Bits and Pieces

 We hoped that once the floors were done, the walls would quickly follow. We thought they were only waiting for the power to go in, as it's hard to use power tools with no power. The power went in last week, and on Monday this week I texted Troy for an update. Bad news. The trusses that were ordered in April, due for delivery in Sept, will not be here until the first week in Nov. ARGHHH! SO TIRED of stupid delays! 

Small task #1 completed this week was the planting of a few maple trees. We have many maples already in our woods, but they are yellow or orangey-red in the fall. We love the scarlet maples currently in our front yard, and maples readily sprout up all over the yard every spring, so we designated a few for transplant. They had been growing for a couple years so were decent size for transplanting. The white tubes seen below are "tree tubes". They act like mini greenhouses for the trees, giving faster growth to a taller height. They also protect from animal damage. Each tube is perforated down the side so when the tree gets too thick the tube will split and release itself.

Small task #2- Now that the dirt piles are gone from the hilltop and we have vehicle access to the campsite side of the hill, we mulched the path between the campsite and the bridge. 

Small task #3- Pulling buckthorn all summer means a huge pile of brush. There was a burning ban all summer due to the drought, but that has finally been lifted. Last Saturday we finally burned it all. Wanda and Bill, and Maggie, joined us for the evening, and the boys arrived later to keep watch until it cooled below the danger point. 

Small task #4- Arranged for Propane tank and filling. Tank will be delivered after the build reaches the point where it won't just be in the way. The price of propane is expected to rise considerably this winter (Thank you Joe Biden) and thankfully the company locked us in to the fall pre-order price of only $1.76/gal. With a 500gal tank, that will be plenty expensive! 

Small task #5- Sat down with the cabinet rep at Menard's and had my kitchen plan set up for order. They say orders of this line are only taking a week to come in, so they won't need to be ordered for a little while yet. I've been playing with the on-line planning program for a couple years and it's a royal BITB. I hoped that if I took it in to finalize it, that they would have a better functioning version in-house. They don't. We/she scrapped the whole thing and started over 3 times. I sat there for 2 hrs watching her play with it until we got it done. Below is the plan. The cabinet color is what I chose, but it shows darker floors and countertops than we will have. It also would not put in the correct shape of island top. The gap shown on the backside of the island will be where the trash, recycling, and step stool will go. The top will hide the gap, and also have an overhang for seating on the long side of the island. Most of the kitchen will be pull-outs, with only a couple actual doors on the lower cabinets. The cabinet on the far right that looks like it's facing the wrong way is intentional. The width of that tower is only 15 in, and I will never again deal with cabinets that are 24" deep and narrow width. They become a black hole of unusable space. Side doors here will be much more useful. The lower pic is the finishes. The bottom half is the cabinet finish. The top half is the current top 2 contenders for the floor for the whole house, and the chip is the current top choice for the formica countertops. 

 

Happy find- I love the old metal lawn chairs. They are comfortable, colorful, and last forever as long as you don't let them rust. They are also expensive. Even rusty ones in lousy condition can run $75 each. I happened across a Marketplace ad for a set of 3 for a total of $90. I'll give them a new paint job next spring. Color still undecided.