is still not working.

Before leaving on Sunday to come home, Karl refilled the hummingbird feeder and the hummers couldn't wait for Karl to hang it back up. He was able to stand there holding the feeder and one of the birds came up and starting feasting on the sugar mixture. It was pretty neat to watch.

We dropped Ryan off at his uncle's house near Orondo. After visiting for a while, we headed home over Hwy 2 through Wenatchee and Leavenworth. Then we crawled from way before Gold Bar all the way through Sultan. It took us about 90 minutes to go about 10 miles. We didn't see any accidents and figured it was the traffic light in Sultan that was creating the backup. Once through Sultan, traffic flow picked up but it was still a long drive home made longer. No more going that way unless its the only way (like when the North Cascades Hwy closes for the winter season).


August 15th Weekend

Tim, Patty and Don came back to help finish the gable end siding on the big house and start on the small cabin. The weather was forecasted to be sunny and around 100 plus degrees for the weekend. Ugh. I like warm weather. I'd better get used to hot weather.

The guys went over Thursday afternoon while Patty and I came over after work on Friday. This would give the guys two full days to work on the siding.

We decided to use panels on the gable ends with batten boards for trim. Those suckers are heavy and it took all 3 of them to lift the bigger panel pieces. We were fortunate to borrow scaffolding that made it easier to work on rather than using ladders. On Friday, the guys finished both gable ends including cutting out and installing a missing vent, trimmed out the small cabin windows and corners, and got the first two courses of siding on. Karl was also able to get more of the never ending caulking done (and it still isn't finished).

Saturday, the heat wave continued and we got an early start on the small cabin siding. Before the day was out, the cabin was finished. Tim kept us on task when the troops started to wilt in the heat. Again, the scaffolding was a huge help to the project.

As a reward, we made a Red Neck Hot Tub. What is that you ask? We took a tarp and put it in the bed of our truck. Then we filled the bed of the truck with water. Voila! What a great way to cool off after working in the heat all day. Cold beer, good friends, and we had ourselves a party. I'd post a picture, but...

We got an early start home on Sunday. Good thing, the temps were at 86 at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. Ahhh, air conditioning.

Next up, finish caulking and get the painting done.