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Monthly Archives: August 2008

Farmer's market update

The farmer’s markets around here are small but very good. I’ve not been going to the big farmer’s markets like the ones in Winston-Salem or Sandy Ridge. The King and Danbury farmer’s markets, both of which are in Stokes County, have had everything I need. I’m also getting to know some of the local farmers, […]

Framing, Day 5

A lot got done today, though today’s work is not very easy to photograph. A truck arrived with more materials just as the materials piles were getting low. The rafter materials arrived today. Those things are long! At the end of the day The side porch roof starts to emerge. The front porch roof starts […]

And speaking of 19th century French literature…

Internet Archive — Around the World in 80 Days Internet Archive — Around the World in 80 Days Here in the sticks I’m clearly not surrounded by a population of readers. The Stokes County library at Danbury is tiny. There are bookstores in Winston-Salem, but they’re pretty terrible bookstores, not like the bookstores in the […]

Speaking of gothic revival…

Wikipedia Speaking of gothic revival architecture, here’s a trivia question for you… What literary event in 1831 also was a historical event and an architectural event? The answer: the publication of Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris. English translations of this novel, for some reason, are generally named The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I finished reading […]

Framing, Days 3 and 4: the 1st floor is done

The framers were able to work a part day on Tuesday. It rained all day on Wednesday. There was a little more than 3 inches of rain here from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay. Behind the Tyvek you can see the door and windows to the porch that faces uphill toward the garden. Most […]

Framing, Day 2: rained out

The framers weren’t able to work very long today before the rain became too heavy to deal with. The weather today was unusually cool and unusually wet, owing, no doubt, to Tropical Storm Fay. The framing for the bay window went up, and a couple of the first floor walls are ready to raise. More […]

Framing, Day 1: joists and subfloor

As you can see, a lot got done today. The weather is looking iffy for the rest of the week, what with Tropical Storm Fay and some other fronts kicking around. I’m afraid there will be some days of lost work this week.

Framing starts

The framers started work at 8 o’clock Monday morning. Things should start to look interesting soon…

Foundation, Day 3 — Done

Here’s the left wing of the foundation, finished and parged. The parge material dries more slowly over the cement between the blocks, so I’m expecting the block pattern to disappear once the parge is completely dry. Here’s the finished foundation. Now you can see the bump for the bay window and the inset for the […]

Foundation, Day 2

The left wing — the downhill side of the foundation — was finished today. It’s now at its full height. The opening is for the basement door, which will be a double door five and a half feet wide. That’s my travel trailer up the hill at the top right corner. The right wing — […]