Basement VII

A closeup of some stone.
It comes from Wisconsin and has some color variation not seen in this box. Actually we ordered two types of stone and mixed them to give additional variation.

Away we go. Starting with the corners and working from there. Taken about 10 AM.

Taken at noon.

At the end of the day on January 28.

Basement VI

So here is that relatively neat look mentioned in Basement V - but be prepared. It doesn't last long! This is the day before the stone masons come. We're almost ready for them. There are a couple things we'll quickly finish after we find out some last minute details. For instance, a couple of electrical outlets and an access door to the fireplace mechanical panel must be placed where he can work around them. We'll quickly finish that while they carry in supplies.

The mantle is a 5.25 inch slab of hardwood from northern Michigan.

OK here's the mess again.
Stone masonry is new to me but after watching it for a few hours now, I'd like to give it a go sometime. First a layer of tar-paper gets stapled on as a vapor barrier. Next, a wire mesh is cut to fit and tacked in place. Finally, a mortar mix is spread over the wire with a grooved trowel. This leaves a rough surface and is left to dry at least overnight. Tomorrow with a fresh batch of mortar, he will carefully look for stones that compliment each other in size, shape and color, then "butters" the back side of the stones and stick them in place.

My story got ahead of the photos.

Right now, the boxes of stones have been opened with the hope they will dry out some overnight. They have been stored outside and snow got in easily enough but now that they are at room temperature the water doesn't escape quite so easily.

Basement V

It's interesting to note as I peruse the photos taken during this project how many times the room has rotated between an utter chaotic mess and relatively clean & neat. Each phase brings a new and different clutter consisting of supplies & materials, tools and to this point, high volumes of dust.

Up goes the ceiling. Knotty pine, 1x5 end-matched tongue & groove. It goes together extremely well and looks great so far... but we've got to clean up this room so we can work!

This is where we stopped today. A couple more hours work will complete the ceiling. The immediate objective was to get the wood up near the fireplace so the mason can install stone right to the ceiling. Those photos will be coming soon.

Winter Camp 2011

The weekend of Jan 22.

Six inches of snow on the ground. Overnight temps predicted to be 15 degrees. Snow flurries possible. Four die-hard winter-time campers in their vehicles and converging on the Pike county farm where we will camp out overnight...

We're fired up!

After arriving and selecting our campsite in the dark, Andy started a fire while I gathered some nearby dead wood. Don started sawing on a downed tree but within a few minutes, he was exhausted. That queasy feeling he'd had most of the day coupled with the sudden lack of energy made it easy to second-guess the decision to come 2.5 hours to sleep on the snow.
There he sits in the orange hat while Andy and I commiserate... and stay warm.

Fortunately, Bruce showed up with some Sierra Mist and that settled Don's stomach - which actually made us all feel better. Unfortunately, he just didn't feel like eating...

Andy's potatoes

Nor did he feel like chewing on a fork-cut tender, marinated, open flame grilled venison steak.

Don even prepared this delicious pot of deer-burger chili cooked over coals but took nary a bite.

Andy chows down.

"Yours truly" digs in.

Thankfully, everyone got a good nights sleep and felt great in the morning.

Here is a look at our Beds & Breakfast.

Bruce upgraded from his 3 sleeping bags last year to his new heavyweight -30 degree rated bag for this year. Toasty!!

The second time out in my -20 rated bag. It was a good investment.

Don's snoozing spot in the snow.

Andy had all ready packed his gear to the truck for the trip home but he shows where he spent the night... with almost all the comforts of home.

Emily? Not quite sure why she changed her mind, but at the last minute she chose ALL the comforts of home.

Four of the reasons we winter camp!

Accompanied by 3 more reasons.

And finally, 5 more reasons. Our company of campers.
Robert (thanks for the use of your woods) Eldon, Don, Andy & Bruce.

Two of our usual cast were unable to attend this year. Rob & Doug, we missed you guys!

Basement IV

We've been looking forward to this. Our wood has arrived from The Woodworkers Shoppe in Comin, Michigan. We unloaded it into the garage for the time being.

One hour after the driver pulled up we've unloaded and she is on her way back to MI with 500 miles to go and hoping to get back before dark. Meanwhile, Brenda and I are headed to St Louis, Mt Vernon and Springfield. We spend a day antique shopping and visit Old St Charles, Mo. From there we head to my folks for a short stay lasting from Sat eve. to Sunday noon. Then off to see Kamela for a day and then home Monday late afternoon so Brenda and I can both get to previously scheduled meetings and appointments.

Finally about 4 days later we get the lumber in the house. Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of myself and 3 other guys passing stack after stack through the basement window. I didn't anticipate getting all the wood indoors in one session but that is what happened.

Although the walkways are now considerably more restrictive!

Construction of a different type

The basement project continues but with a slight interruption.

Brenda decided an igloo in her classroom would be really cool!
She sent home a requisition for building materials with her students.
Six year old kids tend to show excitement when excited... and they were.

Empty milk jugs started flowing to Room 14 by the dozen!

So to work we went. Brenda squeezing the trigger on her hot glue gun to the point of
developing a blister on her trigger finger. My job was to place the jugs on the freshly poured hot, liquid glue.

231 jugs, a few dozen hot glue sticks and 1 yard-stick late the project is complete.

If you ever build one, we learned a couple things you might want to know.
The most important perhaps is: rinse the jugs really, really good!

Imagine sitting in your own igloo. A good book in hand, lantern glowing, blankets comforting, penguins to keep you company. Ah, the joys of 1st grade in Eureka.

They love it!

Basement III

We've decided to lower the ceiling in the walkways leading to the new room. With water lines, wiring, duct work having been somewhat placed somewhat haphazardly it seemed like the thing to do. This house was moved to this location about 20 years ago and rewired & re-plumbed to the first floor which was nice but not much thought was given to getting things out of the way for a finished basement. We've learned to work around such! By the way, the hanger was the easiest workaround of all. Brenda took it to the laundry room!

Same location, opposite view and after preparing for new and lower ceiling. I'm standing at the bottom step as I shot this photo. Closet will be just to the left of the garbage can.

Standing in front of the fireplace and looking toward junk!

Pole at left now removed. Ducts now hidden with new ceiling framework. Distant junk removed and closet now in place.