Humans!

They can't make up their minds!
He gives us a great place to store our winter larder, then he takes it away. Did he think we stored them there for him?

He brings home twobyes in his pickedup and stacks them. He says they are twobyes, eight of them, but he can't count. He put them two by two in stacks next to each other in the grach next to his pickedup. Five in each stack with one on top in the middle--that's eleven, not eight. The space between the stacks with a twobye on top makes a great place to store our food. What a great store house-- out of the weather and where no one else will ever think of looking.

We lined up the acorns like gumballs in a gumball chute. One at a time they will come out as we need them.

But what does he do? He builds a wall between the grach and his big nest. Really, though, it's between the grach and a place he calls a link. Who ever heard of part of a home called a link? Link is what we do on the computer! It's actually a tunnel from the grach to the big nest. What does he do? He builds what he calls a floor and uses the twobyes. How can it be a floor? We walk on floors, but to see his "floor" we need to look up. He says it's the second-story floor. Boy, is he telling us a story! Look up to see the floor-huh!

So, here are our acorns, all lined up for our winter meals after he took away the top twobye.

Then he took another twobye, and another. We could tell something was amiss. Was he planning on taking them for himself? So, we had to take action. Guess what he found when he came back for the next twobye.

Yup! Nothing but twobyes stacked two by two.

To really show that this guy doesn't know what he's doing, come into the tunnel, oops, link.

Now, look at the floor.

Ah-ha! Just as I thought, you looked down to see the floor.

Now look up and see what he calls the floor.

I think I understand. His first story is telling us that the floor is up there; his second story is that you humans will walk on it. We can, easily, but it's so funny when bipeds try. They look like they're trying to fly.

Humans!

Go Minnesota Golden Gophers!

Notice, the Vikings aren't doing so well, but the Gophers are!

Another View (A Swan's Perspective)

These are a pair of what I believe are trumpeter swans calmly swimming around the beaver pond to the north of the house.












As they take off to the south, this is their first view of the domes.

Painting and House Wrap

Again, you have seen pictures of the outside showing the dormers and entryways. This is what it looks like now:

Primed, well in the process. N is working on the garage cupola. It's been awhile since I worked up that high so the process is rather slow.

Since I received instructions from spouse, neighbors, and sisters to not work up there when I'm here alone, I began on the house using a ladder and reaching as far as I could.

That is just the primer. I'm using Sherwin Williams Loxon concrete and masonry primer. Very thick, only get about 200 square feet per gallon. However, from what I've seen so far, it does a remarkable job of sealing hairline cracks in the concrete.

So far, I only painted/primed down to the top of the riser panels. I can reach that without a ladder, and besides, I need to focus on getting the upper areas covered and sealed before winter sets in. Water will have a difficult time getting through the riser panels.

I have a one-person lift coming this week that I will use to get the house cupola primed and painted. I should also be able to paint the garage cupola and reach down on both domes far enough that I can finish the rest from ladders.

The lift will also make it easier to inspect the domes for cracks or other defects that might provide water a route through the shell.

I'm Home. Close the door!

Walls! and More Walls

I believe I posted this picture, or one like it, earlier. This is the link, taken from the kitchen, after all supporting framework had been removed.

And standing in the same spot, facing the stairs:

Now the link looks like this:

(The picture facing the other way will be posted later, so check back.)
The room is currently housing rolls of fiberglass insulation--a picture would make one itch all over just thinking about sleeping on it, or even sleeping in a room filled with it.

I need to seal up the house for the winter. To do that, I need a wall between the link and the garage. Fortunately, A stopped by for a visit and helped layout and build the first-floor wall. Later, N stopped by and helped finish it.

Now, I need to build the second-floor wall. To do that, I first need the support cables tightened, clamped and fastened to the joists for the second floor over the link; to do that, I need all the joists in place;  to do that I need all the walls for the link built as well as the edge beams for the second-floor of the house; to do that, I need the room-divider wall built in the house...etc., etc., etc.

I took a break. I needed to organize and store my supplies, or at least have one place to put everything. So, I gathered up some lumber and started putting it together. It turns out that everything was the proper length to build this shelf unit:

All I needed to cut were the four corner braces and the four short 2X4s that run front to back to support the shelves and hold everything together.

However, this interior work needs to be put on hold so I can get the outside sealed up for the winter, too.  I can still work inside when the temperatures outside get too cold to paint. The next post will show pictures of the painting process and the covered entry ways and dormers.

Hummingbird Rest Area...

...or endless computer loop.

The birds are headed south. There seems to be a steady honking of the geese as they fly by, some overnighting in the local ponds and lakes, including our beaver ponds. One wayward hummingbird decided to check out the new structure in its path. It entered the house and headed for the cupola.

