Sanding Slave Girl

Guess who's been sanding this week:

And guess who's going up to The Lake right now to do some more sanding?

*whimper*

Memorial Day Hike

We went for a lovely hike at the Paul Smith's VIC this past weekend with my mother, sister, and brother-in-law.  It was warm, sunny and a just all-around beautiful day in the Adirondacks.  We got our first deer fly bites of the season, but it could have been worse.  When it comes to bug bites, it can ALWAYS be worse, eh?

The Boy was off having fun in Lake Placid with a friend, so The Girl got the benefit of full attention from 5 adults.  Pretty much her ideal day.

The Girl was our navigator

 Uncle Terry!

They're newlyweds.  

 And finally, to cap off our hike, The Girl regaled us all with a "performance" at the amphitheater.  I've gotta get that girl an agent.  

Butterflies!

Anyone in the North Country last week couldn't help but notice the massive numbers of sweet little butterflies EVERYWHERE!  ...and drivers couldn't help but murder about 100 of the suckers just driving to the store.   *sob*     I let the kids chase the flitting bugs at The Lake, and though they never did catch one, I managed a quick photo on my way in to Our Log House to marvel at the progress.

Thankfully, North Country Public Radio provided a great explanation of this inundation of Red Admiral butterflies.  (I can always count on them!)

2012 Garden

My father's at it again:

This is his garden, version 2012.   He's got about 200 varieties of peas in already, plus onions, garlic, and...  um....  dirt.  I'll have to get the full run-down when it's all planted.  

I can't wait to eat from its bounty!  Especially since we're trying to eat just meat and vegetables these days.  Come on, fresh vegetables!  The Girl says she can't wait to pick Grandpa's carrots.  She even drew a picture just now of her picking a carrot from his garden!

Clearly an artistic genius.

Transformation

Oh. my. GOSH you guys!  You will not believe the difference all that drywall makes in the house!!  I took a quick trip up to the new house this afternoon and gawked at it all.   It's insane.  Those little camera-phone pix that The Husband sent to me and I posted Tuesday don't even do it justice!  And the pix I'm posting today will only give a taste of what it's like to stand in the house with all the walls and ceiling done.   Well, done-ish.   But STILL!

Arctic Entry

Hallway - facing back door - spare 'oom door first on left, hall closet second on left, bathroom on right

Spare 'oom closet and (R) door to hall

Living room ceiling

Kitchen -  refrigerator will go on right

It's so neat to stand in the rooms and have them be separate rooms now!  And the living room is so much brighter with a light-colored ceiling.  There's only a little bit of drywall left to be installed, on the rear wall of the master bedroom and the outside (bedroom-side) of the master bath walls.  Now it's time for taping, mudding, sanding, priming and PAINTING!   Woo!   At least the big ceiling will get painted now... some walls/ceilings may wait a while.

Wait.   That means I'll have to start doing some manual labor soon.  Oh, nuts.

Stay tuned for our upcoming episode:  "Anne dodges her fair share of work."

Corners and edges

Look at this tight work that Chris, Ernie and Not-my-Bob did fitting the drywall to the logs! 

This is in the arctic entry -- the wall adjoining the kitchen.  

Primed and ready

Just to illustrate the amazing FIL's aforementioned unceasing toil on Our Log House, here he is yesterday, even as I was blogging about his and others' help as we build:

Priming the walls in the master bathroom!  Woo!

Drywalling Partay!

I know I often give the impression that The Hubs is building Our Log House single-handed, and while it is his labor of love, there are certainly others who have put in hard work to make our home a reality.  His father, Jim, is his constant companion in this adventure in log, toiling alongside Bob daily.   Friends like Paul, Rob, Craig, Dave and Al and coworkers John and Chris have built this and that bit of our home too.  My mother pitched in to scrub some logs, Josh and Chris B. hand-peeled logs that first summer, and who could forget the mass of coworkers who helped get our foundation poured?

 So, what I'm saying is, The Hubs and I are grateful for everyone who is helping build our house with us.

Yesterday and today, Chris, Ernie and Not-the-Hubs-Bob have been installing sheetrock on the non-log ceilings and the few remaining interior walls.   It's a par-tay!

It's looking good!  Thanks, guys!