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.