Now, the cupola has five sides with new windows in each side. New windows, as in the labels are still stuck on, except one red label on one window that has half fallen off. The hummingbird entered the cupola and immediately found a red perch to rest on and promptly forgot how it got in. When it was time to leave, it flew around the cupola, looking out each of the five windows until it came to a red perch, where it sat for a few seconds and repeated the search for an escape, always ending at the red perch.

Not knowing how to help the bird find its way, I left and sent out a call for help. I had hoped that without me there, it would come lower and leave via a door. It did. However, while I was sending out my SOS, a hummingbird flew up to the window in my camper and stayed there for a few moments before leaving, presumably getting back on the international highway to its warm wintering getaway.

Was it the hummingbird? Did it stop to comment on the structure, maybe saying something about needing a door in the cupola? Maybe suggesting signs warning of the endless loop ahead? Or was it hungry and asking for the nearest flower garden or hummingbird feeder?

What's New; What's Gone?

Now you can see...

 a wall with a door framed for the upstairs balcony

...and the outside of that wall covered with foam insulation.

But, what is important from the inside is the beginnings of a floor above the room with a wall so no one will roll out of bed and into the basement.

However,

what is really important in this post

is what you don't see.

What is not in this picture? (It is a picture of the garage looking through the link from the kitchen.)

And, what do you not see here?

Ribfest

They are gone! Well, they are down, anyway. Gone, no, just stacked in a few piles...

...and turned into walls so someone won't roll out of bed and down the stairs.

The hole in the wall upstairs will be the door to the balcony off the bedroom.

Notice the half bucket in the picture.

It is the center of the dome.

And, if you stand there

and look

up:

However,

the second floor

will be in the way so

this will not be the view

once that floor is installed.

The outside view has changed a bit, too:

The white is foam insulation, the dark is about the size of the doors.

Other views that you should recognize:

And, we have a guest room that was not in our plans:

There are at least two hungry mouths to feed, and yes, mamma scolds us every  time she comes in.

Grandma's Kitchen

We had a family reunion at one of the local lakes--I had wanted to attend.

The day before, we took down the rib support system in the house. The lumber and material was scattered hither and yon making the house impassible. So if anyone came to see the domes, they would not be able to get into the house and would only see an apparent pile of debris.

So, if I go the the reunion, I will invite people to come see the house which is a mess. On the other hand, if I stay home and clean up to make the house presentable, there is a chance that no one will come.

I had a surprise waiting in the machine shed just in case anyone came:

What you see from Grandma's house: Swivel chair from the living room; wringer washer; wood stove (over 100 years old); wood cook stove; wood box (hard to see, to the right of the cook stove); table my uncle made; desk from the living room; lamp on the desk (a vivid memory from my youth--I did an art project based on this lamp); chairs around the table; and the bench. The table was about as long as the bench.

Imagine ten children, their parents, plus their grandfather sitting around the table--most of the children on the bench. I would guess that the bench is more than 80 years old.

A cousin stopped by with his wife, their son, and teen-aged grand daughter. I brought L and his son into the machine shed. L walked between the table and stoves, looking things over. He then came out, looked at the bench and fell silent. After a few moments, he sent his son out to get the ladies who were waiting in the car. We all sat around the table and talked about the past, almost forgetting to go and look at the domes.

No Rain since the Last Post

Dry...drought...and to think this spring was one of our wettest.

                                        BUT:

the tiger lilies are blooming.

Not much progress on the house since the storm until last week, that is. As of today, most of the concrete work is done. Most of what is left is around the doors and windows, so they are framing those openings now and will then finish the concrete.

In case I haven't posted pictures showing the temporary framework, yet, this is what the house currently looks like inside:

The House

The Link

The Garage

Check back to see as the dormer and entry holes become the rough openings for the doors and windows.

21 July, What a Storm

I watch the line of green, yellow, and orange/red march across North Dakota. By the time it reaches the border with Minnesota, it stretches almost the entire north/south distance of ND.

"Potential heavy rain, tornadoes, and 80 mph straight-line wind."

Watches and warnings come across the emergency broadcast channel. One by one the counties to the west of me are named, each report naming a new county. Closer and closer it comes: Cass County to Grand Forks; then western Clay, Norman, and south-west Polk; Fertile, Crookston, and Red Lake Falls are placed in a tornado warning.

"If you are in Crookston, seek shelter on the lowest floor of the nearest building, NOW!"

Finally, my county as well as those to the south, east, and north with me in the middle: "Sever thunder showers with torrential rain and quarter-sized hail. "There will be hail damage to vehicles and wind damage to trees, mobile homes (*gulp*), and roofs."

