Siding (North Wall) 14

Well, the kayaking excursion did not happen. Instead of the predicted "possibility of a morning shower," we had RAIN all day. No house building occurred yesterday, either. I went back at it today, though. In order to reach up into the gable peak with the shingles, I came up with new ways to use both ladders on the hillside.

First, I got one row added.

And, then, a second row--all except the part above the air exchanger, which I could not reach.

Three rows left to finish up! I'll have to come up with even more creative ladder setups to get it done.

Also see:
Siding (North Wall) 1
Siding (North Wall) 2
Siding (North Wall) 3
Siding (North Wall) 4
Siding (North Wall) 5
Siding (North Wall) 6
Siding (North Wall) 7
Siding (North Wall) 8
Siding (North Wall) 9
Siding (North Wall) 10
Siding (North Wall) 11
Siding (North Wall) 12
Siding (North Wall) 13
Siding (North Wall) 15

Siding (North Wall) 13

Here's a new row done on the east side of the north wall.

And another one.

And one more. At this point, all that is left to do is the gable peak above the window!

Also see:
Siding (North Wall) 1
Siding (North Wall) 2
Siding (North Wall) 3
Siding (North Wall) 4
Siding (North Wall) 5
Siding (North Wall) 6
Siding (North Wall) 7
Siding (North Wall) 8
Siding (North Wall) 9
Siding (North Wall) 10
Siding (North Wall) 11
Siding (North Wall) 12
Siding (North Wall) 14
Siding (North Wall) 15


Taking a break from house building tomorrow to go on a kayak adventure. Last for the season (although I only got out there one other time all summer!) and it has to be on Sunday--when hunting is not allowed. Hopefully we will not be shot! and I will capture some interesting foliage photos.

After I butchered it when cutting down the tree it was climbing last year, I thought this grapevine would not produce any grapes this year. I was wrong! There are not a lot, but there are some.

Siding (North Wall) 12

Another row of shingles done.

At this point, I broke my shingling rule... The rule, which I managed to follow on the other three sides of the JayBee, was that each row had to be shingled as a complete row. No randomly starting new rows without completely finishing the previous row. I thought following this rule would help me install the rows nice and straight. On the north side, though, when I had three rows left to install at the top, I decided to economize the amount of ladder movements. I installed the top three rows on the west half of the wall--from the window to the end--leaving the east half for later.

For the top three rows, every single shingle has to be custom cut. It's not only the length...They also have to be cut to fit around the rafter tails.

One row done...

Here's a new ladder configuration I used to help me get the top row installed.

Here is George during one of his many moments of "helping" by sitting on the shingles I was in the middle of cutting.

Finished the top row on this side of the wall today in the rain. The west end of the north wall is done!

East half left to go!

Also see:
Siding (North Wall) 1
Siding (North Wall) 2
Siding (North Wall) 3
Siding (North Wall) 4
Siding (North Wall) 5
Siding (North Wall) 6
Siding (North Wall) 7
Siding (North Wall) 8
Siding (North Wall) 9
Siding (North Wall) 10
Siding (North Wall) 11
Siding (North Wall) 13
Siding (North Wall) 14
Siding (North Wall) 15


Massive gunfire woke me up at sunrise today. Ah, yes, October 1--the start of bird-hunting season. It is always traumatizing to live in the middle of a firing range (er, otherwise peaceful countryside) during the month of October. Yesterday, the geese were making such a racket on the river, I went down to see if I could snap some shots. The geese were on the near shore of the river. Although there were hundreds of them, they were mostly hidden by the leaves on the trees.

I recorded the geese chatter. Can't see a way to post a sound file on here, though, so you'll have to take my word for it that they were LOUD!

Both cats came with me to visit the geese. Bear disappeared down to the waterfront. I'm sure the geese were happy to see him! George hung out with me.

You Know You're Taking Too Long to Build Your House When...

...you're starting to have to replace tools because they're wearing out and dying. It was one thing when I decided to buy some new chisels because I had sharpened the old ones so many times I felt I couldn't get a true edge on them any more. The other day, though, my air compressor died. I had set everything up to start installing another row of shingles. Just at the moment that the compressor should have been fully pressurized and turned itself off, I heard a loud, continuous "PFFFFFTT" instead. The compressor just suddenly stopped being able to regulate itself. The pressure would build and build and build until the relief valve blew. Nothing I tried worked. Pretty quickly, I decided to take the compressor for repair. I looked through my records for when I had had the lower relief valve replaced on the unit--and it turns out it was two years ago! I have owned this compressor for five years. Of course, I expect my tools to last forever. Just doesn't work that way.

The repair guy said the repair would cost $110. A new compressor costs $130. So...
I bought a new compressor yesterday. Today I'm back installing shingles.

Proudly Non-compliant

A few weeks ago, I had a doctor call me a "non-compliant patient." (He wanted to repeat a diagnostic screening that I've had a gazillion times already and find to be a waste of time and not very helpful, so I declined it.) He was trying to label me non-compliant in a somewhat humorous way, in order to lighten the exchange, but the obvious implication was that to be non-compliant is a "bad" thing. I've thought a lot about this exchange since then...

I would hate to think that anyone would ever say about me--either now or when my life is over: "She was always compliant." Phooey on that! I really can't see the point of mindlessly going along to get along. When it comes to my own life and health, I form my own opinions and I set my own goals. If something does not make sense to me, I really don't care how many other people have done the conventional/common/routine thing. I'll chart my own course, thank you very much. When I conceived of a plan to build a wooden raft and live on it in the Kennebec River with my son as a way of having an adventurous summer vacation, and others expressed all kinds of doubts and concerns, I didn't give up the dream. Instead, I doubled-down on the planning. (We had so much fun, we repeated the adventure four additional summers before he went off to college!) When I excitedly told a man I was dating that I was going to build my own house, and he replied with "You can't do that!," I didn't fold and accept his opinion. (I saw it as a huge red flag that that relationship was not going to last.) When others thought it was foolish of me to walk away from a job that was using me up (and I thought was going to be the end of me) at my advanced age :-) and without another job all lined up, I did what I needed to do anyway. (Best decision! I've been so much healthier in all kinds of ways since.) It's that same part of me that is building the JayBee--even though this is not the conventional way of acquiring a new home, even though it is hard work, even though I have to figure out what I'm doing each step of the way. I wouldn't have it any other way. I am quite proudly non-compliant!

...

For those who are interested in life on the river...

Here is a photo of me on a walk looking back up my driveway. Can't see anything?

Here; I'll zoom in. George may be too lazy to walk with me, but he is still keeping watch from the driveway.

I picked up a stick to help me get safely down the banking to the river's edge. Once I was down the hillside, I realized the stick had been gnawed off by a beaver. A beaver stick!

An early sign of autumn.

Late summer/fall flowers along the river.

Various late summer and early fall river shots...

This may look like a simple river shot...

Zoomed in, though: See the soaring bald eagle I was watching?

Here's another shot.

And zoomed in.

One more.

Zoomed in; two eagles dancing.

Back from my walk that one day...and George is still on lookout duty.

A rare moment of peace between these two.

George--all done in.