Fascia Maniac

As I've informed my mentor, I've become a fascia maniac. I actually put a fair amount of the stuff in the front and back. It will be the gable sides, however, that will break my heart, because they involve mitered and beveled cuts, which never go over very well.

In the meantime, I can stew in self-satisfaction for at least getting one thing done that was causing me anxiety and stress, kind of like everything in my life.

I do think a trip to the mill is in my future, need more rough cut wood. I can't believe this, but most of the rough cut wood that I'd had delivered last Summer is gone. When those 1X12 boards arrived, I thought to myself, what the heck am I going to do with those? There are so many, why did we get so much? And sure enough, it's all gone, and now I still need to do the fascia work on the dormers. Let's not even get into the soffit work, which will be an entirely new drama.

Today is Wednesday, and though I have a million things to do, I will focus on getting the ROs properly cut so I can be ready tomorrow for JH to arrive and we can install doors. This should be good, and at the very least, entertaining, depending on who you ask, and when.

Until then, thanks for reading.

That's what I am, a fascia maniac. So much so that I can't stop saying it.

Informed by Roofers

As I may have mentioned, we'd been putting off the roofers for about six months, but according to them, we were locked into our price because we submitted the proper forms and they were going to come in the Spring. However, their arrival was dependent upon us paying the deposit, with which they would buy the supplies and then install.

Of course, when large amounts of money are involved, R and I tend to sweat it out. We stalled for about a month, and they were very patient. Part of the problem was that any trim or fascia (there's that word again) work had to be finished before they came, so that gave us an excuse.

However, just the other day, they called to inform us that the price of supplies was going up in a week or two, and that in order to guarantee our price, they needed the deposit and they'd hold the supplies until we were ready.

Of course, we fell in line and sent it in. For full disclosure, R sent in the deposit before the call, but it was still a relief, and got me to thinking, were they just yanking our chain to get us off our behinds? Were they tired of waiting and were worried we were getting cold feet? Whatever be the case, it's a moot issue, because it is work we want done, and we had sent the check in already.

Still, it makes you wonder...

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Composting Nightmare

As if I needed more drama in my life, but I had this awful composting experience. My fault, of course. I've learned firsthand over the years that composting takes some degree of effort, especially when dealing with food. There are certain things they encourage you to avoid, like meats and dairy, and certain steps you should take to the make the experience more enjoyable, or should I say, less unpleasant. Of course, I ignore all these directives.

While we don't put a lot of meat in the compost, we put some, as well as bits of cheese and a stray piece of bread or two. Our two bins were getting full, so I ordered a new on from the folks over at solid waste management, and now were were set to be composting masters.

My goal is to rotate the compost between the bins to allow for aeration and mixing, since it's really hard to mix compost inside of the bin. There's just not a lot of space.

Our old bin was looking good, the compost actually looked like soil, and no smell. The second bin, however, was another story. I should have known something was wrong when I saw all those flies around it. Very out of character. When I opened it up and mixed it around, not only did the smell practically knock me off my feet, but the view will haunt me for the next few years. We are talking raw sewage, and fly (and their offspring) city. Disgusting.

I'd forgotten my initial plan of mixing in straw between the layers. I had been just tossing in food all Winter, and now it was a mess. I went to work and mixed the slop, throwing in handfuls of straw. My goal is to transfer it to the new bin and let it sit for another year. The old bin is ready to spread, which I'll do in the Fall, and then we'll have one empty bin for the coming year.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Lawn Revelations

I realized that the key to making your lawn look good is cutting it short enough, but not too short. This has been alluded to me by several people in the know, but sometimes things don't really sink in until you actually put them into practice. As some of you may well know by now, we've been having lawncare woes over here. Weeds have taken over, and I acknowledge having blood on my hands on this one because I let the weeds get out of control, and now they own the place. The broad leaf weeds are indestructible without the use poisons, which are not an option, so my tact was to try to encourage the good stuff instead by seeding and fertilizing.

The front lawn is looking decent, where I focused my efforts, and maybe this fall, I can devote more time to the back. In the meantime, my approach has been to cut the grass long, which I read encourages grass while discouraging weeds, which prosper with flowers which seed and spread. So, I set the lawnmower to high and cut away.

The problem is, when you cut the grass long, it looks like nothing has been done to it. It still looks sloppy and not nicely coiffed. So I decided to forget about my strategy and cut it like I used to, short (but not too short) and sweet.

And you know what? It made all the difference. Now, despite the weeds, the grass actually looks halfway decent. I think even my Mentor would approve.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to ARL and NRL for the pic.

Staining Fascia and More Framing

Well, we finally decided on a stain for the exterior of the barn, and not a day too soon. I need to stain the fascia (I sure use that word a lot) before installing it, because as I've been told by people in the know, never stain/paint just one side of the boards, or else they'll warp. I guess I could treat the would on one side with anything, since nobody will see it anyway, and then treat the face with whatever we want, but that's way too much to think about.

After much discussion, R and I decided on a weathering stain that contains some gray pigment for a weathering effect. The goal is to get a gray tint to go with our charcoal gray roof, whose installation is causing me some degree of grief because I have finish replacing the fascia before they can do it, but what else is new?

