Log Home Pictures from 2023, Part 1 of 1

Other years: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

1/4/23 After buying a new water heater from Plain Hardware, I brought it back in the truck, which you see parked in the driveway. I wrapped the box in a tarp and rigged it with ropes in order to slide it over the snow and up to the cabin. Here you see it after it has been pulled from the truck on the trail behind those trees, and then up the first flight of concrete stairs. It is now at the foot of the top flight of stairs getting rigged up to pull it all the way up.

1/4/23 Here it is at the top of the top flight ready to be rigged to pull it up the steep snow trail toward the cabin.

1/5/23 Here it is making its way to the crawlspace stoop where it was stood up, unwrapped and moved inside the crawlspace. After the old one was removed, the new one was installed and I was able to shower in hot water again.

1/20/23 Ellen and I went snowshoeing at Lake Wenatchee State Park and enjoyed the spectacular scenery.

2/15/23 Stunningly clear, starry night with Orion looking in the front window.

3/16/23 I am excited about buying a pool table for the loft. It is going to be a challenge getting it up there, not least because the roadway has a huge load of snow that will have to melt away and dry out first. In order to try to speed up the melting, I went out and sprinkled wood ashes on top of the snow. Here is part of the result...

3/16/23

4/18/23

5/4/23

7/10/23 Dave grabbing the grab bar he and I had just installed in the shower stall.

7/10/23 Dave and Bill

7/10/23 Dave and Paul

7/10/23 Dave and Paul

7/10/23 Paul and Bill

7/10/23 Paul and Bill

7/10/23 Paul and Bill

7/10/23 Dave and Paul

7/10/23 Bill and Dave

8/3/23 Ellen spotted this toad up by the privy. That's a garden hose for size comparison.

8/3/23 Paul, Ellen, Marilyn, and Marielle posing after a delightful overnight visit to Camp Serendipity.

8/8/23 Finishing the pantry is a new project just starting. This is a "before" picture showing the backside of the shower stall after most of the stuff has been removed from the pantry. The next step will be to install a 1x8 wall between the studs and the black shower stall. It will be tricky to place and fasten the boards in that position, but the process has been figured out and next week the installation will commence. You can see one of the grab bar anchors as the white object between the center stud and the shower stall.

8/14/23 The first two boards are installed, and as I expected, they were tricky. The backs had to be cut away to accomodate bumps in the fiberglass.

8/15/23 The next two boards are installed with complications of their own. Every board is a special case.

8/22/23 This board shows the typical chiseling I had to do in order for a board to fit without interfering with the fiberglass shower stall.

8/31/23 The pantry with its first coat of paint.

9/1/23 The stone sitting on the concrete ledge in the center of this picture has deep significance. In January of 1995, almost exactly 30 years ago, I first learned that I couldn't build a rock foundation so I decided to build a concrete block foundation and face it with rocks later. Well, now is the time. The rocks have been waiting in various piles all those 30 years until today. Except for one more move to place mortar under it, that first stone you see is in its place as the start of the stone facing. You can see two straws lying on the ledge next to the stone which will serve as weep holes. The concrete blocks are already fitted with wall ties which will tie the foundation to the stone facing across a 1-inch air gap. (The wall ties are not visible in this picture because they are missing and will have to be installed later.)

9/7/23 Today, 900 sheep arrived and were unloaded. Here is Antonio, the shepard, with Chapita, one of his sheep dogs.

9/7/23 Here is an energetic sheep who seems to be excited to get away from that noisy truck.

9/7/23 These guys are more laid back as they amble over to join the flock.

9/7/23 Even though this big, beautiful stone was heavy, I wanted it to be in a prominent place in the wall but not so high that I couldn't lift it into place. You can see where the wall ties are missing and where I will have to add them later. You can see two of them that I have added on the top of that big stone. They are pretty easy to add later and I am free to place them wherever I want. I am using a lot of tools that are really old fashioned and old, like that folding rule in the forground. I find that it works better for my needs here than any other ruler or tape measure. Almost all the masonry tools that I have and use came to me from Leonard, Ellen's late father, who was a stonemason for many years. I am extremely grateful for getting those tools.

9/8/23 This is the result of the first week's stone masonry. Hopefully the process shoould speed up as I get better. Here you can see I have added one more wall tie just above the highest stone placed so far.

9/14/23 This is the result of the second week's stone masonry, although the week was a day short. The total mortar batch count stands at 14 as of this picture.

9/22/23 This is the result of the third week's stone masonry. The total mortar batch count stands at 21 as of this picture. Zoom in on that central stone to see the fine grain. I think it might be olivine.

9/29/23 This is the result of the fourth week's stone masonry. The total mortar batch count stands at 26 as of this picture. In addition to the stonework, two rebar anchor hooks were installed, one of which can be seen attached to the old anchor hook near the center of the photo.

10/12/23 This is the result of the sixth week's stone masonry. The total mortar batch count stands at 33 as of this picture.

10/20/23 This is the result of the seventh week's stone masonry. The total mortar batch count stands at 38 as of this picture. You can see one of the two big heavy lintel stones suspended above the space it will span after both abutments are raised to their proper levels.

10/26/23 This is the result of the eighth week's stone masonry. The total mortar batch count stands at 40 as of this picture. You can see the two big heavy lintel stones mortared into their final place in the wall.

Other years: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024