Squared Away

 We finished stacking wood today; quite a bit went into the shed, and the rest is here piled along the back boundary--for the last time! Next year we will extend the roof of the shed, creating a lean-to for the wood. I'll try to make it big enough for about three cords, which will be our annual outdoor stack. The shed holds over five cords. We did quite well, all things considered. The wood arrived in September, and now it's all away. This didn't stop a large family of field mice from making it their home. They scurried out as we piled up the wood. Joanne thought they were moles, because of their short tails, but they were fat little field mice.

First Snow

 It looks as though the first snow of the season, which arrived last weekend, is here to stay. In a single day we made the leap from an exceptionally mild autumn to premature winter. We still have a number of winterizing tasks to complete, including putting away paint and re-roofing the enclosures for the heat pump and the oil tank, but we are generally in good shape. I tried, unsuccessfully, to capture the ice glaze on the trees--maybe it will show up on the shots I took with the Canon.

Before/After

 The first is from June; the second is from today.

We re-roofed the garage, and then set about renewing the walls. We tore off the composition siding and trim boards and then shingled the whole thing in cedar--except for the front face, the one that is seen most often. Talk about hiding your light under a bushel! As it turned out, every part of the front posed special challenges. One corner had rotted; the walls were not straight, and the vinyl soffit was nailed directly over half-inch plywood...so it didn't vent at all. Also, the front frame was not attached to the slab; indeed, it swung above it. We rebuilt the frame in the area of the door and then clad the stripped face in plywood.

Finally, we shingled and painted. The result is simple and clean. The wall is actually pinned to the slab. Initially, I didn't think there was room for a door given the position of the framing elements, but like so many parts of the house they turned out to be non-structural timbers hanging from the frame instead of supporting it. 

Got Wood

Over the long weekend (yet another!) we completed a number of winterizing projects, including putting snows on all three cars and shutting down the sump pump in the workshop (sadly, because it was pumping like mad after the recent rains!). We also largely filled the woodshed. We really can't pack anymore in--the rest will have to be laid out in rows along the northern border. 

Now there's just room to squeeze in the wheelbarrows. The next stage is to wire up the lights. This will be exciting! Even now, in November, it is dark by the time we get home from work, and the trip to the woodshed with a flashlight is awkward. Perhaps in a week this will have changed forever.

Woodshed

 I added a concrete ramp up to the door and a plywood one inside. Cleaned up and swept, it looks pretty good in spite of the messy trowel work. I must find a way to get a better finish. However, it should work quite well. The entire perimeter footing is connected by rebar, and the slab sections are linked to each other and to the footing. Moreover, there is a vapor barrier under the slab. Right now it is about one-third full of wood; tomorrow I'll start moving the woodpiles inside. I have a couple of stacks in the little wood between the properties, so I'll trailer those in as well. 

The new concrete mixer isn't bad, once you get used to its various quirks: it spins too quickly, the agitator blades are poorly designed, and there is too much play in the supports. The ball bearing seems to have fixed the locking mechanism, so it is back to its normal performance, which is poor. Still, I mixed the footing and slab for a 16 by 12 woodshed with it, and it didn't quit on me. Now I would like to wire the shed for lights, using standard 14/2 and regular fixtures--but with 12V bulbs. I'll put a deep wave battery in, and when we build the new potting shed and hook it up to the garage system, we'll convert it to 120V.

Shed for Brains

 The woodshed project is finished. For the life of me, I couldn't get a decent finish on that last pour. Never mind--it will soon be covered up with firewood. This half, slab and footings, took just under 100 bags, so that's about $1000, say $2000 for the whole thing--not too bad. I can use the six bags left over to make a concrete ramp for the entrance.