Monday, August 13, 2012

West side -- Done!

In spite of all the rain delays, we've finally finished the western porch and have the western roof felted and shingled up to the ridge. Today, we're starting on the eastern porch. With any luck (and continued clear weather!), that one will go up much faster than the first one and we'll have the whole roof felted and shingled by the end of the month.

My back is mostly fine now, just have to be careful not to twist while carrying something heavy or to sit down too hard since my tailbone is still a bit bruised. True to form, I've gone on to damage myself on other projects... like slamming my right index finger in the truck door while we were in Fairbanks picking up more lumber and our new range (thanks, Mam!!). It's a lovely shade of indigo and I'll likely lose the nail, but I can still bend it and just have to be careful not to jam it on anything. Thank goodness I'm ambidextrous!  (whether I'm ambi by nature or because I'm constantly smashing my hands is another question altogether!)

Our new range is awesome... or would be if we'd known, while we were still in Fairbanks near a hardware store, that it had an odd-size gas fitting and that we needed to get an adapter for our LPG line to hook it up. Ah well, we'll get that next time we're in town; but in the meantime, the range looks gorgeous in our kitchen :)

We also got a visit from some of our followers, Jeff & Betty, who are vacationing in Alaska.It was nice meeting them and talking about our adventures. Unfortunately, we got stuck in Fairbanks with a busted catalytic converter and couldn't make it back down here to hook up with them again. We cut out the cats and installed straight-pipes (no emmissions regulation in our neck of the woods!) so the truck is running again at full power, but one of the new joins worked loose on the exceptionally bumpy way back home due to all the road work, and we need to fix that again before we head into the village again. Hopefully, Jeff & Betty aren't still sitting at the Roadhouse waiting on us :(

9 comments:

Alaska Bound said...

Pictures!! We need pics... glad your doing better..

Marybeth said...

Glad to hear you're making progress! I can't wait to see pictures. How long until the first snow lol

Plickety Cat said...

We normally get our first hard frost by mid-Sept, killing frost by late Sept, real snow that sticks by mid-October, full freeze-up around Halloween, and temps no higher than 0F/-18C starting around Thanksgiving.

Misty Pines Homestead said...

Glad you getting setup there.Keep warm up there and have a great time!Oh yes please post pictures,love em.

Anonymous said...

yes, would like to see some pictures!!

Marybeth said...

Haven't heard from your guys in a long time! I hope you're making really great progress. It's mid September, so I guess you'll be getting a hard frost soon. Can't wait for an update and pictures. BTW I feel like a stalker checking in here everyday hoping for an update, and the hear you guys are doing okay.

Plickety Cat said...

Hey MB - we've finished the east porch and the entire roof - WOOHOO! G's folks are visiting from England for a couple weeks, but I'll post an update soon --- WITH PICTURES --- since I finally found the camera doohickey!

We're already getting frosts at night, so I'm expecting hard frosts within a week or so. Looks like winter is going to be a few weeks early this year... I'm betting snow before Halloween.

Marybeth said...

Yes I'm stalking again lol. I had planned to wait until your next post, but I've been hearing a lot about flooding up there on the news. I hope it's not in your area, and you're safe!

MJ

Plickety Cat said...

Hey MaryBeth... the in-laws just left so I promise a new post shortly ;)

The flooding is mostly on the Nenana River, which is ESE of us, with only minimal issues at the head of the Tanana River (about 150 miles upstream).

Folks right on the shore of the Tanana and feeder creeks might be seeing some rise; but we're a couple miles from the river's edge as the crow flies. The two closest creeks are a bit aways and only barely running a little faster than usual for this time of year.

Of course, the rain is making things a little (more) squishy and making outdoor chores difficult... but, hey, what else is new?!?! At least we got the roof done and it isn't leaking!!! YAY!!