Twisted

So Bob comes home two nights ago and tells me he thinks he's finally found the log we'll use as the post support for our dining room.  Great!  He says things like this all the time.  I milled up the boards for the ceiling... I found a bunch of cool new rocks for the chimney facing...  etc.  Even when it doesn't look like there's progress, he's always working, thinking, scouting out materials for our home.  Whattaguy.  But I digress.

He describes the log, how it grew all twisty and is visually interesting, which is cool... and then:    he tells me how he got it.  

When I say that The Hubs is building our log home from scratch with his two bare hands, I mean it.  It looks a bit deceiving, since it has a tar shingle roof and vinyl windows and some sheet-rocked walls... so... usual.   But, then he goes and does something like, oh, I don't know....   climb 60 feet in the air and cut off the top of a tree, and suddenly our house isn't so usual.

His father tried to take a picture of him up in the tree, but it was too far away for a cell phone pic and he was hidden by branches, and, frankly, it's better that I don't have that image in my head.

So, Bob wanted to get started on a project to convert his parents' carport into a bigger, better sugar house.  This will require felling several {very large} trees and pouring a new concrete slab before the ground freezes or snow falls.  Realizing that one of the trees was too tall to fell as is, he climbed up {like a monkey - with no climbing gear} to top it and make it more manageable to bring down.  When he got up there, he realized that it had grown with two rival trunks, one of which twisted around the other as it grew.  Cool, right?  So, instead of lopping off chunks at a time, he lopped off a 10 foot log to use in our home.  With a chainsaw.  60 feet in the air.  BECAUSE HE'S CRAZY.  

I must admit it's pretty cool-looking, though.  He somehow left both of our other vehicles up at The Lake yesterday, so I had to drive him to work this morning.  Benefit?  I got to see the log.  So now you get to see the log.

FIL Jim and Johnny measure the log 

I attempt to wake up enough to drive home and take a shower.  

Bob trims the log before setting it aside to dry

So, now I have both a twisted husband and a twisted log post to use in my new home.  It reminds me of the other times he's nearly given me a heart attack while building this house.

Crazy man.

Cousins growing up

It just ain't right. 


Christmasish 2004:

August 2012:

The mother lode!

After dipping our toes in The Lake and attempting to wreak vengeance on a couple of wicked carpenter ants who have DARED TO ENTER MY LOVELY LOG HOME, the bairns and I swung by my parents' house just to say hi and such and see if there were any spare veggies lying about.  

Holy smokes!  Were there veggies?!!

This is the swag we lifted off my father  - minus a good handful of beans and a couple of thinned carrots that The Girl ate on the way home (and a random banana that The Girl swiped off the counter; I guess we need to feed her more):

YUM!

Just for fun

Fun with mirrors:

First floor bathroom

And the potty-side gunport in case we need to defend from invaders during inopportune times:

That is all.  No progress to report.   Just some shots of the house I took before giving a tour to our friend Joanna-who-abandoned-us-by-moving-to-Tennessee.    *sniff*     And before our pre-K-aged daughters took a little skinny-dip in the lake and The Girl then loudly and proudly announced it to siblings, cousins, her father and anyone else who wandered by....  

Yes, no pictures.  You're welcome.

This Week in Logs

Well.... not so much logs as just our loggy family....


The Boy spent the week at Science and Swim Camp

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We went to Burlington, VT to visit Aunt Thuthannah and UNCLE Terry...

Via ferry:

and we visited the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center

Where The Boy and I also viewed the touring Body exhibit.  Fascinating.  Ewwww-y, too.  But mostly awesome.

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Cousin Aaron is visiting from Virginia, so, naturally, Bob is having him mill up some logs.  Be very careful when you visit us, lest we put you to work!

In 10 years when Aaron plays in the NFL, remember that you saw him here first.

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And last but not least, The Hubs and I celebrated my 37th birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary at the Sterling, NY Renaissance Festival and then stayed on the shores of Lake Ontario.

  We ate too much, relaxed and smiled and watched the sunset and sunrise over Little Sodus Bay from the hotel  porch, and generally had a wonderful time!   I can't remember the last time Mr. and Mrs. Crankypants McPessimism had this much fun.

We should ditch the kids and run away to the {fake} 16th century more often!

Today

Picking veggies in Grandpa's garden:

And bowling...  watch The Girl's amazingly effective bowling technique, which I think is hilarious:

Black-eyed-Susans picked on the roadside:

And a candle-lit meal at home with The Hubs:  cooked by me, with The Girl taking our orders ("special what of the day, Mommy?") and The Boy plating up our dinners, bringing us coffee and dessert and addressing his father as "sir"... and generally giggling with glee the whole time.    Sorry, no pics; I was busy savoring the sweetness of my family at the time.  It won't happen again, I promise.

Did I mention how much I LOVE this summer?

I did?  Well, then.  I do.