My Flower Basins

Look what Rocky found in what we refer to as the "old dump" (the old farm hand's house and chicken houses ruins). They look gorgeous along the driveway wall as you drive up. :)

Fall Changes: A Brief Update

I have so much to post and write about and promise I will soon, but until then here are some pictures of what is getting accomplished around here. The evenings are beautiful with the crisp fall air. I love all the visits we get from friends and family. Thank you all for always being so willing to lend a hand and just be so excited for us! My mom sent over mums which add the perfect spark of color to the beds and driveway. The barn yards are clear!! We gave away almost all of the 60+ redwoods that needed to be planted. We have planted some down behind the barn too! The dumpster is here for proper disposal. Here are a few pictures to catch you up. :)

Stone Residence

I know I should wait for my official blog update this weekend but I'm too excited I just had to share.... Happiness !!!

2nd Official Monthly Report: Aug. 11 -- Sep. 12

Hearthstone

Roger and Brey

August 11 thru September 12, 2012

         Roger and Brey continue to be enthusiastic as work continues. Roger's birthday was celebrated here and was a lot of fun. They are looking forward to settlement and their future here.            

Overview

            House: All dormers are down and hardware and sash salvaged. Bricks, stone, and some lumber have been saved. The old section is now completely down, and the East section of the main house is now down to the floor surface of the 3^rd floor. We have not started work on the later additions (kitchen, laundry and rooms above)

                        We discovered a "pegged together" joist, soffit and rafter system on the old section. This discovery piece was about a 10' soffit length, 2 rafter ends, and about 10' of rafter plate. Some return elements remained. All this was buried under the 1903 or so remodel. Date: likely in the early 1700's. This discovery will help us determine future design of those systems.

                        Most of outward pressures have been relieved on the exterior gable walls of the main house (both West and East). The process is slow. Wood, plaster, metal, stone and other materials are separated. Photos are taken and a written journal is made. Hopefully at the end of the cleanup period we will understand what went on over time. We'll try to get a handle on period, technique, colors and purpose as we plod along.

            Barn:  SW fore bay 1^st floor window wall bearing beam has been replaced for a length of 14'5". First of 6 joists was set. The rotted floor and timbers have been removed and disposed of.

                        NE barn roof has been repaired up to but not including the ridge. Trees have been taken down that were rubbing on the NW gable and immediate area cleared.

This process was achieved by using the High Reach machine donated to us by Dave Stoltzfus with the help of Matt. This machine helped extensively with the dismantling of the dormers as well repair of the barn roof.

                        The barn yard has been cleared of the redwood trees left behind by tenant and invasive plants (sumac and poison ivy) along with various piles of rotted timber removed.

                        The North West upper floor area has been cleaned, and washed down. We use that area to house the salvaged building materials to keep them dry and organized

                       

            Natural Land Trust:

                        Survey has been completed and restriction areas delineated. Approximately 1.5 acres are in the highest protected area and is located on the north western section of the property. This area was once pasture but has since grown over and the long gone drainage system from the "new pond" has created wet lands. This parcel is protected from all intervention except for limited walking trails, hunting and fishing.

Approximately 2 acres are in the standard protected area and is located on the North East border. This parcel is less restrictive, for example, it could be cleared and converted into farmland. No buildings, paved areas etc. are permitted.

The remaining balance of the 10 acres is in a building envelope which has the least restrictive controls. Buildings, landscaping, and drives are permitted as long as they meet local codes and restrictions.

            Property Survey:

                        The survey is complete. Proceed up drive 30 feet to the right to the mill race. The line then runs down the center of the mill race east to the foot bridge, then up the steep slope in a line directly to the old foundation area. The line then follow 10' East of the foundation and on past to a line which proceeds to the Butler property line. The survey then goes along the Butler line to Bondsville Road and follows the road for 50' and returns back along the Butler line offset by 50'. The line then goes to the pond and from there to the dead pine and from there towards Bondsville Road. The line parallels Bondsville road back to the starting point.

            Garage: The tenant has moved out and much was left behind. Significant time will have to be spent on clearing out the "abandoned" items which cover everything from piles of paint, roofing tar, and mattress, box spring, built in work tables, chairs, carpet and on and on. The Dawn Red Wood trees left behind (about 60 of them) have been either planted or given away.

                        Roger has completed the new door and installation will start soon.

            Other: Clearing has started on the pond side of the barnyard, however it is tough going with the backed up water problems.

