Our Hearthstone Journey: 2013

Sunday, December 29, 2013

2nd Floor Step 1: Reinforce Roof

We are excited to announce that Work on the second floor of the garage has officially begun!! Plans have been made to reinforce, insulate, and replace the floors upstairs. The replacement staircase have been designed and we are in work mode during this last week of 2013! After measuring, the boys went and got lumber to reinforce the existing roofline. This will help protect the roof from snow loads. We were pleased to find that with all of the snow and rain that it is still dry upstairs. My job included -trying to- pull out nails out of the wood with my handy hammer (2nd time I used it!). This was harder than I thought! Therefore, I settled with the cleaning crew role of collecting the nails that they took out. Next, we will need to insulate the roof. Right now, it's pretty drafty. Last fall we had to remove all the old layers of insulation--grossest job ever! This year we will add fresh insulation to keep the loft area warm and toasty! Here are some pictures.

The Before Pictures

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Another Round of Greens (the last, I promise!)

Okay, I am loving the fresh greens and the whole aesthetic experience of green-gathering at Hearthstone this year! Holly came over and stocked up too!! We had a great snowy day out and about in the snow. Then we sang Christmas songs at the top of our lungs as we made the wreaths. We also made the famous Hearthstone lemon branch "gum drop trees" (pictures to come). Happy Holidays!

Forget the cold weather…it's dirt-bike riding time! Hmmm…although honestly I can't remember what the problem was that day??? Maybe a starter plug? (I'll refrain from throwing every auto term I know out there). Needless to say, it was an easy fix. Personally, I think it was an excellent workout for the "big boys" (Matt, Roger, Rocky) as they continually hauled the bike up and down the driveway during the diagnosis process!