Because the weather has been so unpredictable, I had to move indoors into the barn, which is actually nice because I have no worries about rain and can keep working. So my current plan is to stain inside the barn, then replace the fascia as it it's finished. Piece of cake, right?

JH came by last week to install more doors, and wouldn't you know it, but I made the RO too darn small this time around. We're talking millimeters, but enough to force me to re-frame. We tried sanding the RO so the door would fit, and it managed to slide in, but we had to really force it in, giving us no room for shimming. I had to make an executive decision, so we opted to revisit the issue when the holes are enlarged. Bummer.

One thing I've learned is that the stain we're using, Cabot, is different in NH and Vermont. How crazy is that? I bought it at first at LaValley's, and used it up quickly. I bought more at Fogg's in Norwich, and when I got it home, noticed the labels were identical, but the catalog numbers were slightly off. One of 3244, the other was 6244. Of course, in character, I panicked, even though they looked the same.

I frantically called Fogg's, and they told me that NH (LaValley's is in NH) has different VOC laws, so they had to modify the formula. The Vermont version is the original made by the company, but they had to change it for NH laws. Go Vermont. I sensed that I use less of the Vermont version, it's more like true oil stain, but that could be my bias.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

One Down, One Hundred To Go

Okay, now we're talking. I actually finished one of our goals and got the wood for one year split (about 5 cords, 5 more to go), stacked and drying. Of course, there is little room for complacency, because there are still dozens of other things that need to be done, but one thing at at time. Besides, the male ego is a frail thing, and needs constant re-affirmation and stroking. Allow me to enjoy this moment.

I do think the big pile of log-length wood is getting smaller, as well, though like all things in life, one thing leads to another. I've managed to cut and block up at least half that pile, I still need to transport the blocks (via wheel barrow) and then split them, so the fun never stops, but all we do around here is have fun.

I've also managed to get all the fascia off both gable ends of the house, and will now set about getting my feet on the roof and working on those darn dormers. I need to remove the fascia off them, get those windows out, reframe the ROs (listen to me, I think I'm Bob Vila), then Tyvek and put new windows in.

Oh, and did I mention that I need to put new fascia in all around the house? Piece of cake, I know I can get it done before the new year.

Until then, thanks for reading.

No Rest For The Weary

We had a nice but busy Saturday, May 1st, Green Up day, of all things. In addition to doing our part to save the earth, or at least our community, I managed to work my tail off and chip away at the proverbial stone. I find that blocking the big picture out of your mind allows you to keep a grip on your sanity, for all that's worth.

After setting us up for Green Up, whereby I signed us up to clean our street (it's fierce competition, last year we got scooped, somebody else actually signed up to clean our road. The nerve), got the bags, and headed home. It was early, so we had other things to attend to.

First thing I did was proceed to cut the wood pile. I figure the log length stuff is about 50% cut, meaning the logs have been cut into blocks. They still need to be hauled over to the woods and split and stacked, but let's not go there. A good example of keeping the big picture out of your mind.

R busied herself with cleaning the consequences of our actions all week in the house, then set about working on the garden. The heat was excruciating, but she toiled away, preparing the soil for our little seedlings. Speaking of the garden, I need to repair that darn deer fence. I feel like Ben Cartwright-from Bonanza, for those who didn't grow up watching TV.

After cutting wood for a couple of hours, I went to work on the barn fascia, and actually got a fair amount done on the gable ends. With the exception of the dormers, almost all of it is off. Keep in mind, I still have to stain and re-install the stuff.

We ate lunch, then I went to finish the last of the gable fascia, and it was time to split some wood. However, earlier N had asked me to play some baseball with him, and of course, I told him I couldn't, I had too much to do. He didn't make a stink, but it came up again, and I thought to myself, how can I not spend some quality time playing ball with the kids. So I told him to get the gear, and we played about an hour of ball in the front. The beauty is, with just the two of us, he gets a ton of practice, and it's pretty low stress for me. I just have to throw the ball and field a grounder or two, so there's is limited movement involved. He, on the other hand, gets to practice his throwing, catching, and hitting, and though I'm not objective here, I personally think he's a natural.

After ball practice, it was time to split some wood and get that darn woodpile to 50%. By afternoon, the sun has moved to the point where the woods where I split the blocks is fairly shaded, so the heat (which was sizzling) wasn't so bad. I split for about two hours, then the obligations of parenthood settled in. What were we going to do for supper?

We'd had pizza the night before, so that wasn't an option. I figured with the warm weather and all, we should BBQ, so I set up our grill and we made burgers with our all natural local beef from Cloudland Farms, which I must confess, is outstanding. The kids love BBQ because they can burn all sorts of materials from the yard in the BBQ. Endless entertainment, as long as they don't set things on fire.

We had our customary s'mores, which again, we can make over the coals, then it was time to hit the sack, but not before spending some time with our good friend, Netflix. Sleep was a welcome conclusion to the day.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Katrina DeLourve for the pic.