We've been busy

December 8

We FINALLY got a break in the weather which allowed the concrete crew to come and pour the slab. We had the concrete dyed a brick color so we won't have to tile.

Oh the joys of winter construction! I had to do some surgery to the end of the house where the frame was going to join. In between e had a storm with 16" of snow, so I had to clean off the slab and also the roof AND have the whole yard plowed!

December 29
John Connolly and his crew came with the frame a 8:00am. It had taken them less than two weeks to cut all the joints.

If you look closely you can see our names on the frame. John is still very much a part of the team. This is his 250th frame.

The first thing they did was to land all the parts in organized piles. That took some space! Then the crew went to work assembling the first bent.

Actually it was the last bent. The second and first were built on top of this one.

Then the bents are flown into position. It sounds easy, but it's a tricky operation to get everything in place without falling apart before the trenails are set.

There was a little bit of trimming to fit the existing building but not too much time was lost.

Here is how things stood about noon. The days are still short. It will be dark by 4:00, but these fellows don't seem worried.


An hour or so later they were landing the last bent. Note the sun going down.
Those high tech pins are supposed to be hurricane-proof.

They let me drive a few treenails, just to make me feel like part of the process.

Here come the purlins. They flew them in three at a time. All twelve purlins and the ridgepole were installed in about 15 minutes. (Including the lucky tree)

Here is Andy nailing the tree to the last piece of the frame. A little fiddle music to celebrate the occasion.

December 30

It wasn't all a dream! It's still here!

I'll post some more pictures as work progresses.

In the meantime...

We have finished the Robert Burns recording!
We journeyed down to New England Digital on Tuesday to master the CD with Toby Mountain (who has mastered projects for Arlo Guthrie, David Bowie, and many other well-known musicians) We will issue a limited run, 250th anniversary edition of the project. The first run of 100 will be numbered and signed.