                        The grass we planted is about 4" tall and thick. Not quite 1/4 of the total cleared has been planted. We will likely hold up for awhile on planting more until the clean up of the house is complete.

                        The phase I walk thru by the EPA was completed. The report should be in soon.

            We restored a stone lined storm water ground gutter that was located along the eastern side of the drive across from the barn. We noticed in photos that the drain was there. Excavation revealed the structure. A few pieces were the same dimension as the wall caps along the drive and were salvaged to replace some missing ones. Most of the stone was enough, however some were added to complete the 80' run. Grass was planted along the drive side and is up over 4" already.

           

            Summary

                        A little over 550 solid work hours were achieved this month (over 900 since the start).

                        Next month should see progress on the South Barn roof repair and the ridge. Hopefully we can complete that project before mid October. We expect to clean up the debris left behind and make the garage functional as far as clean place to work from.

                        We will also start the process of stabilizing the remaining stone walls of the house to try and get them through the winter.

This is the 2nd Official Monthly Report.  

I love these because although I am sufficient at describing the progress in "Brey Language," this is a write up of the progress from a professional perspective.  Thank you, Rocky!

                       

         

Clearing the Side Yard of the Barn

This week we cleared the side yard of the barn!  It was so dense with thick brush that you could barely get through.  The backhoe did the job!  We took down a few trees that were leaning against the barn.  You can now walk out of the downstairs entrance of the barn into a clear opening!

Taken from the side yard of the barn.

The front...I am standing on the top of the hill.  Behind me is the clearing.

Sooo much better!

It was so overgrown!

Rainy Afternoons & Enjoying Hearthstone

Saturday afternoon, Alex (one of my best friends from high school) came over for the first time.  I had so much showing her around and explaining all our plans.  At first, she was blown away by the beautiful scenery and I think a little taken aback at the state of the house!  Then I think it clicked that this is what Rocky and Roger do for a living and the light bulb went off.  She says, "Ohh!  Yes, you can totally do this now.  I get it!  Somehow I missed that part!"  We had a blast!  Mary came over and brought lunch so we sat and talked and enjoyed the scenery.  Then huge storm clouds started to roll in.  We decided to move the part into the barn to enjoy the storm.  Thanks so much Alex for coming over today and sharing in our excitement!

In the evening, Roger and I had a chance to continue to sit and enjoy the storm over cookies and coffee.  We are so thankful for the rain (even though I would prefer it to rain at night during off-work hours!) as it is definitely helping my gorgeous grass grow!  (I will post a picture of the lawn later).  The refinished gutter along the bank of the driveway worked like a charm!  This quiet time was perfect for some brainstorming, planning, and dreaming about the plans for the property. :)

An Interesting Find?

Eric, Colin, and Cash came over to help pile bricks and race their remote control cars the other day.  The kids found this very interesting artifact in the side yard, buried, and up by the tree line.  We were trying to figure out what it is?  

It has sticks coming from its hands (maybe puppet?), its arms are jointed to move, and a point that looks like it is to stake into the ground (the part Eric is holding).  The paint looks very interesting too and the face is definitely intimidating (maybe a sort of scarecrow?). 

Any ideas on what this artifact is and what it is used for?  I thought I'd ask :) 

An August Afternoon

So today, Reilly finished her homework early and was able to come over and play!  I sooo wasn't in the mood to work, so Becca, Reilly, Jada, and I went exploring.  We watched the guys work on the barn roof then the main house roof.  We begged for a ride in the cage.  After having Becca sign serious consent papers, Roger ever so slowly raised us into the air...with Rocky on as a safety supervisor.  No problem there, because these three girls were huddled in the corner :).  Thanks for humoring us!  Here are a few of the many pictures of our creek adventures!

I absolutely LOVE this picture!

Pretty please??? Can I have a ride ?? I'm waiting patiently!

Rei and Jada posing for a picture

:)

Ohhh yes, it only took us a few months to realize that it is absolutely silly to worry about stepping across rocks and stones in the creek when you can just wear pretty rain boots and plow through!

My buddies!

Striking a pose on the "beach".

Labor Day in the Rain

The unpredictable Labor Day weather made for an interesting day today.  The plan had been to continue work on the main house dormer, but the bouts of rain hindered that progress.  Instead, the guys worked on continuing to stabilize the barn.  They replaced a key beam that had been rotted by water.  You can kind of see it in the picture below.