Flashlight in one pocket; cell phone and wireless land-line phone in their pockets; rain jacket in hand; camera by the door...Lightening! Steady, almost no need for a flashlight. Rain, the torrential rain that was promised, or threatened, or warned (you decide) is here.

A quick look at the radar shows the first green blended into yellow, then orange, then yellow again (no red this time). And that is where we are now, winding down on the thunderstorm and getting set up for a lot of rain for another hour or two.

All is well...

...out here, anyway. However, Crookston and the area around it can't say the same. Initial reports say about half the city is without power and there are a number of trees down. It is still rather early, the sun has been up only a couple hours so far. More reports will be coming in as the day goes by.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Otherwise known as striped gopher or, more technically, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel or even the mascot of the University of Minnesota sports teams.

They ate my sweet pea plants! All of them! If the college is going to use the talents (or cuteness) of God's creatures, should they not feed them?

They come out on warm sunny days to play and run around...and to raid my garden. However, the other day, a nice sunny afternoon, I noticed that there was not one small furry animal to be seen. The yard was eerily calm and quiet. Then I noticed them. Well, one initially, then the other, larger than the first and with a white head and tail where the other was just brown all over. Gracefully floating around up there. The white head, barely visible from so far away, was noticeably scanning the ground for some tasty, furry snack; a jock stuffed with fresh organic leaves of man-grown sweet peas!

Another Phase Complete

The flower is open all the way:

The peony cracked its shell and shows its colors:

And the last manufactured piece of the dome and most of the first coat of concrete have been placed:

The sun is shining, temps tonight will be in the 50s, and tomorrow is the first day of summer--nice!

(I hope you've noticed the change in color of the vegetation from when we arrived in May.)

We Didn't Get a Rainbow

...but we got another 3/4 inch of rain.

That didn't deter the crew:

All panels are on the house and link and all that is left for the garage is to finish the cupola. The white on the roof of the link is foam waiting to be covered with mesh, then with concrete.

The supports for the garage cupola still need a day or two to cure a bit more before the final panels and overhang can be placed, so today, they are putting the windows in the house cupola. Were it not for today's impending "heavy rain", the rest of the scratch coat of concrete would be put on the link and the final coat would be started on the house. 

Check back later for pictures with the windows in the house cupola and maybe a surprise picture or two.

Not sure you can tell, but the house cupola has windows!

You might notice that there are still wooden supports outside the windows. These support the overhang on the cupola and will be taken down once the final coat of cement has been applied and given time to cure.

The garage cupola is ready for the final five triangles and the overhang. Then all manufactured parts of the two domes and the link will be installed.

And a small gift: Flowers we have already seen;

flowers about to bloom that we have already seen, also;

and blooming flowers, all from Grandma's flower bed;

and as a special gift, wild roses from Mother Nature's flower bed

No flower or scent (human or nature made) can compare to the pure, crisp, clean fragrance of a wild rose--and we have a couple bushes at the end of the driveway, near the mailbox. 

Really, It's NOT an Arc!

I know because I fastened it down with the anchor bolts myself. And I checked, the rebar goes from deep in the concrete well up into the walls. There are holes in the basement floor for drainage. It won't float. Really.

So, I will go help my brother with some sheetrock work. That is after I swim to the truck and fasten on the pontoons. Maybe hook up a propeller in the back or attach paddle wheels to the rear drive wheels, maybe to all four wheels. That way I can run in 4-wheel drive and use the front wheels for steering.

If I had a clothes line out, I could hang my laundry out to get washed and rinsed. Don't know how I could dry it, though.

And pets. Forget a dog, I think a catfish is what I need. As a cat it can survive until the water gets too high, then it will switch to the other half of its namesake and be a fish. Could I feed it tuna as a cat pet? But what would I feed the fish pet?

It's Not an Ark

So, our consultant, K, goes home and for the next two weeks we get to work three whole days! In the last post, I showed you the house with all the structural parts nicely in place. "What has been happening since then?" you might ask. Well, I watch...

...the grass grow...

...the flowers bloom...

...and prepare to bloom...

...and the rain gauge fill up, again...

...followed by a Friday the 13th full moon 

on a foggy morning.

But, we did have three days to work and this is the result:

A completed garage up to the cupola.

The link is still a puzzlement, but will soon be solved.

Did I mention that the beekeeper who has a number of  hives across the road stopped by the other day. He asked if I had seen the bear that had been ransacking his hives. No, I hadn't.

Our weather report from weather.gov:

The font might be too small to read, but the pictures tell it all.

We don't get flood warnings once the snow has melted and the Red River has slipped back into its banks. So, then, what are these warnings about the Wild Rice, Sand Hill, and other small, local rivers? I'm building a house, not a boat! (Well, trying to, anyway.)