Hanging the Rock Post

As we continue on our project report, today's subject is 'Hanging the rock post"! On yesterday's report (the one picture at night specifically), it shows the upper lateral beams that were hung. Now we have to place the support post at the corner of those beams...16 feet of 4" x 4 "metal tubing, dangling out in the open!! It was quite the performance!
It's hard to show in pictures the challenge this was. One picture I thought I had uploaded but couldn't find showed TJ hanging horizontally (literally), with his feet planted on the lower rock and with all his upper body hanging out horizontally holding on to the rope while the post was being hoisted into position waiting for Ben (at the top, and on the ladder) to get it scooted into place.
Below, Mitch is securing the post at the bottom where it connects to the huge rock.
More coming still...check back again later!

Decking Project

Hello again! It's been about 3 weeks since our last blog. So where have we been this whole time? Working, of course, weren't you? The next few blogs will be a progressive report on our decking project, starting from the raw lumber and finishing up with the final product. There were so many details to this job that it was difficult to decide on which pictures to show about all the creative things we included. So here is a general overview of what we did! The project was three decks- upper, middle, and the "ship" deck.
The above picture is of the thick beams and poles we had to prepare ahead of time before transporting to the jobsite. Preparation included planing, routing and sanding, then treating the knot holes with sealant to keep the sap from weeping, filling some holes with putty, sanding again and finally two or three coats of special black weatherproof/fire retardant paint. Some of these beams were 20' x 4" x 12" and very heavy!
Below is a picture of the demolition process on the upper deck- tearing out the old dryrot boards and preparation for installation of the new boards. Below is the rebuilding of the pony wall, or in this case, the bench wall, because we'll be installing a new bench seat along the perimeter of the whole upper deck.
A view from the upper to middle deck, where much of the demolition was temporarily placed.
One day the guys had to stay past 6 pm to get some certain beams and posts in place. This was during those days when the sunset was somewhere around 5 pm. It was pretty cold, but they had to get this part done for safety reasons- faithful, hard workers that they are! This is the upper deck beams that you'll see in the pictures to follow.
Doesn't seem like much yet, but stay tuned... more coming!

Our Hope is in Him!

Sometimes when we think about everything that is going on around the world, our nation especially, it gets pretty overwhelming at how much evil there is to be found. The following passage is a wonderful comfort to know that God IS still in control, and He loves those that fear Him and put their trust in Him.

Our Hope is in Him!

PSALM 33: 8-22

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

The Lord brings the cousel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;

He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.

No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy,

to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You."

Yardening

Among other things going on over the weekend, we did some yardwork and preparations for this year's garden. Rototilling the plots for our raised bed gardens is always a chore, but a rewarding one when the job is done and the soil is nicely blended, ready for the next step. Can't wait to get our sproutlets planted! Mikki has been sprouting our seeds for a few weeks now, and they're looking really great! Corn, sugar snap peas, wax beans, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce mix are among the choices for this year's crop. Yummy!

Oddly, this morning I opened my Bible and it just so happened to fall upon this passage which I thought was pretty timely for today's post:

Malachi 3: 11

"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field. Say the Lord of hosts..." And what is this picture below, you may ask? Why that's just the 300 or so foot water show we got to see from our local bridge on Sunday night! The picture details, of course, are not clear. Apparently a drunk driver hit a fire hydrant. We didn't get to hear any more details about the accident than that, but were impressed with the amount of water pressure that comes out of those things. (The tree beside the gusher is a really big tree in person.)

What we've been up to...The Continuing Story

What we've been up to...Part 2

As we reported on yesterday's blog, here are the finishing pictures of our work at Riley's Farm:
Here we are adding the balusters on the stairway
Now the balusters and rails are in on the second story and lower deck.
This is the other side of the house where they(Riley's) will be eventually adding a waterwheel under the bridge section where our guys are sitting.

Ta-Da! So there you have it-our completed job!!

Colossians 3: 23:

"And whatsoever ye do, do it wholeheartedly, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"

What we've been up to...

Riley's Farm

     These pictures are of a recent job we did for our friends at Riley's Farm in Oak Glen, CA.

They do Colonial Reenactments and have all kinds of time-period activities for their visitors.

They are completing some building projects around their place, including this remodel of one of the houses. 

      They asked us to make some period-sensitive  posts, handrails and balusters.  So, Ben designed some profiles for them (as he is so good at), and we  built them from scratch using special wood for outdoor application.  From there, we installed them.  

     Some days were so cold during that last cold spell we had here in California, there was even snow on the ground, as seen in the picture below.
Here the guys are installing the base and shoe rails for the stairway.

This picture shows us installing the lower deck balusters.
We were only able to post five pictures on this post.  So, tomorrow's post will show the final results of our work there.  

And that's just one of our recent accomplishments!  More Later...(smile!)

Creative Memories

The title of today's post is a bit deceiving as it is NOT about "Creative Memories" scrapbooking! Instead, this is about a particular piece of woodwork our family made for a friend's 16th birthday.  It is from our "creative memory" archive of projects we've done.  

This Hope Chest was made of several different woods, including oak, brazilian cherry and cedar inside.  The "creative geniuses" around here put their minds together and designed, built and finished it. Then we tole painted the outside.  Not too bad, considering we'd never done tole painting before!

So, whadda ya think?

New adventures

Psalm 100: 1-3

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture."

Today marks a new adventure for our family - the starting of our blog!

We hope those that actually take the time to read our blog will enjoy your time spent here, and we are looking forward to hearing from you too! Please bear with us as we fumble our way along in this learning process. And May God be blessed as we share our lives in these pages!