On Wisconsin!

My home state is in turmoil.  For a week now, tens of thousands of people have been protesting the new governor's budget, which would strip public worker's collective bargaining rights.  To quote a law maker from Maine, "if the levees break in Madison, everyone gets flooded."  Stay strong, Wisconsin!  I'm with you in spirit!

Roof Trim Detail

An Article and a Roof

Jason and I were excited to find out that our friend, Barb Fernald wrote about our frame raising in the December edition of The Working Waterfront.  Check out her article "Home" by following the link below.     Thank you, Barb!

http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Home/14140/

It looks like the metal for our roof will be barged over tomorrow!  I cannot wait to see the roof all finished. Jason has been working on the trim and braces for the overhang.  It looks beautiful.  Let's hope the weather holds so the materials can be delivered and Jason can begin to work on it this week. They're calling for snow near the end of the week, but I hope it misses us so we can finish the roof quickly!

Winter Morning and Roof Trim

 It's winter!  It came on so quickly.  We didn't have time to transition from the warm, rainy fall.  We went straight from 40-degree rainy days, to a snow storm that left us with highs in the 20s.  Yikes!  This weekend we are supposed to go back into the 40s, so goodbye snow (at least for now....)!

The house continues to move along.  It seems like it's such a slow process, but then this morning, Jason was heading out to work and we began to think about where we were this time last year.  On December mornings just a year ago, Jason was still working on getting the sawmill in working order.  We hadn't even begun to cut the timbers yet, much less chisel!  Since then we have milled all of the material, chiseled, sanded and oiled each piece of the frame, and raised the frame.  Thinking about all that we have done in the past year, it doesn't seem so slow after all.  :) 

 Jason has begun to put up the braces that will support our large (2.5 foot) overhang.  Aren't they pretty?  They're painted with Allback Linseed Oil paint in sage green.  This paint is made from 100% linseed oil (flaxseed oil) and the pigments are all natural, too.  You could use the linseed oil to cook with, if you wanted to.  If you're interested, check out the Allback website:   http://www.solventfreepaint.com/  When the roof is all finished, these sage green braces will be visible as well as the trim pieces you can kind of see in the photo below. 

The metal roofing material is set to arrive early next week!  Jason is busy working on putting up the last pieces of trim and the rest of the braces.  Once those final pieces are up,  he will begin to cover the roof, preparing it for the metal.  He will then need just a couple of days to finish the roof all together.  We still hope to have a few good days before Christmas to get this part of the project done before we hit the road!

The Framing Continues

Now that the timber frame is up, Jason is working away on framing in the windows and the roof. 

 One kitchen window looking out over the backyard. The fridge will be in between this window and the post to the right. 

 The patio door in the dining room!  This door will lead to a deck....

 Here is the dining room window and patio door.  We will having a built-in bench with lots of colorful pillows below this window....  Very comfy dining!

 Here is a window in the living room--nice afternoon sunshine!

 And the other living room window--HUGE, all day sunshine!

 Jason cutting pieces for the frame.

 Here is the back of the house with the windows framed in. 

 Another view of the back of the house with window framing!

Here is a front view of the house with the roof framing!

Some More Pictures...

Here you will find more pictures of our frame going up from our friend and neighbor, Ted Spurling:

http://fromoffshore.wordpress.com/

Thank you, Ted!

A Blessing

The technology behind timber frame construction dates back several hundred years to the 17th-19th centuries.  The early colonists brought these building techniques with them to North American when they left Europe.  While timber was still abundant and easy to come by, and before the rise of the sawmill, timber frames were the typical construction for homes and barns in New England.  Traditionally, the timber frame was put up in one day.  The whole community gathered together to help push the frame up and peg it into position.  When the frame stood tall, the owner of the frame crawled to the tippy-top of the roof and nailed an evergreen bough to the rafter.  From the top of the frame, a blessing was said and then the celebration began!

In order to keep with the tradition of a true timber frame raising, we wanted to celebrate our  frame with a blessing.  Last night, while the ghosts and ghouls went from door to door asking for candy, or else! we gathered with close friends at our house site to celebrate (and hand out candy, of course).  During the afternoon, Jason climbed to the top of the roof and nailed an evergreen bough in place.   In the evening, I sat down and wrote the blessing.  After dinner, Jason went out and began a small bonfire to keep us toasty in the late fall night.   Around 8:00 our close friends joined us for a little celebration to bless our frame.

Writing the blessing was wonderful!  I was brought right back to the winter months we spent in the woods collecting the logs for the frame.  I remember that time very clearly.  Jason and I had just finished raising our pigs and we were eating many vegetables from my garden.  Our table was set every night with food that we had cared for.   At the same time, every weekend of the winter Jason and I went out into the woodlots of our neighbors and cut down trees.  One morning while we were standing in the snow, working on dragging a tree to the side of the road,  I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude:  for the tree that would become my house, for the vegetables that I cared for all summer and for the meat we raised.  Thanksgiving just welled up inside me.  I put my hand on the tree we had just cut down and I said thank you.  I remember thinking I never wanted to forget that moment.

When I sat down to write the blessing last night, that same sense of gratitude rushed through me again. Once again I felt thanks for the trees that went into our frame, but I also felt thankful for the many friends, family and neighbors who helped us during this long process.  I felt so happy and light.  I lit the candles on the kitchen table, and when it was time for dinner, we held hands and said thank you!  I hope I never forget this feeling.   I hope I can carry this gratitude in my heart forever and ever, and always remember we are blessed.