Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Changing Seasons

I've written quite a bit, off and on, the past couple months. In fact, I had a pretty big entry penned up before the passing of Steve Jobs, and it never saw the light of day, either. My mood changed, or I got busy, or perhaps I felt the writing was too personal.

Time for an update-

As usual, my entries usually involve construction in some way. The big news is we finally have a steel roof on the new building. This is a big deal- instead of watching mother nature ravage the structure, it now stands a chance of moving forward without decay. No more pushing water out of the upstairs in the dark, or clammering on the roof trying to pin down ice shield and flapping panels.

This progress also coincided with a day or two break from the 9-5 (or 6-5) job. Amazing what a string of free days can do. In the country, something is always going on or needing attention. So...a trip to Waverly for some metal shears to trim the new roof yielded an ammeter for the tractor, a pulley for one day when I make an idler for the mower deck, a spare grease gun to keep in the new building, and generally whatever else caught my eye. On such a sunny day I did indeed pull the tractor out, tracked down a fault with the lighting, changed out the gauge, greased all points and parked it in the shed. (along with finishing off the east edge of the roof, of course) With sun in the PM, the Lodge's railings got wiped down with mineral spirits and touched up with rustoleum before the snow flies. The cement deck is showing wear too- I've only set foot on it a handful of times this year if you can believe it- but the elements are starting to pock it. Out came the tube of masonry patch to fill all the divets I could.

The day prior, another freebie, meant seeing if the boat would fit in the shed with everything else (it does). Lawn chairs now hang up. Garden tools hang up. A "bookshelf" now is attached in the corner and features quarts of oil, funnels, potting soil and pots, and other cast off items. I even trimmed the crude strut brace I had installed when I built the place, and took down a panel of steel that kept snow out when I was working to finish the structure two winters ago. Feels good to have at least one place organized.

And that's the momentum for getting the new CS3 complete. Get everything in its place. The lodge, while mostly complete, feels like a car I put together. Roadworthy. Solid. But marred by primered rockers and a makeshift interior. The last 5% is elbow grease and attention to detail but makes the whole 110%. All it takes is time and consistent vision (what's that?).

By the numbers- CS3 has come a long way since construction kicked off this year. Now granted, I believe it was November prior that the foundation was set, but there was nothing that could be done until spring when the ground thawed to allow excavation and pouring of the cement piers, and the start of the I-beam install. Could it be? A closed-in, inhabitable building in 12 months from thaw? I've still got a couple months before I'll have to hang up my hat on the interior. Hmmm.