Wrapping A House Before The Fog

Back at the house on Saturday for some more building. It was a beautiful day albeit a little chilly but the sun shone all day.

 The boys took some time getting going on their side, too much sitting around as far as I can see! But before long everyone was busy and the hammers could be heard resounding all over. I'm actually amazed at how many nails have gone into this house so far, there hasn't been a single day when I haven't whacked a couple of handfuls of nails into wood.

 One of my jobs this morning was to string up some lighting in the crawl space under the house. We did the guys side as well and Irene showed her tidy housewife skills by picking up the few pieces of trash down there along with loose nails that she found on the floor.

 Pam and her husband provided lunch today, a wonderful chilli with cornbread and a delicious selection of home baked cookies.

 Our task after lunch was to wrap the house for additional protection against the damp. Quite a lot of the supplies are donated by various companies, some we can use, a few we can't, but they all have to be checked. Bill and Ruth are checking the wrap here and this donation was a quality one, Protection Plus was featured on the label.

 Rob and Bill started unrolling the wrap while us girls held it in place and made sure no wrinkles were present.

 We needed many hands for this as countless nails, we called them button nails, had to be hammered in place at 16" intervals marked by black diamonds on the wrap.

All the openings in the walls had to be cut out and the edges protected by folding the wrap over them and nailed in place.

 I found this photo from a few weeks ago which I hadn't posted. I'm hoping I'll see a few more of me on line but none of the house build have been posted by other members recently. The new house owner to be is on the right.

We only got a couple of the walls wrapped so that will need to be completed this coming weekend which shouldn't be an issue as more sunny weather is forecast.

I noticed that Bill's boots despite picking up mud and straw were still relatively clean. Mine were filthy and at times it felt as though I had 5lbs of mud stuck to the bottom of each foot. We had to be careful with the ladders as the feet would sink a couple of inches. This will continue to be an issue as we have more rain forecast for the next few days. I may need waders next time...
 Sunday was a miserable day. I had been hoping to take the new bike out for a test ride but the thick fog put paid to that. There was also a very fine but constant drizzle throughout the day, not ideal weather to be outdoors at all. So I just went for a short drive around the country lanes hoping to maybe check out a couple of abandoned houses but after standing outside the car for more than a couple of minutes, the fine rain was soaking me and I worried about my camera so I only took a few quick shots as I slowly trundled round the lanes.

Eventually I gave up and drove back home. It was impossible to produce any creative shots where I needed some time to compose the pictures. When I got home, both Kota and Rosie were hogging the fire and had obviously but sensibly given up any ideas of venturing outside. So I took the only logical action and joined them, spending the rest of the afternoon kicking back and being lazy.

Another Cold Weekend

Saturday started off as a brisk cold morning. I looked out to see Stuart with a frosty coating and a couple of birds hopping over him, probably enjoying the first warm rays of the sun. I was elated to see that one of the birds was a bluebird and managed to quickly snap a shot of him through the window. Then once I'd pulled on 5 layers of t-shirts and fleeces, it was off for some housebuilding.

 Today we were putting in the electrical outlets. The benefit of women building a home is that because this was a subject that required a lot of planning, we stood and discussed it in depth, working out where the one in the hallway would be best placed so the vacuum cleaner cord didn't have to be unplugged too often, and ensuring there would be plenty of outlets in areas where TV's and computers might be plugged in. We put an additional one in the hallway for a nightlight and I even got one approved to go in halfway up the stairs, on the turn, so a nightlight or vacuum cleaner could be plugged in there. I'm sure our house has more power outlets than the house next door that the men are building.

 These wood braces are being put in between the studs so kitchen cabinets can be hung on them.

 I put up the middle boards on the side of the house; there was a gap between the top wall and the bottom wall that needed filling. I also had to put up some nailing boards that had been missed, for attaching the dry wall to. I really did far too much hammering this week but it's like an addiction, if I have a hammer I have to use it, at a furious pace. My poor shoulder is feeling sore again...

Ruth is in charge of the supplies and is extremely vigilant on monitoring what is used and how and why. She also hates her photo being taken. I have no idea why she's pointing that pen because I was concentrating very hard on taking a photo without her realizing. I think I got away with it.
We finished the tasks set us for the day and will continue with the electrical work next week.
On Sunday I went for a hike from Meadow House. After chatting with Maggi, I'd discovered that she had more land than I'd previously assumed so, grabbing my camera, I went to explore.