The new beam is the one right by Roger's head.

Eric and Pete worked on digging out the debris that fell.

Rocky taught Eric how to drive the backhoe.

Go...Eric...Go!

Roger worked on sawing off the rotted portions of other beams.

Meanwhile, Becca and I went under the bridge in the creek to go fishing with Anne and Pete.  We had so much fun!  We waded through the water with our awesome multi-colored rain boots and I even caught a fish!  This is coming from the girl who had her fishing license 3 years in a row and never had any luck catching anything.  We baited the hook with slugs (surprisingly, worms were not easily found with all of the rain?) and we caught a bunch of little fish.  Anne taught me how to cast the fishing rod and before you knew it I had caught a fish!  Wahoo!  We couldn't stop laughing the whole time.  Here are some pictures of that fishing adventure.

Pete was the official slug collector.

I don't think looking at this bridge will ever get old...it still takes my breath away!  

2 arches!  It's so GORGEOUS!

Anne's fish...she is so proud that she can do this "stringy thing" to hold onto them the way that Pappy taught her.

Here I go! Thanks Anne!

Ohhh yes!  It was an ENORMOUS fish!  

Hmm....this part takes some getting used to.

We had a great picnic today too.  We bbq'd in the rain...thank goodness for a big barn.  Although, I met a bat for the first time.  I think we disturbed it...and it for sure disturbed me!  Apparently, they are very good to have around because they eat the mosquitoes.  Although I am going to definitely look into bat houses for them so they have their ample space away from me in nature :)  We had a cozy tented picnic while the guys took a break from working in the rain.  It was definitely a memorable Labor Day!  Thanks to ALL!!!

Dormers and Happy Trails to You

We are keeping it moving over at Hearthstone these days.  Labor Day weekend is a time to work and play.  We have been doing our share of both around here!  When I finally showed up on Saturday, Matt and Roger were on the top floor of the left side of the building working on taking down the dormer.  This dormer has been hanging down and putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on the stone walls.  Again, our goal is to take that pressure off in order to preserve as many of the stone walls as possible.  Rocky was at the wheel of the Pettibone and at one point expertly lowered the guys onto the actual 3rd floor (with a space of 1 inch on each side)!  This way the guys are safe and not in danger of falling through.  The process was very tricky in that they had to strategically pull piece by piece out in a balanced approach in order to not have the stone crumble.  Once the debris is down, we can start sorting through the different pieces of wood and continue to date the various parts of the structure.  They got the front dormer down today!  This is so exciting!  The floor is littered with papers, clothes, and junk abandoned by previous renters.  Again, our goal is to get the entire site cleaned up to the point that only the stone walls are standing so that we can rebuild it from the inside.  Great work, Matt, Rocky, and Roger!!!!!

Matt and Roger are up on the dormer pulling up the boards.

You can see how they successfully got the dormer down.

Starting on the back side of the dormer.

Obviously, I was hugely contributing to this whole process by sitting on a chair in the yard and taking pictures :)

This is where Rocky lowered them into the 3rd floor room to work on the floors.

Pete was riding the Butler's quad--they were so generous to lend it to him to play :)

Dad, Dianne, Kara, Roger, and I went over again in the evening to take a walk through the woods and forest and look at the mill from the water tower.  I am getting better and better at navigating these trails.  It's so quiet in the forest!  Originally, early on in our hiking adventure, Kara was laughing at me because I was using a large stick to swipe the air as I was the trail leader.  Little did she know that this maneuver is very important in clearing spider webs out of the path.  A little later, as Kara was in the lead, don't you know that she had a large stick and continued to the swiping action?  Mmmm hmmm...there's a reason for everything!  We spent the whole hike laughing at our happy trails adventure!

Dad, Dianne, me and Roger (check out the stick i'm holding!)

Educating my family on how to identify poison ivy vines in the forest.  If it is thick and hairy and crawls up the tree with 3 green leaves sprouting off of it, it IS poison ivy!  Very serious business!

Kara is so impressed with my new "nature girl persona." :)

Daddy and I on the trail

Kara: "Okay, guys.  Really?  Ughh.  No more trail?  I am stopping here."

Brey:  "But Kara, it is just some tall grass!"

Kara:  "Ummm...still I'm giving up my trail leader status!  Oh Boy..!"

Good job, Roger!

Kara and I with our "web-clearing stick."

Appreciating the gorgeous renovation work at the mill.  

These guys are doing a great job!