Hot Stuff

We got a new and bigger BBQ grill! Now, when we have wonderful people up helping us with our house, we have enough room on the grill to cook up a full meal for them.

And, Leon said we could use this little chest freezer! Its the perfect size for us! To think, in this same spot, Jane had a cooler which, for 4 years, served as her only means of cold food storage. Wow! This freezer has already got some halibut and salmon in it. Now we're all ready to get some moose and bear! Yum!

All the top plates are on now. Man, what a scorcher it was yesterday; at least up on our 2 floor anyway. There was quite seriously, about a 10-15 degree difference between our first and second floors. The first floor has all the windows cut out and is nice and shady. The second floor has a full wind break with one hole in the wall where the sliding glass door will be. Watching the pollen in the air, one could watch the wind blow slightly into the house and then right back out, without making a dent in the temps at all.

Once the top plates were up, we had to bring the tops of the walls in to 16 feet so that our trusses will fit snuggly. We used a large ratchet strap attatched to small 2x6 blocks which were screwed to studs on both sides othe house. It only took a couple of cranks on the ratchet to bring the wall in the 1/2 inch we needed. Then it was time to secure our spacing board which is really 3 boards sistered together. To minimize any sagging, we put a brace in the middle. We made sure not to put this spacer on top of any of our studs because that's where the trusses will go. We will cut notches in the plywood for the trusses to slip right into. So, cutting the notches is one of our upcoming projects. But, before that, we're going to put in all our headers and jack studs for the upstairs windows.

Our trusses by the way, are at Spenard Builders Supply. We haven't yet set a date to have them delivered because we are just taking our time and keeping things fun. We are very lucky to not have a pre-set schedule from the bank or anyone else. We are very proud of where we've gotten considering that we're both working and we're doing this on our "free time".

We are also very grateful to know that we already have a cozy and warm place to live and that we aren't in a rush to get our house done and moved into by the winter. Our goal is to have it dried in by the end of the summer. And I'd say that we're right on track for that. :)

During the winter, we'll have a great project to work on, doing the interior work.