I spotted this little tuft of down fluttering in the chilly breeze, probably from the underside of a passing deer.

There was still ice on the pond and snow on the ground in places.

There's quite a few rocks here so it was fun clambering over those.

I think this will be a wonderful little secret retreat when the weather warms up, a ready made chair with a backrest to keep the wind out.

I think some of Maggi's relatives have been here, hiking sticks left for future treks.

I spent a couple of hours crossing new terrain and then coming back through the meadows, still tall with brush since Maggi didn't get it cut last autumn because Philip Pheasant lives and hides out there. In fact at the start of my walk, I came across him, making both of us jump. As I came back through the fields I was able to follow deer paths through the grass and brambles and even found their sleeping areas under small trees. I was very happy that it wasn't tick season, I would've been covered with them if I'd done this walk in the summer.
When I got home the moggies were chilling out on the sofa so I took some portrait shots.

Rosie was very accommodating and posed happily for her mug shots, and looking very sweet.

Kota wasn't impressed at his nap being interrupted and gave a huge yawn and then a scowl. Love him!

New Year's Eve 2012

On New Year's Eve, I was meeting with Nancy and joining other Brit friends to celebrate the New Year at Mary's house. Nancy and I had sensibly opted to get a hotel room within walking distance as we were both positive that driving would not be an option.
On my way to Maryland I decided to stop off at the Mormon Temple to catch the last evening of their Christmas lights.It was a frigidly cold night but I'd managed to find one hand warmer at home so juggled it from hand to hand in between photos.

After 30 minutes or so I was done, my fingers would work no more and I scuttled back to the car. The light display was wonderful and I should have liked to spend longer there but the cold got the better of me. With the heat turned up to full blast I started driving to Rockville where I got to the hotel room in time to call Boo in England and see (or actually 'hear') in the New Year with her.
When Nancy arrived we decided to start off at the hotel bar and after 4 double Bicardi and cokes we strolled over to Mary's. It was fabulous to catch up with the crew again, not even noticing that it had likely been 2 years since I'd seen this crowd, the years melted away.

We had a little mishap with a candle. Mala decided to light the one on the TV which Mary assured us had been perched on top there for ages and used before. But this time the heat of the candle caused the plastic to melt on the TV so the candle 'sank and lilted' like a ship. It provided intense amusement for drunken senses of humor and was the center of attention for some time. And the TV still works...

Mary made everyone take part in a quiz which was hopeless. I helped Mala not wanting to take part individually, far too embarrassing. The questions seemed impossible, so much so that I can't think of a single example to post here. Brian obviously didn't win any prizes...

We toasted in the New Year with champagne in glasses that just had stems but no bases. Not necessarily a good idea at this stage of the evening and I clutched mine close to my chest, petrified of knocking it against something or even worse, forgetting about the lack of stem and casually placing it on a table.

The evening was a riot with many laughs but my photographic abilities were fading fast, as shown here, and it was really just as well that we were saying farewell. I have no knowledge of walking or staggering back to the hotel but we made it back OK because I woke up in the same bed I'd left my overnight bag on.

The next morning was torture but once I'd maintained a vertical position for a while I realized the next best step was breakfast. Nancy came up with the great idea of going to Dupont Circle where we'd be sure to find a splendid morning meal.

After a short journey on the Metro we alighted to a very quiet and peaceful Dupont Circle. I've never seen the place so desolate before but it meant we wouldn't be waiting in any lines for nutrition and that was a plus. We saw a board outside James Hoban's Irish Bar and marched in to be rudely informed that they weren't open. They didn't even want to help us out by telling where else we could head to. A very miserable crew and a place I shan't ever step a foot into again. but the upside was that we found a fabulous restaurant called The Front Page, where we were welcomed with big smiles and shown immediately to a booth. We'd barely been there a minute when we had Mimosas and coffee placed in front of us and we were directed to a buffet with everything we could possibly want to eat for breakfast in front of us, fresh and piping hot. We went up twice, filling our plates with eggs, bacon sausage and toast. I don't know how many Mimosas or coffees we had but our heads certainly felt better. I'd definitely recommend this place, http://frontpagedc.com/.

Happy New Year!