Kevin and Nick Up High

These guys worked off of a glorified pallet for most of the work on the deck and the high window installation... crazy.

Heater and Dining Room

This was taken looking in from the new deck

West View From The Ground

Well, Nick’s visit ended with a bang... not literally but we sure got lots done with him. Here we go, windows, deck rough in, and much more.... getting close to dried in...

Nick Is Back!

Nick came back for Christmas Holidays for more fun working on our house. He is a great help. Here, he nails plywood to our screened porch.

Snow Drifts on the Roof

A ton of snow means huge drifts on the roof. Normally would not have this much snow on the roof if the house was being heated. But, no heat = neat looking drifts.

Bake Oven And Storage Cabinet

This shot shows the little storage cabinet we will use for baking sheets and other baking gear.. What is extra neat is the shelves are made of stone, and the door will also be made of stone! How cool is that? Travis looks on and admires the crew’s workmanship.

Snowy Sunset

It has snowed over 2 ft in last 7 days and more is on the way....
despite all the delays it has caused on the house - electric, plumbing, window installation, stucco, etc, it has left us with some magnificent scenery on and around the property.... This was a magical scene taken at sunset from our screened porch.

Just About Done!

The heater is just about done! Here Jerry and the crew (Travis and Derrick) pose in front of the masterpiece! All three of these guys were terrific!

Bake Oven Side

Here is the bake oven side of the heater. Can’t wait for the first loaf of bread and the first pizza!!!

Screened Porch

Screened Porch is framed in and tar paper on roof. Deb looks out ..... and then gets back to work. Overall, we like working in any weather. Every little bit we do gets us closer to the finish line...

Foreground View

Although we love looking at the ocean, our “foreground view” is just as nice.

Eagle in the View

If you look close you will see a wintering bald eagle perched in a large douglas fir tree. Aside from the eagle we thought the view from our porch was terrific.

Respirator Mask Kiss

Ever try to kiss with a respirator mask on? Well, we did..... too funny!

New Stucco

Just about have one side completed... looks great to us.

More Heater Progress

wood storage compartment is started

Wood Storage

To the right of the firebox will be a wood storage bin. Here, it is about ready to receive the stone lid.

Screened Porch

Another wonderful niche to the house is the screened porch area that will be the access to the decks. Our plan was to have an “outdoor” room with a roof for inclement weather...we will add screens and windows (that we plan to make ourselves) that will flip up inward when the weather dictates...

East Side Stucco

Goodbye sugar cube look

More Progress

Jerry and Travis

Jerry and Travis pose in front of their/our masterpiece!

Winter Wonderland

a glimpse of what the views will be from living room windows - minus the ladders of course!

West Side

In case you are wondering, the aluminum foil is covering a steel post that supports our loft beam. The foil and the post will be buried inside the heater and you will never see it. The foil helps reflect the heat off of the steel.

Heater Keeps Going Up

Our masonry heater keeps on growing. As you can see at the bottom the decorative (real) stone is beginning to be placed. And, yes, the photo is cockeyed... the heater is really straight and so is the house! This is going to be so cool!

Heater is Complicated

Here is a shot of the heating channels what will go on behind the stones! This is where the heat will pass below the hearth - great for warming your buns!

Start the Stucco

Although still white, we are starting to eliminate the sugar cube look. Stucco is going on and exciting to see house transform. Color will come much later but this is very cool.

Router Don

Mortis And Tenon

We decided to mortis and tenon the screened porch post and beams.
Great education and a bit more work but worth it. Deb looks like Santa’s Elf!

Darth Debbie

We are now routering our electric line channels in the AAC - very dusty work heh?

Window Progress

Four of six dining room windows are in...

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Rick and Joanne Welling are just one reason! They have been our friends and so helpful for the past six years. This year was no exception. Here we are at their house for thanksgiving... they invited debbie, my mom and I and we had a great time!

Jerry

This is our mason Jerry Frisch. He is an amazing man. Very kind and incredibly knowledgeable about masonry heaters.

Progress

Yeah!

After a 8:30 am till dark day, the south deck joists are in. A few temporary railings and the windows are next.

Starting The South Deck

More to do - once roughed in we can install the dining room windows - another step to getting dried in.

The Heater Is Started!

Pretty darn cool heh? These are the air flow channels the run the hot air from the heater box around the heater to heat up the rock before it exits out the chimney...while it passes through the channels, it will heat the “decorative stones” that will radiat the heat for 18 - 24 hours!

A System Is Born

Here is a photo of the woman who broke her back just three months ago....yep, Deb sorts all the rock by size and shape and lays it out - ready to go

Got Rock? This Is The Starting Load Of Rock We Hauled Up To The Third Floor.

It just doesn’t stop. We got a call from the man who is going to build our masory heater for the house. He said he is ready to go and if we are, let’s get started. So sure enough we headed to the rock yard and picked out about four pallets of stone. Of course never as easy as that - not with us. We had sort out six pallets of stone and break it up in to useable pieces.... six hours later and soaking wet from the rain, it was done. Next, it got delivered to our house. Of course to save money we made an agreement with him (about 2 years ago) that we would haul the rock upstairs to save money! Yikes! So, we have hauled up about 3 thousand pounds of rock up stairs to get it started.....yep, we have anothe 6-7 thousand more pounds to go!!!
Gotta love it heh.

My Sweetheart

Thank You

Back To Normal (Pun Intended)

Hello! (It’s Deb) I just wanted to say ‘Thanks’ to all of you for your warm wishes for a speedy recovery. I’m pretty much healed. My back is sore in the morning and I have to wake up in order to turn in bed - but other than that, I’m happy and healthy. I’m back at work, working on the house and beginning to live again.

This was one of those experiences that you can’t believe happened. However, I would never have made it through without the support of my family, my friends and my Donald. I’ve always known he was a caring person, but you can’t imagine what he did for me. He never left my side right after I fell (well, other than to lift me down using the forklift). He rode with me in the ambulance and he would touch my head or toes to let me know he was near me as the doctors swarmed over me in the emergency room. He slept beside my bed everynight - whether he had a bed or not. He was the last person to leave my side before surgery and the first person I saw when I woke up. He helped me to walk, eat, and get dressed. It’s pretty humbling not to be able to do these everyday tasks yourself; I’m just so thankful for Don - he never thought twice about helping me. He wiped my tears away when I got depressed and cheered me up when I got frustrated. I never felt alone. Thank You Don. I Love You.

Stairs!

We now have stairs thanks to Kevin again. These are really cool - they actually look like they are floating/unsupported (can’t really see what we are talking about from this angle but you will when you come visit....

Windows On The Inside

here are the north side windows from the living space (bump out) inside... and the loft.

Dickie and Kevin Install a Big One! Fred Runs the Lift!

Lisa and Dickie came up to help out and boy did it help! Here they prep the upper loft window for installation while Fred runs the lift with the steady hand!!

North Side of the House Windows

now that some leaves have fallen here is the view from the trail we built that leads to the front door

Fred And Kevin Intall Window

Fred holds ladder for kevin who carried the window up the ladder by himself! The windows look great!

East View Of House

Fall colors are here and the east side of the house is taking shape - new roof too!

Septic Tanks In

The entire septic system is in! The tanks are covered and ready for the first flush!

Septic Tanks Arrive

Sandra’s Birthday

Of course we had to celebrate Sandra’s B-Day! Ain’t this a cute Pic!

The New View

After Phil trimmed some trees we now have the view we have been waiting for. Looks great and now can’t wait for a really good sunset. The view has many facets and looks to it.... as you move across the house, the view out every window is different. We love it.

The View In The Fall