Tag Archives: construction

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We are definitely not mathematicians.

April 30, 2020 Rivergirl 11 Comments

On a gloomy, overcast Sunday morning….we started putting trim board on the baby barn at 9:00am.

At 10:00am we were still on the first piece.

And yes, at 11:00am we were still there as well.

Frustrating?

A wee bit.

Cutting angles is not our forte….. and it almost made me wish I’d paid more attention in 7th grade geometry.

A lot of serious thought, planning… not to mention cursing…. was going on right there.

And before you say “Use a mitre saw!”, we did. But the building is less than straight and square and when we finally did manage to get it right?

It was still wrong.

Thank God for flashing. It covers a multitude of sins.

So this side looked good.

But when we turned the corner?

Not so much.

How the Hell did that happen?

There was only one solution.

Sit on the big barn porch and photograph it from far away.

Yes.

Much better.

More flashing, more nightmarish trim board.

And if you’re asking what I contributed to the project?

Besides acting as a general gopher…. because when the husband is up his tools are down, and when he’s down his tools are up… my contribution was this:

Classic tunes on shuffle.

There he goes again, ever the optimist.

Thankfully the husband used to do roofing when he was young, so yes. The shingles were perfectly level.

And because he was so thrilled something was finally level?

He checked it again.

And again.

I gave up on him at 6:00pm and headed inside for dinner, but he was out there until 8:00 trying to reach the top.

He didn’t quite make it.

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Because I know you were anxiously awaiting it’s return…..

April 27, 2020 Rivergirl 19 Comments

It’s back.

The ongoing baby barn remodeling saga…. and for those of you just joining us? Consider yourself lucky you missed the first 300 episodes.

Winter is over in Maine, we think…. so work has begun anew.

On Saturday afternoon rotted wood was replaced.

And the silly man I’m married to tried to make everything square.

Look at him with his little level. Isn’t that cute?

If you remember anything from last year, you’ll know the terms level and square are completely relative when dealing with this nightmare of a building.

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But hope springs eternal, and maybe sometime before we’re through that damned bubble will be in the right position.

The last of the Zip siding was installed…

And yes, that’s my husband’s back…. as he refused to smile for my camera.

I can never quite figure his modus operandi when he works on a project……. and wondered why he made his way from the outside in to meet in the middle.

This doesn’t usually bode well when you’re using a tongue and groove design.

I (oh so) helpfully told him this, but of course he paid no attention because I’m a woman and what do I know?

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Well, yes.

As a matter of fact he is.

But when he tried to fit that last piece?

I admit it, I chortled while he cursed.

Which I enjoyed, because really… the world needs more chortling.

Apparently I did chortle a little too loudly because I also got the look.

Which, after 36 years…. he should know has positively no effect.

A little trimmed tar paper later and he called it day.

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A little catch up… the baby barn, a sunrise and some deer.

March 23, 2020 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Now that the Virginia vacation saga is finally over, it’s time to clear out the photo files.

If you remember… before we left for the Cape Cod vacation in November, the husband was desperately trying to finish the remodel on our baby barn from Hell before the snow started flying.

He started putting the siding on….

Which was a nightmare of non squared corners and uneven ground.

Yeah, there was a lot of that.

His answer? Plant a shrub in front of it.

He was still using his 1950’s power tools and probably wishing for a larger wheelbarrow.

Siding around the window resulted in some very colorful language.

As did turning the 3rd corner where things didn’t exactly line up.

Unfortunately that’s as far as he got before the weather turned….

And now I have to stare at this split personality horror show until spring.

In other news, our neighbor and her daughter fed our deer while we were gone.

She sent me this picture while we were in Williamsburg, and wanted me to know the child took her responsibility seriously.

And for that she was rewarded.

Flowers for mom and a thank you deer for her daughter.

That little guy cost me a fortune but he was hand made and too damned cute to resist. Look at those feet!

It snowed right after we got back.

But the white stuff sure does make a nice contrast for the sunrise.

We were happy to see our resident buck was still around.

He’s an impressive fellow….

And clearly his women agree.

He’s got quite a little harem going.

With 4 fawns that we know of.

Funny thing is….. as much as I love to travel, it’s sights like these that always make me glad to be home again.

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A little drip now and then….

March 4, 2020 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Leaking roof saga continued.

Winter is the worst possible time in Maine for your roof to spring a leak … so of course, that’s exactly what’s happened.

Remember when I said I’d cringe every time it rains?

That’s the sound of me cringing.

It poured the other day… and so did our ceiling.

So much so I had to add another pan.

Which drove the husband nuts when he came home…. and because he’s a man and had to do something?

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Yeah. He decided to climb up into the attic to see where it was leaking.

Naturally this isn’t as easy as climbing a set of stairs… because no.

Here at Casa River, we like a challenge.

The den closet, home to an overflow of the husband’s ~~useless crap~~ treasure.

(Yes, he collects old wooden hangers. Don’t you?)

Half of one side had to be emptied and strewn all over the room….

Because the only way to access the crawl space we call an attic is to remove all the shelving and climb up a hole at the top of the closet.

A design paradigm we curse the builders for quite often.

It’s a bit of a nightmare getting up there.

And no, the husband didn’t appreciate me making a Kodak moment out of the experience.

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He wasn’t thrilled that I stuck my head up through the hole to offer advice either.

Men. There’s no pleasing you.

But look… I found an antenna from the 1970’s!

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Did I mention there’s no actual floor up there? Just a few scattered pieces of particle board that break when you kneel on them.

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So after scuttling around like a crab and lying on his back…

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And pointing his flashlight near the section of the roof of the addition you can’t access from the crawl space, he did find where the water was coming in. Halfway up the peak, and running down the beams…. which we can find absolutely no reason for.

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Doesn’t this look like fun?

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Especially since there’s not a damned thing you can do about it until spring when you can rip off the shingles to find the bad spot.

Meanwhile I’ll have this lovely and ever expanding wart to look at.

And every time I do?

I hear a cash register.

Ka-ching!

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Diana’s Baths Part 4…. in which the husband builds a cairn.

December 9, 2019 Rivergirl 24 Comments

At the top of Diana’s Baths we found a cairn garden.

Cairns…

Everywhere you looked.

Small cairns, big cairns.

Precariously balanced cairns…

Even one slightly Zen cairn…

Although technically not, as it’s singular.

But I liked it all the same.

Cairn:

A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn[ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (plural càirn[ˈkʰaːrˠɲ]).^[1]

Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present.

In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times. However, since prehistory, they have also been built and used as burial monuments; for defense and hunting; for ceremonial purposes, sometimes relating to astronomy; to locate buried items, such as caches of food or objects; and to mark trails, among other purposes.

Of course you know as soon as the husband saw all these constructs…

He was going to have to build one of his own.

And it was going to have to be made with boulders.

Oh… the effort and planning that went into this.

Meticulously searching the shore for the perfect shaped rocks.

The rearranging… the balancing.

Men.

Don’t let them tell you size doesn’t matter.

His cairn.

His very large cairn.

He particularly liked the way the bottom stone looked from this angle.

For his sake, I’m hoping the first high wind doesn’t knock it over.

FYI…. there are no cairn memes that don’t involve cute little dogs.

And when I searched Giphy for “stone cairn” ?

Epic fail.

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The baby barn saga continues….

November 11, 2019 Rivergirl 27 Comments

Next up? Permanent walls for the third side.

As opposed to the numerous sets of temporary walls we’ve installed, uninstalled and installed again.

And it’s finally starting to take enough shape for the husband to hang up a few tools.

Of course…. a chain, a pick ax and a shovel might not bode well for me and my oh so helpful ideas.

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The floor is still 2 different levels of dirt thanks to the woodchucks and chipmunks….

But we haven’t had time to deal with it between rain storms.

The husband has also discovered that when I’m busy taking pictures… he can use his head for a brace. It works quite well.

So, walls and roof section on…

The tape was applied.

If you’ve never used the Zip wall and roofing system? Let me tell you… this stuff is golden. I don’t know what the hell they treat it with but once you tape up the seams it stays waterproof for a long time. I think they say 3 months open to the weather, but on our big barn we left it for over a year… through a Maine winter.. and it was fine.

You’re only supposed to use the tape with the Zip pieces, but baby barn has so many gaps and holes we taped everything we could find in preparation for a big upcoming storm.

Did the husband get a little happy with the tar paper caps? Probably, but we get some hellacious wind blowing across the fields.

So, three and half sides are done and it’s battened down for rain and wind.

Maybe it’s just me, but I swear it’s big brother is looking down in disgust.

Sadly, we may not have time or appropriate weather to finish it this year. I seriously wanted shingles on before the snow flies but my husband says the siding and trim have to go on first… something to do with flashing.

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Although what that has to do with anything….

I’m sure I don’t know.

So, fingers crossed we can at least remove that last rotted section soon.

It’s a little too split personality for my taste.

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Another baby barn update.

November 5, 2019 Rivergirl 40 Comments

Next step in the baby barn remodel was the removal of the addition the previous homeowner added.

This was easier said than done….

And at times required multiple beatings with a crowbar.

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Slowly but surely it came down.

And the temporary walls and roof were removed.

Which is when we noticed a wee bit of sag.

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A little lifting…

A little of me saying WTH?

A whole lot of digging….

And propping up later, it was level.

On that side…. which usually throws all the other sides off.

I swear this entire project has been so much work than it needed to be. We could have torn it all down and rebuilt an entire new one in half the time it’s taken us to get this far. Which I believe was my original idea.

Cold weather is fast approaching, and we’re no where near done.

News flash – yours truly will not be out there working in sub zero temps.

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Never let it be said….

November 3, 2019 Rivergirl 29 Comments

That my husband doesn’t know how to show a girl a good time.

On his day off…

We went here:

The Solid Waste Disposal Center.

Okay, it was a little dirty.

And more than a little smelly.

But we got rid of 1/2 a ton of baby barn refuse…

And I saw some porn.

I do love a man who knows his way around a broom.

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Babies can be annoying.

October 21, 2019 Rivergirl 36 Comments

Let’s face it, there’s going to be a weekly baby barn update for the duration of the deconstruction/construction.

Which, at this point…. I figure will end sometime between Jesus, isn’t it done yet? and If I have to pry one more splinter out of my hand, I’ll shoot myself in the head and call it good.

Walls.

If you’re an immigrant during this administration? Not Good.

If you’re a rotting baby barn circa 1974? Very good.

Here’s a pic of the husband using his vintage (what feels like 50lb) saw.

You’ll notice he’s hunched over and applying pressure. That’s because the damn thing shimmies like a tilt a whirl on crack and might fly apart if you don’t.

Walls.

They’re a good thing. But sometimes…

You see where I’m going with this?

From the outside all looks well.

From the inside, things went a little squirrelly on the right.

Crooked?

little bit

Do we care?

We do not.

Do we wait for the wife to bring the dust pan during clean up?

So, another weekend done.

Another section framed and ready for siding.

Did I mention that the husband’s plan of starting at the halfway point on the front and working his way around makes it look a bit odd?

Rather like a schizophrenic.

Perhaps I shall name her Sybil….

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This is not what you want to find when rebuilding….

October 15, 2019 Rivergirl 42 Comments

Our old baby barn/shed has a dirt floor with heavy duty rubber mats on top. Due to numerous woodchuck holes and tunnels, we had to drag all the mats out. That sounded easy enough until I realized each one of them weighed the equivalent of an African elephant…

Seriously.

A pregnant, morbidly obese African elephant carrying a suitcase I packed for an overnight trip.

Did I mention they were all covered in pounds of dirt as well?

So as we’re moving the next to last mat…..

This.

A chipmunk burrow with tiny scraps of paper, plastic and leaves.

Upon further examination…

A maze of tunnels, which I thought was pretty cool, until… it moved.

Do you see the leg?

Yeah.

Not a tunnel.

A nursery…

Which means we had to find the other end of the tunnel and relocate them. Not an easy task.

Five minutes after we found them?

Momma found us.

And she wasn’t happy.

She ran around squawking and chirping and looking for her babies.

After a while I think she found them, because she stopped searching and started stuffing.

Stuffing her little cheek pouches full of all those little scraps of paper….

And scurrying back for more.

Within minutes she’d cleaned up the whole lot.

Watch her cram a dried leaf that’s almost bigger than she is below.

(And please pardon my husband’s cursing. Things were not going well with the rebuild at this point…)

After we wasted time relocating chipmunks, we realized we had to relocate a bird’s nest as well.

So many evictions.

I felt like an evil slumlord.

Back to work…. and things did not go well.

Which was completely the husband’s fault.

He had the crazy idea he could square the building properly (After 40 plus years of Maine frost heaves? Madness!) and changed the original footprint….. which in turn threw everything off kilter.

More good times.

Did I mention he uses tools from the 1950’s picked up at a yard sale or the dump?

This little jewel feels like it weighs 50 lbs.

But he has the original box… and vintage lube.

So it’s special.

P.S. For those of you who pay attention, this post is actually out of sequence. That back wall is gone now. Apparently my blog scheduling has run amok.